His positioning was out a lot, he went for headers he shouldn't have been going for exposing us at the back. At one point he literally let Walcott run through then chased him.

It was a disastrous performance and I'm not one to react immediately ott, all too often but Mesbah today was quite frankly appaling.

He's just not cut out for this level. But in Serie A he's been more than ok. He hasn't made any mistakes in the league.

I think it was just a combination of the occasion getting to him and just not being cut out for this level

Yes. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Like I said in the match thread, the occasion and atmosphere got to a lot of our players. That and a little arrogance from the coach (team selection and formation), and more importantly the players. Oh well, all's well the ends in a well. Before the match started, I was secretly hoping for a 0-3 loss.

Taking it oh, so close for Arsenal, and then stopping them at the last hurdle. Cruel, cruel, I know.

All in all, Zambrotta is miles better then Mesbah and Antonini, I think this should be clear now.

And it was foolish to expect a good performance out of a 27 year old Algerian fullback who priory to that played for the likes of Avellino and Lecce.

Abate is mediocre and a good sub to have and Antonini is below average at best. we're miles behind every other powerhouse when it comes to our full backs.

We need 2 new, Milan-wrothy FBs. end of story.

Abate was one of the few who actually played well today. No mistakes, cool head and made some decent runs. Sure his crossing leaves a lot to be desired, but give me 3 top class RBs around right now. And name me one of them we could realistically afford.

Abate is a good player, a good athlete and still in the learning phase of his career. 2 seasons ago I wouldn't trust him anywhere near the pitch, but he's progressed in leaps and bounds and is still doing so. He's still very young for a defender.

The LB is still a problematic area. But again, same with the RB situation. Name me 3 top class LBs and give name one of them we could realistically afford.

Those are 2 positions which are becoming rare breads when talking about top class FBs. There are no longer Cafu, Maldini, R. Carlos, A. Cole (when he was still top class), etc

These days I can only mention 3 right off the top of my head that really stand out, Alves, Maicon and Evra. And even Maicon has been shocking this season

I don't think Allegri trusts Zambrotta anymore after his Inter debacle. Unlike Mesbah, who's just not good, Zambrotta cannot cut it anymore because of his age. So yeah, Antonini gets the priority for the rest of the season, but we really need to sign a quality LB this summer.

Cut him some slack, we went through in the end... its not like he did something like an OG at 3-0 in the 2nd half, he kept his head... antonini against walcott and chamberlain - could have been worse you never know.

It would have been a decent idea to play emanuelson at lb but oh welll

Good joke. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbup.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) I guess im the only one that has some sympathy for him in the end.

It's not about sympathy, it's about being objective.

I do feel a little sympathy for him. It's not often a player is so bad in a game that you have the commentators practically laughing at you.

In his defense, it was his first match, and every next can only be better. But he was terrible.

So Amero as priority number one for the summer?

Speaking of which...I'm tired of those supposedly offensively aware fullbacks alla Oddo, Taiwo, Mesbah and Abate. How good is Armero when it comes to defense?

Because I've seen players like Oddo and Taiwo, who had a certain offensive flare at Lazio/Marseille cloud people's judgment.

And finally, they proved to be fair/not so good defenders but also not so good in offensive business either (at least in Oddo's case)...