[SERIE A] Lazio 1 -1 JUVENTUS (1/18/09) (1 Viewer)

[Vinman]

yes, a draw will do, but I didnt think we ever showed that we wanted to win this game....

The entire first half we were played off the damn pitch by a Lazio team who showed what are weaknesses are. Lazio beat us to every ball, and never let us get into any rhythm. I dont think we strung more than 2 passes together the entire first half, and the only positive to come out of the first half was Mellberg's goal off of the corner kick (kind of reminds me how many times this season a DP free-kick saved our asses after playing so poorly). The nice fast paced possession game that works so well against world-beaters like Catania and Siena didnt materialize today, and DP and Amauri barely got a sniff of the ball....and I believe the entire midfield is to blame, for they were all run over multiple times by Lazio's attack. Thank goodness the defense played their hearts out today, and apart from that howler that Manninger let in (one of the worst I've ever seen him conceed), he wasnt too bad, either

In the second half Lazio tired, but we couldnt get anything going with this piss-poor midfield (we need an AM and Diego is the man for the job). Marchionni is a terrible, terrible excuse for a Juve player, and we should sell him off to Rimini or Avellino, where his skill, or lack thereof will be more appreciated. I also thought that Neddy tired, and should have been replaced, and not DP. Can you blame him for the lack of service ??

I see that Ranieri commented that we played a great game, I just wonder what the hell he was watching ??

 

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[Esteban]

The nice fast paced possession game that works so well against world-beaters like Catania and Siena didnt materialize today

And Milan. And Roma.

 

[Vinman]

And Milan. And Roma.

not Lazio, not Inter

 

[GordoDeCentral]

half empty, half full


it was a good result considering all the injuries our team is suffering

 

[Salvo]

half empty, half full


it was a good result considering all the injuries our team is suffering

 

[Amaurisimo]

Hmpf! :undecide:
Am I really the only one that saw an elbow there? I'll have to get back to you after having watched it again. Multimedia guys, can you provide that situation?

of course Nedved elbowed him, what else could happen, maybe he hit the post in middle of the pitch?

It was good game by Nedved, he was only who made something in offense, and played better as lazio supporters were louder.

 

[Nenz]

oh well.. i'm counting on an inter crisis. I'm not fussed at all by this, i thought we would lose with this defense. What worries me though is that it was the defense that was the positive for us.
Yikes, Milan are creeping up on us.

 

[Cronios]

Zanetti a 6? He was the worst today. No reason he should've started in the first place, Marchisio should've been in the first 11. Sissoko worked 10 times more than him and actually made things happen. Get off the Zanetti bandwagon, just cuz u see 3 people say he had a great game last week it is no reason to jump on tthat bandwagon.

I didnt notice there is a Zanetti bandwagon

Perhaps you are right, i mostly wanted to point out that our midfield was sub par.
There are few things that i could in consideration, to give CZ a higher rate than Sissoko, but nothing above an average rate.
-He has barely return from a long injury
-In the first 25', when Sissoko was lost in the field, CZ recovered the ball a few times for him. CZ hasnt got the power and stamina to do what Sissoko did when he has awaken, but his quiet but consistent work was present during the whole time.
-Our team has alienated a bit from the second DM, while the CM has done remarkable well for quite a few months,
CZ was called at times to make up for it, although, this is not what he is made for. Whilst Sissoko's role is known in our team and he had no excuses.
-Zanetti never took any risks(and a silly yellow card, which generally lowers a rate), his passes and tackles came in with surgical precision, adding to the stability and calmness of our team.
-I tend, not to punish/blame our players, for our coaches tactical choices!

These are the reasons i spared him a worse rate than a normal day in the office, of a post-injured player, who had to tactically replace some other type of player.
I did not expect anything more from Zanetti. On the other hand, i knew that sissoko was holding back and could provide more!

In rest, i agree with you that we should start with a CM, thats exactly what i ve been saying for months.
CR has his own reasons to field 2 DMs, my safe bet, is that he fears, our weak defense might collapse without their support,esp against the stronger teams
But the important thing is, that fate had forced his hand to use a CM, he has seen the benefits of it and he had realized them! When he saw the opportunity and he actually felt that our team needed that extra push and opted for it. This really makes me feel confident/optimistic!
Capello would never have sensed that and he would never even try to fix that, let alone, to admit and understand his mistake.
It is very well known that i am not a CR fan, but at least this guy can learn from his mistakes...

