Udinese-Milan Preview: Wake Up Call

Like watching video replay of a train wreck, Milan fans have watched our team concede not one but two goals in the first 25 minutes in not one, not two, but three games in a row. Enough with the excuses, this is not a fluke. This is a problem, and one that needs to be fixed quickly. Before we continue our downward spiral down the table. So Sunday afternoon, after being sent packing by Le Zebre, we face the Zebrette in their house to see if we can buck our own trend. How it ends is entirely up to us. Because how it begins is now the most important thing. This match is a wake up call.

"Wait, there are more zebras in this league? What's with all the zebras?"

Udinese currently sit in 12th place on the table, with a recent form of W-D-L-L-L. Two of those losses were to Inter and Roma, but the final one was a 1-0 loss last week at Empoli. For that match, Delneri lined up Karnezis; Felipe, Danilo, Samir, Faraoni, Fofana, Jankto, Hallfredsson, Zapata, Thereau, De Paul. Delneri will still be missing Wague and Badu, who are at the African Cup of Nations. Additionally, Francesco Lodi is still out on a long term injury, and Widmer is also now out injured.

Montella will be missing Niang… until the end of the season if not longer, as he is now on loan to Watford with an option to buy. Because, you know, Niang is “sensitive” and whatever. Whatever. Missing but never missed is Montolivo, take your time, buddy. Take your time. Calabria and De Sciglio are still slightly in doubt as of this writing, but not on the official injured list. So there are really no excuses. No Montolivo and yes to everyone else. Even the shiny new, eager to please Deulofeu. No excuses. I wanna see everyone come out of the dressing room awake. Drink espressos. Like ten if need be. I wanna see everyone come out to play. Like seriously, I won’t be mad if goals are conceded after the 25 minute mark. But please just show me how to defend our goal for the first 25 minutes… please?

"C'mon, sliding down the table faster than a fireman on a pole is fun. There's no problem"

I’ve long criticized Montella for discipline and his initial lack of addressing the mentality. He proved me wrong on the mentality part… for a while. But it’s coming back to haunt him. And when it haunts him, it haunts me. I don’t like being haunted. I like good football. And since I’ve barely even seen any of that, I really don’t need to be haunted. Don’t make me come over there and give these guys a cold water wakeup or a slap on the face before every match. Do it yourself, Vincenzo. Show us all that the mentality you built upon was not a fluke. Take away their allowance. Put them on restriction. Do something to show them that it is not okay to concede two goals in 25 minutes.

One foot, two foot, red foot blue foot... or is that two shoes?

Udinese are going to be desperate to take all three points and to capitalize on our newly exposed weakness. With a Zapata on each side, it’s anyone’s match. But to the early bird goes the worm, and I am going to be watching this match at 6:00 am. I do believe that I am owed a worm. Therefore, Milan need to not dig themselves an early grave. Try something new. At least a loss in the later stages of the game would restore some respect for you. But no more of this sleeping on the job. This is your wake up call. And hell hath no fury like a woman who wakes up for a 6am game only to watch her team concede two goals early. Or something like that. You don’t even want to know what I’ll write if it happens again. (drops mic)

This post inspired by the music of Garbage

Udinese vs. Milan

Sunday, January 29 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)

This match will NOT be shown live in the U.S.

  

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