[Serie A] Cagliari - Juventus [02/09/2007] (4 Viewers)

[sateeh]

Zanetti was the best of our midfield before Camo came on. But that's not saying much. Just look at the midfield possession, as you referenced on Almiron. If Almiron wasn't getting ball control, possession, and service done, neither was Zanetti. He had the benefit of a few good stops and digs, but his passes were still off and not connecting well with his teammates.

Almiron's first half was awful, particularly the first 20 minutes. Every touch went to the opposition. But I thought he settled in better for an average game as the game went on. I'd be more concerned about his possession if the rest of the team was correctly connecting to give him the ball, and they weren't. Maybe you can fault him for positioning in that case. But Cagliari also pressed a lot and forced us to beat them with speed and/or long balls (some of which we clearly lacked).

As for Criscito, I only saw a couple of blown assignments -- neither of which resulted in a shot on goal. (Though you can credit poor Cagliari finishing for at least some of that.) Reading the match reports after, I was expecting to see a disaster -- but when watching last night, I didn't see quite that.



Now I have lamented Juve's lack of developing promising young talent as much as anyone. I have envy when I see what the likes of Spaletti have done with patience for players like Doni, Aquilani, etc.

But every match thus far that I have seen Criscito, and not just this one, he is out of position several times. He has also consistently surrendered the most dangerous chances of anyone on the defense.

So let's be serious. We're not the Juve youth team nor a farm club for Juve players like Siena or Empoli. People need to be held responsible for winning. Wishful thinking is not reality.

So people can go on glorifying the dream potential Criscito has. But thus far, I have seen none of it in his adult squad play yet.

About mimmo, well i agree with you about him.

This was my biggest concern since Ranieri started putting him in the starting lineup.This is a very tough competition and this team has high expectations and we can't afford much fuck ups simply put. This is where development for a young player and especially a defender comes under intense scrutiny. Also we don't have the overall defensive team that would cover the mistakes that are done.

I hoped for another defender and then cristcio would come in slowly and get a feel for the competition in the right way, instead of throwing in the deep end and hope that the gamble would pay off.

I may be wrong and mimmo could be an odd case where he would just step up and rise up in front of all the past experiences that would deem him to under performing.

 

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[Gill_juve]

i thought we played ok but the next game we need to seriously bone up.

 

[adelove]

this team is a work in progress...will b a awhile b4 it gels...we shuld b thankful we r getting results inspite of d fact that we r not firing on all cylinders..there is promise in the team,but will we b patient enuf 2 let it come thru?

look @ aquilani....everyone is raving about him now bcuz roma gave him d chance 2 blossom.....nocerino,molinaro,crisicito n palladino myt not look like much now....but i'm confident that given time they can blossom...there will be one or two blips along the way,but our future is bright...