Despite my initial worries, Fazio has turned out to be a decent signing for us.
Szczesny with a big save there from Higuain.
DDR crunches Pjanic and gets a yellow.
Higuian gives Juve the lead.
It was coming - bollocks.
That was a terrific goal in fairness.
Great atmosphere.
I love the away Italian fans react with venom when opposition players make mistakes, much better than the ironic cheers you get from British fans.
Radja has our first real effort on goal.
Great save by Szczesny.
This game being played at a frantic EPL-type pace
Thatās the league over, Juve full value for their win.
Allegri going kray kray at FT.
Weāve now officially bought Fazio outright, ā¬3.2m along with the ā¬1.8m paid at the start. Good bit of business, despite reservations at the start he has done well in recent months, a solid squad option. His pace would be a big worry but he reads the game well, has an imposing presence and his distribution is very good.
We now lose Salah for over a month to the ACON, Iturbe has been an unmitigated flop and will go in January I would suspect which means we will need something in the line of attacking acquisitions - best not to throw some short term back up fix here (as we usually tend to do) and instead get someone who can genuinely bring something to the side. Defrel is a name that is being mentioned, he has acquitted himself well over the past few years in Serie A, he is comfortable through the middle and out wide and will replace Salahās pace too as well as being a good finisher. ā¬15m fee mentioned which seems fair.
Weāve been really solid defensively of late, 4 clean sheets in our last 8 Serie A games marks a nice upturn from our defensive frailties early on. A lot has to do with getting players back fit - Rudiger in particular. Fazio and Emerson have shown big improvements from the early season and we now have Mario Rui and Vermaelen available again so the defence looks a lot of more steady than the injury enforced constantly changing back 4 earlier on.
Weāve really missed Pjanic this season, De Rossi, Strootman and Nainggolan all offer a lot but none of them bring that creativity Pjanic did and we have looked a bit blunt this season as a result. Paredes has been a disappointment, he is a tidy player but doesnāt bring much to the table and Iād cash in on him next season and bring Pellegrini back who looks to have far more to his game. Gerson has struggled to settle so far but could be the answer long term. Iād like to see us add an attacking midfielder in this window, again not a stop gap solution but someone who can add a lot straight away, someone like Saponara would be ideal.
We have a small squad at the minute (which is a good thing) and I only really see Iturbe leaving this window (unless we can get shot of Juan from his disastrous loan deal). An attacking midfielder and versatile attacker could add a lot to us. The downside to any move for Defrel is that he would be cup tied for the EL, this would also be why Iād leave Pellegrini where he is until the summer.
Spaletti is doing a good job but from here we need to step up, our new found defensive solidity is encouraging but we now need to hold that while adding more in the final third. Weāve had horrible luck with injuries so far (Rudiger, Rui and Florenzi all being ruled out of large chunks of the season with ACL injuries), hopefully weāll now catch a break.
Juventus have a tricky run of game coming up and hopefully with CL coming up for them too they might take their eye on domestic matters and let us back in. The more hands in the title challenge the better for us.
Are there a few lads who couldnāt cut it in the EPL back boning this lot?
Huh?
Recognised a few names, a few decent players who werenāt getting game time in England.
Did you?
The only lads there who have played in England are Dzeko who scored 70 goals for Man City and won 2 League titles there and Szczesny who has nearly 200 appearances for Arsenal at the age of 24. Salah had a brief spell in England where he won a Premier League at the age of 22.
Fazio is on loan from Spurs
Squad player.
You brought him up mate
No I didnāt.