++ [ originally posted by RochemBeck ] ++
This match was the most difficult test of the season, and we failed yet again. After the first big test in the Champions League in which he played miserably against Bayern, people stated "Oh don't look too much into this performance, we will be ready next time." Well today was the next time and we played even worse...being absolutely played off the the park by Milan in the most pathetic performance since the Liverpool ties last season. You hear that everybody??? That is the sound of the football world laughing at us and the notions of "Juventus are the best team in the world, they are unbeatable." Christ, we played like shit against two of the best teams in the world in consecutive affairs...what does that tell ya?
We stepped out on to the pitch tonight without any idea what to do, no specific plan in place besides just chug along as usual, and no direction despite some spirit shown by a few of our players. We played EXACTLY like we did against Sampdoria on Wednesday...well guess what folks we played like shite on Wednesday and if you expected the same crap to work today you must have lost your lunch. This is case and point why it does not pay in the long run to play at minimum capacity every match against inferior opposition...when the bigger match comes around and we need to elevate our performance, we are not able to do so. It's as simple as that, just like the notion of "if you practice like shite, you play like shite." I do not think I would be very far off to say each match against inferior opposition is sort of a training ground for the better teams in this world...not to mention that is where you start to get the team clicking with each other for the bigger matches. But no, we have to play the same way every match...makes a whole lot of sense to me.
And what is up with these coaching decisions? Capello, what the hell were you thinking taking off Camoranesi, perhaps our greatest attacking threat in the first half, just like you did against Bayern, at halftime? Why not take off Pavel Nedved who was terrible tonight and just as bad in almost every match thus far this season? Why keep Ibrahimovic on the pitch when all he ever does is try to beat defenders one v one and give the ball away more than doing something useful with it? Why did it take so long for Del Piero to come on the pitch in the second half...hell, why didn't Alex or Mutu start, like one of them probably should have? Not to mention the lack of direction and wherewithall on the pitch by the team as a whole...did we even have a plan, Capello? We just let Pirlo have all the time in the world to use his skill and let Kaka have his way with the ball every time he recieved it...what a gameplan. Crapello let us down this time, no question.
Passing through midfield was absolutely etrocious, our left side of the pitch was about as weak as Empoli's, and our forwards gave the ball away too much instead of just making the simple pass...you lot know who is to blame here. It just boggles my mind because you could see a performance like this coming from a mile away when you watch this team every week. This is why people such as Vinni and I are always digging deep into the performance itself, not the scoreline. The scoreline doesn't always tell the truth, just like some supposed glorious yet worthless record that we praise Capello for like we just won the Scudetto all over again. And you have to hand it to Milan because they actually learned from their mistakes last season and earlier this year and totally owned us this match. What an embarrassing performance and crap such as this can't give you a good feeling about our main hopes for this season...the Champions League.
But hopefully this performance is a wake-up call to Capello...that the good old Fabio mentality needs to be taken out back and shot and that he cannot just follow his old "tried and true" methods anymore. First of all he should just play the players who deserve to play first...even that would be a nice change from this current nonsense.
I won't even go in-depth to player performances because nobody played well, and its pointless to discuss when our manager does not even field the players who deserve to be out there from the start.
Ibrahimovic tried to show off his skill against the likes of Nesta and Stam...result? Gave the ball away almost every time he recieved it. At this pace he will be back at Ajax in no time even when the bench is sufficient.
Nedved tried hard however his touches are still off and there is no reason for him to be on the pitch with his form at the moment. In some ways he just brings us down rather than lifting us up, which is sad indeed.
Defense did not play very well and the Vieira-Emerson duo failed us for the first time this season...Pirlo and Kaka basically had their way in midfield, which is the number one NO-NO against Milan.
Now we face Bayern on Tuesday I think and God knows what sort of performance is awaiting us at the Delle Alpi.