Even if Milan’s squad had as much quality and experience as
Arsenal’s, going to London with a two goal deficit is a nearly insurmountable
burden to overcome. But Milan don’t even have a comparable squad, the
stability, nor the experience. And we have a lot of injuries. So truly, it
might be better to just go to London as tourists and maybe take a ride on a
double decker bus.
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| Better than football tomorrow |
Wenger’s squad were deflated and disorganized before they
came to the San Siro and cleaned up our own pitch with us last week. They
followed that up with a resounding 3-0 win over Watford on the weekend, so don’t
expect them to be crumbling mentally or anything. For that win over Watford,
Wenger lined up Cech; Miatland-Niles, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac; Elneny, Xhaka;
Mkhitaryan, Özil, Iwobi; and Aubameyang. Obviously, the diamond that Galliani
sold for peanuts in Aubameyang is still ineligible to face the team whose youth
sector he came through. And Lacazette is out injured. But other than that,
facing his squad will be a bit like being hit by a double decker bus.
Gattuso has the opposite problem in that Calabria is not
fit, and he’s still missing Conti and Abate, so he doesn’t even have a right
back to bring with. Kessie is not fully fit either, and may not start or even
play, so that leaves our midfield as helpless as a deer in the headlights. So
our two weakest spots from last week are even weaker, or in the case of right
back, now non-exixstent. I wonder how much Gattuso wants to sub himself on for
this game? Truly I think I would rather step out in front of a double decker
bus.
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| "We should have gone sightseeing" |
For the sake of the image of calcio abroad, having the Milan
squad go on a tour of London tomorrow might be a better option. Especially
since this is likely our last Europa League match of the season. But obviously,
that is not how sport works. They have to show up and fight, no matter how high
the odds are stacked against them. And miracles do happen… just usually to
other teams, not ours. So you may not want to watch this one, unless you feel
like being flattened by the Gunners.
This post inspired by the music of The
Smiths’ “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”
Europa League
Round of 16 2nd Leg
Arsenal vs. AC Milan
Thursday, March 15
• 9:05pm CET (4:05pm EDT)
This match will be
shown LIVE on Fox Sports 1 and ESPN Deportes in the U.S.