PS Because of the lower expectation, i was also generous to Ariaudo, (comparing him to Legro)
and maybe i should also give a higher rate to Mellberg.
O well, it was 02:00 and i was tired, i wanted to right down a few things before i would forget them,
i hope that i got the big picture and the timing helped the ones who live in totally different time frame...

 

[blondu]

we shall see cron if he would start with 2 dm's or 2 cm's or 1/1...but i think ranieri will start with 2 dm's, then if we score , he would let it be...if we are down a goal, he risks and put in a cm.

 

[Alen]

Because he elbowed the living shit out of Lichtenstein or whatever his name is. He was bleedin' and shit. Amazing that nobody even adressed this in the post game talk. It was a clear red. Muntari got a suspension for doing something similar, I hear, didn't see it myself.

Hmpf! :undecide:
Am I really the only one that saw an elbow there? I'll have to get back to you after having watched it again. Multimedia guys, can you provide that situation?

I'm pretty sure it was a head to head clash, but even if it was an elbow Nedved certainly didn't do it on purpose and he won't get a suspension for that.

not Lazio, not Inter

The thing is, those teams who do have possession are also struggling against certain teams. Inter can say that their style worked against Juve, but not against Milan. The same with Milan, Roma, Fiorentina.
We do have to create a balanced team that can play equally well against different styles, but it's a long process and many teams never find that perfect balance. At the moment we don't have that balance but neither does any other team in serie A. The last serie A team that had it was Milan in 2005.

 

[Dostoevsky]

at least 8 of our players were worse than nedved tonight. so why is this anti-molinaro virus now catching nedved too? both nedved and molinaro have played their poor games for juve, but today they were one of the best on the field. i love to read critical reports but sometimes i have the impression that they are written before the match is even played.

tonight marchionni annoyed me. we would have been much better off with either giovinco or de ceglie.

I think he was just decent and that we should start rotating him with De Ceglie eventually.I said like 10 times that yesterday after that post that you have quoted but you probably didn't read it.Also,I didn't say anything about Molinaro.In fact,I said he was good.

 

[sateeh]

I didnt notice there is a Zanetti bandwagon

Perhaps you are right, i mostly wanted to point out that our midfield was sub par.
There are few things that i could in consideration, to give CZ a higher rate than Sissoko, but nothing above an average rate.
-He has barely return from a long injury
-In the first 25', when Sissoko was lost in the field, CZ recovered the ball a few times for him. CZ hasnt got the power and stamina to do what Sissoko did when he has awaken, but his quiet but consistent work was present during the whole time.
-Our team has alienated a bit from the second DM, while the CM has done remarkable well for quite a few months,
CZ was called at times to make up for it, although, this is not what he is made for. Whilst Sissoko's role is known in our team and he had no excuses.
-Zanetti never took any risks(and a silly yellow card, which generally lowers a rate), his passes and tackles came in with surgical precision, adding to the stability and calmness of our team.
-I tend, not to punish/blame our players, for our coaches tactical choices!

These are the reasons i spared him a worse rate than a normal day in the office, of a post-injured player, who had to tactically replace some other type of player.
I did not expect anything more from Zanetti. On the other hand, i knew that sissoko was holding back and could provide more!

In rest, i agree with you that we should start with a CM, thats exactly what i ve been saying for months.
CR has his own reasons to field 2 DMs, my safe bet, is that he fears, our weak defense might collapse without their support,esp against the stronger teams
But the important thing is, that fate had forced his hand to use a CM, he has seen the benefits of it and he had realized them! When he saw the opportunity and he actually felt that our team needed that extra push and opted for it. This really makes me feel confident/optimistic!
Capello would never have sensed that and he would never even try to fix that, let alone, to admit and understand his mistake.
It is very well known that i am not a CR fan, but at least this guy can learn from his mistakes...

PS Because of the lower expectation, i was also generous to Ariaudo, (comparing him to Legro)
and maybe i should also give a higher rate to Mellberg.
O well, it was 02:00 and i was tired, i wanted to right down a few things before i would forget them,
i hope that i got the big picture and the timing helped the ones who live in totally different time frame...

I disagree on the expectations from zanetti, as many of us here expect a lot more from him than was offered last night. The main component of that is holding possession and spreading passes around. That was the main disappointment behind zanetti and the whole midfield's performance. It wasn't just about their position (CMs/DMs), they were pushed back because of the pressure put on them by lazio and because all our passes were so erratic.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Ranieri uses the midfield players he has considering now that tiago and poulsen are and he actually has to make choices.

