Atalanta

What a crap cross by matri... That should have beena great chance at least...

Very good 1st half. Overall quite disciplined in defence and a noted improvement in set-pieces as most of our players crowd the threat before it occurs rather than reacting.

De Sciglio has been excellent in defence alongside Mexes. NDJ has passed wonderfully and anchored the midfield as needed while Cristante has been supplied many touches based on his movement and has shown some impressive vision, despite some misplacements.

Matri-Robinho has decent chemistry despite lacking a direct goal threat, yet chances are created between them in the box.

Kaka has been mostly perfect on his areas of passing and has provided a perfect link between midfield and attack.

Would like to see Rami and Pazzini in the 2nd, replacing Matri and Zapata respectively.

sportsczy wrote:What's nocerino's job exactly.  I can't figure it out.

We've been trying to figure that out for years, brother.

And so has he.

That's an interesting question, however I believe that it's actually two questions. Do you mean what is Nocerino theoretically supposed to be doing or what does the little boy inside Nocerino tell him to do when he's on the pitch?

Nocerino:"The little boy inside me has been screaming for Uncle Zlatan to return".

Good cross from Urby but it was a bit floaty and Matri couldn't convert that. Atalanta looked dangerous on the counter and we need to be wary of them. Defense looks good today, haven't seen many compromises as i'm used to, hopefully it'll get better with Rami. Cristante looks good on the ball, hasn't misplaced as much passes as Noce and also tracks back a bit which i like. Robinho looks distraught to me, or even uninterested. Insanely happy for Kaka's 100th goal and hope he continues to score.

HT 1-0

I want to see Pazzini at some point and maybe even Poli, hopefully we can get another goal to seal the deal.

Poli for Nocerino at half time would be great news. I've no idea why Allegri is opposed to utilising Poli down the left channel when he showed himself equally proficient on either side during his time at Sampdoria.

Kaka

Poli's advantage is his ambidexterity. Yet as a Mez'zala he tends to be isolated within that role, essentially the reason I feel he has been performing below his standard in the past 2-3 games.

Either he is placed more centrally or given more space/license to roam within central areas as I can see his frustration out wide.

Max, Cristante's one man cheerleading squad from the sides.

Am i the only one finding it weird that Abby is wearing white overalls with green socks/gloves

Zapata always *bleep* loses the ball when he's the last man

Heart attack

That's what happens when Zapata gets too confident for his own good.

Atlanta disallowed goal

If Zapata accepted that he isn't Nesta with the ball, we would see less frequent Zapaters in possession.

Perhaps a harsh call for the push but it was there, clearly used his hands rather than his body in forcing Mexes under the ball.

Abbiati

Oh my God, Atalanta just violated us

Fantastic save from Abbiati.

Edit: Seeing the replay, it went straight at him, however he did well to ensure it didn't rebound straight to an Atalanta player. We really need to re-establish dominance on the ball, we're being put under sustained pressure at the moment.

Absolutely brilliant save by Abbiati. In the past 3-4 games I have seen the old Abby who isn't shit, return to his senses. Just is always in the right positions now.

Abiatti just saved our ass. Atalanta are dominating us, and that is not even a laughing matter, we need to get our head out of our ass before they score a goal.

Cristante turned near suicide into a nice ball down the flanks there, did well to recover from his error of judgement on the ball.

Balotelli coming on for Matri.

Balo coming on for Matri

Balotelli in for useless Matri.

Balol on for Matri

On Abby: I hope he puts in the same performance against Atleti, or raise his game even further