OK, match report time.
I am honestly trying to put on my best juventino face in light of recent events. Honest. See, Capello -- we're out to support you guys.
Today there wasn't a lot to cheer about. But I guess the advantage was that my expectations were pretty low going in. Juve is in some real crap form of late. We have those drought periods of goal scoring, and this time they are happening in April rather than January. And I am tempering my expectations on our recovery: the goals won't come pouring out in one match, but they will slowly come back to our consciousness with time and confidence.
However, who would be the person to break the drought? I don't think there's any question that the best player on the team right now capable of doing it would be our captain. So I saw it as essential that we started DP. One thing Capello got right, despite DP's injury recovery.
In general, we looked nervous and anxious -- like we were trying to get our bearings after a demoralizing series of failures. The good news is that lift seemed to pick up towards the end -- some momentum I hope continues on through to next week's matchup at Cagliari.
We had something scary like 10 corners to 0 for the Viola, and we didn't convert (almost did late thanks to a Vieira header, though). We really should have capitalized on something that lopsided in our favor.
Abbiati - I think Gigi was injured. That's too bad on two levels. One, for Gigi. For another, I was hoping Capello had possibly learned something about maybe trying to rotate some good players and keep others fresh. Foolish me. Anyway, for a guy who should show a bit of rust, he had a really nice game. Still clearly stronger than he was to start the season. And the PK save was sublime and gave us some points today. I have to give him MOM. 7
Zambrotta - We need several of him in our backfield. He did a little to contribute offfensively, which we desperately need now. A killer shot on goal and regular crosses in the box. And I loved how he darted upfield often to shake up the Viola defense. There were a couple of crosses he could have prevented, but overall a good game. 7
Zebina - Joke City. Pointless hack on Toni lead to the Viola PK. Defensively out of position. Errant passes upfield. Futile passes when in the Viola end. Camo was double-teamed and still played better than a free Zebina with no markers. Like in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, I have to wonder if Zebina is worth more dead than alive. We really may have been better off playing with 10 men out there. And to my earlier point, Zebina couldn't even cross in a game of checkers. 4
Kovac - Some defensive flubs, but he benefitted from often getting position on his marks. OK match. 6
Thuram - Mixed. His errant header lead to the Viola goal. He didn't make a lot of key stops (other than some fouls). But he did redirect the ball upfield in a couple of key situations. 5.5
Camoranesi - Double-teamed a lot but still caused trouble. Generally effective, so naturally Capello pulled him. 6
Giannichedda - Put in a good match for us. Sure he almost scored an OG, but if he didn't intervene it was going to clearly be a goal for the Viola with Abbiati out of the net. Strong, physical play. Did well. 6.5
Vieira - Mixed. His assist lead to the DP goal. And he did wreak a little havoc in front of the Viola goal when we needed it. But some ball control problems and questionable decisions out there. 6
Nedved - His tank seemed a little low after giving his all midweek against Arsenal. Nice corner almost lead to a Vieira game winner. Didn't get involved with the ball play often enough. 5.5
Del Piero - Finished when we needed it -- which is more than I can say for the rest of our forwards lately. Otherwise, he wasn't having a great game. He still has an injury, afterall. But an injured DP right now is obviously a better scoring option than the rest of our forwards combined. Sad, but true. 6.5
Zlatan - I'm still cutting him a little slack. But he had too many opportunities that should have been more than what he did in horrible finishing. More effective at some unselfish passing play, which is the only reason I don't rate him as my liability of the match. 5
Subs:
Blasi - Came in for Giannichedda, and didn't too too poorly. His passes were better than his previous matches. No major mistakes. 6
Zalayeta - On for DP, didn't get a lot of opportunities. But generated a little in front. 6
Mutu - Poor form lately. Some poor decisions and passes, and didn't contribute as we needed. Should have left Camo on. 5
Capello - I liked his starting lineup choices. Can't do anything about the formation -- I've given up on that. But his subs were some of the worst I had seen all year. His subs played OK on average, but they contributed nothing to the overall match tactics we needed and removed players who were making a real impact. 4.5
Here's to hoping this match was the first step out of this hole we're in.
I am honestly trying to put on my best juventino face in light of recent events. Honest. See, Capello -- we're out to support you guys.
