Milan vs Catania

If you have a pacemaker, this wasn't the game for you. Milan won what was so far the most important match of year until next week against Torino which will be the new most important match of the year.  When Legrottaglie scored in the 31st minute it looked like it would be another one of those games where we'd be happy with a draw.  Luckily, the worst midfielder in the world, Mathieu Flamini, scored just before halftime to give Milanisti some hope.  The second half continued the same way as it did in the first half.  Milan's defense was absolutely diabolical all game long and nearly cost the game if it wasn't for Milan's outstanding offense.  Eventually, the two worst defenders in the world, Ignazio "Can't Cross for Sh*t" Abate and Bonehead Bonera, showed how damn awful they are at marking and positioning and Bergessio easily chipped the worst goalkeeper in the world, Marco Amelia, and Sicilian club took a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute.  Then, the worst manager in the world, Massimiliano Allegri, actually made a good decision by replacing the second worse midfielder in the world, Antonio Nocerino, and subbing in Giampaolo "V" Pazzini.  From this point on everything changed.  In the 74th minute, Mario Balotelli took an absolute beautiful shot which was saved by Frison but Pazzo was right there to smash in the rebound to make it 2-2.  Just 3 minutes later Pazzo smashed in another rebound and Milan had a 3-2 lead and retook 3rd place on the table to be in Champions League position once again.  After Balotelli couldn't get any calls going his way throughout the match, he took an obvious flop in the box to be rewarded a penalty.  Inevitably, he converted it and gave Milan a 4-2 lead and the match was over.  It was a humongous 3 points for the Rossoneri and hopefully they can take another against Torino next weekend.

Scudetto Contenders in Coming Years

After a short decline, Serie A is coming back to what it once was.  With many teams really getting stronger, here's who I think will be competing for that top spot in Serie A in a few years.

1. Juventus
Juve has established themselves are an elite club in Europe.  Making it all the way to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and getting knocked out by Bayern Munich has no shame.  Llorente is coming in after this season, so Juventus will finally have a solved their striker problem.  In midfield, they are simply one of the best.  The best playmaker in the world in Pirlo runs the show and this past season may have been his best of his career.  At 33 years old, what he is doing is unbelievable and for people to say Modric or Xavi is better is just insane.  At the back, Juve are comfortable with Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini and with Buffon in goal, they don't have much to worry about defensively.  This is a European contender for years to come.

2. Milan
After Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were sold to P$G and countless legends left, Milan was basically depleted and to me, looked like a middle of the table team.  Starting the season as low as 15th place and battling back to nearly overtake Napoli for 2nd is incredible.  The signing of Mario Balotelli was absolutely huge for Milan and with Stephen El Shaarawy and Niang on the wings, Milan's attack looks like it'll be one of the most lethal for the next decade.  Milan is weak in midfield with Montolivo the only bright spot, but this summer expect Milan to sign at least one notable midfielder, most likely Marco Verratti from P$G.  Milan will definitely sign a young center back too this summer, with a good chance it'll be Angelo Ogbonna.  As if Milan couldn't get any younger, they'll probably sign 20yr old sensation GK, Mattia Perin.  With all this young talent coming in, Milan will be very good, very soon, for a very very long time.

3. Roma
Roma's new American ownership looks like it'll be really pouring in the money into the club to make Roma a team it should be, absolutely elite.  The biggest fan base in Italy, and one of the biggest in the world, they have all the tools they need to win a Scudetto in a couple of years.  Plans for a new stadium to be built will definitely help the club and make people really pay attention.  Francesco Totti has signed a 2 year contract extension and Michael Bradley being in the midfield, definitely helps a lot.  Stekelenburg looks he'll be leaving after this season, so Roma will need someone between the pipes and if Mattia Perin doesn't end up in Milan, watch for him to go to Rome.  With a young team and fun to watch with money coming in, Roma will a team to reckon with in no time.

