Over
half of our team was surgically removed, chaos reigned from the manager to the
management, and our hearts were run over a train… again and again. Living
without calcio each summer is always hard, but this was one to remember. Or
forget… Anyway, tomorrow, the moment we’ve been waiting for… when our boys take
the pitch to begin the 2012-13 Serie A campaign. So fire up whatever viewing
device you have, make yourself comfortable and let the games begin!
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| Will he recover to seek his revenge? |
First
up, recently promoted Sampdoria. Sampdoria, you ask? Isn’t that where Maxi
Lopez went? Why yes it is. But he is unlikely to feature against us due to a
back problem. Which is lucky for us, because after the way he was treated, I’d
expect him to score at least a hat trick on us. So let’s hope the extended
Milan injury curse saves us from his wrath. But they are also without the
suspended Nicola Pozzi, so Ciro Ferrara’s side will be stretched thin up front.
But they’ve also got a solid defense, so even if they struggle to score, it is
less likely that they will concede.
My guess is that we’ll see a Blucerchiati 4-3-3 consisting of Sergio Romero; De Silvestri, Gastaldello, Rossini,
Costa; Soriano, Tissone, Poli; Estigarribia, Eder and Juan Antonio.
And don’t be deceived by their recent promotion from Serie B, this is a tough
little team, and they have been playing together for a lot longer than our boys.
They even beat a Barcelona second team on Monday for a lovely trophy.
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| Will Ferrara transfer his U21 NT success over to Samp? |
The Milan side of things seems like it would be scary, but if
you think about it, the probable starting 11 is pretty familiar by now. With
Ambrosini very unlikely due to an injury he’s recovering from, Montolivo will
undoubtedly start in front of the defense. Abate’s knock should keep him out,
too, so De Sciglio would be the perfect person to deputize for him.
I would guess that it would look something like Abbiati; De
Sciglio, Zapata, Yepes, Antonini; Emanuelson, Montolivo, Nocerino; Boateng;
Robinho and Pazzini. It’s hard to guess Allegri’s hand at this point. Mexes
trained with the team yesterday, but Allegri is usually slow to put most
players into the starting lineup. Will he feel that Pazzini is ready to start?
I think we all hope so, but maybe he won’t. I’m going to venture to guess that
if he doesn’t start, Allegri will switch to his 4-3-2-1 with Robinho as the
lone striker up top and Urby and Boateng behind, maybe slotting in a player
like Constant into the midfield. Who knows? At least we know he won’t be
starting Zé Eduardo.
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| Will il Pazzo get his first start or debut on the bench? |
In addition to so many new faces in the squad, they will be
playing on the new San Siro pitch that we saw for the Trofeo Berlusconi. There
will also be 6 referees for the first time in Serie A (the FIGC’s latest anti-Juve
conspiracy,) so in theory, things should be more fair. I don’t have far
reaching expectations, a draw might be a good result on this one, but of course
I always want a Milan win.
The one thing that’s for sure is that after a football
deprived summer, those magical red and black jerseys will be proudly worn by
our boys as they step out onto the new pitch for a brand new season. There will
be battle, 90 glorious minutes of battle, and at the end of it all, regardless
of the outcome, I will probably still be longing for more. But for now, I want
a victory. I want to see the pain of defeat in the enemy’s faces, let their
tears water the new pitch… okay, I probably shouldn’t go without proper
football for this long, it seems to incite the bloodlust a bit too much. Let’s
just leave it at Forza Milan! Let the
games begin!
This post inspired by
the music of Prodigy
Milan vs. Sampdoria
Sunday, August 26th • 18:00 CEST (12noon
EDT)
This
match will only be broadcast on BeInSportUSA1 and RAI in the U.S.
Streams
will be posted a couple of hours before the match