Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was set in Verona, and we
all know how that ended. Milan really struggle at the Bentegodi. In fact, we
lost two of our last three matches there, which is no love story, I’m not gonna
lie. Milan have a decent squad, and Verona didn’t do as much as perhaps they
should have as a newly promoted team. But they come into this match ahead of us
after two games. The biggest questions center around Giampaolo. The hearts of Milan
fans everywhere are asking, “O Giampaolo, Giampaolo, wherefore art thou
Giampaolo?”
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| "Dear Maldini, Thanks for the new players, but I prefer the old ones" |
Giampaolo answered that question but raised many more in a
press conference today ahead of the team’s departure for Verona. After being
heavily criticized for not playing his new players like every other coach, he
said “There are no old or new players, there is only Milan.” After being gifted
one of the most exciting and prolific young strikers in Serie in Piatek, he
said that Piatek should be “a complete player, not just a pirate in the final
third.” It seems that even Giampaolo decided the ridiculous amounts of praise
heaped on him before he even started was just too much, so he has set out to
alienate every single Milan fan in the world. And he’s doing well, too. It
would be one thing if we were playing convincing football, but since we’re not,
his words are like salt in the wounds.
Verona drew their first match, despite being on ten men for
much of it, then won vs. Lecce before the break. Also not playing convincing
football, but they’ve started off better than Milan in the results. For the
Lecce match, Juric lined up Silvestri; Rrahmani, Kumbulla, Günter; Faraoni,
Amrabat, Veloso, Lazovic; Henderson; Tutino, and Zaccagni. He will have the
young Dawidowicz back from suspension for this match. However he will be
missing Bocchetti, Crescenzi, and Bessa to injury. Also missing indefinitely is
Emmanuel Badu, who was hospitalized just before the season due to a small blood
clot in his lung.
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| To us, he was Pazzini, but to Verona, he is Captain Pazzini |
Giampaolo will be missing Reina and Caldara for fitness
reasons, but will otherwise have plenty of players to choose from, old and new.
Wait, just Milan. Rebic has been included, although he has only trained twice
with the team since joining the club from Eintracht Frankfurt. Although he fits
Giampaolo’s “only Milan” definition, don’t hold your breath for him to start,
because he has only been “only Milan” for two training sessions. Meaning new.
Milan always have a tough time at the Bentegodi. I’m not sure
if that makes them a Montague or a Capulet, but then again everyone lost in
that play. Giampaolo is only going into his third competitive match with Milan,
and he has already lost the plot. Let’s hope that there is some miracle and
that Milan can pull off a win in spite of him. Or at least that it ends better
than it did for Romeo and Juliet.
This post inspired by Josh Groban’s “Un Giorno Per Noi
(Romeo e Giulietta.)”
Serie A Week 3
Hellas Verona vs. Milan
Sunday, September
15 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)
This match can be
streamed on ESPN+ in the U.S.