After all the joy, I suppose, there had to be a little pain. Not the excruciating pain of elimination but still the pangs of an opening game defeat. The boys controlled a lot of the play but in the end they left themselves open to a wonderful low strike. I wish Yugoslavia had stayed as one nation, because all its offspring seem to cause us a lot of trouble...
The performance was not bad against Serbia but I think there is a case for saying we played too many creative players and possibly in positions where they were unable to give their best. Montolivo was only seen sporadically and the same for Rosina - both matchwinners on their day. Aquilani was a bit anonymous and Palladino missed our best chances. Pazzini was well marshalled by the Serbian defence but was crying out for a bit of support. On the upside, the defence looked solid.
If I was in charge, I would be tempted to drop the tougher Dessena into midfield in place of Aquilani which might free up Montolivo and Nocerino for more imaginative duties. Giuseppe Rossi looked like he was crying out for a start too - maybe in place of Palladino? Then either he or Rosina could support Pazzini more closely. I love the Viola front man but he is not Luca Toni and can't lead the line on his own. He is better attacking defences from a bit further out rather than always getting the ball with his back to goal.
There is plenty of quality there - we just need to make sure we give it the chance to express itself!
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I've just read on the C4 website that Channel-5 is bringing Serie 'A' back to British terrestrial TV. Is this true ?
If so, then it's great news. And hooray for C5 (and fuck off BBC & Sky while I'm at it) :0)
TT.
I saw that too, although it seems to be mainly for highlights but still, it is better than nothing. I say we bombard C5 with pleading letters for them to show as many live games as possible.
...here here !! But, I also read that they have the right to cover live games as well. Still a weekly round up will be a good start. Give it time, my bet is that they will show a live or a taped match in the schedule. Can't wait :0)
I hope you are right. As long as whatever they do is done consistently I don't mind. The worst thing in the past has been jumping around the schedules.
Aquilani is not by any means back to his full strength after being out for most of the season: at no time is he a ball-winning hard-tackling enforcer type but lacking his full fitness and form he looks even more lightweight. On the other hand when he's playing well he really does create lots of chance and brings more options into the side, as I think we saw better in the final, pointless but encouraging victory over the Czechs.
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