I consider the performance to be pretty sound. The win was deserved and I'm pleased to see the defense and midfield hook up intricately in defending against some of our weaknesses (the defense). This is what should be happening with our team; where the defense and Buffon doesn't have to do much. I'm pleased to see that the idea behind the tactics has worked, as obviously that is an important indicator for future results.
But I'm certainly not pleased with Ranieri's decision making. Honestly, I don't understand what the man is doing with the substitutions and Giovinco. Bringing in David and Alex so late in the game is a meaningless change; they will not do anything because the volume of possession will be at the feet of Udinese. I believe the right moves would have been to bring on somebody who could cause havoc on the counter, a la a Giovinco, to push Udine's team back a bit. Each and every week I see Ranieri make these substitutions that could usually break the side instead of make it; meaning that his decisions could end up causing the weakness needed to concede a goal. Placing new strikers on the pitch at the 87th minute is something that has been proven to not work... so why do it?
Other than the usual Ranieri nonsense, I thought we played well. The defense was sound except for a couple lapses in concentration, which is mostly due to how Sissoko and Poulsen dominated the midfield. This is a facet of the team I enjoy even though I love fluent, attacking football. But with this fact comes my opinion that I hate how we always blast the ball up towards the forwards. This tactic will not work against quality defenses. I believe we should keep the ball on the ground, make sure Camoranesi and our left winger move around quite a lot, and have De Celgie and the right back hug the touchline so that we can exploit the opposition with forays due to width. If we are set on the straight 4-4-2, we need to have the width providing value, and I think De Ceglie showed he can put in some good crosses that we need.
Buffon - 8 - Amazing. Showing that he's the best keeper in the world and anybody who thinks Cech or Casi is better is an idiot.
Grygera - 6 - Solid. Made some good plays going forward as well. Much better than last week.
Mellberg - 6 - Solid, apart from a couple mistakes. MUCH better than last week, so this news is promising.
Chiellini - 7 - Beast. Best defender in Serie A in my opinion. Don't recall a mistake.
De Ceglie - 6.5 - Didn't see him making any mistakes, so that already makes him better than Molinaro. I thought his crosses were good as well, so he needs to start - always.
Camoranesi - 6.5 - Menaced the right side of the pitch like usual;liked how he drifted to the center of the pitch to get the ball.
Poulsen - 7 - Seven for how he did his job. Protected the defense and when he got the ball, he made good passes. This is what I like to see from a player in the center of the pitch - solid PASSING. I have harped long enough about our Blasis and Giannicheddas, so I'm glad to see a player who can get the job done without giving the ball away like a moron.
Sissoko - 6.5 - Protected the defense like a beast, as always.
Nedved - 6 - Looked good but he was getting tired.
Iaquinta - 5.5 - I personally didn't see him do much to trouble the opposition defense. I saw a lot of "mess-ups" with Amauri in terms of chemistry.
Amauri - 6.5 - Good job yo. Good goal and acted like a beast as always. However, he didn't hook up well with Yak.
David, Alex, and Marco - No rating.
Ranieri - 5 - Stupid substitutions once again and I'm becoming increasingly worried about Giovinco in this team. The kid needs to be in the squad no matter what. If we piss off Seba's agent or Seba himself, we are setting ourselves up for a disaster. The kid is talented and he should be in the team.
If Marchionni is in the team, Giovinco should start. That's pretty much the bottom line here and I don't want to fluck up another starlet due to idiocy such as "not thinking he's ready." Load of horse crap. Field Seba and lets turn him into a star.
Forza Juve
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