I'm not getting all the love for Mattarita. His skill is obvious; but for me he got forward way too much, leaving big gaps in in the back.
Mattarita seemed to spend almost the entire game in the attacking half. When the left back is consistently higher up than Pirlo, something is askew. This was happening even when we were trying to protect a slim one-goal lead.
But I guess that this amounts to a complaint with the manager more than with the player. If Vieira wants Mattarita to get forward so much and to play such a big part in the attack, then he should play him in midfield, and put someone at left back who wants to defend.
I am glad we won, of course. But we can attribute that mainly to playing a team that was even worse at the back than we were, and a team whose best attacking player had to leave at the half due to injury.
Also, we got the benefit of a couple of bad calls; there were two penalties that we got away with, until we were called for one that was never a penalty.
The game was fun to watch, but not a great advertisement for the league (referring both to players and referees). I was happy to see great moments for McNamara, Mix, and Shelton, and also for Saunders. But this display honestly did not fill me with confidence for when we face better opposition.
