The Verdict Is In

This past game was a rather droll affair, with neither team looking particularly interested in the outcome. Maybe both sides had agreed in the tunnel before the start to take the match off, and settle for a nice relaxing job. The eleven visiting men representing Brescia were kind enough to let Robinho score a goal, allowing Milan to cement their lead atop the table of 6 points. With only 3 games to go and Milan facing two more subpar teams who are conveniently not threatened by relegation, similar results are likely in the weeks ahead. It's almost a shame that winning this years domestic title will come in such drama free fashion, but stress free is a oft over looked luxury. Several weeks ago, Milan looked on the brink of collapse, disorganized and defeated, with the annual derby with Inter looming. Speculation about the competency of manager Allegri was rampant, and team morale was suspect. Clearly, Allegri was able to organize, rally, and propel Milan toward a victory against Inter, and everything has rolled along since then.

With the title essentially assured, the inevitable questions about next year are being brought up. Will old guard members Seedorf, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Gattuso, and Nesta be offered new contracts? All of these men are 30 plus, but have performed at a high level the entire year, and overlooking their leadership would be a serious mistake. It has to be noted that soccer is a young mans game, and fresh legs do have to arrive sometime. Thankfully there will be no manager drama, as Allegri will bring the Scudetto trophy home for the first time in 6 years. I could bring up the fact that Berlusconi's corruption trial is beginning, but since he's done this 16 times before, I don't think it's worth the time.

For the time being, it will be enjoyable to watch Milan coast to a championship, without much worry. The only mystery will be if an end of season transfer target takes place, once the season is over. There have been rumors of Kaka returning, but those were quickly discarded as ridiculous. Sometimes the most exciting stories on soccer are those off the pitch, and Milan's summer transfer options are just that. So until then, pop the champagne and enjoy the ride, because its Milan all the way this year! Fora Milan!

Predictable Is Good

Often times, people complain that soccer is to boring of a sport, without highlights or riveting plays to talk about. After the conclusion of AC Milan's most recent game, I would have to cede today's play as evidence toward that argument. Milan fans will be happy to do so, because today's 3-0 victory of Sampdoria was so assured, anything less then a dominating win would have been looked at as a negative result. The old man in the midfield, Clarence Seedorf, dusted off his shooting cleats and nailed a free kick from thirty yards out in the sixteenth minute to get things going. Just before half time, Antonio Cassano put away a penalty to make it 2-0, and early on in the second half Robinho finished a good chance for a 3-0 lead. Sampdoria never really looked in the game from the start, and may find themselves relegated once the season ends.

The only downside from this contest were 2 early injuries picked up by Pato and starting goalie Cristian Abbiati. Both were substituted, but thankfully neither injury looked serious and both substitutions were done for precautionary reasons. A mildly interesting story line existed, as Cassano was playing against his old team, but the atmosphere between both teams was very professional, with no extracurricular activities taking place. Everything went smoothly and as planned for both sides, giving the crowd reason to enjoy the game stress free. The most excited the crowd got was when the score board showed Inter losing to Parma. A brief roar, punctuated by extended applause receded immediately as the game at hand continued. With a six point lead at the top of the table and two games against sub par opponents approaching, things look fantastic for Milan. Players look like they want to score, and complacency has never been an issue in the past.

In an interesting side note, Berlusconi has announced that he will not be running for Prime Minister next year. While this may be drawing a line to far, he may want to go out on top with his beloved team. Or maybe it's because he barely survived this last scandal and used all his bargaining chips. Either way, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he rescinds this declaration and decides on another run. Looking ahead, things look relatively bright for both Milan and its owner, so I'll relax and eagerly await the next match. Forza Milan!

Keeping The Pace

Another day, another game, another dominating performance, and another idiotic display to ruin the win. It would be nice for once to enjoy a win, without having something that overshadows it. Ibrahimovic returned from a 3 game suspension for a previous red card, only to receive one at the end of today's game, earning him another one game suspension. While the next game is at home against a very underwhelming Sampdoria team, it would be nice to have the most imposing and talented striker in Italy playing. For two weeks in a row important players have received red cards at the end of a game, which is a definite cause to worry. Is Mr. Manager Max Allegri losing control of his players, or is this simply a case of two individuals acting out on their own. This kind of behavior cannot continue over the last 4 games if Milan wishes to win the league. Constantly having players on suspension is a good way to handicap and distract an otherwise fine tuned machine that is Milan right now.

