Episode #2: Milan vs. Shakhtar (10-24-2007): Kaka` the savior?

Everybody is now doubting milan as kaka is out, as he is the only player that feeds oppurtunities and scores goals. Milan cant afford to always rely on him. They have seedorf, inzaghi and gilardino, three other great strikers. Its a big loss for kaka to be out, but they must think about scoring goals and winning the game with the pplayers they have.

MILAN-SHAKHTAR: CALLED UP PLAYERS

GOALKEEPERS: Fiori, Kalac, Offredi (n.30);
DEFENDERS: Bonera, Cafu, Favalli, Kaladze, Nesta, Oddo, Serginho;
MIDFIELDERS: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Emerson, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf;
STRIKERS: Gilardino, Inzaghi.

Originally Posted by curry chicken

MILAN-SHAKHTAR: CALLED UP PLAYERS

GOALKEEPERS: Fiori, Kalac, Offredi (n.30);
DEFENDERS: Bonera, Cafu, Favalli, Kaladze, Nesta, Oddo, Serginho;
MIDFIELDERS: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Emerson, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf;
STRIKERS: Gilardino, Inzaghi.

Hmmm, Maldini is not among the called players. Now the only chance for Kaladze to play LB is if Bonera partners Nesta in CD.
If not, then Favalli it is.

I'm glad that Elano has left, the only concern is that i hope Nery Castillo dont make a monkey out of our defence...like he did Brazil in Copa 07.

Carlo has no problem with selecting a team...Admin ensured he has no options...

Milan should win... just picture Shaktar as "Lazy-O".
No matter what Milan 4 Life...

Originally Posted by curry chicken

Is this another case for your obeah women to handle Warro?

my amiga, there are some things that even obeah cannot influence....like the tides for instance, or when the moon will be full, and when it will not appear in the night sky.

Milan are without all the necessary ingredients for us to perform:
a) No Kaka
b) No strikers (good enough to create chances for themselves...ie dribblers)
c) Tired Seedorf and Pirlo, who as such wont be on form, and thus wont be providing the service our "in box only" strikers require
d) possibly fielding Maldini who gets beaten in the air more often than a piñata
e) Should I even bother going on with this demoralising list?

It is my opinion that we have morphed into a single dimensional side, due to the lack of options available in the attack....saying that Pirlo is "irreplacable" is starting to sound like: We cant be bothered to find a young attacker who has his characteristics..what we are waiting on is for Riquelme to become 30 so we can buy him"

Our strikers are both target men, incapable of getting past an opponent, either in or outside the box.

We have no Kaka replacement...and Gourcuff isnt being fielded enough to gain the self-confidence he needs at this level, as well as the trust of his team-mates.

So, tell me please, which obeah woman in her right mind would take money to "ensure" that the full moon wont appear this month? (Clouds excluded)

Some important players from Shakhtar :

Defenders : Tomáš Hübschman (22 caps for the Czech Republic)
Ilsinho ( the Brasilian RB Milan wanted to buy)
Mariusz Lewandowski ( 37 caps for Poland)
Răzvan Rat ( 44 caps for Romania)
Dmytro Chygrynskiy (20 years old great talent and captain of the team. Their best defender)
Volodymyr Yezerskiy ( 34 caps for Ukraine)

Midfielders:
Darijo Srna (50 caps for Croatia)
Igor Duljaj (50 caps for Serbia)
Fernandinho
Jádson (scoring a lot of goals for a midfielder)
Zvonimir Vukic (26 caps for Serbia)

Forwards :
Nery Castillo ( 12 caps for Mexico. Great and pacy dribbler)
Oleksiy Byelik ( Ukrainian NT player, 19 caps, and the leading scorer in this team)
Brandão ( their main attacker in past years)
Cristiano Lucarelli ( ex-Livorno striker. 6 caps and 3 goals for Italian NT. His record against Milan at San Siro is 3 matches / 3 goals)

Not something special but certainly not a team that can be underestimated.

Not to be underestimated is an understatement

This is a team that ran rings around Celtic (albeit at home), who we couldnt seem to score against, and has some very pacy, skillfull players.

Our only hope, is that they will be simply overawed by the San Siro, and mentally collapse...that, or UEFA calling the game off because they were guilty of fielding an illegible player or somesuch.

I really feel strongly that we will be embarrassed this game...

Originally Posted by Warro Bantan

Our only hope, is that........

You can't say "our only hope.... to beat them" when you're playing against Shakhtar, Warro. You're really underestimating Milan.

Kaka will probably play. He didn't play against Empoli because Carlo wanted to keep him fresh for this match and now all of a sudden he is injured ???? I think it's only a trick to confuse Lucescu and Shakhtar's players.
As you can see above, Kaka is among the called players.

