Very lame first half. We upped the tempo in the second half and with our physical attributes made life tough for Empoli, we closed them down well and suffocated them in their own half. We really were poor on the offensive side. We had no creativity, poor passing, poor player placement and poor movement. It was all very predictable. Two set-pieces and a rebound got us the win anyway. We played poorly, but did enough to secure a surprisingly convincing looking result nonetheless.
One more positive note, our makeshift defence handled themselves well. Bravo for that.
The best thing for me was seeing Marchionni and Camoranesi back. They give us much more creativity, technique(especially Camo), some explosiveness and width to our side. I hope Ranieri will try to use them both together consistently. They could solve a lot of the team's problems(wishful thinking?).
Player ratings(i'll keep it short):
Buffon
Hardly tested
Birindelli 6
Solid, actually one of the few to not hoof the ball forward in the first half.
Grygera 6
Good at one on one duels.
Criscito 6
Solid as well, too many longballs. At least some of them hit the target though.
Molinaro 6
Good at the back, his passing is erratic, but I like his runs and energy.
Salihamidzic 5.5
He has his effort and hard work going for him, but in a tight team against a defensive opponent he can't force anything. And we should expect from a player in his position in our formation to be able to make things happen down his flank. Dissapointing, didn't make any glaring mistakes though.
Zanetti 6
He was isolated in the first half and had to resort to a lot of longballs. At least he tries to take charge and spreads the play around in absence of any of the other midfielders trying to make play. Does his usual cleaning work as well as always of course and I think he finally didn't get a yellow card.
Palladino 5.5
A bit dissapointing today. Undisciplined and headless in his moves. He has a surprise element in his moves, but it lead to nothing today. He was looking good prior to this match, but in midfield Nedved,Camo and Marchionni simply offer more, same story upfont with DP, Iaquinta and Trez being the better players. Tough luck on the kid.
Iaquinta 6
Very good at what he does. I think he's great, though things didn't really go his way today in terms of productiveness. He's almost like a defender upfront, he wins so many balls.
Trezeguet 8
Man of the match. Hattrick, what more could we want.
DP, Camo, Marchionni; no rating.
And last but not least (well.. maybe he is
)
Tiago 6.5
He was pisspoor in the first half. He gets credit for playing a crucial part in each goal (no credit for that lame shot). Other than that, nothing special once again, i'm afraid. His contribution to our team play is below par. He is the one that is expected to drive the midfield forward, he did not do that. He left Zanetti isolated. Tiago missed a lot of passes. Didn't do much for our defensive play either. Couldnt send Salihamidzic or Palladino into spaces. When things are lame, he is in the position to up the tempo, spread the balls, but didn't happen.
In his defence (before any of you brings it up), he has played little and with more time and consistent use of him, he'd be better. Also maybe we should place too much on his shouders. His semi-assists are very important and warrant more time on the pitch. In the end I expect better from someone in his role(and price..) frankly.
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