The game was controlled superbly by Milan, with old man Seedorf winding back the clock and dominating the attacking flow of the game. His early goal in the 8th minute that he nestled into the corner of the net was pure class and experience. The three man game of Pato, Ibra, and Boateng, in the 41 minute resulting in a goal for Pato looked so simple it looked as if Fiorentina were spectators instead of opponents. Fiorentina did manage to score once, albeit off an unlucky deflection that no goalie in the world could have saved. The goal did bring the crowd back to life, but Milan had no trouble dominating possession for the rest of the game, insuring no more chances to score. After several chances in the box that Ibra missed, he became visibly frustrated and let the misses affect his play. Eventually, after a meaningless change of possession he felt it necessary to mouth off the a linesman, earning him a red card. Hopefully the defense and midfield will perform superbly as they have all season long next game, and a nice quiet win will be produced. If Milan is able to take care of business next week, then team order will be restored and things will be looking up. Until next time, FORZA MILAN!

A Truly Famous Win

After all the panicking, hand-wringing, and palm sweating, the Milan derby between AC and Inter finally took place. Not only did Milan come to play, they arrived from the opening minute ready to play. Within 43 seconds, Brazilian prodigy Pato had scored a goal off a deflected pass in the box, and sent his team and crowd into a frenzy. It's worth mentioning that a fortuitous pass helped the goal along, but Milan put themselves in that position to take advantage of it. With the tone immediately set and Inter having to play catch up for the rest of the game, the most likely outcome became clear almost immediately. AC Milan's players were striving to corral extra passes, pulling each other up when knocked down, while the opposition demonstrated none of this desire to win. Inter did create a few chances to score, as their skill players did perk up from time to time, especially Giampoalo Pazzini.

One of the newest members of Inter, he seemed to care the most at times and displayed his frustration quite clearly. Often yelling at his teammates, they simply let their heads fall and did nothing to help him. Milan defenders Thiago Silva and Alessandro Nesta gave another master class on how to clamp down and never let the game get out of control. Without the rock of those two players this season, Milan would be nowhere close to the top of the table. As the second half progressed, Inter defender and Christian Chivu was caught out of position as Pato blew by him on a breakaway. Chivu did the only thing he could do to stop a certain goal, and brought Pato down from behind, earning a free kick for Milan and a red card for himself. Down a man for most of the second half left Inter little to no chance of winning. Soon after Pato scored his second goal, and assured a Milan victory. The crowd begin singing, players began pulling out some tricks to show off to the crowd.

With Milan going 5 points clear in first place and only 5 games left in the season, a catastrophic ending would have to take place for Milan not to win the league. Team morale is high, fan morale is sky high, and with no injuries to major players, all Milan has to do is keep playing at their current level and they'll achieve ultimate victory in no time. As always and with gusto I say FORZA MILAN.

Spring Break

With all the international friendlies taking place over the past week, domestic league football was suspended. This could not have come at a better time for Milan, who are still reeling from a recent wave of losses. No news has trickled out from the Milan camp, as many of the players and staff blew off interviews and remained silent during some press conferences. This may have been by choice, or possibly ordered by Berlusconi. Either way, not much has been left to write about in this off week.

The next post will undoubtedly be much more interesting, as AC will have played their rivals Inter in a game that will most likely decide who wins the title this season. In the past few seasons, Inter has clearly held the top spot in the league and were pegged to the obvious winner, so the game was more for bragging rights. This year, a new dimension of competitiveness and fire will be added as both teams can see the trophy in their sights. I hope the game will be wonderful display of skill and determination, rather then one of poor character and sportsmanship as they have been in the past. Part of me thinks the latter will take place, as most Italian games with such high stakes usually take on an ugly quality. I can't wait to see what will take place in a week. Until then as always,

FORZA MILAN!

