so i think janks made alves look like a fool...do u guys agree? alves is so highly wanted by so mny teams, i think janks came out n showed who the betta back was... great game...1st hardware of year!
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/supercup/news/kind=1/newsid=578645.html pirlo was voted motm, and of course, the night was devoted by milan to puerta.
Milan's 5th Super Cup È il quinto successo rossonero Questo l'albo d'oro della Supercoppa Europea 1972 Ajax (Olanda) 1973 Ajax (Olanda) 1974 non disputata 1975 Dinamo kiev (Russia) 1976 Anderlecht (Olanda) 1977 Liverpool (Inghilterra) 1978 Anderlecht (Olanda) 1979 Nottingham F. (Inghilterra) 1980 Valencia (Spagna) 1981 non disputata 1982 Aston Villa (Inghilterra) 1983 Aberdeen (Scozia) 1984 Juventus (Italia) 1985 non disputata 1986 Steaua Bucarest (Romania) 1987 Porto (Portogallo) 1988 Malines (Belgio) 1989 Milan (Italia) 1990 Milan (Italia) 1991 Manchester United (Inghilterra) 1992 Barcellona (Spagna) 1993 Parma (Italia) 1994 Milan (Italia) 1995 Ajax (Olanda) 1996 Juventus (Italia) 1997 Barcellona (Spagna) 1998 Chelsea (Inghilterra) 1999 Lazio (Italia) 2000 Galatasaray (Turchia) 2001 Liverpool (Inghilterra) 2002 Real Madrid (Spagna) 2003 Milan (Italia) 2004 Valencia (Spagna) 2005 Liverpool (Inghilterra) 2006 Siviglia (Spagna) 2007 Milan (Milan)
Good Game!!! Milan is such a classy team. So many things they did on the field today showed what type of team they are. Wearing Puerta's name on their jersey, Seedorf taking off his shirt and recognizing Puerta's name on the shirt as did KAKA when he scored. Even suggesting that the game be postponed was classy on Milan's part. But what I really love is that dispite the emotional & maybe psychological edge that Sevilla had going into the game...Milan still showed up for the game and looked really good taking the Cup. They didn't role over and play dead for Sevilla and others who may have wanted a feel good story with a Sevilla win. They fully deserved to win the game. Everyone looked good. Janks looked better than good...Inzaghi is as Inzaghi does and I love the fact that Milan doesn't panic when they go a goal down and try and do too much. There experience is evident. However, Dida looked suspect on tha goal that he allowed & Oddo's crosses always seemed to be low & got blocked by defenders...as opposed to Gattuso's who's cross was more like a rainbow. Anyways good game and I hope we can stay healthy. I have a feeling if we have more than one significant injurywe may sputter to the January transfer window when we could pick-up reinforcements. FORZA MILAN!!!!
when inspired like this evening pirlo is simply unbelievable. best playmaker in the world by far, imo, probably one of the all-time best, especially if he does some other seasons at this level.
This is something I've noticed since Oddo joined Milan. When I watched Oddo at Lazio I was always impressed with his crossing ability and general attacking contributions to his team. I was less impressed with his defensive ability for Lazio. But since he joined Milan it seems his defending is better but his crossing has been pretty poor. I don't remember one of Oddo's crosses resulting in anything since he joined Milan. But then again most of his crosses were intended for Gila so we can't expect too much
yeah, it just seemed he was making perfect pass after perfect pass. he was completing inch-perfect passes from 40 meters more accurately than most professional footballers can pass it 15. he is so good. i think what has happened for milan this past year, until at least the last half, was that he was doing more defensive work, and was farther back, because we played 4-4-2, which is fine, as his defense has improved and his long-passing ability is great, but last year our counter-attack was non-existent and people weren't making those same runs forward up the flank, at least cafu wasn't as much, and with a 4-4-2 jankulovski couldn't go forward with the same abandon. so pirlo had few good outlets when he did get the ball, and just to get it up, he had to carry it 20 meters or so, and then because we were so narrow, he had to thread balls through to get it to kaka or seedorf, as the defense and midfield of the opponents could collapse easier. now with oddo and with the 4-5-1. both fullbacks can get forward, at least one seems to always be making a run, and at times both do so, which is only possible with two d-mids and two solid cbs. this spreads it out, and gives him more options. also, with kaka playing forward, his pace is used through the middle and he can run onto chips like a younger sheva used to do a few years back. this extra width and pace, plus pirlo being liberated from some of his defensive duties, let him have a good end to last year, and so far a very good start to this year. i don't think that is a coincidence. now, if oddo could get his crosses' quality up a bit and if ronaldo really is in good shape, and can add some more pace (relative to gila and inzaghi) to the attack (last season, what was the use of calling pirlo a metronome, as milan could only go at one pace, and one pace only, no matter what pirlo tried to do). the fullbacks and true target man (though not as pacey toni is an excellent target man and can stretch defenses that way, as you can send a long aerial ball that he can flick on and win, or play it into his feet and he retains control) are one of the reasons in my belief that pirlo seemed to have a sub-par last few months to 2005/2006 and first few months of 2006/2007 (to be fair all of milan was below average with respect to what they could achieve) but sandwiched in the middle of those two spells was pirlo's immaculate world up performances, where he was arguably the best player in that tournament. I expect pirlo this year, if he maintains his health and doesn't get too fatigued, to showcase the same form he showed from 2002-2005 for milan and at the world cup for italy. I think people just didn't understand