What a pain! What a humiliation! Another unforgivable defeat for Palermo, who dig the bottom of the barrel every week, worsening their performances to a point that is difficult to imagine.
This time it is Spezia who feast on the remains of Palermo, which remains very close to the playoffs but which continues like this will soon evaporate. Last Saturday it was Reggiana who had fun at the “Barbera”, a team that like Spezia would theoretically be much weaker than the pinks.
The first half was vile, the second a little better but still very bad. Not an action, not a sense of play with the aggravating circumstance that the decisive goal for Spezia was scored by Palermo, with a back pass from Lund out of the grace of God. Otherwise in all probability it would have ended 0-0 even if playing others two days.
And we stop here, continuing would be like shooting at the Red Cross. Anyone who saw the match knows what I’m talking about, to anyone who hasn’t seen it it would be difficult to describe 90 minutes of cosmic emptiness.
SPICE: Zoet 6; Mateju 7, Hristov 6.5, Nikolaou 6; Elia 6.5, Esposito S. 6, Nagy 6, Vignali 6; Green 5.5 (from 29′ st P. Esposito sv); Falcinelli 5 (from 13′ st Bandinelli 6), Di Serio 6.5 (from 29′ st Kouda sv).
PALERMO: Pigliacelli 6; Diakité 4.5 (from 40′ st Traoré sv), Lucioni 5.5, Ceccaroni 5.5; Buttaro 4.5 (from 16′ st Ranocchia 5), Segre 5, Gomes 4 (from 35′ st Henderson sv), Di Francesco 4.5, Lund 3; Soleri 4.5, Brunori 4 (from 35′ st Mancuso sv).
Pigliacelli 6: The opponents – especially Verde but also Elia – pardon him with a wrong aim, the danger comes from teammate Lund who frees Di Serio only in front of the goal with a senseless back pass. In ordinary administration he gets by without any worries. He can boast of the only pass of the day but only due to the opponents’ lack of shots on goal.
Diakite 4.5: Of course, before coming to Palermo he played for Ternana, not for Bayern. But perhaps we were disoriented by his first positive performances to now settle for a player who goes a little below the minimum wage.
(from 40′ st Traoré) sv: We struggle to make sense of certain changes. What should Traoré do in five minutes in a team that can’t build anything?
Lucioni 5.5: It holds up because the pace of the match is rather slow but it’s not like it’s a lightning bolt of war and as long as the team has no rhyme or reason it will struggle to find its feet. On a couple of occasions he guesses the right position to defuse potential dangers. Before his long injury, Palermo were of a different caliber.
Ceccaroni 5.5: If desired, it wouldn’t even be a difficult match to return to his role after two weeks of rest. Spezia’s attack scored just over half of Palermo’s goals and watching the match you can understand why. But Ceccaroni doesn’t shine either.
Buttaro 4.5: Due to commitment and willpower it deserves a pass but honestly the technical contribution – which is what counts – is rather lacking. He goes out first because with Palermo looking for a comeback he is the least useful.
(from 16′ st Ranocchia) 5: Deployed as a midfielder, he tries to liven up the game with everything he has, which is a little. It’s the toll to pay to get him back into shape for the playoffs. He gets a warning for protesting.
Secrets 5: He returns after an incomprehensible stint on the bench and the impression is that he has lost a bit of rhythm. If the team doesn’t do well, it can’t be above all his fault.
Gomes 4: For being the midfielder who never leaves the pitch and to whom the club and the coaches – first Corini and then Mignani – have always given the keys to the department, we would expect much more. And he instead misses more than half of the balls he touches and never lights up.
(from 35′ Henderson st) sv: He only becomes the protagonist in the brawl at the end of injury time, essential to also get a free warning. Bah.
Of Francis 4.5: Disastrous first half, almost never touching the ball. If his athletic verve of the last few matches is lacking, the rest is consequential, considering that he plays in a role in which he improvises. He doesn’t change much in the second half but at least he makes one of the very few shots towards Zoet’s goal.
Lund 3: The mistake on Spezia’s opening goal is unforgivable: back pass without any force and ball given to Di Serio in front of the goalkeeper. And for a team like Palermo which already has so many starting problems, this is a terrible blow. The rest of the match is like that of a beaten boxer who has taken the knockout punch and staggers into the ring.
Soleri 4.5: He damns himself, as is his style as a fighter, but the “what have you produced” rule also applies to him: he comes close to scoring after a few minutes and is not lucky in the deflection in front of goal. He leaves the center forward position to Brunori and he wanders around, chasing unlikely opponents and balls.
Brunori 4: He plays the offensive terminal and the ball almost never reaches him. This time he doesn’t invent anything, he isn’t inspired, he is powerless in the face of an opposing team that blocks well and a friendly team that builds poorly. But his final assessment is a failure. And he leaves early.
(from 35′ st Mancuso) sv: He has time to get a yellow card for foul play.
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SERIES B, THE MATCHES OF THE 36TH DAY
