[Danny]

Monto the worst player on the pitch. Rodriguez is struggling to play out and instead of moving his lazy @ss to give him an easy out ball he just stands still. He's the one that just kills our entire game, the concept of pass and move is totally lost on him

I actually thought in the system we played Monto was good! He was only operating in his new role of DM and I thought he did ok one slip up aside.

[Danny]

Kessie is definitely the most impressive player on the pitch

No, Shambalsnidjac from Romanian Crytek was the best.

[Fishdoll]

Can we pay someone to take Montolivo and Niang away, please? they were disastrous.

Only saw part of the game on a bad stream but was not too impressed, esp with those two. Kessie again impressing as well as Musacchio and Rodriguez.

[d'Arc.LP]

I think that this Silva was shiet tonight.

[han2503]

I actually thought in the system we played Monto was good! He was only operating in his new role of DM and I thought he did ok one slip up aside.

What??

Sorry but no, and this is no new role for him it's what he's played throughout his time with us. The man is simply finished. The fact that we pay him 3.5m a year hurts my brain. Another thanks to Galliani for renewing him last season. The amount of face palms required for all the bad moves Galliani has done and will continue to have a negative impact on us are endless


One important observation though, this 11 we started is, imo, worse than the best 11 we could have fielded from last season. So I'm not too shocked we donkey assed it. We played pretty badly. Monto is basically a zombie on the pitch, simply not good enough to even be a sub for Biglia at this point imo. That being said, the entire team looked just about dead by the 55 minute mark. Obviously they're not ready for a full 90 just yet. But even when we were more alive in the first half and had the upper hand, we still looked as we did last season, simply clueless in how to create chances. Obviously we're missing a lot of creative players and that attacking line will only see the light of day again this season in the 2nd leg.

Mostly I'm happy that the new boys are all impressing. Conti and Silva looked out of sorts for the few minutes they came on. Hopefully Montella just gives them the start in the next game and won't subject us to the horror that is a Niang/Borini wing show that we saw today


Side note: Cutrone has a lot of potential, we should really look into loaning him to a team that will give him regular time

[han2503]

I think that this Silva was shiet tonight.

My god!

This fast judging of players gets on my nerves so much!! He looked out of sorts, no two ways about it, but an iffy 15 minutes when our team had basically stopped playing does not make a player shite!

Conti also looked like he couldn't settle in, but I have absolutely no doubts about his abilities. With Silva I'm not as confident because I haven't watched him much while at Porto, but I'm definitely going to give him the appropriate amount of time to settle in and show us what he can do.

[Danny]

What??

Sorry but no, and this is no new role for him it's what he's played throughout his time with us. The man is simply finished. The fact that we pay him 3.5m a year hurts my brain. Another thanks to Galliani for renewing him last season. The amount of face palms required for all the bad moves Galliani has done and will continue to have a negative impact on us are endless

You used to be his biggest fan too (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Danny]

My god!

You called?

[d'Arc.LP]

My god!

This fast judging of players gets on my nerves so much!! He looked out of sorts, no two ways about it, but an iffy 15 minutes when our team had basically stopped playing does not make a player shite!

Conti also looked like he couldn't settle in, but I have absolutely no doubts about his abilities. With Silva I'm not as confident because I haven't watched him much while at Porto, but I'm definitely going to give him the appropriate amount of time to settle in and show us what he can do.

Dude I said he looked bad tonight, not that he is bad in general. You wanna say that he was good or what ? He lost all his duels and didnt even complet 1 pass.

[X-Offender]

I agree. Silva was very bad tonight. Didn't do one single thing right.

As for the game, it was what I was expecting. Half of these players will never start for us once we have the full team at disposal. Niang and Borini are absolutely useless. Borini has a lot of determination but he's just not good enough, whereas Niang was just being Niang for most of the game.

From the new guys, Kessie was great as usual, but I thought Musacchio was fantastic. His reading of the game, his interceptions and anticipations, they are those of a great defender.

I really hope Montella starts a bunch of new players next game. Bonucci, Biglia, Calhanoglu and even Silva have to start.

[Danny]

I really hope Montella starts a bunch of new players next game. Bonucci, Biglia, Calhanoglu and even Silva have to start.

My understanding is that registration issue I alluded to applies to the whole tie, not just the first leg. But the dispensation is managers can select one last-minute wildcard, which would give us a choice OF Bonucci or Biglia.

I have to admit my stream tonight was rubbish, so it was hard to fully judge the performances. But Kessie was titanic, Jack industrious, Niang energetic but completely ineffective (usual competitive Niang again), Musacchio strolled it, Crotone was excellent, Borini a waste of a shirt, and I THOUGHT Monto did well in terms of being a DM but apparently everyone else hated him!

PS: no comment on Silva.

[X-Offender]

My understanding is that registration issue I alluded to applies to the whole tie, not just the first leg. But the dispensation is managers can select one last-minute wildcard, which would give us a choice OF Bonucci or Biglia.

I have to admit my stream tonight was rubbish, so it was hard to fully judge the performances. But Kessie was titanic, Jack industrious, Niang energetic but completely ineffective (usual competitive Niang again), Musacchio strolled it, Crotone was excellent, Borini a waste of a shirt, and I THOUGHT Monto did well in terms of being a DM but apparently everyone else hated him!

PS: no comment on Silva.

"Crotone" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[Danny]

That's his new name didn't you know (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(my best ever typo and it was only one letter)

[maldini03]

I thought Conti when he came on brought a lot of energy on that right wing. He played slightly differently than Abate (more advanced) and as a winger but I thought he was good. I'm excited to see how he does going forward.

Musacchio, Kessie, RR, Cutrone were the best for me

Monto, Borini and to some extent Niang the worst - hopefully their replacements can really bring up the quality of the team.

Does seem like we need another creative player to create chances for the forwards because the wingers that we do have are not promising.

Also Montella needs to drop the 4-3-3 and find a better system to suit the team

[Danny]

I have a horrid feeling Borini is a starter.