Resurrection

Leonardo refused the term AC Milan resurrection after the 2-0 win at home to Parma because he says we were not dead to start with. Maybe he is right, Milan were not dead but they were terminally ill and on their way to a timely demise.

I wrote in my article Les Miserable around a month ago of how AC Milan have become a wreck. A month would seem an eternity now and I'm almost forced to eat my words. That's the beauty of football, you are always one result away from turning your fortunes around. The 2-1 home win against Roma completely transformed the Milan season. However the pinnacle has to be the outstanding win versus the galacticos of Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. It's was not the scoreline that was impressive it was the way Leonardo approached the game. The Brazilian tactician proceeded to field an attacking formation much to the surprise of everyone, playing Ronaldinho-Inzaghi- Pato with Seedorf as extra support in midfield.

His gamble paid off and the 4 man attack is still doing wonders, with Milan undefeated in their last 5 games scoring 11 goals in the process. However the main ingredient missing is the presence of a Target Man. Huntelaar has failed to deliver and is still without a goal for his new club and Inzaghi is too old to play every 90minutes. Pato needs support. Enter Marco Borriello the former Genoa star has been plagued with injuries ever since his return to Milan having scored 19 goals in his last fit season. Yesterday against Parma he was reborn. It was the his first 90minutes in almost a year and he capped it off with 2 goals including a wonderful scissor kick to seal the win. His skill and finishing is unquestionable but if he can keep fit, AC Milan and Italy's long lost top class Striker has been finally unearthed in their own backyard. Ronaldinho appears to have found new motivation, although still a shadow of his formal self he seems to be heading in the right direction and playing for the team. He continues to provide assists for fun. Pirlo and Seedorf continue to impress by putting on performances that better explain why Ancelotti was keen to acquire the service of one or both of them (I still think 30million euros for Pirlo was enough to buy 2 younger players). They are match winners and the more you have in your team the better off you are. Nesta though has been truly magical, his elegance and grace are the markings of a dying breed of central defenders. Defenders that depended more on wit and skill than brute force. He is definitely back to his best. There is not greater resurrection however than that of Nelson Dida.

Leonardo should be given a lot of credit for sticking with him and supporting him even after his howler in Madrid. Dida was almost sold last season and has been sidelined to the fringes of Milan. A string of injuries to Abbiati and Storari gave him a chance to showcase his talents versus Madrid and he failed miserably. But thanks to Leo, he has been outstanding ever since pulling off incredible saves against both Chievo, Napoli and Parma.

Milan off course play Real Madrid again next Tuesday and everything could be undone with a home loss although I disagree. Regardless of the result Leonardo has silenced a large part of his critics, myself included with tactical awareness, man management and courage. I will not be surprised if Pato and co put Real to the sword a second time.

Check out the Borriello Goals versus Parma

Les Miserables

It has been an incredibly stressful task watching AC Milan this season. Yes I already had low expectations following their mediocre pre-season performances and their below par transfer activity, but when you see a once great team unraveling in front of your own eyes it's just something else.

Milan started the week with a home game against Bari, a club rumored to be worth around 30 Million Euros on the verge of a takeover. Yes half the price of Kaka'. You can buy his right side only, or maybe two thighs worth, or just the left leg of Ronaldo...you get the picture.

It was supposed to be a routine victory for Milan, playing at home against a newly promoted team even if Bari were punching above their weight recently. It was not to be. Giampiero Ventura's team outplayed Milan for most of the game. The quartet of Rivas, Barreto, Alvarez and Kutosov dominated the game and caused havoc on the counter attack forcing Storari to make a string of excellent saves. I found myself thinking that these four players might be useful for Milan to acquire, one of whom is a Milan reject. How times have changed I thought. Rivas however is a true gem. The 26 year old Argentine was phenomenal. He combined pace and flair to a fantastic effect. Although lacking a bit when it comes to finishing he has the ability to dribble past anyone. Just ask Gattuso....Abate and Nesta. He tormented the Milan defense until he ran out of steam and was substituted. Milan could do well by looking to Rivas come the end of season especially since he has what they are lacking in abundance, Pace. A 0-0 draw was flattering for Milan and on another day could have lost by 1 or 2 goals. The fans understood that and rightly applauded Bari.

