Marcano was on skates the entire game. Literally looked like he was playing the sport for the first time. Not sure wtf EDF was thinking playing him for the first time in months.
Just rewatched the 3rd goal... please someone explain to me what the actual F&CK Kolarov is doing. Loses possession, jogs back on defense, doesn’t track a single attacker, then gets mad when they score like its someone else’s fault. He needs to go
Fazio was also one yellow away from a ban. That, the injury to JJ and Mano's injury proneness was the reason Marcano started I would think. He didn't want to risk losing Fazio too.
Yes, the only positive I would say. If we're to finish 4th it will probably come down to Dzeko more than anything.
Look at both teams creative midfielders today. We had Lorenzo and they had Papu. The difference in performance from each player was massive. One was a constant danger, the other gave the ball away constantly.
I don't think so because you have to treat this game as a clash with a direct rival, so if you win it and even if you draw with Milan you are still in a good posiiton, and then there is the confidence from winning at Bergamo which would help going into the Milan game (not ignoring the Coppa game on Wednesday). Marcano can start aganst Entella, but that is his limit.
He's looked good at times and has struggled and considering he hasn't played for 2 years that's not too bad. I'm willing to give him a run of games to see what he can really do
He was clearly out of sorts today. I wasnt having a go Lo Pelle here. Merely pointing out the difference between both performances. If you wanna answer the question: why were Atalanta so dominant, I'd start there.
If you start Fazio there's a real chance he gets booked. Mano picks up a knock during the week and you're left with Marcano as your only available CB. Not a smart risk, so yes, I think so.
Because we have we more options in midfield. DDR, altho unlikely to have 90 mins in his legs, is at least available to take the field again and there's obviously less chance that both Nzonzi and Cristante get booked than there is one Fazio.
Hhmm, you'd have to elaborate there. Well wouldnt it be great if things were as simple as that old cliche, one game at a time. A season is long and, when you're fighting on three fronts especially, there will always be times during it when the manager has to make decisions for one game with the next game in mind.
Hopefully this is where Dzeko turns around for the season. Old Dzeko will probably carry us the rest of the season and that's what we need more than anything. I have some sympathy for Karsdorp on his goal as that was more of a failure of the entire back line. Karsdorp had both Zapata and Castagne on his side initially while Manolas, Marcano, and Nzonzi were just ball watching. And Olsen failed completely in communicating that Castagne was looming right behind him until it was too late. This is where I really miss De Sanctis, we really need someone that knows how to organize defenses. The positioning is really awful, even under Alisson. I would also love to see a study done between Olsen and Stekelenberg to see who has the slowest reaction time. Science demands it.
Dzeko isn't going to help that much when you have no presence in the midfield and your goalkeeping and defense is suspect. We now rank 8th in possession in the league. Last year 3rd. Year before that 2nd. 2nd or 3rd pretty much every season in recent memory. We aren't controlling the games and as a result Dzeko is not going to get as many scoring chances as he has had in the past. We shouldn't be relying on counterattacks as our only method of scoring. The midfield has a lot to do with it.
I didn't take it as you taking at shot at Pellegrini, I was just pointing it out. I do agree that was a major difference.. then again Gomez if a fantastic player, IMO.
What are you talking about? He might not be the best at defending but he is the only one who can take those long-range passes to Dzeko or Zaniolo which frees us from agressive pressure other teams engage. I cannot imagine what our defence would look like if it wasn’t for him. Can’t you see each productive attack starts from him on the left side. Believe it or not, he is our best FB, which is sad. Roma eighter cheap out on FB what is maybe the most important role in modern football, or 10+ million addition turns to be a bust. Kolarov can still be used. Our defence is generally hilarous, including Kolarov as a part of it. Individuals in midfield such as Nzonzi and Cristante do a decent job, but somehow gets easily overrun, they seem to be non existant against every team. That needs to change, they’re not a good fit together even though their individual performances are good to very good.