Amazing how quick Rocchi is in giving us yellows yet when Mertens out his boot to Bonucci's ankle nothing.
They already changed the formation once when Chiellini went out, swapping Marchisio for Hernanes would have changed it again. You don't want to do that.
I'm gonna ride his ass all season long, regardless of him getting service or not. For 90 million you should be scoring ********ing bycicle kicks from midfield
Guys we will get much better in the second half of the season!!! We always seem to perform quite a bit better in the second half, in all attack, midfield, and defense.
Stupid Philosophy, its not early, there is only 30 minutes left in game when I posted that and we had 2 subs left to use... The attack leading up was one dimensional, it was basically play subpar balls into space and hope defender muffs it and one of our players knocks it in which is exactly how Gonazlo scored. The forwards had been flat and given up in a sense, they had become very one dimensional and it looked very weak on all parts of the field, we desperately needed someone new to come on and take over that game.
I was out this afternoon at a family event and stayed away from the internet. I have watched the delay presentation that is just about to end without knowledge of the result. So here are my comments before I begin to read what some of you have written about the match. Alex Sandro is a dunce defensively. He works fine on the wings but has no clue about defending. He should have been on Callejon immediately and never allowed him to shoot. Pjanic needs to move off the ball. The first thing I noticed when Marchisio came on was that he made a run back to the ball. It makes him an outlet. If his mark follows him, it opens space in the midfield. Cuadrado pisses me off with his extra dribble. He neeeds to release the ball sooner. Mandzukic and Higuain are intelligent strikers. They are able to coexist because they understand the game. They read each other and move off of each other well. I was not aware that Hamsik was playing this match until he was substituted. Marchisio is a leader on the pitch. He instructs his mates where to be on the field. That makes a big difference. Barzagli and Bonucci, one can't find a better pair. Bravo ragazzi. Big win and good to see Gonzalo with the game winner.
I like our poop team. They'll get better as the season goes along. Its noticeable how much Marchisio was missed, the midfield looks completely different when he plays
Both his passing and off the ball movement are a step above the others. I genuinely hoped Pjanic would be able to play the same way but he doesn't seem to get our style yet. Marchisio, BBC, and Buffon really is the necessary core of the team that has led us to domination of Serie A all these years. Having good players around them is just a bonus. That being said the noticeable decline in our midfield still makes me sad. After Vidal, Khedira did great, after Pirlo Marchisio showed his regal colors, after Pogba nothing so far. Also annoying that it's causing Dybala to regress, since he's no longer getting as much service as he likes and he clearly feels the need to play deeper. That also screws over the fat man. I hope Marchiso can help us get back on track. Can't wait for the first match with all of Pjanic, Marchiso, Khedira starting from the get go.
When Marchisio is back to 100% we will see Dybala playing upfront instead of the midfield, don't worry about that. It will take one more season until Pjanic starts really gelling with this team, it will help him when he starts playing alongside Marchisio. Khedira is becoming a non factor, after all this time our midfield still weak in some sense, I am not sure if we can convert Pjaca to become a midfielder that open chances for his strikers up front, it might work. I hope Lich is gone after this winter transfer window. Here hoping we get Witsel, so this way our midfield improves drastically. Any word if Real Madrid is willing to sell or loan us Kovacic? So is it a done deal that Zaza is coming back? I hope he does this winter transfer so he can alleviate some of the pressure up front. As I mentioned before Zaza can come off the bench and create instant spark for the team and he is very dynamic. With the right personnel he can easily become a top scorer in this league like he was at Sassuolo. Barzaglis name should come up this year for defender of the year, he has been so far one of the best defender in all of Europe. I watch a decent amount of Liga and EPL and I haven't seen anybody coming close to how Barzagli is currently playing. Last point, I think Chiellinis career is coming to an end, the guy is consistently injured and I think all these years of physical plays is finally catching up to him. He has missed bunch of games this year and most likely won't be playing in the Lyon game. Rugani needs to start getting healthy soon so we can start resting some of our veteran defenders.
I wonder if I watched the same game as a number of you. I'll be the first to admit, I dislike Hernanes as much as anyone else here. However, he played better than the other midfielders (short of Marchisio in his limited time). Allegri apparently recognized this opting to take Pjanic off with the first sub. I was more concerned with Pjanic and Khedira yesterday. I have hopes for Pjanic as he is still settling. Khedira's form has been substandard all season. We need those two to do well to have any hopes in CL. I honestly don't get the praise for Mandzukic. I would have preferred keeping Zaza. Bonucci, Barza, Cuadrado and Marchisio were the top players yesterday. Good result yesterday. Although we're not fluid just yet, we looked a lot better when Marchisio came on. If we win against Lyon, we're in a good place in both the league and Champions League. This is still a work in progress.