AC Milan Vs Arsenal: Red Or Black?
Wednesday, 15 February 12, 01:17 AM · Comments (1)
So, there's a bit of a football match tonight in case you hadn't heard. Whilst England's title contenders brace themselves for the somewhat underwhelming onslaught of Europa League football, at
Arsenal we find ourselves once again facing the very best of European football. A visit to the San Siro and an encounter with AC Milan, one of the most successful football teams in the world
awaits us tonight.
And you can say what you want about it being unfortunate to have gotten such a tough draw in the first knockout round, and how it might have been preferable to get less notable opposition at this stage of the tournament and I'll certainly grant that I could see where you're coming from but come on, this is what it's all about isn't it? This is what, as fans, you want Champions League football for. Yes, I can appreciate how critical the tournament is in terms of the money it generates for Arsenal, but for me I want to see my team go up against the very best.
And that's exactly what we're going to get tonight. The current Italian champions, the eighteenth time that they've been able to say that of themselves. Seven time European Cup winners, only Real Madrid can claim more. Five time Coppa Italia winners, two UEFA Cup Winners Cups, five Super Cups, a Club World Championship, the list of honours just goes on and on and on. AC Milan are quite simply a magnificent football club, one of the very best Arsenal will ever play. It's true that recent years haven't necessarily seen the best of AC Milan or Italian football in general but you know what they say - form is temporary, class is permanent and AC Milan have class to spare.
Not only that but their squad really isn't too shabby either. I have to say as an Arsenal fan having had to acknowledge all season that we have one effective striker (well, two during Thierry Henry's loan) that I cast envious eyes at Milan's options up front. Pato, Inzaghi, Robinho and Cassano and that's before you even consider the main man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic to be fair has been in a mixed bag in our encounters with him. I thought he was spectacularly overrated after our encounter with Juventus in 2006, however after facing Barcelona a couple of seasons back I was forced to radically re-assess that position. Thomas Vermaelen has been talking about Ibrahimovic's quality and the task he knows is ahead to keep him quiet. Vermaelen is in my book, one of the best defenders in the game at the moment and even he will have all he can handle from that Milan attack tonight.
In my opinion how we defend as a team tonight is going to be absolutely critical. Success in my opinion goes through cutting off the supply to Milan's forwards, we simply cannot afford to let players of that quality see our goal on too many occasions because they won't need a lot of inviting to stick the ball in the net. That being said, I certainly wouldn't say that we should be afraid to play our own game tonight. It's inevitable that tonight's game should bring about some discussion of our last visit to the San Siro in which, let's be frank, we humbled Milan in their own back yard, something to which they cannot be accustomed. Discussion of that evening yields the impression that that was a painful defeat for Milan, one which they'd love to exact revenge for.
We won that night by playing our own game, and doing so very well indeed. We were the better team for ninety minutes and nothing less than the same energy, quality and commitment will see us to a good result tonight. It's a different situation to that night of course because this is only the first leg and nothing will be decided for certain tonight. Being away from home first is, I think, definitely an advantage. Our objective tonight is to score and not get beaten, anything else is secondary.
We will need our big players to produce big performances tonight. The manager has backed Robin Van Persie to dig deep once again, and interestingly praises his quality as a captain and his ability to lead the team over the finish line tonight. He rightly points out the frustration Robin endured in the game against Barcelona at this stage last season as a motivating factor for him. Here's a chance for him to show what he can really do against the very best.
And then there's Thierry Henry, appearing tonight maybe for the final time in an Arsenal shirt (though I suspect, perhaps not) but certainly for the last time this season. His comeback in this loan period is about as fairytale as it gets in football. We've already had a grand finale in the shape of his late winner at Sunderland at the weekend, but perhaps there's room for an encore on the pitch where he produced one of his greatest performances in an Arsenal shirt. He'll be missed when he's gone, but he's not gone yet.
So then, AC Milan away from home, we've got a very good record against Italian teams under Arsene Wenger but this is as tough as it gets, make no mistake. Whatever you're doing, enjoy the game.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
And you can say what you want about it being unfortunate to have gotten such a tough draw in the first knockout round, and how it might have been preferable to get less notable opposition at this stage of the tournament and I'll certainly grant that I could see where you're coming from but come on, this is what it's all about isn't it? This is what, as fans, you want Champions League football for. Yes, I can appreciate how critical the tournament is in terms of the money it generates for Arsenal, but for me I want to see my team go up against the very best.
And that's exactly what we're going to get tonight. The current Italian champions, the eighteenth time that they've been able to say that of themselves. Seven time European Cup winners, only Real Madrid can claim more. Five time Coppa Italia winners, two UEFA Cup Winners Cups, five Super Cups, a Club World Championship, the list of honours just goes on and on and on. AC Milan are quite simply a magnificent football club, one of the very best Arsenal will ever play. It's true that recent years haven't necessarily seen the best of AC Milan or Italian football in general but you know what they say - form is temporary, class is permanent and AC Milan have class to spare.
Not only that but their squad really isn't too shabby either. I have to say as an Arsenal fan having had to acknowledge all season that we have one effective striker (well, two during Thierry Henry's loan) that I cast envious eyes at Milan's options up front. Pato, Inzaghi, Robinho and Cassano and that's before you even consider the main man, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic to be fair has been in a mixed bag in our encounters with him. I thought he was spectacularly overrated after our encounter with Juventus in 2006, however after facing Barcelona a couple of seasons back I was forced to radically re-assess that position. Thomas Vermaelen has been talking about Ibrahimovic's quality and the task he knows is ahead to keep him quiet. Vermaelen is in my book, one of the best defenders in the game at the moment and even he will have all he can handle from that Milan attack tonight.
In my opinion how we defend as a team tonight is going to be absolutely critical. Success in my opinion goes through cutting off the supply to Milan's forwards, we simply cannot afford to let players of that quality see our goal on too many occasions because they won't need a lot of inviting to stick the ball in the net. That being said, I certainly wouldn't say that we should be afraid to play our own game tonight. It's inevitable that tonight's game should bring about some discussion of our last visit to the San Siro in which, let's be frank, we humbled Milan in their own back yard, something to which they cannot be accustomed. Discussion of that evening yields the impression that that was a painful defeat for Milan, one which they'd love to exact revenge for.
We won that night by playing our own game, and doing so very well indeed. We were the better team for ninety minutes and nothing less than the same energy, quality and commitment will see us to a good result tonight. It's a different situation to that night of course because this is only the first leg and nothing will be decided for certain tonight. Being away from home first is, I think, definitely an advantage. Our objective tonight is to score and not get beaten, anything else is secondary.
We will need our big players to produce big performances tonight. The manager has backed Robin Van Persie to dig deep once again, and interestingly praises his quality as a captain and his ability to lead the team over the finish line tonight. He rightly points out the frustration Robin endured in the game against Barcelona at this stage last season as a motivating factor for him. Here's a chance for him to show what he can really do against the very best.
And then there's Thierry Henry, appearing tonight maybe for the final time in an Arsenal shirt (though I suspect, perhaps not) but certainly for the last time this season. His comeback in this loan period is about as fairytale as it gets in football. We've already had a grand finale in the shape of his late winner at Sunderland at the weekend, but perhaps there's room for an encore on the pitch where he produced one of his greatest performances in an Arsenal shirt. He'll be missed when he's gone, but he's not gone yet.
So then, AC Milan away from home, we've got a very good record against Italian teams under Arsene Wenger but this is as tough as it gets, make no mistake. Whatever you're doing, enjoy the game.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!
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lepermessiah998
Birmingham, GB
An Arsenal blog by some bloke calling himself Leper Messiah
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