Ibrahimovic's Greatest Goal

To all Milan fans out there..This is probably Ibra's best ever goal and one of the best I have ever seen. I couldn't keep up with him the first time round

Forza Milan and Enjoy

Badry vs Leonardo

For non Egyptian readers Hossam El Badry is the coach of the most successful club in Africa and Egypt, Ahly, my team. Leonardo is an ex Brazilian international who inherited the AC Milan squad in the post Kaka' era. Both men are on their first job as the number one man, their situation carries both common factors and huge difference.

Badry was given the job of managing Egyptian champions Ahly after the board parted ways with legendary coach Manuel Jose. He was Jose's second man for many years and became the first Egyptian coach of the club for a very long time. He had a lot of shoes to fill but he had the champions that boasted a lot of internationals and stars of the Egypt National team. Players like Abu Trieka, Meteb, Gomaa, Fathi, Ahmed Hassan, Moawad and Barakat. Most of these players are on the wrong side of thirty but still showed a lot of hunger. Badry was not building a new team or resurrecting a wounded giant (like Hossam Hassan is doing managing Zamalek). However the local media as always would like to make us think that Badry is tackling an impossible mission with Ahly. They insist that the team needs a major overhaul just because we won the league on the final day of the season. The media here is always behind the local coach. Ahly just drew their latest game after throwing a 2-0 half time advantage due to tactical errors from the coach, who does the media blame? The keeper! Badry has just won 1 game from the last 4 in the second round of the league. Something is wrong and he should not be commended for tackling the impossible because frankly it's not that hard.

Leonardo on the other hand is man thrown straight into the fire. Milan have not won a Scudetto for a very long time and lost their main star in Kaka' to Real Madrid in the summer. Most of the team is past their prime, wrong side of 30 and 35. Plus the management says it does not have enough money to spend. So basically Milan looks in trouble. Prior to the start of the season I thought a UEFA qualification would be an achievement. Leonardo has never had a managerial role before and was still studying for his coaching certificate after his appointment. He had several roles in AC Milan from head scout to Sporting Director. Experience was not on his side. Leonardo was tackling the impossible and not Badry. He had a battered and old squad, no money and no experience. Not to mention media attacks on him.

Badry has changed Ahly's style of play from 3-5-2 to a narrow 4-4-4 (or 4-5-1). He was mostly successful and come mid way through the league he was leading the table. Mind you Ahly's performances left a lot to be desired but we were doing enough to stay ahead of the competition. Ahly had a lot of injuries to deal with and so was forced to field many youth players. Too many though if you ask me. Championship teams give 2-3 youth a chance per season and they don't play them every game. Look at Manchester United. Badry had a chance in the transfer market but bought poorly. Dipping into the market to get players like striker Moudi Fadl who frankly is not up to par. He also bought Ekramy the keeper just as his young goalie was coming into his own. Now he is second choice! He managed though to unearth some good talents while injuries

were a problem none more so than Attacking midfielder Shokry who is a brilliant talent. It worked well for Ahly and the youth performed well. Problems started to arise once the veterans started recovering from injury. All coaches would be happy with that, Badry seemed confused and unsure. In the last 4 games or so he has consistently changed around 5 players from the starting line up each game. Two Sets of Strikers in 2 consecutive games. Then a mixture of the 2 sets, then one striker. Shokry was suddenly benched, Shebeta his favorite was now on the fringes and it seems he has no position for Abdallah Farouk and plays him everywhere just for the sake of playing him. He is too chicken to substitute Ahmed Hassan after the nations cup and suddenly Afroto plays one good game and so he is a must play. Jose never gave a chance to any youths but Badry has turned us into an elementary school. You don't experiment half way thought the season with a championship team. You have your starters and incorporate a few numbers of youth and reserves accordingly. Badry is no longer doing a good job and I guess the Africa Cup of Nations break gave him too much time on his hands. He should be criticized and frankly he did not inherit a difficult task, he made it difficult.

