Reggina v Palermo: Life Without Amauri Blows
By: Martha | January 20th, 2007
Last week’s win against Udinese got us all thinking that maybe, just maybe, Palermo would be able to stay near the top of the league without Amauri. Today’s match, however, ground our foolish hopes into dust. I’ve said before that, apart from that whole finishing problem, Reggina are not a bad side — despite how the table looks, tying them is not fundamentally a sign of a bad game. What are signs of a bad game, though, are two shots on goal, Caracciolo (apart from a few bright moments) spending most of his time begging for fouls and looking lost, and Di Michele playing way too far up the field to be effective.
The brave face everyone at the club is putting on aside, losing Amauri changes the entire team. Even when the midfield is playing well, as they did on and off today, not having a target up front nullifies their effectiveness. And when Di Michele has to play as a semi-striker, he’s not able to sink back, get the ball at his feet, and help create — and that’s where he’s most useful. We’ve known all along that the squad was too thin to handle any kind of major injury; now the injury is here, and so are the consequences.
On the positive side, the defense only gave up a few shots (though Reggina have problems getting the ball on target). If they can be strong, there’s a chance Palermo can finish in the top six, and compete for a chance in Europe. Fingers crossed.
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