allegri starts

Massimiliano Allegri


Varese 2 Milan 0

Allegri had the boys for only 3 days or so. Therefore, to expect the team to come firing all cylinders would have been unrealistic. Last season, we played Varese and had beaten them. So we were probably hoping for the same result. Nonetheless, so pale did we appear on the pitch that last season's performance and victory only becomes a hazy memory. For 90 minutes, we the fans were made to endure Milan's worst performance in recent times. Agreed this is only a practise match, but it isn't wrong to ask professionals to take it seriously.

Allegri lined up an ugly defense to start with. Jankulovski, Oddo, Kaladze and Bonera. When this team took to the pitch, one thing was rather clear. We are walking out of this with our heads held low. The choice of defense was rather shocking and lack of pace was clearly visible. Varese's forwards were going to have a heyday. And as the game progressed, they did. Allegri has brought back the 4-3-1-2 formation to Milan. This is the return of the trequartista, which has brought great success to Milan in the past. However, it must be noted that the teams that succeeded would put this one to shame. Many first choice players were missing from the starting line up. Pirlo was spotted on the bench with his evergreen locks. Borriello had a new look to sport. Oddo looked jaded from the 2nd minute. So, the fortunes of this defense were already written and it came to pass when Varese scored the opening goal. The ball was sent in from the wing which cut across the defense resulting in a traditional finish. It reminded me of Leonardo's infamous days. Kaladze then blindly passes, runs back to cover for his mistake and is easily faked as the forward scores the home side's second. Seedorf, who was playing in the hole, was as fast as a 35 year old is expected to be. As a result, he was consistently closed down by 2-3 players, resulting in him losing possession. The home side did a good job therefore of choking the creativity begging Pato to come deeper to collect the ball. The team played very wide for a formation that is meant to be narrow. This resulted in Varese drilling crater-sized holes in our defense passing the ball around comfortably. Aged and short of agility, the defenders couldn't react in time and were often caught out for pace. Bonera has been taking notes from Van Bommel and was putting it to good effect as this was just a friendly. Oddo who played as a wingback is clearly not suited for the role anymore. A wingback should have oodles of pace and crossing should be top notch. Not only does this veteran run in slow motion, but his crossing was often terrible. He should be asked to stay back as he was simply jogging back into position whenever he lost the ball. Whilst playing against a counter attacking side, I'd rather take Abate for this role because the lad oozes with pace and is one of the most committed players in the team, even though he evidently lacks the quality at this level.

In the second half, the coach made a number of changes. Yepes replaced Kaladze which was relieving because this is a fairly significant move from a long term perspective. Though I don't particularly like the Colombian, he strengthened the defense considerably making the centre look more solid. His physical presence was hard to deal with and so was his physical appearance because for some reason, he resembles Borriello. Allegri then realized the game was a lost cause and brought on the kids. The kids took awhile to settle but began to express their skills later on in the game. Verdi and Oduamendi looked good (not literally) and Strasser disappointed. Rodney Strasser has been promoted to the main team and I don't like the idea of him playing many games. His positioning is senseless and his tackles are mindless. Pato and Flamini were the better players and are likely to be drafted into the main team. Oddo, however played the whole game, which is food for thought. I hope that this is the first and last game that he starts and finishes. At the end of the game, Allegri had a concerned expression on his face. He doesn't usually have a million dollar smile as he often looks perturbed. But this expression was rather disturbing. It was as though he was woken up from a bad dream. He now, hopefully, realizes that it isn't a dream.

aiding the azzuri

Cesare Prandelli

It's time. It's time we started doing something about the national side. The world has begun to believe that Italy has a bleak future. Now we know that isn't true. It's not just because we play Football Manager. It's because we watch the Serie A and follow the news more closely than the world does. But there is only one club that is taking Project Prandelli seriously. Unfortunately, it isn't us.

