Serie A: Livorno vs Juventus [Jan 27 2008] (10 Viewers)
- Thread starter CORVETTE
- Start date
Well, we're going to look fondly at Livorno this season. But the way this match started, it wasn't that clear. The match was won because Juve capitalized on some great passing from Zanetti that sprung attackers from distance and proved to be accurate, and our forwards finished enough to make it count.
On the downside, the defense was often playing like the Keystone Cops -- looking disorganized, with missed assignments, and leaving major gaps. Belardi's first real start for us wasn't marred too badly by it, but we weren't helping it either. Two matches in a row against 10-man squads, and we still seem to look like we need defensive help.
Otherwise, offensively we seemed to show a lot better coordination.
Belardi - 6.5 - Generally on the mark, despite the lack of help at times. The one free kick from Tavano that luckily rebounded off the post was a good example -- he played close enough to the post to reach, but didn't overplay it to leave him as exposed on the other side. Not a bad start when trying to fill Gigi's shoes and not having a rhythm with the team yet.
Salihamidzic - 4.5 - Downright awful today. Most of his crosses were deflected and couldn't make it through. The ones that weren't blocked would only make contact with the beer vendors. And defensively, he exposed us far too often. Which isn't so bad when you're on the attack a lot. But when you're passing to the wrong guy up the pitch, at least come back and defend and not stand there when he screams by you in the other direction.
Grygera - 5.5 - I have mixed feelings here. He's clearly not in a position he's comfortable with. He seems too small for the role and generally looks pretty lost out there. But he's playing a role the team needs and, well, he wasn't terrible at it (see: Brazzo). A few decent headers off the line, but trouble the whole time.
Legrottaglie - 6 - Still our most confident defender. But that wasn't rubbing off on his teammates. The good news is that his individual play has become strong enough that we can be confident in him. The bad news is that he's the best we have in defense right now, and we need more leadership and organization from him that we're not getting in matches like this.
Molinaro - 6.5 - You can't always be sure what you get from this guy from game to game. A couple of defensive errors, but this was perhaps his best defensive match as a juventino yet. Twice in the first half he ran down breakaway plays of a charging Livorno counterattack. The first time, he sped up and took away the inside option to prevent a galloping Pasquale from passing at the end of the counterattack, forcing him to take the shot at Belardi instead...and then he ended up clearing the resulting ball that came back on the volley. The second time before the end of the half, he completely cut off a galloping Tristan on the counterattack -- coming from behind and sweeping the ball out from right in front of the guy.
Our fastest guy on defense, it seems. And some strong play there. Offensively, he loses the ball under pressure too easily, but a couple of nice plays inside -- including his early cross to Nedved.
Unlike the good-play-then-disaster of Boumsong, I'm still not sure what to make of Molinaro. He's young and seems to be developing/improving in some areas -- which is a lot more than I can say for Grygera where it's clear he's as good as he will ever be for us. The verdict is still out if this guy will come through as a future starter or will fall back in the laughable dust bin.
Palladino - 6 - Another thing clear to me from this match was that Palladino will never be a worthy Juve starter in attack. He just doesn't have the finishing skills or instincts for that. But he does have good ball skills on the wing and some in midfield. He's an assist man and not a goal man.
Nocerino - 5.5 - Great pursuit, but could have been more effective in results. Also came apart a lot late in the second half when we were not winning balls when defending against an attacking 10-man side.
C Zanetti - 8 - Some of the best ball of his career, perhaps? MOM. Brilliant looping passes that accurately target attackers on the run. Heads-up play and excellent service from afar. Not every one of his brilliant passes were converted today, but just enough of them. And even decent coverage in defense on the counter.
Nedved - 6 - Some decent movement in attack, but it didn't result in much on the board.
Del Piero - 7 - Some sloppy possession here and there: a running drive to an easy tackle that takes him out and sends the ball the other way and him to the ground. Or meddling with the ball for too long when he had the charge and the numbers advantage. But classic Del Piero creativity at his feet, a great counterattack goal, and perfect pairing with his assist on Trez's second goal.
Trezeguet - 7.5 - Classic Trez special today: a few touches, but when we needed it he was one-touch deadly. Caught him too often on the wings trying to slow down a wayward upfield pass when we needed him in the goal box. But otherwise very, very fine form today. Excellent sense of the defensive line and being onsides today.
Subs:
Iaquinta - 5.5 - On the pitch long enough to make an impact, but didn't.
Castiglia - 6 - On for so very brief, but I liked what I saw. Got involved and passed well with his teammates.
Coach:
Ranieri - 5 - The team won in spite of his tactics. Defense was disorganized. We were on the ropes for too long against a 10-man Livorno. This team won from the brilliance of Zanetti and enough good play and finishing from Del Piero and Trezeguet to put it out of reach for the opportunities we made.
On the downside, the defense was often playing like the Keystone Cops -- looking disorganized, with missed assignments, and leaving major gaps. Belardi's first real start for us wasn't marred too badly by it, but we weren't helping it either. Two matches in a row against 10-man squads, and we still seem to look like we need defensive help.
Otherwise, offensively we seemed to show a lot better coordination.
Belardi - 6.5 - Generally on the mark, despite the lack of help at times. The one free kick from Tavano that luckily rebounded off the post was a good example -- he played close enough to the post to reach, but didn't overplay it to leave him as exposed on the other side. Not a bad start when trying to fill Gigi's shoes and not having a rhythm with the team yet.
Salihamidzic - 4.5 - Downright awful today. Most of his crosses were deflected and couldn't make it through. The ones that weren't blocked would only make contact with the beer vendors. And defensively, he exposed us far too often. Which isn't so bad when you're on the attack a lot. But when you're passing to the wrong guy up the pitch, at least come back and defend and not stand there when he screams by you in the other direction.
Grygera - 5.5 - I have mixed feelings here. He's clearly not in a position he's comfortable with. He seems too small for the role and generally looks pretty lost out there. But he's playing a role the team needs and, well, he wasn't terrible at it (see: Brazzo). A few decent headers off the line, but trouble the whole time.
Legrottaglie - 6 - Still our most confident defender. But that wasn't rubbing off on his teammates. The good news is that his individual play has become strong enough that we can be confident in him. The bad news is that he's the best we have in defense right now, and we need more leadership and organization from him that we're not getting in matches like this.
Molinaro - 6.5 - You can't always be sure what you get from this guy from game to game. A couple of defensive errors, but this was perhaps his best defensive match as a juventino yet. Twice in the first half he ran down breakaway plays of a charging Livorno counterattack. The first time, he sped up and took away the inside option to prevent a galloping Pasquale from passing at the end of the counterattack, forcing him to take the shot at Belardi instead...and then he ended up clearing the resulting ball that came back on the volley. The second time before the end of the half, he completely cut off a galloping Tristan on the counterattack -- coming from behind and sweeping the ball out from right in front of the guy.
Our fastest guy on defense, it seems. And some strong play there. Offensively, he loses the ball under pressure too easily, but a couple of nice plays inside -- including his early cross to Nedved.
Unlike the good-play-then-disaster of Boumsong, I'm still not sure what to make of Molinaro. He's young and seems to be developing/improving in some areas -- which is a lot more than I can say for Grygera where it's clear he's as good as he will ever be for us. The verdict is still out if this guy will come through as a future starter or will fall back in the laughable dust bin.
Palladino - 6 - Another thing clear to me from this match was that Palladino will never be a worthy Juve starter in attack. He just doesn't have the finishing skills or instincts for that. But he does have good ball skills on the wing and some in midfield. He's an assist man and not a goal man.
Nocerino - 5.5 - Great pursuit, but could have been more effective in results. Also came apart a lot late in the second half when we were not winning balls when defending against an attacking 10-man side.
C Zanetti - 8 - Some of the best ball of his career, perhaps? MOM. Brilliant looping passes that accurately target attackers on the run. Heads-up play and excellent service from afar. Not every one of his brilliant passes were converted today, but just enough of them. And even decent coverage in defense on the counter.
Nedved - 6 - Some decent movement in attack, but it didn't result in much on the board.
Del Piero - 7 - Some sloppy possession here and there: a running drive to an easy tackle that takes him out and sends the ball the other way and him to the ground. Or meddling with the ball for too long when he had the charge and the numbers advantage. But classic Del Piero creativity at his feet, a great counterattack goal, and perfect pairing with his assist on Trez's second goal.
Trezeguet - 7.5 - Classic Trez special today: a few touches, but when we needed it he was one-touch deadly. Caught him too often on the wings trying to slow down a wayward upfield pass when we needed him in the goal box. But otherwise very, very fine form today. Excellent sense of the defensive line and being onsides today.
