The Spirits of Relegation

Alesandro Diamanti - Brescia's diamond

Brescia 0 AC Milan 1

When the spirits of relegation come upon a team, one of two things happen. Either the team collapses like a monument with a cracked base or it finds unusual strength to battle. Brescia are battlers. They have not rolled over like Bari but are battling hard to survive. By the time you read this, they would have been relegated but they did put up a mighty fight.

Allegri knew he had to change things at the back. The Sokratis experiment had failed, there is no doubting that. The Greek simply isn't 'Da Milan' and should seek playing time with the raccoons of Parco Sempione. Yepes was called upon in this game to solidify the backline alongside Silva. The sense of automatic assurance trickled down the defense. Milan played with a high line which is unusual to Allegri's style. Abate rarely got down his flank, surprisingly. After a bright start, Milan fazed out of the game with no spark in attack. Caracciolo constantly won the physical battle with Yepes and posed a threat in the box. A similar threat was dearly missed by the away side. Cassano and Robinho are not natural centre forwards and love to hug the sidelines. The absence of a striker left a gaping hole in the box and often no one was on the receiving end of the crosses or through balls. To make matters worse, Boatang unusually played down the right as well and did not step up to become a make-shift centre forward.

The lack of a centre forward continued to haunt Milan. Cassano missed two headers and Robinho characteristically scuffed his chances. The passing was lateral due to a shapeless attack which hugely influenced Milan’s build up play. Boatang endured a disappointing game and looked confused about his role in the side. The Ghanaian suffered with no front men to feed or feed off. He did some defensive work but remained ineffective in attack. Allegri was preparing to unleash Beretta, a true centre forward, who by many people’s opinions should have started this game. Diamanti resembled a deer, jinking past several Milan players in Messiesque manner. The Italian troubled Milan’s cumbersome backline with his movement, passing and dribbling skills. None of this embarrassed Allegri enough who appeared to be waiting for Christmas to introduce Beretta. His patience annoyingly paid off when Cassano set up Robinho for the winner. Brescia pushed their men forward to grab the three points like most English clubs do, albeit in suicidal fashion, and were duly punished on the counter. Just then, Allegri implemented his provincial club mentality by substituting Cassano for Ambrosini.

Yes, Milan won. But there is not much pride in winning 1-0 against Brescia. Allegri is highly praised for his man-management skills but when it comes to showing balls on the pitch, he tends to shy away. Beretta merited a start in this game. The highly regarded centre forward’s hunger and drive combined with his Primevera form could have resulted in a comfortable win. I also have a problem with his provincial club mentality as mentioned before. Allegri takes a 1-0 with much pleasure against teams he should be thrashing and making a statement. One big flaw in the otherwise sound manager. One big flaw.