Leonardo knew what was required from his employers. They wanted Milan to play exciting football and Leo responded. He changed the whole look of Milan. He incorporated a 4-3-3 with Ronaldinho on one side Pato on the other and Boriello as a target man. He managed to invigorate Ronaldinho into the player he once was. He has a hunger to him that has been absent for the last 3 years. He has found his touch back and some of his blistering pace in the final third. Ronnie has contributed around 20 assists this season. Leo has instilled confidence in Borriello and he became prolific and integral to Milan's efforts. Ancelotti was always complaining that Borriello was injured and I thought why is crying about an unknown. This season I know why. Borriello scored fantastic goals; he has a sweet touch and is physically strong to bang around in the penalty area. Leonardo has kept the core of the team intact. Only a few new faces are involved. Thiago Silva who has become indispensible, Abbati on occasion, Huntelaar who although rarely starts has scored 6 goals and is always eager for more and Antonini. The rest of the old guard is still there but you would not be able to tell. Ambrosini, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf to name a few. Leo has mixed it up perfectly and excited his players to play for him. Yet he is still getting the stick by the media and his employers but as a true professional he continues to work in silence. Yesterday AC Milan managed to beat Fiorentina and go second in Serie A with only 4 points behind Inter, who would have though. Don't be surprised if Milan pulls out the impossible at Old Trafford. Leonardo has shown how to turn the impossible into the possible. Mr. Badry can learn a thing or two about having your back to the wall. He has lived in an illusion created by the media until it had become a reality. He better snap out of it or else Ahly will throw away the league.

Who Are Ya?

Rarely would I have expected that watching a Premier League football game would instill such rage and anger inside of me. I was not counting on Mad-Ebayor to pull off so much crap out of his bag. Sitting down to watch the Arsenal versus City game I knew it was always going to be an interesting game. City were unbeaten and looking to establish themselves as a new powerhouse in English football. Two X Arsenal players, Adebayor and Toure were facing off against their team. Being a Gunner myself I held no ill feelings towards either player. They had a good run at the club and if they felt they want to leave then they should. I am never a fan of keeping players against their will as they will never give 100% if they are unhappy. Although sadly in Egypt Clubs tend to think of players as slaves of some sort and anyone who dares think about leaving clubs (especially from Ahly and Zamalek) or actually succeeds in doing so is deemed to have "escaped", yes this is a direct translation of the word used to describe such player, the same word we use to describe convicts and prisoners!

Anyways the game ended in a 4-2 win for City, a shock by itself for me and possibly a reality check that Wenger's youth project is all but doomed to failure for another year. Arsenal were again conceding at periods of the game were they were dominant just as they did versus United, they showed once again they are a team of boys and not men, sadly. I hope Mr. Wenger can prove me and all of his critics wrong.

Saddened by the result I was however left infuriated by Adebayor. He started out with a studs challenge on Fabregas that could have left him injured, an elbow here and there and so on. He then upped his game and decided to step on Van Persie's face while Robin was on the ground. This action was of clear malice. It had bad intentions all over it. One replay angle showed it very clearly, he knew were he was and what exactly he was doing. He should have been sent off. Luckily Robin was not seriously injured except for a bloody face. Why the violence?

Adebayor then scored the third goal that effectively clinched the game for City, good enough.. Not for him! He proceeded to run the full length of the pitch and celebrated in front of the Arsenal away fans, the fans were undoubtedly annoyed and only a miracle stopped the situation from escalating. Why the hate? By then I was fuming and like a friend was telling me if Viera was there Adebayor would have been out on a stretcher, I wished he was!

Adebayor then claimed that he didn't mean to step on Van Persie's face and he was run with emotions and wasn't thinking when he ran 70 meters to celebrate infront of the fans he claimed jeered him last season. These set of excuses are as lame as it can get. Adebayor had an agenda against Arsenal and Arsenal fans and frankly he has no reason to act this way. He was jeered at the start of the season because he had openly talked about moving to Barcelona and Milan, no loyalty from the player...no loyalty from the fans. However the jeers stopped towards the end of the season even though it was obvious to everyone how lazy he has become. When a good offer came to him Arsenal sold him so he can make the money he wants and fulfill his dreams, Arsenal were under no pressure to sell him, he was under contract for sometime. Another person would have appreciated this. Not Adebayor. Toure did and he was a gentlemen as always.