 

[Red]

Claudio Ranieri - 6.7. CR took no risks, he made his homework, provided the best scheme for the occasion, considering our available material and even Lazio's strengths. Careful orders to deploy and man mark some players and spaces.
He let little tactical space to Lazio and despite our weak and crippled/injury hit defense, we only conceded a goal from a set piece!
When we kicked back, CR was bold enough to help our team to attack more efficiently, adding a few more offensive pieces and taking a calculated risk.
CR has adapted to our needs, he read them and actually made an effort to change things. This demonstrates that he has learn from his mistakes, he has eyes and ears and he is actually aware of the situation!!
I dont know about yo guys, but this gives me confidence about the future.
We werent able to capitalize today, but we will another time, point is, we are heading to the right direction!
As an added bonus, we came one more point closer to the top.
We have done our duty, Inter didnt, no reason to bitch about that!

The whole post was good, but this part was right on the money.

Because he elbowed the living shit out of Lichtenstein or whatever his name is. He was bleedin' and shit. Amazing that nobody even adressed this in the post game talk. It was a clear red. Muntari got a suspension for doing something similar, I hear, didn't see it myself.

It was a clear elbow.

There must be every chance that the incident will be reviewed and Nedved will get a ban.

 

[Cronios]

I disagree on the expectations from zanetti, as many of us here expect a lot more from him than was offered last night. The main component of that is holding possession and spreading passes around. That was the main disappointment behind zanetti and the whole midfield's performance. It wasn't just about their position (CMs/DMs), they were pushed back because of the pressure put on them by lazio and because all our passes were so erratic.

I'm actually looking forward to seeing how Ranieri uses the midfield players he has considering now that tiago and poulsen are and he actually has to make choices.

I m sure that CZ will return to his old days in a couple of match days.
Until then, i ll be merciful!

Indeed, CR will be judged now, when his hands wont be forced by the injuries
but only by his very own choices. However, the signs we ve got so far are positive!
We might have to wait a little longer,to draw a safe conclusion since Sissoko will be suspended next week and some of our players are not 100% ready yet.
There is always happening smth interesting in our midfield

 

[Lawnchair Bes]

yes, a draw will do, but I didnt think we ever showed that we wanted to win this game....

The entire first half we were played off the damn pitch by a Lazio team who showed what are weaknesses are. Lazio beat us to every ball, and never let us get into any rhythm. I dont think we strung more than 2 passes together the entire first half, and the only positive to come out of the first half was Mellberg's goal off of the corner kick (kind of reminds me how many times this season a DP free-kick saved our asses after playing so poorly). The nice fast paced possession game that works so well against world-beaters like Catania and Siena didnt materialize today, and DP and Amauri barely got a sniff of the ball....and I believe the entire midfield is to blame, for they were all run over multiple times by Lazio's attack. Thank goodness the defense played their hearts out today, and apart from that howler that Manninger let in (one of the worst I've ever seen him conceed), he wasnt too bad, either

In the second half Lazio tired, but we couldnt get anything going with this piss-poor midfield (we need an AM and Diego is the man for the job). Marchionni is a terrible, terrible excuse for a Juve player, and we should sell him off to Rimini or Avellino, where his skill, or lack thereof will be more appreciated. I also thought that Neddy tired, and should have been replaced, and not DP. Can you blame him for the lack of service ??

I see that Ranieri commented that we played a great game, I just wonder what the hell he was watching ??

i think the game was good enough. one can't blame zanetti for not providing enough creative spark seeing how little he has played and without camoranessi and an old nedved we are pretty much left to free and corner kicks. ranieri just like all of us reasonable ones around here vinny, made the most of this game.

 

[_GGB_]

Our "attacking" midfield was our weakness... DP and Amauri got little ball especially in the first half...
First half overall we were lucky to be 1-1...

I really felt Amauri was illegally brought down at 60min in the box... should have been a penalty but noones really mentioned it here?

If we were switched on from the start we should and could have won this match!

 

[Red]

I didn't think it was a penalty.

There wasn't enough contact for it to be a foul.

 

[Dominic]

Zanetti was indeed a bit dissapointing yesterday. Alas, he wasn't the only one.

 

[Dostoevsky]

Exactly.

 

[GordoDeCentral]

or maybe we should credit the other team, as our play has started to depend heavily on Amauri's physical presence and Diakite totally neutralized it.