Italy v San Marino

It was David vs. Goliath today and Goliath won, comfortably and easily.  It was to be expected from one of the best teams in the world against some accountants, bankers, electricians and school teachers.  Italy beat San Marino 4-0 which is actually surprising, considering how Italy usually plays against lowly opposition in friendlies or friendlies in general.  It was Italy's last match before a World Cup qualifier next week and then onto the pointless and meaningless Confederations Cup in Brazil.  Gli Azzurri played a lot of people that don't get much playing time besides Pirlo and Buffon.  Players like Aquilani and Gilardino got to pad their national team stats, while Balotelli just megged the crap out of some lawyers, but couldn't score as he hit the post about 4 times.  Alberto Aquilani went up for a bicycle kick that would've been a spectacular goal, but instead kicked a plumber right in the chest.  Doesn't he realize the man has to go to work on Monday?  Italy had the ball in San Marino's half just for about 89 minutes besides one surprising shot that San Marino had that was batted down by Gigi Buffon like he was playing with some 7 year olds.  No disrespect to San Marino, I give those guys credit for going out against world class talent and getting their asses kicked every time and not complaining about it.  Not that we would know anyway, it's not like they get media attention.  Although, you won't see in Italian newspapers talking trash about the San Marino team like you saw England do a couple months ago when they beat San Marino 8-0.  The English thought they were so good beating a bunch of people who play football for fun with their players who get paid millions and don't stand a chance against teams like Italy or Spain.  Anyway, it was kind of a boring match.  It was just fun seeing Italy completely dominate a team like that and get a comfortable win. 

Should Milan Change Their Identity?

This season, Milan used a 4-3-3 formation just about every single match and played a very attacking style of football.  El Shaarawy, Pazzini(later Balotelli) and either Niang or Robinho were our attack and it actually worked quite well, especially in late game situations.  Despite the quality upfront that Milan have, I think they're missing out on a lot of talent that's out there.  Niang is a great player, but he didn't score a single goal at all this season which is worrying for me.  I mean, wouldn't it just accidentally go in at least once?  I think Niang would be a great player off the bench, just like Pazzini and Robinho definitely shouldn't be a starter.  In fact, he should be sold to Santos immediately.  Back to missing out on quality, I feel like Milan is just so limited with this formation and style of play.  With all of the extremely quality midfields Italy has, not to mention foreigners as well, we're only using 3 and one of them is either Muntari, Nocerino or Flamini every game.  If you want to be an elite club in this world, that's just not going to cut it, not even close.  Also, with a 3 man attack, we're only limited to wingers because Balotelli is our man in the middle(as he should be) and SES is our left wing(which he shouldn't be, should be in the middle).  There's so many great central forwards out there we can't have because of our formation.  We could have a 5 man midfield with immense talent, but instead, we have Montolivo who's great, but then it's down hill from there.  Boateng can be great, but needs talent around him to make him great, but he doesn't.  Muntari, Nocerino and Flamini are trash.  I'm sorry, but all three of those guys should not even be mentioned with Milan, let alone starting for them.  Here's a list of players Milan is missing out on that have a realistic chance of joining the squad:
1. Verratti
2. Poli
3. Diamanti
4. Bonaventura
5. Schellotto
6. Lodi
7. Sau
8. Insigne
9. Destro
10. Hernanes

That's just a few and all of them could easily join Milan, but can't because they just simply can't fit into the system.  That's the problem, not many players can't fit into a 4-3-3 system.  Italy is a country with tons of midfield talent, so Milan should take advantage of that and utilize it.  Keep Balotelli up front, slide SES back into the midfield, maybe behind Mario and just load up the midfield.  Our defence is junk as it is so we can play with 3 of them with 5 in the middle and leave Mario to attack.  3-5-1.  Prandelli proved it's brilliance with La Nazionale.  I know he had a fantastic defence with Chiellini, Barzagli and Bonucci, but it could work for Milan.  Montolivo, Boateng, Verratti, Poli, El Shaarawy, all in the midfield working together to create chances for Balotelli.  It'd be fantastic, but sadly I don't think it'll happen.  A 4-3-3 could work great, but it's going to take at least 1 big, big talent in the midfield to make it work. 

Pato Return to Milan This Summer?

