Disgusted is the only word I can possible use to sum up that game. I will admit for the first ten to fifteen minutes of each half Milan really kept their foot on the gas and showed some good sustained pressure on Empoli’s goal. The problem with the pressure that Milan was giving was that it was non-threatening and not deep enough to test what really turned out to be a formidable Empoli back line. Take note Uncle Fester those backs may need to be on your shopping list in the future.
I do want to give some praise to Empoli who stood their ground and made good on their opportunity on Dida. On a side note, Dida’s facial expression was that of a broken man today, I could not help but feel a little bad until I remembered he was a cheating, diving bastard. It is virtually impossible for a team to succeed when they have to bust their ass when it’s zero and then work harder to try to get a draw. The squad cannot continue on like this. To make matters worse Carletto’s subs in the 60th minute were Gourcuff and Brocchi? I would have preferred Gourcuff started in the Kaka spot; I liked having him in there even though he did nothing, but if you are a goal down why would you make your eleven more defensive? Last season I was big proponent for firing Carletto but the more I like at his 22 man squad the more I want to place the blame on the management. I do not even know what this team’s philosophy is anymore, are they counter-attack, defensive minded, just plain crap. I am starting to lean towards the last one.
As I said in yesterday’s preview this was a crucial game to take three points from, now it is imperative that they get six in the next two. If they do not then they can kiss the scudetto goodbye, I mean they have not even sniffed at the big clubs yet and they are floundering, what happens when Napoli comes into your crib and drops four on your ass…things are not looking good.
Shaktar comes to town this week in CL play. I expect very close to the same lineup as today except with Maldini maybe resting, he did not look comfortable today, and Kaka in place of one of the strikers. It is getting harder and harder to be optimistic for these games, the run of play has got me wondering what is next…