As Milan prepare to take the field in another meaningless pre-season round robin, the words of Clarence Seedorf have got me thinking. Now Clarence can at times have a bit of a runny mouth, but for a guy who has seen it all, won his fair share of trophies, and is considered an ambassador of the game. When he speaks it would do well for people to listen, even if you don't believe every word he says:
"We think we can win the Champions League, but also other competitions in which we are engaged in this season," Seedorf said, according to Corriere dello Sport. "[Pep] Guardiola's team is very strong, but I think that the Barca-factor can also throw sand in the eyes of the people who are talking about football. No one is unbeatable.
"It must not become our obsession. We must be aware that after the victory in the league last season, we know what it takes to win and we have the characteristics and the mindset to do it.
"The championship win this year is our starting point for next season. Most people now have belief in us and we know how to get certain results."
Now I do believe we can compete in the CL, winning is a different story, and while I don't necessarily buy into this idea of a needing a creative player to win the CL, it is Milan's lack of depth in the midfield that I find alarming. Not to say we can't win, but a certain amount of luck goes into winning the CL as much as skill, and that can't be denied, sometimes things just fall into place. I also like his guarded caution in realizing that Milan can retain the Scudetto, something many of us would appreciate and putting us back over Inter and that much closer to the second star. With that said, I like Seedorf's confidence and belief in his teammates, but more importantly I like his little back hand at Barca!
The rest of the news continues to be painfully slow, but with the Audi Cup today and SuperCoppa next week, things are starting to pick up...finally...