Subs:
Iaquinta - 5.5 - On the pitch long enough to make an impact, but didn't.
Castiglia - 6 - On for so very brief, but I liked what I saw. Got involved and passed well with his teammates.
Coach:
Ranieri - 5 - The team won in spite of his tactics. Defense was disorganized. We were on the ropes for too long against a 10-man Livorno. This team won from the brilliance of Zanetti and enough good play and finishing from Del Piero and Trezeguet to put it out of reach for the opportunities we made.
:scarf:
this win cracked me up after i got a bad sleep because of my Housemate forgot to close the window , so many mosquitoes makes a noise sound around
and the bad thing is i absent from my morning shift today
and surely lost my 300NT because of that fuckin Mosquito .
Forza Juventus
Must prepare for my next shift , wont miss it again
____ _ _ _
this win cracked me up after i got a bad sleep because of my Housemate forgot to close the window , so many mosquitoes makes a noise sound around
Forza Juventus
Must prepare for my next shift , wont miss it again
____ _ _ _
Well at least we have improved a lot from the previous games and were actually going through the midfield a bit without just throwing those hopeful balls upfront. Not a great performance but we still controlled the game well imo.
just wanted to add a couple of points to Dom and Swag.
Molinaro- just like swag said his best defensive game of the season. His cross coverage was wonderful, not only on those counter attacks but also with some headers. He was our best defender there and although he wasn't great offensively but did well overall. I hope he builds on that performance.
nocerino- another player that improved his performance imo. Much better game from him as he kept everything simple, and at the moment he tried to complicate things in the midfield he looked awful again. The kid has a lot of potential and he could learn many tricks of the trade from a great player next to him.
Our goals were very well taken and the 3rd one was all class from alex and trezi.
No mistakes from Ranieri today and at least he prepared his team mentally today. Now he needs to plan a bit better offensively as all our defensive troubles came from individual mistakes.
just wanted to add a couple of points to Dom and Swag.
Molinaro- just like swag said his best defensive game of the season. His cross coverage was wonderful, not only on those counter attacks but also with some headers. He was our best defender there and although he wasn't great offensively but did well overall. I hope he builds on that performance.
nocerino- another player that improved his performance imo. Much better game from him as he kept everything simple, and at the moment he tried to complicate things in the midfield he looked awful again. The kid has a lot of potential and he could learn many tricks of the trade from a great player next to him.
Our goals were very well taken and the 3rd one was all class from alex and trezi.
No mistakes from Ranieri today and at least he prepared his team mentally today. Now he needs to plan a bit better offensively as all our defensive troubles came from individual mistakes.
What happened after the game. I missed the last 5 minutes of the match. I assume Castiglia is a talented member of the primavera. I think that both Nocerino and Molinaro could be satisfied. Molinaro was superb in defence he ran and covered alot of the backline. suprisingly enough Leggro was poor today and due to most of our defence's incompetence Molinaro saved us on more than one occasion. Zanetti was good but i do not agree with him playing some of the best football of his career. Nice to see trez return to scoring and him work outside the box.
It was a bizarre end to the match. It looks like some bad blood got heated on the pitch as the players had done their round of handshakes and walked off. The cameras focused on Iaquinta, so I wouldn't be surprised if got carded post-match.
Quick question: what does this have to do with this thread of "Serie A: Livorno vs Juventus [Jan 27 2008]"?
OK, I have one for you... "Hey! Heath Ledger is still dead!"
Yep.
I keep going back in his career and end up at Inter. That could explain a lot.
I noticed that too. A couple of times I was tempted to yell at him to take the shot. But he didn't. And on second thought, given the precise behavior you cite above (firing way over goal with his shots a lot this season when in that scenario), it was probably the better choice. But unfortunately, what he opted to do instead didn't create opportunities either.
Quick question: what does this have to do with this thread of "Serie A: Livorno vs Juventus [Jan 27 2008]"?
OK, I have one for you... "Hey! Heath Ledger is still dead!"
Yep.
I keep going back in his career and end up at Inter. That could explain a lot.
I noticed that too. A couple of times I was tempted to yell at him to take the shot. But he didn't. And on second thought, given the precise behavior you cite above (firing way over goal with his shots a lot this season when in that scenario), it was probably the better choice. But unfortunately, what he opted to do instead didn't create opportunities either.
