Really flat game so far. I really hate when managerās refuse to pick then best team from the start in big game and leave guys to come off the bench to āmake an impactā. As far Iām concerned you should always start your best team, you should always chase the game from the very beginning - any deviation on this is cowardly and feeds into your teamās mindset. The same applies to sides who play without a natural striker.
Typical Gervinho brain-melt there.
Pjanic for Ljajic, think it should have been one of the midfield three making way.
Samuel is still an outstanding defender.
Mesmeric play from Giotto.
Hernanes about to come in for Inter.
I think Strootman should be the man to drop out of the midfield from here on in. Nainggolan has much more urgency in his game and their technical abilities are quite similar.
Great duel between Destro and Samuel tonight.
That was magnificent play from Nainggolan. Great save from Handanovic.
Nainggolan is having an excellent spell.
Might be worth getting Bastos on for Strootman for the final few minutes.
Bizarre substitution in taking your only striker off when youāre chasing a win.
Garcia has made a mess of this game tactically.
I donāt think there is place for Strootman and Nainggolan in the same team and Nainggolan seems to be a step above Strootman. Very negative from Garcia all game.
Why does he insist on leaving Pjanic on the bench? What is problem with playing with a natural striker. Weāve really missed the attacking presence of Maicon and Dodo tonight as well.
Florenzi for Gervinho - another negative and bizarre change. These are very pragmatic and cautious decisions by Garcia in a game we have to win.
Awful selection, awful substitutes, awful performance.
Iā'm fucking seething, the title is over.
Donāt think you can blame the attack tonight, they were starved of quick ball coming in and only really started to get any sort of service when Pjanic came on? Why the fuck was he left out yet again? Why was Destro who looked bright all evening brought off when he is our only fit striker and our top scorer in the league and Strootman who is so bloody laboured and ponderous on the ball left on?
Nainggolan was great in the second half.
Samuel was a rock at the back. Few outstanding subtle cynical fouls on Destro when he lost him with his movement and got his head on everything. Garcia needs to drop Strootman.
I see Bandage is berating our top scorer in the league who has only been back in action since December. He hasnāt a clue about football as Destro was pivotal in the few chances created - lovely dummy for the Gervinho chance at the back post. Nice link-up play with Nainggolan for the chance he curled wide with his left foot. The 20 minutes Pjanic and Destro were on the pitch was the only time we looked liked scoring. Of all the strikerās in the game at the moment Destro has to be one of the best in his movement, he could lose a defender in a phone box, Samuel had to resort to two really cynical fouls tonight in the penalty area (expertly done) after losing him.
Torosidis was very wasteful tonight, he had ample opportunities to feed Destro at the near post in the second half but couldnāt find the right cross.
The problem tonight was the ball was not being fed forward quick enough, De Rossi likes to slow the game down but he is able to pick a pass. Strootman is too slow and ponderous on the ball but heās also got very clunky and cumbersome technique. In a game you need to pressing to win you canāt afford to have him on the pitch ahead of creative players like Pjanic when you also have a guy (Nainggolan) who does what he (Strootman) does better. Romagnoli was solid in his defensive duties but non-existant in an attacking sense. Torosidis as mentioned earlier was dreadful in his crossing.
Really disappointing and the blame lays solely at the feet of the manager and he will rightly get criticism for not setting his team out to go for the game.
Napoli: Reina; Maggio, Fernandez, Albiol, Ghoulam; Inler, Dzemaili; Mertens, Hamsik, Callejon; Higuain
Roma: De Sanctis; Maicon, Benatia, Castan, Romagnoli; Strootman, Nainggolan; Florenzi, Pjanic, Bastos; Gervinho
Teams playing without strikers must be the biggest cancer on football right now. Disappointed in Rudi as we are set up very negatively.
That was a great opening for Gervinho.
Strootman shouldnāt be playing, quite clearly he has came into this game injured.
Taddei on. :rolleyes: