ronnie's cavanda nightmare

Luis Cavanda

Lazio 1 Milan 1

With Boatang impressing in the two games he has played, his name was going to be the first on the team sheet along with the likes of Pirlo, Ronaldinho and Ibrahimovic. This, even if the irreplaceable trinity have reduced their playing standards remarkable off late. However Boatang has secured a place in this side on merit and looks to hold on to it. Allegri had to change the system, try something new. So he pushed Boatang into the front three with Pato being injured and Robinho lacking match fitness. He asked the Ghanaian to play in the hole and drift to the right when needed. Therefore the 4-3-1-2 could become a flexible 4-3-3. Abate was preferred to Bonera at right back. This indicated an attacking intent from the back from the coach with a compromise on defense. This probably backfired on him in the end as it was due to Abate's cramp in the opposition half that created space for Hernanes to cross from the left. Gattuso was given the task of shutting down Christian Ledesma, but the South American easily shrugged off challenges from the Italian. However, Gattuso worked his socks off and that limited Ledesma's effect from midfield. What was interesting to note was that young Cavanda was given the task of marking Ronaldinho; a mighty task for a kid who was given his first full debut for the club. He performed his duties admirably and also bombed forward causing Abate a cause for concern at times.

Allegri knew that he had to get his act in place so his team hit the ball running. However, the approach was rushed and not characteristically composed. The Milan machine was not clicking. Hernanes came into his own. He was one of the few players who was double-teamed at times. Lazio adopted the tradition Calcio method of sitting back and drawing Milan into their half before hitting them on the counter. Lazio however were more threatening in attack. Mauri was incredibly denied by Abbiati as the veteran shot out his foot to save a certain goal. Cavanda kept Ronaldinho very quiet. The Brazilian was contributing but only in spurts. Milan's passing usually involved the long range passes which is testament of the fact that the distance between the midfield and the attack is large. This was effectively utilized by Lazio as they concentrated their midfield with 5 men. They continuously intercepted the balls in midfield and constructed the counters from the recovered possession. Brocchi has been re-invented as a holding midfield and was performing surprisingly well. He was full of energy, even for his age. It took more than an hour to break the deadlock as Ibrahimovic broke the offside trap to score a scrappy goal. As mentioned earlier, Lazio didn't take long to respond as they continued play after Abate went down with a cramp to score the equalizer. Zambrotta almost won the game in the end with a shot from distance that rattled the crossbar. The game ended in a draw, perhaps deservedly so.

Genoa next. The fixtures only get harder. But performances of the players and the team are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Ronaldinho is having a miserable season already and my bias might be kicking in. But with his work rate and effort, we aren't going to win many games since this season as he is such a key cog in Allegri's set up. We need Robinho to hit match fitness and Pato back on the pitch to mount a realistic challenge. Soon.

Milan - Ibrahimovic 66'
Lazio - Floccari 81'