Well, we can say we flushed 2 points down the toilet today. We didn't play well, which is understandable considering our depleted midfield and the general tiredness of the team, but still you just can't concede a goal on the counter when you're one up in stoppage time and away from home. Conte will be livid, and rightly so.
Skriniar should have brought Vlahovic down as soon as they entered our half, end of story. This single mistake ruined an otherwise good performance from our defence. Both de Vrij and Bastoni had trouble at times to keep their opponents at bay, but all in all they had a good game. Great personality from the youngster. Godin came on to help see the game to the end, but we managed to shoot ourselves on the foot anyway. Handanovic made a couple of great saves, but was clearly caught wrong-footed on the goal. I wouldn't put this draw on him, though.
Valero was, surprisingly, our best player tonight. Goal aside, he played a tidy game and made his presence felt both in attack and in defence, in spite of his physical limitations. Brozovic was once again tasked with singing and carrying the cross, as we say. I think he did generally well, setting the goal and dictating the tempo, but we clearly lack someone who can tie up the midfield with the attack. This player is supposed to be Vecino at the moment, but we all know him by now. I must say that tonight he was less invisible than usual, even though he's still far from being an acceptable option in midfield. Agoumé made his senior debut for us, played only one ball (poorly) and was generally out of position. I believe this explains why the coach gave him so little playing time so far. As one who watches our Primavera play regularly, I can say the lad has talent, but he still needs to learn the ropes.
D'Ambrosio played a rather defensive game, limiting his offensive forays to the bare minimum, whereas Biraghi got himself more involved in our attacks. However, I don't recall any particular highlight moment from him.
Generally speaking, I believe that the attack from the lack of support both from the middle (where art thou, Sensi?) and from the flanks. We often leave them too isolated up front, relying too heavily on they ability to create chances all by themselves. Add to that the tiredness caused by being forced to play every minute of every game, and you get the picture of our offensive struggles. That being said, Lukaku should have buried one of those chances, no matter how tired he might have felt. Lautaro had showed composure on the only scoring chance he got, even though it didn't count at the end. Politano was subbed on to stretch Fiorentina out with his bursts of acceleration. We never managed to set him on the counter, but he still managed to lose every single ball he touched, including the one that led to their goal. Brilliant.
What else to add? We need to dig in and win the last game of the year against a derelict Genoa (but so was Fiorentina), when we'll miss Brozovic and Lautaro, who got themselves suspended (on purpose - i believe - in order not to risk missing the games against Napoli and Atalanta). And then, hopefully, the new year will bring the long-awaited return of Sensi, Barella, and Alexis, along with a few reinforcements from the mercato.
10 years of FIF
