Plan B, Allegri

A nut called Zlatan Ibrahimovic


Fiorentina 1 AC Milan 2

After a dreadful start to the season, Fiorentina picked up pace and are surprisingly in the top half of the table. The management chose to stick with Sinisa Mihajlovic without firing him at the drop of a hat. That is not easy given in the Serie A, managers are highly expendable. Fiorentina missed Adrian Mutu in this game and lined up a ‘Christmas Tree’ formation with Mario Santana and Adam Ljajic behind Alberto Gilardino. If statistics are taken in isolation, this would be an even game. Truth be said, it was far from it.

Milan dominated for an hour. Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the line up and Milan resorted to the tried and tested drudgery of lob, hold, pass and move. This one-dimensional game which has become painfully predictable was once again on display. The fluid style of attack which Milan used to demolish Inter is Allegri’s plan B. I suppose this is one of those rare cases where Plan B is better than Plan A. Sandro Nesta had to be rested after picking up a knock with Mario Yepes deputising for him. Thiago Silva marked Gilardino while Yepes picked Santana. This did not make any logical sense on Max Allegri’s part. Santana is a quick attacker and Silva is the better defender against such opponents. Yepes on the other hand would be sufficiently experienced to deal with a poacher of Gila’s calibre. Tactical gaffe by Mister Allegri which was not punished, it seems. Clarence Seedorf continued to roll back the years with a peach of a finish. He made the correct run with Zlatan picking his move, though the assist finally came from Alexandre Pato. Seedorf roamed the pitch like he had wings. He was everywhere. The front three combined brilliantly to tap in the second for the away side. Allegri’s men were on cruise control at this stage. Fiorentina continued to cross into the box in vain throughout the first half. They hardly tried to penetrate Milan through the centre. It can be argued that they had more wide men in the team than central players. Vargas loves to play wide and so does Santana. Also, Gila is a lot better with his head than his feet. That being said, attacks through the centre were few and far in between even though Ljajic loves to cut right through the heart of the opposition.

Ibrahimovic missed two sitters in the second half which might have sparked some enthusiasm in the home side. Fiorentina picked up their game by several notches in the last thirty minutes and Milan sat back while attempting to score on the counter. Fiorentina’s defense was in shambles and the Milan forwards can be held responsible for terrifying their back four. Fiorentina continued to knock but could not find a way though. Christian Abbiati has been criticised for his inability to gather crosses but he demonstrated immense stability while going for the crossed ball. Fiorentina finally cracked Milan’s defense albeit with some luck. To compound the problem, Zlatan received his marching orders on the 85’. The lack of goals has tormented him but he chooses to take out his frustration on the linesman. Kudos to his maturity. This is a very important win for AC Milan in the context of things. Going away to the Artemio Franchi and picking up 3 points at this stage of the tournament is not a simple task. True, AC Milan are expected to win these games but a draw would not be be counted as a disaster. It was not a draw, so well done Milan.

Fiorentina - Juan Vargas 79'
AC Milan - Seedorf 8', Pato 41'

Leonardo the Loser

What's with the shocked look, Leo?

AC Milan 3 Inter Milan 0

When a team scores in the first minute, there is precious little the other team can do to stick to their game plan. Especially, when the manager of the conceding team is Leonardo, who at best can strike a pensive pose. Milan's hallmark this season is the manner in which the team attacks vigorously from the start. Inter's weakness at this point in time is pace. Milan countered this weakness with the breakneck speed of Alexandre Pato, Prince Boatang and Robinho. The result, a goal in the very first minute. Inter looked bamboozled and carried this look for ninety minutes. One can ascertain that Inter's biggest weakness isn't their pace, its a man called Leonardo.

Tactically, Inter were a disaster. Leonardo's ultra offensive 4-2-1-3 is clearly the result of wishful thinking. Thiago Motta and Esteban Cambiasso were overrun in midfield a bit too often. Clarence Seedorf, Mark Van Bommel and Rino Gattuso dictated the game and bossed their counterparts. Van Bommel played his first derby for Milan that night and showed what Milan have misssed in a long time is an 'Anchor Man' who will sit and protect the defense. Gattuso ran up and down and continued to snap at the heels of the Inter players. Seedorf was the best player on the pitch that night. He dropped back to defend, moved up to attack and sprayed those passes with admirable precision. The Dutchman is enjoying a stint of his best form for Milan in a long time and the timing could not have been better. Pato ran riot in attack. He outpaced both the central defenders and was decisive in his finishing. Robinho did well to stretch the defense, allowing Boatang more space to run through the middle. Robinho's finishing might have been atrocious this season but his passing and movement has been invaluable to this team. He no longer is the player who stands with his hands on his hips when the team is not in possession but he tracks back and tries to win the ball. Speaking of tracking back, the Inter forwards were not asked to do so, it seems. They very rarely got the service from midfield and Wesley Sneijder got forced into sticky positions regularly. Mark Van Bommel refused to let the maestro settle down which annoyed Sneijder greatly. On the right flank, Ignazio Abate did a fantastic job of keeping Samuel Eto'o quiet while Milan's centre halves went about the motions without much fuss.

