The good news is that we came away with another win...and we'll definitely take them where we can get them !!
This Serie A season is very balanced, and it seems like just about any team can pull a shock victory out of the hat (Empoli), or come up with an unexpected draw (Napoli).
Our game with Genoa lived up to the expectations of a tense, hard fought game, with little to separate between both teams.
For the most part, I liked our play in the first half. We showed some speed and good passing ability as we moved the ball forward. The only thing about the first half that started to annoy me is when we would try to force the long-ball. Genoa wasnt falling for it, and we never had any luck with it.
I thought Genoa was the better team in the second half...all we did was try to make the long ball work, and end up giving them the ball on every attempt. This has happened in the second half of many of our games, and I'm still not sure if its just our guys running out of steam, or RUINeri telling our guys to sit back, and hold the lead. Our team is really missing a good midfield playmaker (Riquelme for Tiago come January !!)
Either way, if Genoa were a little more clinical in front of the net, we wouldnt have taken 3 points from this game...we may have none. This has to change, or we will be in some serious trouble.
My Ratings:
Buffon - 7 - Another good performance...made some good saves, and his positioning is always perfect. I saw the look on his face when DP missed a free kick from way out midway thru the second half- priceless !!
Grygera - 6 - He was good both defensively and coming forward in the first half. He had a few good crosses...seemed to stay back in the second half
Legrottaglie - 6 - He was decent, I didnt really see him do much wrong. He read the game pretty well
Chiellini - 6.5 - He was our best defender. He is aggressive and plays like a guy who has always been a CB. A few too many high elbows from him today though
Molinaro - 5 - He was pretty anonymous in the first half, but decided to announced his arrival in the second half with a boneheaded play that almost cost us a goal, with a misplaced back header. He continued this trend by forgetting how to defend after that. Not Juve material
Salihamidzic - 5 - Has pace...and thats about it. Terrible long balls and crosses, which did absolutely nothing for us
Nocerino - 6.5 - Aggressive and all over the midfield. I cant ask much more from this ball winner.
Zanetti - 5.5 - Where he has been our most solid player in many of our games, today he was a bit anonymous. He made a few nice plays, then seemed to diasppear.
Nedved - 6 - He never stopped running, and was all over the place. He had a nice cross to DP for the goal. Trez needed more help with service, but Neddy couldnt provide it. Lost his cool at the end, resulting in a red card... which should have been avoided
Del Piero - 7 - My MOM. He carried the team today with his ball-skills, shooting, and endless amount of energy. He showed some real strength out there today (Zeman would say he shot a needle in his ass pre-game

). He proved the doubters and haters wrong today !!
Trezeguet - 6 - He got terrible service...most of the damn long-balls were either well short, or just way the fuck off. Cant blame him if he never gets the ball
Subs:
Palladino - 6.5 - For the short time he was out there, he made his presence known. He was the only player trying to use some ball control
Almiron - NR - Not on long enough to be rated
Coach:
Ranieri - 4.5 - What was the gameplan, score 1 goal and then defend....and hope to sink them with a longball ?? Lucky we survived the second half. His subs were poor...Neddy should have been replaced, not DP (Neddy ran like hell and was gassed by the 60th minute). Leaving Brazzo out there was another dumb move, he did nothing constructive the entire game. The red card was just the icing on the cake for a perfect afternoon for RUINeri...Jose, can you hear me ?? :eyebrows: