Despite the final hours of the wacky sideshow that is the
mercato and the distraction that is Galliani Day™, the main event is actually
our match with Torino on Saturday night. And while I can confirm that there has
been interest in me from other clubs this mercato, rest assured I have
absolutely refused to even entertain any offers. I have a contract of the heart
with Milan for life, and I will fulfill it. Even if we play poorly on Saturday.
You know, that football match that we are supposed to be focusing on.
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| Will our favorite matador of the past even be at the club still on Saturday? |
In September, we drew with Torino in their house, 2-2. Since
then, much has changed. Torino sit in 6th place, and Milan are only 4 points
behind them in 9th. We have a new coach, and some new players, too. In fact, if
Galliani has his way, we will have a gaggle of new attacking midfielders, with
Honda having arrived and the never-accused-of-being-classy Taarabt, who is
taking his medicals as I write this. But that is not all. Torino just sent
their left back D’Ambrosio (who Milan had shown interest in) to Inter, which
was kind of them to do two days before we met them again. Thanks, Torino.
But I digress. The main event is supposed to be the game,
right? Okay. So Torino have a current form of W-L-D-W-W, with the latest win
being a 1-0 victory over Atalanta at home last weekend. A penalty scored by
Cerci was the deciding factor in that game, where Ventura lined up Padelli;
Maksimovic, Moretti, Glik; El Kaddouri, Farnerud, Masiello, Vives, Darmian;
Immobile, and Cerci. It would appear that barring any other last minute
transfers, Ventura has largely a full squad, missing only Gazzi to injury right
now.
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| Will Torino's known criminal be rehabilitated? Or will he send more Milan players to the injury list? |
Of course, another sideshow to this game is Balotelli’s ban
for his salute to the racist fans last week at Cagliari. But for once, we’ve
got the situation under control, as Pazzini is back to scoring ways and will
likely punish il Toro better than a
matador. Our injury list seems to be getting shorter, with Zapata, Zaccardo, El
Shaarawy, Saponara, and Silvestre seemingly still on the list. And the list of
those with the flu seems to have vanished (that I know of) as of this writing.
Now it will be a matter of who is still at the club at the close of Galliani
Day™. But with Zaccardo being like the wallflower at the dance whom no one
wants to dance with and Constant snubbing a miraculous Napoli loan offer in
hopes of a permanent move, it’s hard to know who will still be in Milano on
Saturday to play.
Amidst the mercato circus and what is shaping up to be
potentially the worst Galliani day™ since the tragic Matri signing of 2013,
Seedorf has to keep his squad serene and happy (which is more than I can say
for the fans after the ridiculous Taarabt deal.) He should have Abbiati back
from the flu, which should allow for a slightly lower intake of alcohol by fans
ahead of this match. He’ll also have the great Michael Essien available to him,
with his Wonder Knees™ (as in “I wonder if his knees will last through this
match?) We will see a true test of Seedorf’s loyalty to his friend and former
teammate vs. his desire to continue to coach for any length of time if he
starts Bonera again or not. Beyond that, I will let you guess the lineup amidst
everything else going on right now.
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| The man with the Wonder Knees™ |
This match will be a very good test to see Seedorf’s
progress with the squad. While it is clear that morale is returning, learning
the new system will obviously take longer. And while it is clear that we have a
lot more talent than showed under Allegri’s reign of terror the rest of the
season before now, it is also clear that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
with some of our players. But I am hopeful that the home advantage will be
helpful. Hopeful that the Curva will show up, if nothing else to protest the
Taarabt transfer and the whole bizarre sideshow that is our mercato this time
around. But mostly I just want the win. Not only for DeekMonn’s birthday, but
also for the three points and the morale boost it would be for the squad ahead
of our trip to the San Paolo next week. So with so much bull sh*t happening in
the mercato, let’s go fight some bulls on the pitch. After all, it is the main
event.
This post inspired by the music of the
Circus
Milan vs. Torino
Saturday, February 1 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)
This match will be shown LIVE on BeIN Sport and RAI in the U.S.
Check the comments ahead of the match for stream links
Send a Galliani Day™ Card to a friend!
(just download the one you want and attach to an email, tweet, etc.)
(just download the one you want and attach to an email, tweet, etc.)
