Serie A: Juventus vs Napoli [March 16 , 2008] (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter JCK
- Start date
The way Iaquinta lost his marker was real art. One touch at the right time.
0.01 sec later and he would have been blocked. I don't know if it was luck, instinct or great vision (or all three) but Vinny made it look special.
I'm not sure about part 1. I'm watching it on SKY highlights at the moment, and from the first replay it really looks like there is a contact. It looks like Molinaro did kick Lavezzi. But it's impossibile to be sure if there was a contact or Lavezzi simply dived.
0.01 sec later and he would have been blocked. I don't know if it was luck, instinct or great vision (or all three) but Vinny made it look special.
I'm not sure about part 1. I'm watching it on SKY highlights at the moment, and from the first replay it really looks like there is a contact. It looks like Molinaro did kick Lavezzi. But it's impossibile to be sure if there was a contact or Lavezzi simply dived.
And he always draws more than one defender towards him, creating space for other players. 
True, he was unlucky with his Freekicks, but it's never easy to score from freekicks. We should be thankful that we have someone such as Ale for these freekicks and not like Inter's Ibra.
Apart from the freekicks, what I noticed today is that Ale is always marked by at least two players. The same thing was in the prev game. He's always marked well, and I must say that he'd doing pretty well getting rid of them by returning to the midfield and changing his position and style.
Well, it's been a while since I did a legitimate match report.
In short, Juve really turned on the domination about 2/3 of the way through this match and Napoli held on with whatever they had. Helping them out was that we couldn't finish and we gave the ball away too easily with bad passes and errant dribbling.
It was an exhausting game to watch. Minutes upon minutes of wasted chances, hair-pulling misses and mishaps, waiting for the hope of an eventual Juve goal and hoping that someone didn't screw up momentarily at the other end.
Lots of deserved love here for Sissoko, who again had a great game for us. But this match was deadlocked 0-0 and could have easily ended that way. Which is why despite his many off shots, misses, and missteps, I had to give Del Piero my MOM vote for changing the outcome with his assist (and a few other clever flicks). No disrespect to Sissoko, but despite his outstanding play the outcome of the match didn't pivot on him as much.
Most of my ratings are on the harsh side, admittedly, because today I felt like you had to prove yourself to earn anything better than a 5.5 in a match like today's.
Buffon - 6 - Not sure if he had some muscular problem or what. Parried away a ball or two he should have easily caught. Didn't look himself for parts of the match, which was worrisome. But not challenged enough that it became a factor.
Salihamidzic - 5.5 - Still waiting for his breakout game a la Grygera last week. This wasn't it. Didn't do anything horribly wrong, which makes my 5.5 rating a bit harsh, but he really was not much of a factor today.
Stendardo - 6 - Some pretty good play. I liked some of his moments of ball control, a steal here, and even a decent header at the other end.
Chiellini - 7 - I loved seeing all the Napoli forwards at right/center waving their arms for the ball to their left winger. It was as if they thought sending the ball their way would somehow do something. Ha! Chiellini shut their asses down big time. Secco should be fired just for considering trading this guy alone.
Grygera - 5.5 - Lightning didn't strike twice. Not much to add, not much to criticize. Played back a lot instead of going forward, but that's perhaps because Brazzo and Molinaro ended up doing that more.
Nocerino - 5.5 - His crosses at least didn't leave the stadium. But overall was rather ineffective. That Molinaro had more of an impact than him says something, and it's not good.
Tiago - 6.5 - Other than a couple of bone-headed turnovers, he had a very good game. Great vision and accuracy down the pitch, as when he picked out a charging Sissoko deep for a cross that went short of the net.
Sissoko - 7 - Not a lot of flaws in his game today. Really ran the length of the field and contributed much in defense, ball control, and even attack. A complete game.
Nedved - 6.5 - A key mover of the ball today offensively. Created some good chances. We miss this guy. Good to have him back.
Del Piero - 6.5 - Did little with his set pieces. Lost the ball here and there. But added a bit of creativity up front in a match that hinged on our ability to do so. Some great assists, and what he did to get open and make the assist for our game winner was insanely critical to the match. Far from his best games, but given the style of the match and what we critically needed to do to win it, my MOM.
Trezeguet - 5 - Got a few touches, but they were poor all around. Awful misses. A bad, unnecessary card early on. Didn't take a shot when he should have been selfish in the second half with the offense running. Bad day.
Subs:
Iaquinta - 7 - Of course, the goal. Of course, the goal celebration. Brilliant way to shake his marker for the goal too. The one real transfer success for us this past offseason continues to cement his critical role on this squad. Bravo, Iaquinta. Our black and white stripes look better on you than your former employer's.
