QUOTE
Firing blanks
Published by Cardillo on February 20, 2008 at 6:10 PMAs per usual, the best game on the slate turns out to be the dud of the matchday. No offense to the tactical 0-0 draw played out by Arsenal and AC Milan at the Emirates (as witnessed by America on ESPN2), but the day's three other results Fenerbache 3, Sevilla 2; Lyon 1, Manchester United 1 and the game I'm watching on ESPN Classic now Celtic 2, Barcelona 2 -- featuring a trademark piece of curling class from Thierry Henry. That's life, right?
Not to say Arsenal/Milan didn't have its moments, or more specifically moment -- when Emmanuel Adebayor doinked the crossbar with his header set up by a brilliant ball from substitute Theo Walcott.
The most disappointing development from the Emirates was the lack of attacking spirit from the defending champions. (IMG:
http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif) Milan seemed pretty content to stay compact, defend and leave England at 0-0. If Clarance Seedorf touched the ball in an attacking position, I must have missed it. Kaka was surprisingly muted. Alexandre Pato gave a game effort, but seemed to pull a muscle on his best touch of the day. (Maybe it's the unlucky new Nike orange boots wore by Pato, Ibrohimovic, Dempsey, etc.) Maybe summing it up was Andrea Pirlo nonchalantly lining up a freekick from 25 meters late in the game, barely giving an effort on goal. Milan's only real threat was a glancing header by Alberto Gilardino, which Jens Lehmann saved easily.
Though Pato, and earlier Alessandro Nesta Kolo Toure left the game with injuries, it didn't have much of an impact. Amazingly Philippe Senderos was competent in the Arsenal backline. Paolo Maldini eased seamlessly into the center of the Milan defense as well. The one weak link seemed to be when Marek Jankulovski was picked apart by Emmanuel Eboue (maybe Arsenal's best player, until a yellow card for diving) and Bakary Sanga.
To its credit, Arsenal did at least create chances -- except almost all of them were gobbled up safely by Spider Kalac, who probably would earn man of the match honors for avoiding any Dida-like blunders. Adebayor was quite dangerous in the first half, despite the man-markings of Nesta but seemed to drift out of the match until the death. He did boot Kakha Kaladze in the face, so he did have that going for him. Niclas Bendtner was almost the hero, but wasted a nice sequence with an off-target blast. Eduardo and Alexsander Hleb made no impact at all for Arsene Wenger.
Maybe asking this game to be great was too much, considering Milan's defensive tendencies. Sitting back and defending is in their DNA and the Rosseneiri were quite tidy with it. It remains to be seen if Carlo Ancelotti's apparent strategy of going back to Italy 0-0 is wise.
You never want to get in bed with the 'away goals' rule, right? I still think Arsenal is going to get through, probably 1-0 or something. There's no way Kaka can school Arsenal like he did to Manchester United last year, right? (IMG:
http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) Unlike yesterday's Inter/Liverpool match I won't complain too much. At least two hours later I had the magic of Henry and Messi to wash the bad taste out of my mouth.
The distant future -- One thing I forget to mention in yesterday's post-Liverpool/Inter hasty post is that that match was a glimpse at the possible future of world football. Liverpool had two Englishmen in its lineup at the start, though it ended with four when Peter Crouch and Jermaine Pennant came on. Inter had one Italian -- Marco Matterazzi -- and he was sent off. So with all the talk of the Premier League going or not going global, it seems a moot point.
Football has totally been globalised and it seems only a matter of time before the Champions League breaks apart and becomes a World League. (IMG:
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Despite all the traditions and Sepp Blatter's FIFA mandates from on high, it'll happen within all our lifetimes. The reactionary Blatter won't be around forever, and once a forward-thinker like a Michel Platini assumes the top FIFA spot (pray its not Jack Warner, the Tony Soprano of FIFA) change will happen. There's simply too much money to be made. Maybe be the time this eventuality becomes reality Red Bull Park will actually be completed.
I know it's too late, but it seemed a decent read so I decided to post this. It's from a blog I frequent, and the writer raises some good points - particularly about Kaka and World League. I honestly think the second leg will be tough, keeping in mind our tight schedule and the kind of play we're putting up lately. I only hope Pato steps up this time, along with Kaka. And a well oiled midfield. Personally, I'd rather take a scoring draw, or a 2-3 result in England (ala Manchester) than a 0-0 (like Celtic). Let's hope for the best, nonetheless. (IMG:
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