Dear friends, I just wanted to express my gratitude, on behalf of myself and my family, for the well wishes that have poured in over the last few days. Whatever sadness or difficulty I felt was soon replaced by the show of affection from people all over the world. The President, Silvio Berlusconi, Adriano Galliani, Massimiliano Allegri, the doctors Tavana and Mazzoni, all the staff, my team mates and everyone involved at Milan have constantly been close to me. Thanks to them and the doctors who have taken care of me I was able to face this strange ‘injury’ with courage. I would like to send out a hug to all those who have shown their support and made me feel important by coming to the Policlinico of Milan or through the numerous messages sent to me. I would like to dedicate a huge thank you to all the people at Real Madrid, particularly the President Florentino Perez and the coach Josè Mourinho. Now I will rest as much as possible at home and will be glued to the television when Milan are playing, or when Italy are playing. Also I will be following the developments in Genoa, a city that remains in my heart and that I know will soon recover from problems of recent days. I will do the same and I promise that I will be back on the pitch as soon as possible. Big hug to everyone, and thanks!
Antonio Cassano
Have to admit it’s tough to sit here and write a post about the match after reading the Cassano news. To lose both him and Rino over non-footballing injuries in the same season is a bit rough, let’s just say it puts things into perspective. While there is a chance both may return, you have to believe that their personal health trumps their football health in these cases and it is more important they are well for themselves and their families, before their Club and fans. Best of luck to both, but more importantly to Cassano who will undergo surgery shortly. Now to on field matters.
Some people want to call this match a cliched “tale of two halves,” frankly I don’t see it that way. The truth of the matter is Milan were the stronger team in both halves, sure they had moments of lackluster play, but for the majority of the match the team was in control, creating chances, and plagued by a few misses that would have been the difference between a decisive three points or a single one. In proper Milan fashion, they never take the easy way, and while qualification to the KO rounds is assured, and winning the group is going to boil down to beating Barca at the San Siro, wasn’t that always the case anyway?
A lot of the blame will fall on Robinho, as many will cite his missed chances. But his importance to the attack is still imperative and many of Milan’s missed chances would not even be a consideration if he were not on the pitch. Abbiati also deserves some praise as he came up big yesterday, despite being vilified by many, keepers can have bad games, but the good ones always bounce back and Abbiati proved that yesterday. The biggest point for me yesterday was the change in dynamic following the inclusion of Seedorf. Aquilani for Seedorf slowed Milan’s game down in the attacking third and when BATE would counter Seedorf’s lack of defensive presence opened up space. Thankfully no more goals were conceded, but at that point Milan were losing the midfield battle which in turn often costs the game. It is clear Seedorf has value, but that value is far less than it was a season ago.
At the end of the day 23 shots created, ten on goal, and an opposition PK, you have to believe Milan were hard done by the result, but that is the nature of the game. Sometimes you simply don’t finish your chances, which makes not conceding all the more imperative, a topic to discuss tomorrow. Four games in ten days, three wins and draw, with two on the road is not a bad record. So don’t let this result fool you, the team is not in a tailspin or down turn, or destined yet again for doomsday failure, in fact at this point last year we had the same amount of points in Serie A and had not yet qualified for the KO rounds of the CL. So for those keeping track a marked improvement to say the least.
Enjoy what you see above as it will be the last game day banner for awhile as Elaine is stepping down. We will return to simple photos and my failed attempts at Photoshop, unless of course someone else is willing to fill her incredibly creative shoes. Best of luck to Elaine in her future endeavors, whatever those may be, and if rumors are true and you are in fact moving to San Siro to take a lofty front office gig, don’t forget all your friends at the Offside! Thank you again, probably can’t say it enough.
Thanks to everyone who sent highlights to the match. Some spectacular goals but still some issues to contend with before this team truly cements it’s first place status, instead of the brief glimpse of the weekend.
- Three goals, all well finished, and all worked with tons of space in attacking. BarcaRoma proved that a team can try and play Barca-ball but if you lack the fitness and fail at pressuring it leaves you badly exposed. Luis Enrique may need to take a good hard look at his squad and assess his tactics if this team is to make any progress. Zlatan back to scoring and even one from Nesta made this one a great win away from home, against a team that we should and did beat.
- Conceding however remains a problem and while this match was never really in question, winning by one goal after scoring three or even four, or simply not being able to keep a clean sheet will come back to haunt any team. Winning the Seria A usually comes with having the best defensive record in the league, right now we are far from that. The attack is firing on all cylinders, now it’s time for the defense to step up. There may come a game where one goal is all we can manage, keeping the opponent at zero then becomes critical.
-Tomorrow Milan travel to BATE sans Cassano. It would appear based on media reports that he may suffered some sort of stroke or arrest. He is being tested further but has recovered significantly. This is still a bit of a concern and coupled with Rino’s freak injury the team has had a touch of bad luck on the injury front. At the end I always wish every player the best, footballer or not, they have a life to lead outside of the game and their health is important. Hope Cassano’s injury is resolved.
-The rest of the team will have to continue this impressive run with the chance for a seventh straight victory and continue the march on Group H. Allegri will have most of the team at his disposal including the return of Seedorf, not quite sure what to make of that. Personally I say go sans Seedorf, and play the following:
Abbiati; Abate, Silva, Yepes, Taiwo; Nocerino, Ambro, Aquilani; Prince; Binho, Zlatan
-The return of Seedorf can go one of two ways, it can be a distraction or he can accept his role as a teacher and impact substitute and help the team repeat a Scudetto and make an assault on the CL title. If he feels entitled to playing time while others are playing well ahead then Allegri will surely have to step in as he has done with Pirlo before him.
