My wacky schedule/life takes me to Boston today so my weekend preview will be short and sweet. As the squad stands in second place only six points behind Inter, it is virtually impossible to not think about the derby to come. This is a mistake made far too often and Reggina’s standing in the table, Milan would do well to dispatch this team prior to shifting focus to Inter.
The old adage rings true, that if you take care of your business, getting wins, the rest usually works itself out in the long run. The phrase must win gets tossed around a ton at this stage of the season, especially when some easy points were dropped early on, but the value of a win here far exceeds the three points. It makes it clear to Inter that Milan is in fact coming for them.
Reggina is coming off a very well deserved and hard fought draw at home, and should be riding a bit of confidence, but a trip to San Siro should squelch that confidence. Unlike past seasons where the San Siro has been home to some puzzling losses, this year all seems well at the home ground and Milan will do well to attack a team that will surely come out in a defensive stance. Conventional wisdom calls for two strikers, but when has conventional wisdom dictated anything in the mind of Carletto. What is ever more puzzling is that certain players were not rested at the midweek friendly so if tired legs strike, there is no one to blame but the coach.
Pirlo will be out due the suspension and his absence gives Carletto the option of replacing him with Seedorf as he did earlier in the season or shift to a more attacking lineup by playing Flamini and Ambro behind a set of three attacking mids: Dinho, Kaka, Becks, and one striker Pato. As you can see Carletto has options and we all know when the man has options, it is the xmas tree that wins. So probable lineup as follows Abbiati, Janks, Paolo, Bonera, Zambro, Ambrosini, Dorf, Becks, Dinho, Kaka, Pato. Expect an appearance from Flamini to spell the first signs of exhaustion, with Antonini a possible replacement for the flanks as well.
No score prediction here, just don’t believe in it, but as always if Milan come out swinging they will be a tough nut to crack. See you all on gameday.