AC Milan did attack reletnlessly and Max Allegri did well to prove himself. He is a superior manager to the noob he took over from and he demonstrated his superiority on the pitch, where it really counts. It's been a fair while since Inter have been hammered by Milan in a derby. And as long as Leonardo stays in charge, it will be a fair while before Inter stop being hammered in a derby. A lot of people didn't expect this result for several logical reasons. Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed this game out of suspension and Milan lacked an identity without him. He was the focal point of Milan's attack and when he stopped working, so did AC Milan. Allegri had 2 weeks to develop a plan B and he executed the plan exquisitely. With the exception of a blot called Antonio Cassano who ridiculously got himself sent off in an entertaining cameo, Milan were superb throughout. Milan didn't miss Zlatan. Inter definitely missed Lucio. Andrea Ranocchia and Christian Chivu are a recipe for disaster as was witnessed in the derby. Inter needed a leader who could glue that leaky defense. Surprisingly, Javier Zanetti went AWOL when he was needed to step in.

AC Milan - Pato 1', 62', Cassano 90' pen
Inter Milan - /

The Jinx

Dorin Goain - who would've thought?

Palermo 1 AC Milan 0

Palermo. What is it about this team dressed in pink which brings the worst out in Milan? Is it the quality or talent of the squad? The tactical aptitude of their coaches? The fans and the intimidation that comes along with it? I think its the pink. Men in pink. Not a delightful sight.

Going into this game, Milan knew that a win would keep them ahead of Napoli and Inter, especially with Leonardo’s team preparing for the all-important derby in two weeks. Milan would be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the Renzo Barbera. Big miss for the Swede and it turned out to be a bigger miss for Milan. Max Allegri has resorted to the tried and tested ‘Give it to Zlatan’ approach for a bit too long and this dependence hindered the formation of a plan B. Palermo came out with all guns blazing and opened the scoring with an unlikely source, namely, Dorin Goian. Milan were undone by a set piece, yet again. This is an apparent weakness of the team from the fashion capital of Italy. Physical sides bank on this flaw of Milan while playing them and often end up scoring. Palermo are a slick side. They pass the ball and run into channels without needlessly hacking people down. Their front three, on their day can wreck havoc. On this day, it was two of them three. Javier Pastore and Mauricio Pinilla combined brilliantly. Pinilla used his strength superbly against Nesta and received a standing ovation while leaving the pitch. Holes were being drilled in the visitors’ defence with the passing and movement being top notch. Antonio Cassano and Alex Pato put up a horrid showing on the night. Players as talented as these not being able to unlock a Palermo team which prior to this game have been in shambles, is rather shocking. Milan’s inconsistency cannot be highlighted in too many better ways. Palermo were very well organized while not in possession. They sat deep and defended their zones. There wasn’t much space for Milan’s front men to move around which broke the link between the midfield and the forwards. Added to this, Milan’s forwards find it a constant requirement to over-elaborate in front of goal. Yes, the side has glamorous names up front but that doesn’t necessarily translate in each attacking move being glamorous too. Robinho did change the feel of the game after coming on. He made the right runs and found the right people. He did well to stretch the Palermo defense but with little avail.

The home side put in a sturdy performance at the back which is not a regular feature of their game-style. This is the same team that was humiliated by Udinese and Catania. What’s most interesting is they bring their best against Milan while Milan bring their worst against Palermo. If I’m not wrong, this happens to be the 4^th consecutive defeat to Palermo! Maurizio Zamaprini would be smiling in glee and rightly so. It seems Allegri doesn’t have the tricks to undo this jinx. Perhaps, we can only hope for Rosanero to undo it themselves.

Palermo - Dorin Goian 10'
Milan - /

Bari Boy

Antonio Cassano - denies his hometown club a historic win

AC Milan 1 Bari 1

AC Milan can beat anyone. They sure can. But they can also lose to anyone. Bari almost proved that. A typical top versus bottom tie, Milan welcomed Bari for what everyone expected to be a very one sided affair at the San Siro. What people got instead was a frail Milan side that to huff and puff for a draw.

Many believe Milan are atop the table by merit. I would say its due to the lack of the same from other top clubs in the league. The undeniable experience of this side coupled with the inconsistencies of their opponents has kept Milan's flag waving ahead of the rest. The most fearfully talented strike force in the sub-continent couldn't hammer home a win against the worst defense in the league. Such is the beauty of the Serie A which is often mistaken for low parity. Zlatan Ibrahimovic unleashes the monster within in these type of games and we got to see that. A goal of his was ruled out for off-side, he bullied his counterparts with his size and strength and got into the right positions, stretching the defense. Unfortunately, he left his leash at home. Hitting out at Marco Rossi was unnecessary, which eventually earned him a two match ban. So we did see the monster, yes. But perhaps more than what we asked for.

Milan's men of honor were Abate and Gattuso, as usual. These two have owned the right side of the pitch against most opponents and have demonstrated terrific form. Abate is quickly becoming Europe's best right back and Gattuso is regaining some of that terrier form that had gone missing in recent years. It wouldn't be far fetched to assume that he might be Milan's best midfielder this season. Robinho failed to deliver as the trequartista, again. He works hard, very hard. But that's about it. His passes in the final third were atrocious and the less said about his finishing the better it is. Milan held the possession for most of the game. A mind boggling 72%! While at it, they shot 24 times. Bari simply held on. But the man they introduced to the beautiful game some 12 years ago, denied them a historic win. Pivotal to Milan's attack after his introduction, Cassano played his heart out. He took his goal with aplomb giving Milan a glimmer of hope.

He couldn't win the game for us but he did his bit in saving Milan from utter humiliation. People have continued to believe that teams such as Napoli, with due respect to them, have a chance of lifting the Scudetto in May. Though Napoli's performances have been nothing short of magical, it's results like these that keeps the title fight alive. The nuetrals aren't complaining. I can safely say the Milan fans are.

Bari - Gergely Rudolf 39'
Milan - Antonio Cassano 82'