A Time To Panic

Sound the alarm bells, two if by sea one if by land, use whatever kind of cheesy phrase you want, but Milan's season is slipping away. A 1-0 defeat to Palermo has now allowed Inter Milan to close the gap that AC lead by to a mere 2 points. Once again, Milan showed a lackluster effort across the board, with little to be happy about. Palermo are a respectable team, and deserved the goal they scored. I would say that Milan are better and should have thrashed them, but at this point I'm not really sure if they are as good as I think. Ibra was suspended, and although sometimes he does more good then bad on attack, the team looked lost without the large Swede up front. It seems his presence does a lot more then I previously thought. With the intra city match against Inter looming in the coming week, the next match that Milan has must absolutely be won. There are are only a few weeks left in the season, and to see it slipping away to the hated cross town team is the painful.

On an interesting note, ever since the news surrounding Berlusconi has died away, so has the winning ways of Milan. Something really has to be said about this, and not rule it out to simple coincidence. Maybe that with all the pressure on the owner the players were able to go out and perform with no worries, or vice versa and thrived under intense pressure. The task to reigniting the fire or coming up with new motivation falls to Allegri the manager. This is what he was brought in for, and if he is able to right the listing ship in the coming weeks, a contract extension is in order. If he fails, then the well used manager axe will be swung again. The Rossoneri world is on eggshells for the next 2 weeks, so until next time,
FORZA MILAN.

Frustration

For full disclosure, this post was written immediately after the AC Milan-Bari game.

After watching a game like this, I can now understand how and why soccer fans become so crazed with passion. For the past 90 minutes, Milan was frustrated by themselves to the last place team in the league, and were only saved by wonderkid sub Cassano with a garbage goal in the 82 minute. There was no team cohesion, passion, or and type of discernible game plan coming from the bench. 11 individuals happened to put on the same red and black uniform of AC Milan today, and acted as if a win would simply fall into place. The only decent performance was turned in by Mr. Emotional himself, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibra managed to create 2 goals by himself only to have them overturned on highly debatable and unexplained decisions from the ref. Predictably after the 2 overturned goal, his infamous temper got the better of him as he punched/pushed a player on Bari, earning himself a straight red card.

At this point in the game I had lost all faith in not only today, but for the rest of the season. After an astoundingly boring Champions League rematch versus Tottenham resulted in a 0-0 tie and Milan's UCL exit, one would imagine that some sort of fire would be lit in the players, or by the manager. It looked as if the complete opposite took place, with each player exhibiting the demeanor of a hibernating bear. Milan certainly has more then enough talent to win the Italian league this year, but their mental toughness seems to decrease at every available opportunity. As a fan, you want to run on the field and physically push you team to run down field, slide for the loose ball, push them to rise a bit higher to win a header. You want to see anger when an easy opportunity to score is missed, or grit when trying to defend a 2-1. Simply going through the motions and with stoicism at all times is unacceptable.

Yes, Milan is still 5 points clear of the its cross city rival Inter Milan, but a meeting 2 weeks away looms incredibly large. Whoever wins that match will almost certainly win the league, with a 6 point swing hanging in the balance. It frightens me to think what will happen to Milan if they face a team that is known for its fierce and aggressive style with the same attitude displayed today. A serious shift in attitude needs to take place, and the sooner the better.

Not a weak week

As written in the last post, this coming week promised to hold a large amount of excitement for Milan and Berlusconi. While more details emerged about the prostitution scandal surrounding Berlusconi, no real revelations have emerged besides more name calling from the Berlusconi family and his detractors. A an interview with Nicole Minetti, reputed to be Sivlio's pimp/part time lover/assistant/fill in the blank, was made public where she denied every charge brought against Berlusconi and made herself to look as innocent as a lamb. Pretending to see, hear, or speak no evil is a pretty trite strategy, and it ending up casting a negative light on Berlusconi.

The real action took place on wednesday at the San Siro, with visitors Tottenham stealing a late goal in the 80th minute. This rare away win in the Champions League will definitely be a disappointment, but also possibly a blessing in disguise at it will allow Milan to focus on the domestic league. Of course, the real controversy began after the game ended, as Milan midfielder/iron worker Gennaro Gattuso headbutted and hit Tottenham assistant coach Joe Jordan in the neck. While Gattuso has apologized profusely and will accept whatever ban is placed on him, it was an indefensible act. Accosting another player or coach for that matter during of after the game is completely classless and has no part in the game. It should be mentioned that Jordan is not free of blame though, as he was on the field in plain view yelling at Gattuso, reputedly calling him a Fu***** Italian Ba****d. Using this language as a coach is pitiful, and as the old expression goes two wrongs certainly don't make a right.

