I probably don’t do this enough, but I just want to point out some of the truly amazing and insightful comments during and following the match yesterday. I am actually still reading them while I type this and while it is clear we will never be rid of some of the yahoos, the quality discussion from many of you, even the always classy Juve fans, sparked a few second thoughts that I want to share…
- We needed Zlatan to be beast yesterday, but that creeping suspicion that he turns into a ghost in big games reared its head. He was not aggressive, he was not bullish, and he was not his usual self. A funny point about Zlatan and his amazing record of seven straight titles in Serie A, titles are not won in the big games against the big Clubs, titles are won in the little games over the length of the schedule. Zlatan is certainly a title winner, but a CL match-winner is a different story…
- The more I watch the Lennon - Crouch combo for the goal the more befuddled I am by the defensive error by Yepes. He had a great match yesterday, but his choice to leave his feet that far away from goal even after taking a chance to look over and assess where Nesta was positioned was simply foolish. He could have contained, ushered Lennon wide, fouled him, tried to create a true 2 v 2...the choices were endless, but instead he give him carte blanche to goal, too bad. Have to wonder what Silva would have done?
- Maybe I was a bit harsh on Pato yesterday, but I still can’t find a solid positive from his half. Yes he put Spurs on notice, but did nothing dangerous, and nothing to really make a case for himself. These are big games, and guys like him should be scoring in them, it’s that simple, and if he doesn’t score he needs to create chances and be dangerous, I can't find one chance that was truly Pato-esque.
- The Zlatan goal that was disallowed is starting to wear on me! I don’t complain about refs because in the end everything evens out, but with a first half with so few stoppages and a second half with no rhythm and constant whistles you have to wonder if that foul was as bad as made out to be.
- Milan simply didn’t deserve to win last night, there really is no excuses, out-played, out-coached, and out-classed, which leads me to my last point…
- From this day forward all horrifically reckless challenges will simply be called Flaminis, still in shock at his stupidity, and still in shock that the Ref didn't card him. If UEFA gives him 4 games not sure how anyone can argue...
- The media is having a field day with this Rino thing. He already came out and apologized, we can all agree what he did was inappropriate, but is anyone willing to ask the simple question here? Who is Joe Jordan and what business does he have berating players for the entirety of a match!? I mean is there not a fourth official on the sideline that could have kept this from escalating to the point it did?? I just don’t understand how with all the officials on the pitch and the FIFA fair play respect campaign this was allowed to happen! Both parties are at fault and both should be held accountable. As for the fans of other Italian Clubs trolling the blog, you know who you are, your provocation and slandering of Milan makes you no better than Joe Jordan and these EPL pundits, the media is not just slamming Gattuso and Milan but using the “Italian Stigma” to slam Italy as a whole, nice job picking sides.
On a side note, and a bit of a fun change of pace am sharing an email from Thomas in Rotterdam, if you want to get in touch with Thomas and be "THAT MILAN FAN!" let me know via email acmilan@theoffside.com and I will put you in touch.
I have a question for you. I'm planning an amazing football journey. In March and April I will visit 31 football matches within 31 days... all across Europe, travelling by train, using Eurail (InterRail as we call it). And during my trip I meet football fans. The plan is to join a fan to a match of their favorite club to see the game together and to talk about it afterward before I head off to the next match. You can find more information, and more details, here.
I already have quite a few 'fans'. From Stockholm till Dublin, from Barcelona till Prague. But, well, no fans yet in Milan. I know you are from the United States, but because of your good and popular blog you probably know many people who are going to AC Milan, once a year or every home game, I don't mind. Can you help me by publishing a blog about me, or asking around, to find a real AC Milan-fan? Cause what would 31matches be without a match of the Rossoneri?