Bommel At His Best

Van Bommel - Seeing red

Catania 0 Milan 2

There were calls of disagreement when Van Bommel signed for Milan. Several people likened this signing to that of Emerson's. Both deemed unnecessary and the wrong type of player that Milan needed at the point of time. Milan need a technical, attack minded midfielder. They signed a goon. That was coming to bite them in their backsides against Catania.

Allegri continues to demonstrate tremendous trust in Merkel by starting him as often as he does. Under Allegri, Milan have developed a counter attacking style which has added to their already established and more distinctive possession play. Cassano, after being tried out at as a trequartista has been assigned the second striker role at the club. He has swapped places with Robinho; the Brazilian definitely being the more hardworking of the two. Catania are always a tough nut to crack at home. They were proving to be just that. Their front three combined fantastically, leaving our back four baffled. Bonera's at left back has been nothing short of a poor decision, but the Italian refuses to change his stance on the team's selection. Milan got into a few scoring chances but were consistently scuffing them through the game. Catania's movement was top notch, but they rarely troubled the keeper.

Merkel was rather rash in this game. His finesse had taken a hike. After having picked up a card in the first half, Allegri resorted the bench treatment for the youngster by bringing on new recruit Emanuelson. Bommel received his marching orders on the 54' and hardly 4 minutes later, Ibrahimovic's free kick was blocked by the keeper whilst falling kindly to the onrushing Robinho. 1-0. This doesn't rebuke the fact that we are sorely missing a dead ball specialist. With Ronaldinho and Beckham gone and Pirlo shooting into the stars, we are most certainly in need of someone who can be a threat from set pieces. Allegri's substitutions at times can defy logic, one such was that of Cassano coming off for Oddo! Ibrahimovic's form has dived in recent weeks, stats however won't give you that picture. He gets his goal/assist in every game but is a ghost for the rest of it. Catania were hit on the break by Robinho as he slid in a ball for Ibrahimovic to finish the game with the second. A win was notched but the performance in the second half was dismal. However, Allegri can be proud of leaving Sicily with the 3 points.

Catania -
Milan - Robinho 58', Ibrahimovic 85'.