There's rumours going around that Pato maybe be returning to Milan this summer.  I heard these rumours from @TheMilanGuy on Twitter(I highly suggest you follow him), who never reports from unreliable sources.  I love Alexandre Pato, but I'm not sure if he's going to come back or if it'd be a good idea.  He had a great season with Corinthians and managed to stay relatively healthy as well.  I don't see why the Corinthians would let him go, considering he was one of their top goal scorers and he just recently moved there in January.  Also, would he even fit into Milan's current squad?  For me personally, I'd only want Pato back if he, Balotelli and El Shaarawy would all start and work well together and I'm just not sure if that's possible.  Balotelli should definitely play in the middle of a 3 forward attack and SES should definitely play on the left wing, but Pato isn't much of a winger.  Although, there is a formation that could work.  As many people probably don't know,  Stephen El Shaarawy is naturally a central forward and could be very effective as a trequartista.  By putting him in the #10 spot and pairing Balotelli and Pato together up top, that could work extremely well.  Adding onto that, Boateng, Montolivo and whoever else Milan signs for the midfield, instantly Milan have an extremely strong squad.  That scenario is only going to happen with the right coach, and Allegri would definitely not do that as he has no tacticle IQ at all to figure that out.  As I'm typing this blog right now, the more and more I want Pato to come back and want the formation to happen.  Ideally, a 4-4-2 (diamond) would probably fit Milan best if Pato came back.  Any midfield formation that would put El Shaarawy behind the two strikers would work.  I think it would be a great signing not only for Milan, but also for Pato.  His first stint at Milan was just bombarded by injuries every time he took a step outside his home and now that he was able to go back to Brazil to put his career back on track, I think he can come back to Milan and be absolutely excellent.  Berlusconi also really has a liking for Pato.  I know Pato would love to come back to Milan, but I don't think the Corinthians are going to make it an easy transfer.  We'll just have to wait and see, also, it really depends on who Milan's manager will be for next season.

What Milan SHOULD Do

Here's a list of things that, in my opinion, Milan should do in order to be successful next season.  And not successful by just making the Champions League, but by competing for the Scudetto and European glory.

1. Fire Allegri
Count Max Allegri must go, but that doesn't mean Seedorf should come in either.  Tactically, Allegri doesn't know what he's doing and Seedorf is just too inexperienced to be managing a club like Milan.  Also, great players almost never turn out to be good coaches.  Honestly, I don't know who I'd want to be Milan's coach, maybe Donadoni or Spalletti.

2. Sign Marco Verratti
Milan need big improvement in the midfield.  Montolivo and Boateng work fine, but Muntari, Nocerino and Flamini got to go.  A 3-man midfield of Verratti, Montolivo and Boateng could be extremely effective.

3. Sign Ogbonna
I know the Zapata-Mexes combo in a the back wasn't terrible, but it's not going to get us any trophies any time soon.  They were absolutely awful when it came to cover aerial attacks considering how many headed goals were scored on Milan this season.

4. Sign Mattia Perin
I love Abbiati, but his time is done.  He had a great career, but it's time to install more youth and Perin is an extremely intriguing keeper who I think can be a wonderful replacement for Buffon on the national team.

5. Sell Robinho and sign another winger
Getting rid of Robinho would leave room for Niang to improve, but just incase he doesn't become what we all think he can be, Milan should sign another winger.  This shouldn't be some guy we never heard of either, it should be a big name and someone who could work well with Balotelli.

6. Sell Abate
He is the worst crosser in the world.  Other than his incredible speed, he's pretty much useless. Not very good at defending or marking.  Milan need to sign a new full back, but I'm not sure who's out there that would be an upgrade from Abate.  Possibly Criscito?

7. Sign Balotelli and El Shaarawy to 25,000 year contracts
I absolutely love Balotelli and Stephen and I never, ever want to see them leave Milan for the rest of their careers.  Milan must do whatever it takes to keep them happy and make them want to stay here.

Those are my thoughts.  Tweet me your thoughts and opinions @mattlipuma

Serie A Finale 2012-2013

MILAN ARE INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!