Milan did not create any clear cut chances this game and frankly depending on Ronaldinho for the rest of the season is suicide. He is now officially in my opinion a has been. He always looks for the extravagant or the dribble, it used to work for him at Barca when he was focused and in shape, not so now. His attitude also rubbed me the wrong way. Every single tackle against him he fell to the ground smiling and complaining to the referee. It seems Ronnie has forgotten that we are not playing "Touch" football, but a game for men where tackling was allowed. Either he shapes up or we should let go of him, maybe Man City are still interested? How we could have used Gourcuff now...sigh.

Another disturbing thing was Leonardo. I was always making excuses for him due to his lack of experience and how he inherited an old lack luster team, but come one this is Milan. It's a team that has Nesta, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Seedorf, Pirlo, Pato, Inzaghi and Ronaldinho. Some of them maybe a bit old and past their prime. They maybe not strong enough to win the Scudetto, but they are more than capable of dispatching teams like Bari (no offense to Bari, they are a very good team on the rise and whom I will be supporting next to Milan this season). Leonardo has failed to utilize his team in any way and tactically they are lacking. During the Bari game he failed to turn the game around for 90minutes. Watching Milan you tend to feel that nothing is happening, tactically that is. Huntelaar has not got a goal scoring chance since he has arrived and yet he is blamed for not scoring. Leonardo is not up to par. He again proved how clueless he is against FC Zurich.

AC Milan lost to FC Zurich by 1 goal to nil at the San Siro. They failed to turn the game around for 80minutes. Leonardo again watched as any spectator. Yes they were better than the Bari game but FC Zurich is a weaker team than Bari. Milan did create chances but so did Zurich. Arguably Milan deserved at least a point from the game. I can't believe I wrote the last sentence. Milan deserved a point at home versus an unknown team? these are sad times indeed for all Rossonero fans. Milan now face elimination from the Champions League group stage. They will face the unstoppable Real Madrid in the next two rounds and realistically I don't see us grabbing a single point from those games. Madrid have a better squad and a much better coach. Leonardo must up his game or leave. He has inherited a somewhat weakened squad but this is no excuse to turn Milan into a mockery. I'm dreading facing Ronaldo and co. , but still I keep the faith. Forza Milan

Milan Win Berlusconi Trophy, Really?

Well a couple of days back I managed to watch AC Milan take on Juventus for the annual friendly played to win the Berlusconi Cup. It is the last friendly before the Serie A kicks-off next week, so naturally it is quite important for both teams to have a some sort of idea of where they stand. Juve had a mixed preseason but miles better than that of Milan. Milan had not won a single preseason friendly up to that point although they managed to grab a draw or two, so logically Milan would be putting more importance on that game, more to the fact they were playing at home. I never thought though it was that important!

Both teams started out with more or less their best eleven on the field. The game played out to a 1-1 draw with Diego who was extremely impressive through out grabbing the lead with a deflected shot off Milan defender Thiago Silva who had a decent game himself. Alex Pato equalised late on with a header from an inch perfect Abate cross. Milan overall played fairly well, looked threatening and their overall display was miles better than any of their preseason games thanks to occasional moments of brilliance from Ronaldinho, Pato and Pirlo. Yes I know I argued before that Pirlo can be sold, but in no way is his presence in any team in the world not an advantage for that team. New signing Huntelaar struggled a bit, but gave me hope that if given a few games he can deliver. Overall I still think Inter are almost a sure in for winning the Serie A again this season, that's were I would put my money. Their overall squad and tactical displays are better than any other Serie A team.

Anyways, as the game ended in a draw it had to be settled on penalties, fair enough. What really surprised me was the presence of Milan vice-president Galliani on the bench celebrating after each penalty kick as if Milan were playing a "World Cup" final, not even a "Champions League" final could enlist such exaggerated emotions from the Milan number two. Frankly it was too much for me. Maybe he was genuinely happy, who knows? but it seemed to me that Galliani wanted this win just to prove to us and mainly to himself that everything is fine in Milanello. There were a lot of positives to take out of the game for Milan and I'm sure Leonardo breathed a sigh of relief following his teams display as it gave him hope for the future. Not among the positives was beating Juve, because frankly it never happened. Milan drew 1-1 at home with Juve and struggled to equalize, (a poor result in any two legged competition or even in a league meet), and later won a penalty contest to win a friendly competition, nothing more nothing less. I hope that the next time I see Mr. Galliani jumping up and down would be in a Champions League final, on second thought a Coppa Italia final will do!