green greece

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

Milan o Panathiakos 0

Having played a few friendlies both these teams seem to be in good shape. Pato was forced off due to injury early on and this made Allegri bring on a much despised player, Oduamadi. This Greek team went on to beat Inter in the pre-season so they aren't to be mocked. Nesta couldn't handle pace of the forwards and was getting skinned all to often. Professional fouls were his way of dealing with the pace. The pitch in Michigan was heavily covered with grass causing static play and reduced fluidity. Borriello and Antonini were trying too hard to impress their unjustified call-ups. One of the Primevera players that I would have liked to have seen more consistently over this period was Beretta. However, Oduamadi seems to get picked consistently; a selection that somehow doesn't make any sense. Gattuso is another of the calamities in this remarkably slow Milan side. When faced with a quick team, Gattuso tends to defend from a distance. Ninis, Leto and Cisse were running wild and our dilapidated defense was having a tough time keeping up. Merkel was playing behind the strikers. He has impressed in all positions in the midfield save this one. He didn't have the maturity or the composure to handle the responsibilities of this position and seems to enjoy playing a bit deeper, getting involved in defensive work as well. Verdi however, seems like a better fit. He seems to have an edge in terms of creativity and finishing. Seedorf is thriving in the newly-assigned deeper role. He doesn't need to work too hard or be too quick, which suits a player of his age. Perhaps, we have found the man to replace Pirlo without losing the creative element from midfield. Sokratis was brought on and he did make a big difference. He was fast and robust. Cisse found it a lot harder against him. Yepes and Sokratis form a strong partnership at the back. Neither are elegant but they will do the job. Sokratis, if he continues to perform like this could make it hard for Nesta over the season. Also, we needn't fret over Nesta's injury situation. There isn't a Favalli to haunt us. The replacements are perhaps as good if not better than those used in the main team.