Today was absolutely nuts in Italy with Milan's unbelievable comeback over Siena and Fiorentina's thrashing of Pescara for the 3rd and final spot to go to the Champions Leauge.  Milan vs Siena was a ridiculous match.  For the first 15-20 minutes Milan started off great and it looked like it would be an easy win for them with not a lot of drama on the final day.  But then things started to turn around when Fiorentina scored their first of many against Pescara and in the 27th minute Siena scored and Milan were in a deep, deep hole.  From that point it looked like it wasn't going to be Milan's day as they couldn't get anything going and Fiorentina were having an absolute field day in Pescara.  Not surprisingly, Allegri put out a questionable starting line-up with El Shaarawy and Pazzini starting on the bench.  A very sub-par performance from Niang and a poor 60 minutes from Robinho, it was clear changes needed to be made.  Niang was subbed off at halftime for Pazzini, pushing Balotelli out to the right wing and then in the 59th minute, El Shaarawy came on for Nocerino.  The Pharaoh played wonderful for the next half hour.  He was creating chances and was very effective defensively.  But even with these changes not much changed in Milan's play as they looked uninspired and flat.  Then came what I think was brought to us by the Soccer Gods.  Kevin Constant was going to come in for Mexes, but then Abate was signaling that he was having trouble with his leg and Constant subbed him off instead, leaving Mexes in.  This would end up being the best thing that could ever happen to Milan all season.  In the 68th minute, Ambrosini got his second yellow and was sent off in what could have been his last match in the famous rossonero shirt.  Luckily, if that was possible for Milan in this game, two minutes later, Christian Terlizzi gets a red as well and he is sent off so it is 10v10 with 20 minutes left to play.  The game continued as it had all match long and Milan still looked flat and terrible in every way.  Unbelievably, in the 84th minute the (terrible) referee called a penalty for Milan and who else other than Mr. Perfect, Balotelli steps up and just like that Milan has life.  Just 3 minutes later, the Soccer Gods plan worked.  Milan gets a free kick about 15 yards outside the box on the left side.  All the players are lined up on the right side waiting for the cross, but Montolivo gives a short pass over to the lone man on the left wing, El Shaarawy, and he passes it back to Montolivo.  Riccardo then takes a touch and crosses it over the far post to a wide open Philippe Mexes in the 6 and he takes a shot, but it is saved by Pegolo, but Mexes manages to just get his foot on the rebound and scored the biggest goal of the year to send Milan into the Champions League.  La Viola won their match against Pescara 5-1, but it was not enough and they will qualify for the Europa League next season.  Before I say anything else, I want to say that Fiorentina were fully deserving of making the Champions League and Milan played terrible in the biggest match of the season.  As a Milan fan, I am very optimistic for next season.  If Galliani makes the right decisions, which he usually does, Allegri should be gone and some new pieces will be added to the squad as well as some players leaving that should.  In my opinion, Milan's most important fixes are in the defense where a center back would be extremely helpful.  Getting rid of Zapata and maybe adding Ogbonna to play alongside Mexes would make for some solid defense.  In the midfield, I'm hoping that Marco Verratti of P$G comes.  A midfield with Montolivo, Verratti and Boateng is very intriguing and very creative.  Up top, there's not too much to worry about with Balotelli and El Shaarawy.  I just hope Niang becomes the player most people think he can be, otherwise Milan might need to look at a new winger.  The goalkeeper situation is a little iffy.  Abbiati looks like he's leaving and surely Amelia is leaving as well, but Mattia Perin may not be leaving Genoa to come to Milan next season.  That could be the most difficult position to fix for Milan, especially in a shorter off season since Milan must go through qualifying for the Champions League in August.  All in all, I think you can expect a lot of Milan next season and make a real run not only for the Scudetto, but for European glory as well.
FORZA MILAN!

Juventus Win Scudetto

Juve have won their 29th, not 31st, Scudetto.  They're the absolute best team in Italy and if these rumours about who they might sign come true, they will be one of the best in the world.  Juventus have one the best midfields in the world, behind only Barcelona in my opinion.  The best goalkeeper in the world and add to that possibly Mario Gomez alongside Llorente, this team is Champions League contenders.  The only Italian team I see competing with them is Milan, who need some changes in order for that to happen.  Also, if Serie A is cut down to 18 teams, it will be more competitive and Juventus will struggle to go 3 in a row.  Right now, they're dominating Italian football.