(09-26-2012, 10:15 PM)LebRN Wrote: I'm sure someone (aka Dev) will provide his customary "detailed summary" of the match
lol, I'll try to do what I can...
The match wasn't good, actually we were poor for the most part. That said, we won and that's what counts. The result alone isn't the only positive, there are things to take from this match.
First half was a mixed affair, starting off with us controlling the game totally and looking far superior to Cagliari. We were dominant, we looked threatening and generally we were pressing really well all over the pitch. We created a few chances and were moving fluidly into attack from midfield...unless Traore was involved. The goal came from this fluid transition with some neat interplay pushing forward, a touch of luck with the ball dropping to Montolivo who played it through the El Shaarawy whose finish was excellent.
After the goal, our performance dipped, with players looking less attentive or focused. This resulted in mistakes on the ball, costing possession cheaply, players were moving less well and we looked slower overall, with Cagliari growing. A few chances passed for them and the game was even until half time.
Second half continued where the first finished, only Cagliari pushed harder and we struggled to contain them, meaning they had the upper hand. In all honesty we were lucky during this period not to concede, with Cagliari coming close of quite a few occasions and with us looking really nervous. Luckily for us, we got a break with Conti being sent off, which finished the match as Cagliari lost their momentum and we controlled the midfield more easily. Eventually the result was sealed with us playing across the Cagliari backline and El Shaarawy again coming central to finish a nice move.
Tactically I was pleased to see our improvements. Our pressing is improving throughout the side and again progress can be seen, as players are getting a little more confidence. El Shaarawy's revelling in 4-3-3 and coming in from wide, while Urby hasn't quite gotten the best from the system yet. The midfield requires the most work, as De Jong and Traore were our two weakest players yesterday. However, it's nice to see some variation, with Traore and Montolivo often pushing up through the middle yesterday, and Boateng in Traore's place could work well here.
Players...
Abbiati - Needed on a few occasions but always alert
Abate - Solid performance, he never looked like he would be beat and had some good runs forward, though less than desired as he had to stay alert at the back
Mexes - A couple of mistakes that could have cost us (notably not marking Pinilla who had an open header in front of goal), but solid on the whole
Bonera - Like Mexes, a few positional errors could have cost us, but he did well on the whole
De Sciglio - Not as solid as when he's on the right, but this could be because he doesn't often play LB. He did well on the whole though, even if he got pulled out of position a few times.
Montolivo - Our best midfielder by far, he was solid defensively and assisted the first goal well
De Jong - Offered little protection to the backline, his performance both on and off the ball was disappointing
Traore - By far our weakest player, it was amazing how little good he did for us in the match, losing the ball all the time, sloppy on and off the ball and positionally all over the place.
El Shaarawy - Man of the match by a distance. He had a lot of movement, desire and quality on the ball, resulting in 2 good goals.
Pazzini - It's hard to see how we're going to get the best out of him. He needs someone to constantly supply him, but at Milan he won't get that. That said his movement off the ball was what opened spaces for El Shaarawy to score.
Urby - Not great, he was rarely involved in anything of great note, except one decent chance he had which he skied.
Constant - Came on in place of Traore but didn't do much better.
Ambro - Offered some assurances in midfield which helped balance the team better.