Today there wasn't a lot to cheer about. But I guess the advantage was that my expectations were pretty low going in. Juve is in some real crap form of late. We have those drought periods of goal scoring, and this time they are happening in April rather than January. And I am tempering my expectations on our recovery: the goals won't come pouring out in one match, but they will slowly come back to our consciousness with time and confidence.
However, who would be the person to break the drought? I don't think there's any question that the best player on the team right now capable of doing it would be our captain. So I saw it as essential that we started DP. One thing Capello got right, despite DP's injury recovery.
In general, we looked nervous and anxious -- like we were trying to get our bearings after a demoralizing series of failures. The good news is that lift seemed to pick up towards the end -- some momentum I hope continues on through to next week's matchup at Cagliari.
We had something scary like 10 corners to 0 for the Viola, and we didn't convert (almost did late thanks to a Vieira header, though). We really should have capitalized on something that lopsided in our favor.
Abbiati - I think Gigi was injured. That's too bad on two levels. One, for Gigi. For another, I was hoping Capello had possibly learned something about maybe trying to rotate some good players and keep others fresh. Foolish me. Anyway, for a guy who should show a bit of rust, he had a really nice game. Still clearly stronger than he was to start the season. And the PK save was sublime and gave us some points today. I have to give him MOM. 7
Zambrotta - We need several of him in our backfield. He did a little to contribute offfensively, which we desperately need now. A killer shot on goal and regular crosses in the box. And I loved how he darted upfield often to shake up the Viola defense. There were a couple of crosses he could have prevented, but overall a good game. 7
Zebina - Joke City. Pointless hack on Toni lead to the Viola PK. Defensively out of position. Errant passes upfield. Futile passes when in the Viola end. Camo was double-teamed and still played better than a free Zebina with no markers. Like in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, I have to wonder if Zebina is worth more dead than alive. We really may have been better off playing with 10 men out there. And to my earlier point, Zebina couldn't even cross in a game of checkers. 4
Kovac - Some defensive flubs, but he benefitted from often getting position on his marks. OK match. 6
Thuram - Mixed. His errant header lead to the Viola goal. He didn't make a lot of key stops (other than some fouls). But he did redirect the ball upfield in a couple of key situations. 5.5
Camoranesi - Double-teamed a lot but still caused trouble. Generally effective, so naturally Capello pulled him. 6
Giannichedda - Put in a good match for us. Sure he almost scored an OG, but if he didn't intervene it was going to clearly be a goal for the Viola with Abbiati out of the net. Strong, physical play. Did well. 6.5
Vieira - Mixed. His assist lead to the DP goal. And he did wreak a little havoc in front of the Viola goal when we needed it. But some ball control problems and questionable decisions out there. 6
Nedved - His tank seemed a little low after giving his all midweek against Arsenal. Nice corner almost lead to a Vieira game winner. Didn't get involved with the ball play often enough. 5.5
Del Piero - Finished when we needed it -- which is more than I can say for the rest of our forwards lately. Otherwise, he wasn't having a great game. He still has an injury, afterall. But an injured DP right now is obviously a better scoring option than the rest of our forwards combined. Sad, but true. 6.5
Zlatan - I'm still cutting him a little slack. But he had too many opportunities that should have been more than what he did in horrible finishing. More effective at some unselfish passing play, which is the only reason I don't rate him as my liability of the match. 5
Subs:
Blasi - Came in for Giannichedda, and didn't too too poorly. His passes were better than his previous matches. No major mistakes. 6
Zalayeta - On for DP, didn't get a lot of opportunities. But generated a little in front. 6
Mutu - Poor form lately. Some poor decisions and passes, and didn't contribute as we needed. Should have left Camo on. 5
Capello - I liked his starting lineup choices. Can't do anything about the formation -- I've given up on that. But his subs were some of the worst I had seen all year. His subs played OK on average, but they contributed nothing to the overall match tactics we needed and removed players who were making a real impact. 4.5
Here's to hoping this match was the first step out of this hole we're in.
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.. BUT what I like about this guy is his heart. He plays his heart out when he is on the field. If I was a coach I would have started him over vieira. His first match in a while. No mistakes = 6
maybe but he should leave training football for fishing 
