I am going to keep this preview short and sweet, the spring soccer season is starting in high gear and my life will be in a state turmoil for the next few days until practice fields are sorted and game schedules are finalized! So while I am enjoying the game on the pitch, I hope Milan can do the same. As Catania ready’s their trip to the San Siro, I want to share a piece from Football Italia that has matter of factly left me fuming:
Ronaldinho believes that if Milan play their last six games as if they are finals, then the Rossoneri might win the Scudetto.
Milan currently lie third in Serie A, three points adrift of League leaders Inter.
Speaking to the Milan Channel, Ronaldinho said: “I feel good. Now the last six games have arrived and they are very important.
“All the remaining games from here until the end of the season are like finals for us.
“We still have a chance to say our piece. We must get as many points as possible and then look at what the other teams do.
“We must only think about doing our job to the best of our abilities and look forward.”
Finally Ronaldinho was asked about his chances of going to the World Cup.
“To tell the truth I only have Milan in my head. I am thinking about doing my best here and finishing the season well.
“After that we'll see what comes,” he concluded.
It is not so much the speaker or his intention, but the first paragraph has left me wanting. A few weeks back a win would have put AC Milan top of the table, instead a lackluster performance against an inconsistent Napoli and Milan have been stuck in neutral ever since. Now with the final six games on tap, all of them challenging, the players and Club want to call them “finals.” I don’t know about you all, but I have to think we are bit late at judging the magnitude here, are we not? Shouldn’t we have treated the Napoli game as life and death for a chance at first place?? Instead even if the six games are won and 18 points in the bag, we still need a little help from our “friends.” Sorry, but I am not one to look for others to lead me to victory, and this mentality is a few weeks late.
Now that I got my venting taking care of, it is important to focus on a Catania who recently beat Inter and are no longer a team cemented to the bottom of the Serie A table. This is a team with some tactics, well organized, and typical thorn in the side of the Rossoneri. The last match needed last minutes heroics, and this time business should be taken care of early and hopefully often. The problem is once again Leo has a starting eleven on the injury list and he will have to piece meal another eleven players into the 4-3-3 to make things work. Will this be a game for Aadiyah, Zigoni, or Verdi? I wouldn’t hold your breath, but looking at the next six games, this is the one where I would take my chances. I don’t have much else to add, and am actually scared to suggest a lineup for fear of being completely wrong, this one is all up to Leo, and hopefully the players do treat it as a “final” to bad it is a few weeks late…
One last point, for those who can't see the value of high pressure in the attacking third, hopefully this changes your mind. Thanks Rossoneri4Life for the find.