Good news is that Zenden has picked up an ankle injury and is touch and go for the final. Interestingly, Rafa is talking about Harry Kewell, the fact he has played well but they’re not sure if he’s fit to start. This would suggest to me that Kewell is in if Zenden doesn’t make it and Gonzalez is thankfully out in the cold.
Would prefer to see Crouch ahead of Kuyt but think Rafa favours the latter. Evenly poised imo. If it’s Pennant and Kewell, hopefully we can exploit the wide areas as they’re a bit more narrow than us. Get in behind them and will need the winger over the opposite side and Gerrard to be bursting a gut to support the striker. Don’t think Inzaghi should cause us too much trouble. Mascherano presumably will man-mark Kaka.
Milan is more of a 4-3-2-1 with Pirlo sitting behind Ambrosini and Gattuso and Seedorf and Kaka further on from these. That said they interchange all the time and are very fluid. I suppose Pool playing 5 in midfield would match up with that.
I think after the start to the final in 2005 that he’ll be conservative. Think he has to play 5 in midfield to counteract Milan. Expecting Gattuso to man-mark Gerrard and Mascherano to pick up Kaka, leaving Pirlo and Alonso to see who can pull the strings better. If we play a 4-4-2 we get overrun imo.
At least thats what i think it should be. Probably the strongest team liverpool could put out against milan. Benitez will definitely start with 2 up front imo and the likes of pennant/zenden and kewell just arent up to it in a game like this. Dont think bellamy would do much either. Im not disapointed with him this season because i didnt expect anything from him in the first place but i do think he will start because i believe rafa will want to press the milan players high up the pitch.
I don’t think Gattuso will be asked to man-mark Gerrard. Gattuso will patrol any area of the pitch and if Gerrard wanders in there then he’ll be picked up by Gattuso. Gattuso and Ambrosini seem to almost play sids with Gattuso on the right and Ambrosini on the left.
As for the rest of how they match-up I think you’re right Clarkey that Liverpool should be looking to create problems out wide and stretch Milan. In the United game Scholes was very quiet and Carrick was anonymous. When Ronaldo got on the ball on the left wing Gattuso went wide with him to close off that space but it left loads of room in the middle if United had players or a system capable of exploiting it. I think that’s an opporunity for Gerrard, but Milan will obviously be aware of his threat.
Inzaghi gives Liverpool little enough to worry about but he’s a better player than Gillardino at linking up play anyway and though I think he’s distinctly average he has to be marked. Kak against Mascherano will be interesting and it’s a big ask for Mascherano to keep him quiet. I think Seedorf might be important for Milan. He gets forward well and scores goals. Can Alonso be trusted to look after him is Mascherano goes following Kak?
Spot on there rocko on Ambrosinin and Gattuson taking sides. They saw United’s threat as being out wide, especially Ronaldo, and that’s why Gattuson spent so much time out there in his face. This time I think they’ll be narrower as they’ll regard Gerrard as the main threat and so that should give whoever plays wide for Pool more space. Although if Benitez plays 4-4-2 with Gerrard out wide then they’ll probably defend the exact same way as they did against ManU.
If it does go 4-4-2 I can’t imagine Bellamy getting the nod ahead of Crouch. Riise is rubbish on the left of midfield so I’d be pissed off if that came to fruition. That 4-4-2 would be more negative than my 4-5-1 imo.
Yeah I think the point is that they’re both clever players defensively. It’s not a matter of just getting the ball wide to where there’s space because Gattuso and Ambrosini will tear out there after the ball and shut it down straight away before it even gets to the full backs. Liverpool need to be better at switching the point of attack better than United were if they’re to have any success.
I think Benitez is a better and less arrogant coach than Ferguson and will recognise most of this - the question it can the players replicate his instructions. Ferguson chooses a formation and sticks rigidly to it and believes he is better than other managers. Benitez looks at his opponents and tries to work out a way of beating them which is why he’s been successful in the CL to date.
That said I still think Milan have the better players on the park, especially in the middle, and that will be the winning of the game.
Inzaghi is a player I wouldnt like to see lining up against a team I support. He is always a serious goal threat. He is the the definition of a poacher 82 European games and 55 goals, phenomenal.
yeah, cruyff once said about him that he actually was unable to play football. He said he is average in a lot of areas but he always seems to be in the right place at the right time. That creates the question, which would you rather on your team, someone like totti or rooney, players who are technically gifted but wont necessarily get you a load of goals, or the likes of totti who has scores goals for fun.
Seperate point, i think benitez will start the game with a really high tempo, the same way as he did against juve 2 years ago and i am putting a bet on liverpool to be 2 nil up at half time.
Liverpool won’t be set up as naively as Manchester United were in Milan as Benitez has the tactical savvy sadly lacking in Alex Ferguson. They’ll try to sufficate Milan in midfield and because the Milanese 5 are very fluid in their 4-3-2-1 formation I don’t foresee Mascherano man-marking Kaka as has been intimated in the press. Instead I believe each player in the Liverpool midfield will have responsibility for pressing and closing down the space in his assigned area with Milan trying to open them up with their constant movement and crisp passing.
I expect Liverpool to play 5 in midfield to match up with Milan, leaving Kuyt as their lone striker. I also envisage Milan having the majority of the possession but I still think it’ll be a tight and cagey game. Very close to call as Liverpool will be extremely hard to break down but with Milan’s extra class I think they’ll manage to eek out a single goal victory. It’d be fitting if Kaka got the goal as he’s been sublime throughout the tournament.
I haven’t a clue how Liverpool will line up because I haven’t seen that much of them so there’s no point in me speculating.
That said I’d imagine they’ll be all out to suffocate the Milan midfield as you indicate. Don’t think they’ll manage it though and I think Seedorf will be the difference in a 3-1 win for Milan.
Dida v Reina - Reina shades it
Oddo v Finnan - Oddo
Nesta v Agger - Nesta
Maldini v Carragher - Draw
Jankulovski v Riise - Draw
Pirlo v Mascherano - Pirlo
Ambrosini v Alonso - Draw
Gattuso v Gerrard - Gattuso shades it
Seedorf v Penannt - Seedorf
Kaka v Zenden - Kaka
Inzaghi v Kuyt - Kuyt shades it
AC Milan to be 3-0 up at half-time,match to be 3-3 at 90 mins, no goals in extra-time and Liverpool to win on penalties @ 2005/1. Did anyone stick anything on this? the odds were worth a 1.00 at least. Unfortuantley its been suspended and no more bets are being taking