4. Fiorentina
La Viola are turning into a top team in Italy and they've shown no sign of slowing down.  With an almost entirely new starting line up this season, Fiorentina went from being a mid-table team, to threatening to take away Milan's Champions League dreams.  Today, it was reported that Giuseppe Rossi has finally been cleared to start training after being out for over 2 years with two ACL tears.  A striker pairing of Rossi and Jovetic(if he stays) could really make teams not want to make a weekend stop in Firenze.  Fiorentina look like a revived team and should start making a Scudetto a realistic goal soon.

Italy Will Be the Best Team in Brazil

I know I might sound insane, but just how far-fetched am I really? After EURO 2012, Italy proved to be one of the top 2 or 3 best teams in the world. They may have been "smashed" 4-0 to Spain(who are in my opinion the greatest team ever assembled), but they put up a gallant fight. The scoreline may not have shown that, but Italy actually played very well in that game and it was only a matter of finishing off chances which they struggled to do all tournament. Otherwise, they could've won all of their games by at least 3 goals. Besides Colombia, Italy probably has the best youth development in the world. It seems like every week we hear about a 16 or 17 year old playing in Serie B or C1 who is being scouted by big clubs. You could make a dictionary of all the players that are 22 or younger who are expected to have a big future in front of them.
Here's a list of some of the most notable ones:
1. Marco Verratti
2. Stephen El Shaarawy
3. Mattia De Sciglio
4. Mattia Perin
5. Mattia Destro
6. Fabio Borini
7. Lorenzo Insigne
8. Andrea Poli
9. Ciro Immobile
10. Angelo Ogbonna
11. Riccardo Saponara
12. Nicola Sansone
13. Davide Santon
14. Mario Balotelli(still "young" in my opinion)

That is 14 names that I believe can already compete, not to mention some of the great veterans Italy has to offer such as Buffon, Pirlo and Totti(who may get called up to the WC). Spain is slowly, but surely finally starting to fall back down to earth. Germany continues to disappoint time and time again in the biggest of matches and the Italians have always had the Germans number. Other than those two teams, there's no one who is as good as Italy, though there are plenty of teams who can take them out. Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, England and even Russia, who I find very underrated, are very capable of knocking Italy out of the World Cup. By 2014, all those players I mentioned will have developed even more and played in more big matches at the club level that they will come into Brazil bursting with confidence and ready to redeem Italy from that atrocious time in South Africa. Before, Italy was known as being a very defensive team, but now with Prandelli as coach and these new kids coming in, Italy looks to be an extremely offensive threat. Alongside Balotelli and SES, we could also have Totti, Cassano and maybe Di Natale(if he didn't retire from international play already). We still have more than a year left to go, but it will be very interesting to see how this squad develops.
Forza Azzurri!

Why Milan Will Finish 3rd

Milan not in the Champions League is like not having Ferrari in Formula 1 or no Yankees in MLB. They're one of those teams that just has to be in the Champions League every year no matter what. This has been one of the craziest, most heartbreaking/uplifting seasons for the Rossoneri in a while. From starting the season at near relegation, to being just behind Napoli for second in April is just ridiculous. After Inzaghi, Zambrotta, Gattuso, Van Bommel and other legends alike left and Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic gone as well, this season looked hopeless. The only true player Milan brought in was Montolivo. As the season went on and I truly thought at one point we could be relegated, but with the emergence of El Shaarawy and the wonderful play from Montolivo, Milan stayed alive. I even have to give credit to Allegri who lost practically his whole team over the summer and managed to keep Milan afloat until January and then burst into form after the arrival of Balotelli. And Balotelli is the reason why I think Milan will stay in 3rd place. Since his arrival, Milan has not lost a game(except for Juve and Barca, in which he didn't even play) and he has been a goal scoring machine. It's gotten to the point where you just expect him to score every single game. Either in open play, a free kick or a penalty, Super Mario just finds a way to score no matter how or what. WHEN, Il Faraone gets back to form and Allegri stops lying to himself and finally plays Niang, Milan will be cruising once again. If lucky, maybe Napoli hits a bump and drops some points and Milan can close the gap again and take 2nd to avoid the playoff for qualification. Mario Balotelli is a world class talent and I think people are finally starting to realize that. In my opinion, he's better than any of the other strikers on Manchester City in which he barely played at all because of his "immaturity" according to the British media. When you're rich, 22 years old, professional footballer and swole, I'm sure you wouldn't be the most mature person on the planet. Anyway, Balotelli will save Milan's season and with this upcoming summer signings, I really do think Milan can make a run for that glorious trophy.

