Filled
with hope, with Allegri putting a dream three in attack and relegating Boateng
to a supporting role in the midfield, for fans, it seemed like this match would
be fantacalcio, the stuff dreams are made of. But instead, for 90 tense,
frustrating minutes, we were slowly lulled to sleep by a Milan squad that was
lethargic and uninspiring, a team that was evenly matched in this Sampdoria
team.
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| Montolivo's passing was spot on tonight, but it was simply not enough |
After playing with such drive and intensity on Wednesday against Juventus, I think we all expected a better showing. But the truth is, the Marassi is cursed, and we haven’t gotten a win there in five years. Tonight was no different. And to make matters worse, coming off a spectacular upset of Juventus last week, Sampdoria truly had our number. Almost shot for shot (we had 14 with 5 on goal, they had 12 with 5 on goal,) foul for foul (12 each,) we had 605 possession, but nothing more to indicate that we were in 7th on the table to their 14th.
The
match started off lively enough, trading shots, but Sampdoria had much better
chances. Like Poli’s shot in the 8th minute forcing Abbiati to tip it over. Or
Eder’s shot in the 12th forcing Abbiati into another great save. Abbiati was the
Man of the Match, his saves kept Sampdoria off the board for 90 minutes. Boateng
continued his tradition of kicking balls directly at defender’s legs in the
23rd. Doesn’t he realize that lost it’s popularity at about age 6?
In
the 25th, a bit of a worry, as Ambrosini came off for a reported calf injury.
Apparently it is an injury he had been carrying, in fact he was nearly not
available for this match because of it. He’d done well in warmup, but knew
better than to tempt fate, so Flamini came on for him.
The
captain’s armband went to Montolivo. Why? I will never know. How does a team
like this with such a history of success and proud tradition show such
indifference for the tradition of the armband? That same level of respect for
the players who carried those teams to victory time and time again is simply
thrown out for Berlusconi’s newest plaything? The armband should have been
Abbiati’s. This dressing room nonsense has gotten completely out of control.
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| Zapata did okay, he only injured Icardi once and didn't get any cards, so... |
Speaking
of Montolivo, he did get a shot off from distance n the 33rd, but it was wide.
And the only other notable event of the first half was Mexes earning a yellow
for yanking a Sampdoria player’s shirt and throwing him to ground. Sometimes it
seems like he really wants that token yellow, he’s simply not satisfied without
it.
Niang
opened up the second half with a shot across the goal, then followed it up with
some full-on facepalm sky jousting in the 56th. In the 62nd, De Sciglio sent in
a nice cross to Bojan, who tried a shot, and Boateng tried sending it in, but
to no avail. Probably one of our best chances, two different players unable to
convert.
In
the 66th, Robinho came on for El Shaarawy, who was admittedly ineffective on
the night. But it’s not as if Robinho was an improvement, and he didn’t bring
anything to help his teammates, either. Niang was hurt in the 71st, and Allegri
was yelling at him and pulling him up like an unsympathetic father. So Niang
got up, and two minutes later, earned himself a yellow card. Bojan, who had
taken a beating the entire match, was finally subbed off in the 88th for
Nocerino, who was unable to take advantage of the final few minutes to make any
impact. As a last ditch attempt, Boateng took a shot in the 93rd, which was one
of our best opportunities, but it was wide. Of course.
 |
| Wow, Boateng moved so fast here, his hair moved.... maybe. |
Are
you asleep yet just reading about this? It was one of those matches. Not even the occasion of Yepes' birthday could inspire them. It started
off looking like it was going somewhere, but quickly waned, and slowly,
tortuously lulled us to sleep. When I said on Wednesday that this team would
provide us with more lethargic performances, I really didn’t plan on it being
so soon. But until Allegri learns from his lessons, we’ll probably see many
more.
For
example, he finally started both Niang and Bojan… did he have much of an
option? Boateng is an epic fail up front, breaking all stat records for the
most shots without converting. And Robinho wasn’t fit yet, according to him.
And Pazzini was suspended, too. So it’s not like this was intentional. Bojan’s
best position was in a 4-2-3-1 as the trequartista. Time and time again, we
have seen that he is not a true center forward. When I first saw the lineup, I
wondered why Niang wasn’t in the center, but what do I know? What does anyone
know, except for Allegri? Clearly, the man just does not seem to learn from
past mistakes.
But
I don’t believe that this one decision was a dealbreaker today. The sense of
urgency was never there. That might be Allegri’s fault, seeing as motivating a
team is his responsibility, but the players have to be accountable, too. If
they are going to pull off the impossible this season and place well in the
table, they have to want it each and every match. They can’t be intimidated by
an away stadium, they can’t be happy with simply not conceding, they have to
play above the level of the other team, not match them. Otherwise, they might
as well sing me to sleep…
This post inspired by the music of
The Smiths’ “Asleep”
Our next match is
Milan vs. Bologna
Sunday, January 20 •15:00 CET (9am EST)