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.