Well that was terrible. For a number of reasons:
-The starting line up. Why have Materazzi and Lucio as your CBs when your playing a high defensive line? Materazzi was torn apart by Djibril Cisse in pre-season, why put him up against Ibra? The penalty came because (a) Ibra was too quick for Matrix and ran off him, and (b) Matrix is an idiot.
-Starting Matrix. Does he add passion to the team, sure. Is he useful in the air against strong attackers, sure. Is he a good defender? No. He's a liability, even more so in tense games. Look at the tackle he tried to lay on Ibra when the Swede elbowed him in the head? One of the two was getting hurt there, Ibra did well to defend himself. Materazzi should've retired last season.
-The formation. 442 with four CBs? Where is your width coming from? Chivu is a subpar LB at the best of times, Cordoba tries his best but his dribbling and crossing leave alot to be desired. Santon hasn't been in great form, but he was only given one game. Talk to the kid, show some confidence in him and he might re-pay the faith.
-The Milito-Eto'o combination. Something isn't right here. First off, Milito is playing like absolute dog shit but I kind of accepted that. The lack of interplay between the two is whats concerning and at times it looked like Eto'o didn't want to pass him the ball. Some tension over being moved back to the wing to accomodate Milito upfront? Either way, it needs to be sorted.
-Zanetti in midfield. Its over (under Benitez anyway). LB, RB or nada. His passing ability is just getting worse and worse. Probably didn't show up as much last season, but this new style of play in which we (supposedly) pass it around more it becomes more clear. I really hope he hasn't made a mistake by playing on as well.
-Too much pressure on Coutinho. He's playing an awful lot for an 18yr old rookie. He definitely improved our game though.
-Goran Pandev. He's just not very good. Who knew?
-Subbing on Biabiany at the end. This kid is all about speed, which makes him borderline useless against teams which defend deep. Why bring him on when Milan are defending with 9 men? Santon has much better close control, has experienced a derby atmosphere before and is just as effective a crosser. Madness.
-Another muscular injury. Obi didn't have a world cup or a long season last year to attribute it to. Thats just bad luck.
-Distinct lack of passion from our players. Motivational whiz at the helm or not, the players should be amped for the derby. I dunno, I didn't get the impression they got going until about 30 minutes in. The first 30 minutes were all Milan, and tbf it could've been 2-0.
-Milan have learned to defend. This game reminded me of Inter last season tbh. No space between the defence and midfield, giving the opposition all the time on the ball the want but setting up an impenetrable wall across the 18 yard line. Even Abate and Antonini played well.
Which brings us to Rafa the Gaffa. Sacking him now probably wouldn't be the best idea, but something needs to change. This year I reckon we've played five above average teams: Roma, Atletico, Juve, Tottenham and Milan. In seven matches we won two, drawn one, and lost three. Thats really not good enough. What's more we don't look like winning. At no point today did we ever really scare Milan. Nor did we scare Tottenham. Nor did we scare Roma. Maybe Juve got a bit of a fright, but that was still a very even game. As for the wins, we almost blew it against Spurs and Roma handed us the Coppa.
I don't think the players are responding to Rafa's methods at all. Mourinho (allegedly) told Moratti that Beni wouldn't do well at Inter, perhaps it was because he knew he was too different a personality for the players to respond to? Last year we we're pumped for big games, the players went out and played with purpose. Mou had the team amped up by instilling an us against the world mentality, convincing the players they were the underdog. When Benitez arrived he said he preferred to by calm on the sidelines and have the players play with the same intensity all the time. Thats fine, if that intensity is still around 100%. If the players are playing like shit, then fire the fark up!
I'm not a huge fan of the style of play either. We've played some sexy football sure, but we're not able to turn it on against big teams. Whats the point in pumping Werder and Bari if you go scoreless against Milan, Roma and Juve? Give me results over entertainment any day. Benitez should've looked at our squad and ruled out a high possession game with a high defensive line. I cannot believe how terrible our defence is compared to last season. Rafa was reknowned as a defensive coach, yet he's completely ruined our greatest assest from the past.
He hasn't been helped though. Far too many injuries for the team to get some stability (whether these are due to training methods or a hangover from last season, we'll never know) and he wasn't supported at all in the transfer market. All our arrivals were signed before Rafa, so no one is here by his choice. This is a problem. I cannot believe that Moratti and Branca didn't learn from the mistakes of Milan who let a CL win paper over some obvious cracks in the squad. Whats more, we didn't replace Balotelli who was a very important player for us last season. Oh how we could've used him (or a player like him) in the past three matches.
I'd give Rafa till January atleast. MM should start putting feelers out to other managers. See if anyone is interested/available, maybe get an idea of what they might do to improve the team. Keep it as quiet as possible. Rafa can stay on providing (a) he's able to get us out of this rut, (b) we qualify for the KO rounds and (c) we win the CWC. If he's able to do that much then he deserves to see out the season. The club must be active in the January market though. A new CB, a winger and (on the proviso we get rid of Muntari) a new, more technical central midfielder. Two of the three would be ace. By seasons end, re-evaluate where we're at and how much improvement has been made. Minimum requirements should be set at: CWC ,2nd or high in the league, quarters of the CL and 2nd in the Coppa. Given how we look atm, I'd be stoked with that
Imo it was 100% penalty,you cant even doubt about is seriously.If it was dubious i would admit it but come on,Materazzi kicked Ibra to the ground from behind,clumsy challenge period.