Juventus have signed a fair number of players this season even before the transfer market opened. And Marotta hasn't just signed players for the heck of it. He is keeping the Juventus tradition going. The Turin giants have always produced the finest Italian players and have been home to some of the best Italian footballers the world has ever seen. A fine example of a Juventus homegrown player is Alessandro Del Piero. Giorgio Chiellini isn't a youth product, but has been groomed by the club and is now the best defender in the league. Their latest signings include Simone Pepe, Leonardo Bonucci, Marco Motta, Marco Storari and Jorge Martinez. Last two aside, the first three are definite contenders for the Euro 2012 squad. Juventus are currently nurturing Italy's future line of defense. There are also talks of bringing Andreas Barzagli back to the Serie A! With Paolo De Ceglie, they have a youngster who can compete with Dominico Crisicito for the left back slot. Motta would be a favorite to replace Zambrotta in the national side. He is a highly rated player who was wasted by Ranieri last season. Udinese weren't going to use him either after Isla's stunning World Cup campaign. So Motta joining Juventus is something to cheer about. He would be a better option to Zebina and Grygera who are both aging and ineffective. With Martin Cecares being sent back to the Nou Camp, an all-Italian defense awaits the Bianconeri in the coming season. Juventus have brought in Davide Lanzafame with Christian Paolucci in the waiting. Whether they will keep the latter is yet to be seen but both are fantastic prospects for the future. Sebastian Giovinco might get to see more of the ball under Del Neri. Also, Claudio Marchisio is one of the finest Italian midfielders in the Serie A and would be integral to the National team in the years to come. Juventus therefore, as usual have their bases covered. Prandelli has most of his job done.

Inter and Roma however aren't in the same position. Roma's youth set up cannot be doubted and the Romans have never hesitated to play Italians given Matteo Brighi, Simone Perotta, Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Aquillani have been important members of the first team. They gave the world a special Francesco Totti. Inter have two Italians in their squad. 3 actually but it's better if Matrix is ignored. Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli are two world-class talents. Benitez is likely to play Santon over Chivu/Zanetti given his interest in young players. I can confidently say there goes one of Juve's secure spots in the Azzuri defense. If both these players are dealt with maturely and with care, Inter could provide Prandelli with two irreplaceable players, one being a world class versatile forward which was an area of significant concern in South Africa.

Fiorentina also have players in the offering such as Alessandro Gamberini, Lorenzo Di Silvistri, D' Agostino, Riccardo Montolivo and Marco Marchionni. Note, I am not mentioning Alberto Gilardino in that list and the reason is obvious. Moving down the table, there are a number of clubs with a variety of options. Sampdoria possess Giampaolo Pazzini, Antonio Cassano, Angelo Palombo, Andreas Poli, Paolo Sammarco, Daniele Dessena and Franco Semioli. Napoli have Christian Maggio, Fabio Santacrocce, Luca Cigarini, Leandro Rinaudo and Fabio Quagliaralla. Palermo play Federico Balzeretti and Matthias Cassani. Palermo's keeper, Salvatore Sirigu is 23 and is looking likely to mind the net in 2014 as he is one of the more reputed net minders in the league. Parma's Daniel Galloppa and Marco Rossi are always in high demand. Of course there is Christian Zaccardo. Genoa also give Prandelli enough options with Dario Dainelli, Criscito, Raffaele Palladino, Giandomenico Mesto, Salvatore Bocchetti and Roberto Aquafresca.

These names are only a fraction of Italian talent swimming in the pool. Coming to us, we are too busy attempting to strengthen South America instead of focusing on developing domestic talents and scouting Italian players. When we needed fullbacks, we shopped in Argentina and Brazil bringing home Leandro Grimi and Felipe Mattioni. Did we make an attempt to look around town? When we required a bright and skilled supporting striker, we decided to pay a mighty sum for Pato instead of welcoming the long time self proclaimed Milan fan Giuseppe Rossi. With Maldini on his way out, we plunged in for Thiago Silva instead of intensifying our interest in Fabio Santacrocce or pulling the strings for Allesandro Gamberini. Even now, we rather sign a promising Greek talent at right back instead of promoting Michealangelo Albertazzi who has promised much for quite sometime. We were looking overseas to Hernanes to fill in Pirlo's glorious boots instead of looking within where we have similar players in Luca Cigarini, Daniele Dessena and Andreas Poli. AC Milan needs to help the Italian national side. Playing for Milan gives these players international exposure and the ability to handle pressure. Had Criscito played in the Champions League, he wouldn't have given such a nervous performance in the World Cup, because we know he is capable of so much more. I don't remember the last time we signed a significant Italian youngster or player who went on to become big for the La Nazionale. Well, stretching my mind now and it stops at Pirlo and Gattuso. We have loaned out Paloschi and Darmian and we say our focus is on the youth! It's like shoving Leonardo Di Caprio out of the door and still wanting to work with Hollywood's finest actor.

As things stand, we had 4 players who weren't called up by Lippi. Antonini, Abate, Borriello and Abbiati. Abbiati has a love-hate relationship with injuries and would have probably sprained his back while eating at the cafeteria. Antonini enjoys watching players skip by, Abate is very hard working but that's it. Finally Borriello, who would have been eaten alive by the quality of dogged defenses that we witnessed in the World Cup this year. So all exclusions adequately justified. Only Pirlo and Gattuso were picked which is most definitely alarming given the form that they have displayed over the last 2 seasons.