Molinaro - 6 - A couple of bone-headed possession problems that sent the ball the other way. But fortunately Napoli couldn't threaten much and coverage behind him was good (including Sissoko running back). A few crosses today, and all of them weren't half bad -- I have to say. Oddly, he had a better offensive game than a defensive one today. He even controversially broke open possession on the play that gave us the goal.
Birindelli - NR - Not on long enough to mention.
Coach:
Ranieri - 6 - Tactics were stale and he should have taken advantage of what Napoli was allowing earlier. But his subs saved his performance. Molinaro was not an expected plus over Brazzo, but sure enough it was. And we needed Iaquinta on the pitch like nobody's business. The 59' mark was early enough, and I was glad to see he saw that a bit earlier than usual.
In short, Juve really turned on the domination about 2/3 of the way through this match and Napoli held on with whatever they had. Helping them out was that we couldn't finish and we gave the ball away too easily with bad passes and errant dribbling.
It was an exhausting game to watch. Minutes upon minutes of wasted chances, hair-pulling misses and mishaps, waiting for the hope of an eventual Juve goal and hoping that someone didn't screw up momentarily at the other end.
Lots of deserved love here for Sissoko, who again had a great game for us. But this match was deadlocked 0-0 and could have easily ended that way. Which is why despite his many off shots, misses, and missteps, I had to give Del Piero my MOM vote for changing the outcome with his assist (and a few other clever flicks). No disrespect to Sissoko, but despite his outstanding play the outcome of the match didn't pivot on him as much.
Most of my ratings are on the harsh side, admittedly, because today I felt like you had to prove yourself to earn anything better than a 5.5 in a match like today's.
Buffon - 6 - Not sure if he had some muscular problem or what. Parried away a ball or two he should have easily caught. Didn't look himself for parts of the match, which was worrisome. But not challenged enough that it became a factor.
Salihamidzic - 5.5 - Still waiting for his breakout game a la Grygera last week. This wasn't it. Didn't do anything horribly wrong, which makes my 5.5 rating a bit harsh, but he really was not much of a factor today.
Stendardo - 6 - Some pretty good play. I liked some of his moments of ball control, a steal here, and even a decent header at the other end.
Chiellini - 7 - I loved seeing all the Napoli forwards at right/center waving their arms for the ball to their left winger. It was as if they thought sending the ball their way would somehow do something. Ha! Chiellini shut their asses down big time. Secco should be fired just for considering trading this guy alone.
Grygera - 5.5 - Lightning didn't strike twice. Not much to add, not much to criticize. Played back a lot instead of going forward, but that's perhaps because Brazzo and Molinaro ended up doing that more.
Nocerino - 5.5 - His crosses at least didn't leave the stadium. But overall was rather ineffective. That Molinaro had more of an impact than him says something, and it's not good.
Tiago - 6.5 - Other than a couple of bone-headed turnovers, he had a very good game. Great vision and accuracy down the pitch, as when he picked out a charging Sissoko deep for a cross that went short of the net.
Sissoko - 7 - Not a lot of flaws in his game today. Really ran the length of the field and contributed much in defense, ball control, and even attack. A complete game.
Nedved - 6.5 - A key mover of the ball today offensively. Created some good chances. We miss this guy. Good to have him back.
Del Piero - 6.5 - Did little with his set pieces. Lost the ball here and there. But added a bit of creativity up front in a match that hinged on our ability to do so. Some great assists, and what he did to get open and make the assist for our game winner was insanely critical to the match. Far from his best games, but given the style of the match and what we critically needed to do to win it, my MOM.
Trezeguet - 5 - Got a few touches, but they were poor all around. Awful misses. A bad, unnecessary card early on. Didn't take a shot when he should have been selfish in the second half with the offense running. Bad day.
Subs:
Iaquinta - 7 - Of course, the goal. Of course, the goal celebration. Brilliant way to shake his marker for the goal too. The one real transfer success for us this past offseason continues to cement his critical role on this squad. Bravo, Iaquinta. Our black and white stripes look better on you than your former employer's.
Molinaro - 6 - A couple of bone-headed possession problems that sent the ball the other way. But fortunately Napoli couldn't threaten much and coverage behind him was good (including Sissoko running back). A few crosses today, and all of them weren't half bad -- I have to say. Oddly, he had a better offensive game than a defensive one today. He even controversially broke open possession on the play that gave us the goal.
Birindelli - NR - Not on long enough to mention.
Coach:
Ranieri - 6 - Tactics were stale and he should have taken advantage of what Napoli was allowing earlier. But his subs saved his performance. Molinaro was not an expected plus over Brazzo, but sure enough it was. And we needed Iaquinta on the pitch like nobody's business. The 59' mark was early enough, and I was glad to see he saw that a bit earlier than usual.