Maldini on the other hand, isn't among the called players so you don't need to worry that he'll get beaten in the air.

It's Milan vs Shakhtar Donieck. The guys who won everything vs the guys who never passed the group stages, even though they are CL regulars.

Only cattenacio with occasional counters can bring points to Shakhtar, nothing else. Only if they copy Empoli, Parma or Catania. If they play in any other way, they'll be crushed tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Warro Bantan

or UEFA calling the game off because they were guilty of fielding an illegible player or somesuch.

Well, in order for this to happen, you need to answer the following multiple choices:

Pay a fan a handsome amount and go and ask him to slap SHAKHTAR's GK; then run away (with the police ushering him back to the stand, of course, only to give a lifetime ban when UEFA is making a big fuss about it).

What will UEFA do?

1) Ban the Shakhtar GK for NOT diving.
2) Fine Milan $n dollars where n is HUGE.
3) Deduct Milan -1000 points, unless Inter Milan wins the CL for more than Milan (i.e., 8 times), which in another way effectively eliminate Milan's participation in the CL for the next 100 years (assuming that Milan scores 10 points in group stage).
4) Ban Dida for another match.

If you answer this question correctly, then you know how unlikely UEFA will do anything pro-Milan. Sorry, but that will not be UEFA.

Dida got only one match ban for the most disgraceful act i've seen from a professional footballer in last xy years, Jeff.
I don't think it's correct from you to imply that UEFA are being anti-Milan.

UEFA made a mistake for giving such a light punishment to Celtic and then they made a much bigger mistake by reducing Dida's ban.
They've proven that they're weak and easily influenced.

Indeed, I think Dida should be banned for the rest of his life from football and just retire. Zidane should be banned from even touching football, and Gilardino should well stay in his bed.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

You can't say "our only hope.... to beat them" when you're playing against Shakhtar, Warro. You're really underestimating Milan.

Rather underestimate Milan, than Shakhtar...would probably make good money betting on them....think I will place a bet...Tony...US$50 on them to win 2-0 in the San Siro tomorrow. No joke. (will get it to you by the usual means )

Originally Posted by Tony29.

Kaka will probably play. He didn't play against Empoli because Carlo wanted to keep him fresh for this match and now all of a sudden he is injured ???? I think it's only a trick to confuse Lucescu and Shakhtar's players.
As you can see above, Kaka is among the called players.

Yes, but is he fit to play 90, 45, or 30 minutes?

As for them playing attacking enterprising football...away to us? Rather doubt it old chap...I think they will defend like there is no tomorrow, and will probably have one striker...and a packed midfield...and we know how well Milan does vs a packed, defensive midfield...I think they will watch the Empoli game, the other games in Serie A where we have dropped points...lets see...which one should I pick...hmmmmm there are so many....and just play accordingly. These are not stupid people we are going up against.

Worse, they will be all hyped up to play the defending champions...while we are still struggling to score a goal from open play in the San Siro.

Please a cube of ice in hell has a better chance than we do tomorrow.

I firmly believe that.

(While I feverently hope that we win).

Originally Posted by Jeff

Indeed, I think Dida should be banned for the rest of his life from football and just retire. Zidane should be banned from even touching football, and Gilardino should well stay in his bed.

He promoted shameless cheating in front of millions of fans, especially children who'll be professional footballers. What is the message he sent to this children ? What is the message UEFA sent with this ban ?

Why do you think there was so much dust ? Players dive all the time, in every match but people never reacted the way they did now. Why do you think it happened ?

UEFA are not acting anti-Milan. They have a lot against Milan but they don't have the power to punish them for the blackmailing from last summer.
Calciopoli wiretaps are now available. ( PM me if you want the e-mail from where you can order them). After this, Calciopoli is now called Farsopoli in Italy.
I spent the last few days reading this and now i know that Silvio Berlusconi is the most powerful person in Europe. He used the TV rights to blackmail the Italian FA and UEFA.
If Milan were prosecuted for article 6 violations and if they didn't participate in CL last year no TV rights would be sold in Italy and no UEFA coverage would be possible in Italy. You’d be surprised how much pull the Milan media machine has in Europe. UEFA and Italy depend on Berlu's media. They just can't allow to hurt Milan.

Sorry for going totally off-topic, but i found it funny (sorry Jeff) to hear that someone thinks UEFA are anti-Milan.

I tend to agree with Tony on this one. Dida DID get off lightly with only a one match ban and yes I believe what he did he worse than any other dive I've EVER seen in my life. His just made you wonder, "what exactly was going through that guy's head?". Celtic did get off easy as well but I don't see anything 'anti-Milan' about it.

In my opinion, Dida should have been punished far more severely. But the man did show contrition against Empoli, and for that, he must be commended.