As an African I'm always supportive of talented players from the continent. I'm possibly one of two Egyptians who adore Drogba. With Adebayor I'm breaking the trend. I will cheer on United for the first time in years next week as they take him on. City have now become my new Zamalek/Inter, I used to like them. I will be laughing out load when City finish 5th. Most of all I will be looking forward to seeing Adebayor drop down the table after the FA hits him with a six game ban, boy I hope they do. Just heard he's being charged on the both incidents.

P.S: I'm not putting a picture of Adebayor in my blog:)

United Are Untouchable

I had the pleasure of watching Man United's game against Arsenal on Saturday and I was left with a loss of appetite, albeit after eating like a mad man at my in laws. Arguably this wasn't that bad on that particular day I was spared from watching Milan's 4-0 thrashing by arch rivals Inter...Rock on Galliani and Berlusconi!

The Arsenal game had everything you could wish in football, goals and drama. Showsports presenter Rob McCaffery said it beautifully "And you wonder why people pay to watch the English Premier League". For the neutral it must have been a blast but being a Gooner myself I was left feeling robbed and angry. Yes my perspective possibly is bias but surely the refereeing display on that day by Mike Dean was a farce. United had luck and the referee on their side that day. Where to begin.....?

Before scoring the opener Andrei Arshavin was hacked down inside the penalty area via a blatant double tackle by Darren Fletcher, the ball also might have struck Fletcher's hand while Arshavin was applying the dummy, there was no doubt in my mind...a penalty and a yellow card but to my shock the referee waved play on??? I couldn't believe my eyes. What made things much worse for me was that early in the second half with Arsenal knocking on United's door for a second to put this game to rest Mike Dean decided to award Rooney a penalty. Well in my eyes this was not a penalty and all what Rooney hoped to achieve with his run at Almunia was any contact so he could tumble to the floor. Yes there was contact, but seeing the replay from the back (also the view of the referee) Wayne proceeded to throw his legs up before Almunia touched him. Add this to the fact that prior to contact Rooney had already nicked the ball too strongly and it was heading outside of the stadium and this to me was no penalty. However for arguments sake lets assume Mike Dean didn't see what I saw and we all know how poor referees have only a second to make a decision and blah...blah...blah..... How can he possibly give Rooney's penalty and not Arshavin's? Fletcher in the latter managed to lift Andrei off the ground and bring him tumbling down. All I am asking for is consistency. You can't give one and not the other, period!

Penalties aside, Wenger complained that a certain United player was present to only make fouls on Arsenal, while I think Arsen is exaggerating a bit, Darren Fletcher throughout the game had earned himself a minimum of one Red Card and possibly two. Mr. Dean (pictured above pointing out that 3 fouls was too much) I counted around 5 0r 6 fouls that game two of witch would have warranted a yellow card each for sure. The penalty that was never given, and the high boot with studs showing into Clichey's shoulder, Dean never acted. This case reminded me a couple of seasons back when Paul Scholes used to wear the invulnerability cloak too and in some Old Trafford games he just couldn't be booked if he tried.

Wenger was then red carded at the end of the game for kicking a bottle of water, this had no impact on the game but turned out into a comedy sketch that best displayed the calibre of refereeing in the game. What added to the comedy affair was the fact that the fans that once cheered the king of synchronised diving Mr. Ronaldo for so many years proceeded to jeer Eduardo for a dive (in a Celtic game, earlier in the week) that was no more than what Rooney produced a few minutes earlier.