Nesta is 34 and isn't club material any longer let alone National team material. So why don't we sign Andrea Ranocchia? He is one for the future and his daring displays with Bari have not gone unnoticed. If we need a player who can play on the wings and in the centre why are we sweating over the fitness of Ronaldinho? Alessandro Rosina will not be expensive as he plays for St Zenith Petersburg and would be a superb signing. Allegri has built a fine squad with Cagliari who are dependent on a few players, most of whom are Italians. These being Federico Marchetti, Davide Astori, Andrea Lazzari, Andrea Cossu, Alessandro Matri, Davide Biondini and Michele Canini. Fair to say we have been linked with most of these players. It's different that we haven't signed even one of them. Funnily, Astori and Matri were formerly our players!

However with Allegri's arrival, there is promise. We can now boast of an Italian manager and not some Brazilian rookie, who has been brought in with the intention of focusing on the youth. The situation post the 1 Non-EU player per season ruling should result in increased scouting efforts inside the country because there are many unpolished gems waiting to blow the world away with their glow.

shaping the attack

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

'The man above' is often used as a phrase to describe God. Zlatan is no God. But on the football pitch, he can be considered to be one of the Gods. A titan, this Swede certainly is. To the lame joe, Zlatan is an over-rated, overconfident, overpaid fool. To the more educated football fan, Zlatan is a dream name on the team sheet. He isn't someone who will sweep you off your feet instantly. Give him time and he will take the world by storm.

Barcelona are the new Real Madrid. They signed him on a mammoth deal last season and are already considering disposing him. Villa's signing is mind boggling considering Pedro, Iniesta and Henry are adept at playing out on the left. With Ibrahimovic and Bojan, they had two fine centre forwards. Or they have two fine centre forwards. Gosh, I am already living in the future. But this isn't about Barcelona. This is about AC Milan. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is being linked with a move to us. Now that is fantastic news. All the strikers I ever wanted to play for Milan are queueing up to play for the Rossoneri. First Borriello, then Huntelaar and now Ibracadabra. See the upward trend? I suppose this is a good one.

Ibrahimovic is one of the most talented and skilled strikers on the planet. His technique is unmatched. He is a fine target man with dribbling skills hardly matched by any other. He is threatening from set pieces and is good with his head. He has a lethal shot from distance. All at the age of 28. Just about right considering he has another 4 years to offer at the highest level. But this switch would possibly be his last big money transfer. Having 'failed' at Barcelona because of a pea-brained manager, Zlatan now has the challenge and opportunity to prove his doubters wrong. He knows the Serie A like the back of his hand. His move to Milan could give the club a strong push towards a Scudetto. Finally, we could have a realistic shot at winning the title. But this comes at a price.

Financially, Milan are in a bit of a mess. The management is busy cutting petty deals with players with highly questionable quality. They are replacing players of the old with similar, players of the young. However, Ibrahimovic will be very expensive. The rumor is that Milan would have to let go off Ronaldinho and Huntelaar to fund this move. Wait, there is more. Barcelona are going to receive a handsome amount of money (18 million euros, to be precise) every year, for the next 4 years! Also there is question of wages. The Swede is paid a massive 10 million per annum, a sum way beyond our capabilities. But given these financial constraints, is he worth the buy? No, most certainly not. Ronaldinho is almost certain to depart to Flamengo, which is alright given his age and loss of motivation. He won't quite be the same player without Leonardo. So let him go. But Huntelaar? I know I haven't been the kindest to him, but I do think he has a lot to offer. He is 2 years younger than the Swede and technically strong enough to play for us. Not quite the Zlatan, but Huntelaar would have the drive to set the records straight and win back some applause. Huntelaar is a poacher who has the ability to play as the second striker. Van Gaal states that Huntelaar in the box, is the most dangerous player in the world. I do rate the Dutch striker higher than Borriello, though the Italian offers a different dimension to the game. But Zlatan's transfer under current conditions makes him a ludicrous signing. Sevilla are playing hardball with Fabiano and funnily, just like last season, we have no other realistic targets. If we do end up with the same strike force as last season, forgive me, but I don't see us finishing in the top 3. Roma have strengthened with Adriano who had a massive season in Brazil, Juventus are landing Dzeko with Inter already being strong enough. That's 3 for you. The other teams would also be on the surge. Therefore, as it's increasingly becoming a need, we must sign a top class centre forward. As much as I like Zlatan, I wouldn't want him joining us at the cost mentioned. Perhaps it's my low risk appetite. Perhaps, it's just common sense.