Most Possible Signings for Milan this Summer

1. Mattia Perin
With Christian Abbiati aging and most likely leaving after this season, the young, superhuman goalkeeper from Genoa will probably go to Milan. Galliani has a weird but good relationship with the club which makes Perin a very possible signing.

2. Angelo Ogbonna
Milan's defense this year is terrible. Mexes can't go a game without a card and Zapata... nevermind. It's time for Ogbonna to leave Torino and come to a big club and Milan is just the place for him. Ogbonna and De Sciglio already sound like a solid defense, just depends on who fills in the other 2 spots.

3. Marco Verratti
The future Pirlo, as he's dubbed, was snatched away from Italy by the money-hungry, gold-digging club that P$G is. He's solidified his starting position with the French club and proved to be what everyone thought he could be, the next Pirlo. Besides Montolivo, Milan has absolutely nothing else to depend on when it comes to the most important position in the sport. Boateng is a joke, Muntari isn't even worth mentioning and even Allegri knows Nocerino is awful.

4. Lots and lots of super young talents we never heard of
Milan is rebuilding the right way, youth. We've seen it this season and we'll continue to see it as Galliani and Berlusconi are looking to the Primavera side and other teenagers around the world to revive the broken down AC Milan. The only way for Milan to become what they once were not too long ago is to sign young, talented players and let them develop. El Shaarawy, Niang, De Sciglio are just to name a few and look at just how good they are.

3 Things to Take from Milan - Juventus

Three Things to Take from Milan - Juventus

 

 

1. Stephen El Shaarawy is in a slump

The young starlet of Milan's season has been nonexistant lately and his confidence is dwindling. With no Balotelli in the line up, I was expecting SES to step and once again SOS as he did in the first half of the season. For 90mins all I saw was a player with the number 92 on his back run around in circles. He must get back in form is Milan are to keep the 3rd spot on the Serie A table.

 

2. Allegri is clueless

The Milan manager can make some pretty stupid decisions and today he did. Taking Keven InConstant over Mattia De Sciglio would be a crime in a country of my ruling. Also, not subbing in Niang and instead the most useless player on the planet, Bojan, I almost fainted. I'm not blaming the whole game on Allegri, Milan did not play terrible, but he must leave after this season.

 

3. Milan need Balotelli

Without Mario Balotelli today, Milan really didn't have a target man. Pazzini was absolutely awful in every way possible and did nothing positive all game. Some say Mario makes SES disappear, but after today we can see it's not Balo, it's SES who makes himself disappear. Maybe when Balotelli comes back and SES picks up his game and Niang gets a start will we see the Milan attack we were starting to become accustomed to.

 

Forza Milan!



Summer 2013 for Milan

The summer of 2013 won't be their biggest spending summer of their history, but it will be a very important one.  If Milan are to remain a top club in not only Italy, but also in Europe, they are going to need to bring in some great players through their you system and sign some young established players.  Milan's weakness this year was their defense.  Zapata may not be back next season and Mexes is just a red card waiting to happen every game.  Angelo Ogbonna is the most likely signing to command the center of the back line.  Mattia De Sciglio has proven he can become one of the best backs in the world.  Abate is a huge question mark.  Besides his incredible speed, he's pretty much useless.  As for who else Milan will try to sign for the D, is unclear but Bartosz Salamon has shown some light in his recent performance with the Primavera.  On attack, Milan has nothing to worry about for the next 10-15 years.  Mario Balotelli, Stephen El Shaarawy and M'baye Niang can become one the best tridents the world has ever seen in a few years time.  Midfield is also a problem for Milan.  Montolivo is set in stone that he can really play and he will for sure be in charge of the middle of the field next year.  Marco Verratti is a possible signing as Milan may swap him for Boateng.  But we will have to wait and see for that, let's just hope Milan can make it to the Champions League next season.