[misha]

The agent of under-fire goalkeeper Nelson Dida has stood up for his client by attacking the Milan defence. “It’s their fault, not his,” Oscar Damiani argued.

The Brazilian was blasted in the Italian media for his performance in the 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday where he seemed at fault for both goals.

Those mistakes, coupled with a few more unconvincing displays this term, did raise question marks over the club’s decision to recently hand him a new £2.8m a season deal until 2010.

However, Damiani has today followed in the footsteps of President Silvio Berlusconi by backing the South American.

“The truth is that the Milan defence is inexistent and everyone is simply shifting the blame on to the goalkeeper,” the representative claimed.

“The errors at the back against Bayern, specifically by [Massimo] Oddo and [Alessandro] Nesta, were significant and my client can’t pay the penalty for those.

“Journalists need to take into account this aspect. Milan won’t get anywhere if they don’t put their defence right, no matter what Dida does.”

The World Cup shot-stopper, born in 1973, has been the Rossoneri’s undisputed No 1 since the 2002-03 campaign.

[Warchant]

I'm usually the first person to come to Dida's defense, but I just can't this time.

He has, easily, made saves like that before. This is the freakin' Champions League...you throw your body on the line each and every minute. The first goal he made himself small so he didn't hit the strikers foot...that is inexcusable. There are tons of goalies who would love to throw their bodies on the line for Milan. The second shot a tree could have made...how he let that go in is beyond me.

Like I said, I love Dida...but this last game was the worst I've ever seen him play in.

In American football...if a quarterback showed blunders like this he would be benched to learn his lesson...benching is the ultimate form of punishment and should be used in this instance. Let Dida know that we don't HAVE to start him.