Well, it's a week out. I'm already planning on leaving work at noon to watch the match. Then after that it's off to vote and then join up with a group of get-out-the-vote volunteers roamin' the 'hood. Good times, good times. Anyway, planning this out made me anxious to start chattin' about the upcoming match. Who will pair up with Sheva? And will Kaka shine again and make folks wonder why ManU and Barca were fighting over Jar-Jar when they could've been out there landing someone like him?
Damn, your right. The election is the same day. Which doesn't leave me much time to vote. I guess I gotta get up earlier than 2:00pm to vote and then watch Milan/Barca before I head to work. It will be an interesting day to say the list. Thank God I won't have the agony, at least, to watch the election. That's gonna be torcher. There are 2 games before the Barca game, so it's too early to speculate who will start. But I would like to see Carlo play one striker with Kaka and Rui behind.
Rui Costa is the most obvious choice in this moment. Without Tomasson, is better to put Rui in the starting line up then Crespo. With the latter, Sheva has to play more as a second forward due to Crespo's lack of speed. And I don't think this is a very good idea. But I hope Tomasson recover his fitness, or whetever happened to him, and Crespo start to score soon.
Barcelona and Milan resume contest for control of Group F http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?sl...uters&type=lgns
*whoring myself for rep* mms://media.brturbo.com/scc.wmv http://www.1station.net/tv/tv/espn.asx webcasts hopefully i will be back for tomorrow, i realize most people wont need these this week. check out the europe forum if you want links for other matches.
Galliani is claiming that Milan is going into Barca looking for a win. Ancelotti is saying that he'll field his best players for the match. I'd expect nothing else since a tie leave Milan sitting pretty. IIRC, a win clinches a spot in the playoffs.
CORRIERE DELLA SERA: BARCELONA-MILAN PROBABLE LINEUPS 02 November 2004 10:33 MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka; Serginho, Shevchenko. BARCELONA: Valdes; Belletti, Puyol, Oleguer, Van Bronckhorst; Deco, Marquez, Xavi; Giuly, Eto’o, Ronaldinho Forza Milan
I love this lineup. This is pefectly suited to a counter attack game with Serginho and Kaka supplying Sheva. It appears Carlo has learned his lessons from La Coruna.
Stam still out injured? I'd much rather have the big guy in the back instead of Maldini or Kaladze having to visit a surging Barca...that said I think milan can get a point today...
Missing Stam does hurt. But that's why Ambro is playing, he should help out Maldini and Nesta on the crosses into the box.
Well, it was advantage so no card...and if he had gotten a card it would ve been red, because he was the last man. Great pass by Pirlo though. But Barca have equalised now through Etoo, so we ll see what happens from now on...
Is it just me or Milan played terribly today. Besides a few sparks (such as the Shevchenko goal which was nice work between Pirlo and Sheva) the team seemed goddamn dead. Our midfield was nearly handing Barcelona the ball half the ********ing time. It seemed like Nesta, Maldini, Cafu, and Dida were constantly bailing us out. If it hadn't been for our backline just think of what the score would have been. Gattuso was around but was launching crappy tackles. Like I said before we couldn't start anything because we ALWAYS GAVE THE BALL UP IN THE MIDFIELD. Very frustrating game to watch. Milan needs to get its passing down against attacking teams or we will just be sitting around our goal watching them chip it back and forth.
I agree with you Badger, at least to a degree. Inside the last 10 or so minutes we had a string of absolutely AWFUL giveaways, made even more frustrating by the fact that they often came at the end of a string of good work by the backs. Ancelotti must be furious.
I saw the game in its entirety and I must say that Barcelona thoroughly deserved the win. They just kept plugging away and were rewarded for their efforts. Were it not for some frankly woeful finishing from some of the Blaugrana players, the victory could have been far more resounding (5-1 scoreline, anyone?). Amazingly, Ronaldinho did not get too many touches early on. To his credit, he kept his head and conjured yet another one of those jaw-dropping finishes that football fans the world over have come to know and love. This guy simply oozes class. In light of this, Barcelona have to be short-listed among the favorites to lift the European Cup in Istanbul next May. Theirs is a relatively young side. If they can learn to be just a bit more clinical in front of goal while simultaneously keeping a water-tight rearguard, this Barcelona stands a chance of matching Johan Cruyff's Dream Team's feats of the early 90's.
Milan desperately wants Ronaldinho by winter. What they're offering seems pretty questionable (Ronaldinho or 2 decent players, hmm?) http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/nov2d.html I'm personally all for it, I mean how often do you get players like Ronaldinho. I personally don't see Barca giving him up. Still, you never know.
That's some offer they are making. Makes me wonder...... could we get Shevchenko for Fernando Navaro, 5 million euros, and a set of golf clubs?
Finally had a chance to watch the game....and it was a disgrace. Before I start my rant, lets take a look at what Ancelotti had to say about the game: "We were set out well in the first half, but should have been more aggressive, especially in midfield. Other than that, we were doing what we wanted to and had several great scoring opportunities.” We were doing what we wanted? If thats intended to be running around like scared chickens then I guess he's right? “We wanted Serginho to play out wide to hold back Belletti’s advances,” he explained, “but we became a little too passive in midfield so our mistakes meant the counter-attacks couldn’t get started.” Lets clarify the word passive. Passive means somewhat disentrested or indifferent towards an objective. I'd say instead of using the word passive, why not try to use a word thats more along the lines of... clownish, or dishonorable. Nothing less would do justice to this disgraceful display. [/size] “When Barca have possession they make you run after them, but their pressure was beginning to slow down towards the end before this fantastic goal came out of nowhere. However, overall I’d say they deserved the victory.” Not only does Barca deserve the victory, Milan deserves to have their UEFA license revoked and sent home for the embarrasing sharade. I cant even imagine what the visiting fans must feel like after having to come all the way to Spain and then look like idiots. The whole approach and overall demeanor of Milan was shameful and disgusting; whatever it was its not what this team is about. The biggest fool (literally) is ofcourse Ancelotti. Why play Serginho? A player who is clearly nowhere near total match fitness and hasn't started a single regular season match. What the fuk was the point of that...can someone tell me? Why play Max? A slower, more sluggish player when the opposition is lightyears quicker? Why surrender the midfield by introducing destroyer players when what is needed is middle line that can actually circulate a ball? Finally...where the fuk is RUI! Holy Hansen! A player who has performed brilliantly off the bench, a player who is technically sublime, quicke and agile is the type of fire we needed to fight their fire. What the hell was the reason to keep him out!? If Champions League qualification was based soley on merit, Milan would be dishonorably discharged immediately following this result. There is not a single positive note to take away from this match, not even Sheva's strike which was seemed like a sleezy goal as the game unfolded. A game that would make the Harlem Globetrotters jealous. Ancelotti get your head out of your ass, and man-the-fuk-up! With this kind of game we can make just about any player look like Ronaldinho. Because after all with our great defensive reputation, we are the ones that create the Ronaldinho's of the world, because we're the global test, and Ronnie passed it with flying colours because we just made it too damn repetitive. A va fanculo Carlo!