The game overall was very competitive, hats off to United for grabbing three points, in a game where they were outplayed throughout most of 90 minutes. Arsenal and Arsen have alot of positives to look at as they dominated the reigning champions at their fortress, and lost via a debatable penalty and a fluke Diaby own goal, what was he thinking?. A Van Persie goal was correctly disallowed late on, that on another day could have been the equaliser. The team as a whole and Diaby in particular showed great metal to come back after the own goal and try to level the game by playing their football, but how they missed Fabregas that night. It might seem difficult to imagine this Arsenal team winning the title (I still consider Chelsea favorites) but if Wenger can bring in one or 2 players before the window ends tomorrow it might just happen.

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!

OFFICIAL: Huntelaar to Milan!

According to Football Italia

It is now official – Klaas Jan Huntelaar will sign a four-year contract with Milan and undergo his medical tomorrow.

“AC Milan announce they have reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the purchase of Klaas Jan Huntelaar,” read a statement on the club website.

“The Dutch player will undergo a medical tomorrow, after which he will sign a contract tying him to the Rossoneri until June 30, 2013.”

Vice-President Adriano Galliani had already stated this morning that a deal was done with the Merengues, but now the news is official.

Although no figures have been confirmed, it is believed Milan will pay around £13m for the striker.

It is still almost £8m less than Real Madrid paid to take him from Ajax only seven months ago.

Pirlo Can Go

The AC Milan transfer policy this season has been a joke in my opinion and that is not because they sold Kaka' to Real Madrid. I was never for keeping players in a club against their will although it seems Kaka' might have been pushed out of AC Milan starting with Man City's offer last season. I think at the end of the day he did want to leave and that is why he picked Real whose offer was substantially lower than that of City. Never the less 65m Euros seems to be a great price for Kaka' and Milan would have done well to sell him for that kind of money. Everyone expected the rebuilding to commence immediately especially that the Milan squad is so old that you can actually picture current coach Leonardo on the field with great ease. But no, nothing happened and the Milan administration came out and told us that the bulk of this

some will be to settle debts and no big money transfers are to be expected. They chased Wolfsburg striker Dzeko for a while and ultimately failed to land the prolific goal scorer due to one reason, money! Oh and lets not forget attempting to renegotiate the Aly Cissokho deal with Porto by claiming he had bad teeth! They followed this up with an embarrassing attempt to lure Brazil Striker Luis Fabiano. I'm not a fan of him but a 12.5m Euros offer for Brazil's number one striker is a joke. Again Mr. Galliani and co. told us that funds were tight. One thing crossed my mind at that point...Where did the 15m Euros from the sale of Yoann Gourcuff ever disappear to? Don't let me start on how Milan managed to chase away the super talented Frenchman who was one of the main reasons Bordeaux broke the grip Lyon hand in France and would have been a direct replacement for Kaka'. However I feel in this case the damage already done by Carlo Ancelotti was irreversible. Anyways Milan have managed to acquire around 80m Euros in transfer funds and all we got to show for it was U.S.A Defender Oguchi Onyewu. Don't get me wrong he is a solid addition to the aging back line, but surely we deserve more.

It seems now the Milan Administration is once again going to sell one of it's stars only this time it's Andrea Pirlo. The Brescia born midfielder has been a prominent figure in AC Milan for the last 8 years managing to win all possible domestic honours, two Champions Leagues, one FIFA Club World Cup and off course the World Cup in 2006. For once I happen to agree. There is no doubt regarding the talent of Pirlo but with his high salary, age and the amount of money offered (reported to be around 15m Euros) Milan could be on to something. The talented play makers slow pace and lack of fighting spirit has been ever so evident in preseason friendlies plus rumor has it that he doesn't fit into Leonardo's plans. Add to that the presence of battling midfielders in the squad like Gattuso, Flamini and Ambrosini and it's clear the move makes more sense from Milan's side. From Chelsea's perspective it makes less sense to me, but it's very possible Ancelotti wants to add much needed depth to his squad so he is able to battle on all fronts this season. Galliani this time around has finally informed the Milan faithful that money from Pirlo's sale would go into strengthening the squad and with rumors flying regarding Sneijder, Hernanes, Fabiano and Huntelaar I think its fair to say that Pirlo can go.