how hard it is to have little width and a forward combo of gila/oliveira playing like crap, and yet somehow try to orchestrate something out of that. as for pirlo this game, and to address your comment more specifically. he is unique in that he can have the lobs and chips over the top, but then he had the through balls on the ground at the same time, all of the highest quality mind you. he truly is a special player, and if he has a big year, and we stay healthy, then i believe milan will have a say (I'm not saying, of course, that milan will win them all) in about every competition she is in. granted, still not as deep as i would like, so that is unlikely, but if it did happen, then the quality is there to make multiple runs if the lack of depth doesn't catch them. edit: this reminds me, i might have to go dig up an old thread i had in the beautiful game forums and tell seaside mafia to watch this one, as if i remember correctly, one of his posts was something to the effect of "i have never seen pirlo play a good game." indeed. it is weird. that is what i thought of when he was with lazio, was very good going forward, so-so at the back, but he has been pretty solid back there, and though he has showed on many occasions a soft first touch and good interplay, as a wide player, crosses are an important part, as they are the end product more often than not for his postional requirements. granted, as you allude to, when you have wasteful forwards, who aren't known as being great in the air, then maybe that puts more pressure to try and deliver the perfect ball, and it is mentally throwing him off. i am sure he will come good, though. as everything else in his game is fine right now. thoughts anyone?
Although Oddo was Lazio's talisman when it came to set pieces and crossing; that doesn't necessarily mean he was ever brilliant in that area. If we're honest with ourselves I think we'd all recognize that quality crossing in Serie A is a bit scarce so anybody who consistently does them well is regarded as an exceptional player. Hence Oddo is given a little more credit than he's due. However when you're playing with one striker its always going to be difficult to produce from the flanks. I think low crosses were essential in this game because the lower the ball the more likely it will be deflected to offensive reinforcements therefor maintaining pressure. Still the best crosser in our ranks to this day is ironically Cafu. His ability to run onto Pirlo set-ups and meet them with expert precision followed by excellent crosses into the box on a consistent basis has been the hallmark of Milan's arsenal for over 4 seasons. Cafu has assisted so many goals for us during his stay in Milan its not even funny.
yeah who wants to play janks upfront instead of gila?? kiddin, ofcourse... im still backing him to have his break out year.. but man that was a classy finish..
here's a torrent http://www.mininova.org/tor/865660 don't know how fast the download is, nor how big the file is. maybe a replay will come on? In america, fsc replayed it at night so i rewatched it at that time, and they will replay it probably one other time I bet, but i don't know what the channels in holland will do.
It was a very nice game, even if I think it could have been postponed. Congrats to Milan. Pirlo was definitely man of the match. He reminded everyone why he used to be a #10 playing in the hole. He's not a very fast guy, but the speed at which he'll recognize a player making a run way out of his line of vision and a millisecond later execute a perfect pass to that same player is truly extraordinary. There were a couple of times where the pass was inch-perfect and Oddo or another player just couldn't control it. You have to be pretty damn good to play with Pirlo. I think he's the best passer in the world. And he's not overrated -he hasn't been affected by all the talk of him as a great passer and he doesn't make a show of it, like Totti does. One day he may be overrated, sort of like Eric Clapton as a guitarist, but he's not, not yet. He's just great right now, and there's no reason he can't be great for another 5 or 6 years.
lol, that's just cause totti is arrogant as hell, he can't help himself . totti is though the best one-touch passer, just ahead of ronaldinho in that department imho, but i do agree at times he is over elaborate when just a simple ball would do. then again, that is one of the reasons totti is so entertaining to watch.
does anybody have the ability to burn this game to disc (in a higher quality format than the torrent floating around), i'll pay.
I saw this quote from another site, it is from a write-up about this game. El Mundo(Spanish paper): "Pirlo: the Leonardo of football, a player who almost always manages to find the keys to unlock the match." sig-worthy
some post-match tidbits from gallani: "Milan always goes forward with its players, both in the good and bad fate. We created a cohesive, compact and united group. Everyone rows in the same direction." "On the 1st of July 1987, with President Berlusconi, we made a convention: the mission of Milan is to win international trophies and every player that comes here knows it. In twenty years we have won 25 trophies: 12 in Europe and 13 in Italy; 16 second places." "Andrea Pirlo is the best midfielder in the world. We should talk more about such a player." also on www.acmilan.com, they are profiling the past supercup triumphs. worth a look into rossoneri history.
Strange that Emerson still played some minutes in the final (just arrived from Real) and Gourcuff not!!
With that goal, I think SuperPippo has scored a goal in every competition he has ever played in except for the Club World Cup.
It could have been becuase he was in rehab for a while. When I was living in Italy anyway, that was the rumor flying although it was silenced thruought the clubs and the press. This doesn't take away his talent as a player, however. I think he is one of the best mids in all of Italy.