The only bright spot was a 2-1 win over Chievo Verona today, keeping Milan 5 points clear in the Serie A. If Milan can keep up their domestic league success for the next 2 weeks until the next Champions League match, they may have enough momentum to steal an away win and move on. As more details emerge from Berlusconi's case, they will be reported as such, but for right now its still in the preliminary stages. As always stay tuned and Forza Milan!

Nothing like a win....

AC Milan's 4-0 victory over Parma today provided temporary relief to Milan fans. The scandal surrounding Silvio Berlusconi and his treatment of women reached new heights as protests from Milan to London to Tokyo called for his resignation. The revelations that have to come to light about his alleged harem of sexual partners have caused an incredible amount of backlash towards Berlusconi. In the past he has weathered some serious scandals, most recently being accused of bribery of members of parliament in order to defeat a motion that would displace him as PM. Incidentally, the lower house of parliament just passed a measure that bars the police from searching his personal property in relation to the investigation. With all this taking place in the political arena, it is hard to imagine that Berlusconi is fulfilling his duties as team owner of AC Milan. However, it is plausible to believe that he may be using the team as a temporary escape or relief from his political troubles. Only time will tell whether or not Berlusconi will retain his position, but what is sure is that he will still own AC Milan at the end of the day.

On the sporting side, AC is about to enter into a very difficult stretch of games in the coming weeks. Tottenham visits the San Siro in the middle of the week to begin the knockout stages of the Champions league, in what promises to be at true test of both sides. The next three games take place in the Serie A with games against Chievo, Napoli, and Juventus, teams that have all given Milan trouble earlier this season. After the Italian gauntlet is passed, the last leg of the Tottenham game takes place. The old sports adage of taking it one game it a time and never looking ahead could not apply more over these next few games.

Back to a more recent events, the win over Parma today provided a bright outlook over the next few games. Newly acquired forward Antonio Cassano scored his 100th Serie A goal in his career, and his first for Milan. Veteran defender and Milan stalwart Alessandro Nesta returned from injury and looked sharp for his first game back, and partnered well with Thiago Silva in the middle to hold Parma scoreless. The Brazilian energy ball that is Robinho came on after halftime to score 2 goals to seal the game, and provided the crowd with reason to sing. Youngster Alexander Merkel started in midfield and proved he deserves more playing time as he demonstrated poise and creativity. Ibrahimovic also turned in a smart and efficient performance at the center forward position, and although he didn't score he was able to influence the attacking play, create scoring chances, and proving that even when he doesn't score he is still the most important player for Milan.

Hopefully some of Milan's excellent form will carry over to Wednesday when Tottenham visits. Over the course of the next week Berlusconi's fate may become a little more clear, or may just become more complicated. In the past Berlusconi has been able to dodge many bullets that looked certain to be fatal. As the scandal plays out it will be interesting to see if any of the off field drama carries over to the playing field, or it is somehow able to remain insulated.

Until then, Forza Milan!

Rossoneri: In media res

For full disclosure, beginning this blog in the middle of the season is both difficult and undesirable. Not only has half of the season gone by, but so much has taken place on and off the pitch that it seems impossible to recap it all without droning on into obscurity. Here's my condensed and imperfect recap:

-Milan sings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho during the summer transfer period, upgrading Milan's attack to world class

-New manager Allegri takes charge, installs a 4-3-1-2

-Poor start to the season mounts serious pressure on Allegri

-Speculation surrounding Ronaldhino's status increases in the Italian media

-Multiple scandals about team owner and Italian PM Berlusconi break

-Milan begins to pick up steam and climb the table

-Ibra scores the only goal in the Milan derby against Inter, his former team

-Champions league play begins, with Milan eventually qualifying for the next round

-4-4 draw against Udinese marks the most exciting game of the season

-Antonio Cassano arrives via the January transfer window, and Ronaldhino returns to Brazil

The next post will deal with current events going on at Milan, with no more summarizing.

Forza Milan!