We actually played really well in the second half. With the right substitutions and a bit of luck, we really should have won.
Buffon: 5.5 - the goal wasn't his fault. It looked like he was a bit off balance, we didn't have a man on the post and the marking was poor. He made a good save after De Ceglie's mistake just before the goal too. Unfortunate. Apart from that he didn't have a great deal of involvement.
Lichtsteiner: 6.5 - played really well, and barely put a foot wrong. He was consistently better at attacking down the right than both Pepe and Krasic, even stealing the ball from Pepe at one stage, beating two defenders and putting in a good cross.
Barzagli: 6.5 - Played well, continuing the good start he's made to the season. He's been better than Chiellini for the past two matches.
Chiellini: 5 - his marking was suspect, and he tried to do a bit too much. Made some good tackles, but also some pretty stupid ones.
De Ceglie: 6.5 (-2) - he was actually doing really well up until his bonehead mistake. He was covering his man well, getting involved in the attack, winning fouls and putting in good crosses. But if you make a mistake like that, all of that goes out the window. Why the heck would you try controlling it with your chest when there's a player breathing down your neck, instead of heading it back to the keeper?
Krasic: 5.5 - not crap, but a somewhat lacking performance, at a time when he really needed to step it up. Had some decent interchanges, particularly with Vucinic, but overall he looked very rusty, couldn't even use his bread and butter moves and kept losing the ball or dribbling it out. Had a good shot at goal that brought out a save, and was unlucky not to score the winner.
Marchisio: 3.5 - I didn't think this was possible, but he played even worse than against Siena. Failed to impose himself, barely made a forward pass all game, constantly screwed up our attacks with bad touches or hesitation. The criticism of Marchisio is quickly turning from "he's invisible" to "he just plain sucks". And this is coming from someone who likes the player. That weird toe poke/chip that went 5 metres up in the air and out for a throw-in summed up his performance.
Pirlo: 8.5 - pure class. Got the assist with a cheeky quick free kick, and pulled all the strings all match. He set up about 3-4 more good scoring opportunities, slowed the game down and took control when we were under pressure, lost possession I think once in the whole match (right at the end) and made about 15 passes that made me say 'wow' out loud.
Pepe: 5 - typical Pepe performance. Worked hard tracking back as always, but was useless in attack. Someone needs to tell him to stop trying to dribble past his man, because he can't do it. He even tried beating two defenders at one stage. His crosses were mostly awful throughout the match. It's really sad that he's still playing 90 minutes for us.
Del Piero: 5 - had a good chance right at the start and showed some good understanding with Vucinic, but didn't get to do much else since he was subbed off at half-time.
Vucinic: 6.5 (-1.5) - like De Ceglie, he was playing well before his calamitous mistake. He was getting involved in all of our attacks, putting in some really nice passes, working well with Del Piero and Krasic, and of course scored the goal. To be fair to him the first yellow he got wasn't a yellow at all, but to make that kind of challenge, just before half time, when you're already on a booking, in a non-dangerous position, was just pure stupidity.
-------------------
Matri: 7 - Who called me an idiot in the live match thread for saying that Matri was a better choice for lone striker than Quag? I was really impressed with Matri. He received the ball well up front by himself, fought well, held it up, didn't lose possession and always managed to lay it off to a supporting player. Unfortunately he didn't get a lot of scoring opportunities, and the one he did get was quite a difficult one.
Giaccherini: 6 - it's not his fault, but he's just not good enough. He's fast and works hard, but he lacks creativity, and his dribbling and passing are atrocious. To his credit he did put in a couple of good crosses, but you can just see from watching him that he's just not that talented.
Vidal: 5 - didn't do much, but then again he was played at LB. If this continues, Vidal is going to seriously regretting joining us instead of Bayern. Still, he made some bad challenges, and was pretty sloppy with his control and the couple of passes he made. He did put in two good tackles.
-------------------
Conte: 4.5 - the team played well in the second half and overall I like the mentality and fighting spirit he's instilled in the team, but in the match itself his selection/subs were all wrong. I can understand starting out the match with Pepe, but persisting with Marchisio, Pepe and Giaccherini is idiotic. When he subbed Arturo on for De Ceglie I thought he was showing some balls by playing a 3-5-1 and dominating the midfield, but he just slotted Vidal in at LB. Vidal should have been subbed on for Marchisio much earlier, and Krasic should have been replaced by Esti or Elia.
Referee: 3 - got it all wrong. Gave two stupid yellow cards to Vucinic and Pepe early on, allowed our goal which shouldn't have stood because the ball was moving when Pirlo took the free kick, and worst of all he totally screwed up by not sending Vucinic off and just giving him a warning, then pulling out the yellow card about ten seconds later under pressure from the Bologna players and coaching staff, and presumably the man on the radio. He should be demoted to Serie C for a few weeks.
Bonucci: 10 - stood up for the team when Bologna were being tools. Provided the best laugh of the game, except at the end when three players were down and it looked like this:
