Antonio Cassano only played a few minutes, but they meant the difference between Milan and Cagliari.
Milan are winter champions of Serie A after a 1-0 win over Cagliari, which was achieved in the most unconvincing way possible. However, even a plump Antonio Cassano can be the matchwinner if you are within the purview of the famous mantra that many football—indeed sport--observers throw around: champions win even when not playing well.
Against Cagliari, Milan played poorly, did very little, even less than their Sardinian hosts, but they somehow came home with the three points. The solitary goal, scored in the 85th minute, came virtue not of an old-timer so used to saving the Rossoneri from a disappointing share of the spoils, but rather Rodney Strasser, a recently promoted product of the youth academy, and Cassano, a recently purchased product of misdemeanour.
It was Cassano’s first game since he was frozen out from the Sampdoria squad in October for insulting president Ricardo Garrone, but it was one of his touches, a deft side-footed pass to Strasser, that was enough to unravel the tightly packed Cagliari resistance. Strasser celebrated with brio, but it was Cassano who despite the extra pounds rose to be the biggest influence—this time a positive one—for the umpteenth time in his career.
Under Massimiliano Allegri Milan have been playing with a forgotten sense of tenacity, an ability, continually absent during the reigns of Carlo Ancelotti and Leonardo, to carve out results. Allegri quickly stamped his authority on the team by playing three combative midfielders, a bellicose statement of intent not just to Serie A, but also to the demanding, spectacle-obsessed club president Silvio Berlusconi. Despite his safety-first approach, Allegri seems to have inoculated himself from the often misplaced wrath of Berlusconi by producing results. Five points ahead of their closest pursuer Lazio, Milan look like they have the mettle this year to go all the way. Despite a spate of injuries that have sidelined players as important as Matthieu Flamini, Alessandro Nesta, and Andrea Pirlo, Milan are still getting the job done. Seven years have passed without a Milan Scudetto, but this year may be different, especially if Napoli, Lazio, and Juventus keep making things easier.
Of course, there was little Napoli could do about the resurgent Inter that tore them apart 3-1 at the San Siro. Leonardo’s arrival has already had an invigorating affect. Though it may be premature, his win is also perhaps a sign that Berlusconi can be a wicked and capricious man if he does not get things exactly his way. While Allegri is working with Ibrahimovic and Robinho, Leonardo was asked to do the work at Milan with modest raw material. However, while Leonardo deserves credit for Inter’s win, the return of Esteban Cambiasso and Maicon certainly helped. As for Napoli, coach Walter Mazzari’s candid admission that his team struggles in big games shows that there is equanimity in spades at the club. Napoli know that even with Edinson Cavani, the Scudetto is still maybe a few years far. Lazio’s 0-0 stalemate with Genoa, a game they should win if they are to really subvert the traditional Serie A powers, also tells a similar story.
The sourest note of all, however, was striker Fabio Quagliarella’s season-ending injury. He twisted his knee against Parma, sustaining ligament damage. As if the 4-1 drubbing was not bad enough for Juve, Quagliarella’s injury, and the fact that the club had to settle for the hulking, but heaving, Luca Toni as a purchased replacement (so ludicrous to contemplate that Juve actually had to deny that he was a direct replacment), could mean the end of any lingering Scudetto ambitions.
This weekend, then, was sobering for some, while mirthful for others. Roma’s 4-2 win over Catania was both. While a four goal haul is encouraging, the fact that the game was 2-2 for a discomfiting amount of time should remind Claudio Ranieri that his team needs to find its feet definitively. A team that can beat Milan away one weekend, and then struggle at home to Catania is not championship material. And the table shows as much.
At the other end of the table, away from the riches of the top, is the working class’s battle for survival. Bari beat Lecce 1-0 while Brescia fell to Cesena 2-1. The results make the relegation battle all the more difficult as now only a point separate the bottom side (Bari) from the one occupying the third from last (Brescia).
Against Cagliari, Milan played poorly, did very little, even less than their Sardinian hosts, but they somehow came home with the three points. The solitary goal, scored in the 85th minute, came virtue not of an old-timer so used to saving the Rossoneri from a disappointing share of the spoils, but rather Rodney Strasser, a recently promoted product of the youth academy, and Cassano, a recently purchased product of misdemeanour.
It was Cassano’s first game since he was frozen out from the Sampdoria squad in October for insulting president Ricardo Garrone, but it was one of his touches, a deft side-footed pass to Strasser, that was enough to unravel the tightly packed Cagliari resistance. Strasser celebrated with brio, but it was Cassano who despite the extra pounds rose to be the biggest influence—this time a positive one—for the umpteenth time in his career.
Under Massimiliano Allegri Milan have been playing with a forgotten sense of tenacity, an ability, continually absent during the reigns of Carlo Ancelotti and Leonardo, to carve out results. Allegri quickly stamped his authority on the team by playing three combative midfielders, a bellicose statement of intent not just to Serie A, but also to the demanding, spectacle-obsessed club president Silvio Berlusconi. Despite his safety-first approach, Allegri seems to have inoculated himself from the often misplaced wrath of Berlusconi by producing results. Five points ahead of their closest pursuer Lazio, Milan look like they have the mettle this year to go all the way. Despite a spate of injuries that have sidelined players as important as Matthieu Flamini, Alessandro Nesta, and Andrea Pirlo, Milan are still getting the job done. Seven years have passed without a Milan Scudetto, but this year may be different, especially if Napoli, Lazio, and Juventus keep making things easier.
Of course, there was little Napoli could do about the resurgent Inter that tore them apart 3-1 at the San Siro. Leonardo’s arrival has already had an invigorating affect. Though it may be premature, his win is also perhaps a sign that Berlusconi can be a wicked and capricious man if he does not get things exactly his way. While Allegri is working with Ibrahimovic and Robinho, Leonardo was asked to do the work at Milan with modest raw material. However, while Leonardo deserves credit for Inter’s win, the return of Esteban Cambiasso and Maicon certainly helped. As for Napoli, coach Walter Mazzari’s candid admission that his team struggles in big games shows that there is equanimity in spades at the club. Napoli know that even with Edinson Cavani, the Scudetto is still maybe a few years far. Lazio’s 0-0 stalemate with Genoa, a game they should win if they are to really subvert the traditional Serie A powers, also tells a similar story.
The sourest note of all, however, was striker Fabio Quagliarella’s season-ending injury. He twisted his knee against Parma, sustaining ligament damage. As if the 4-1 drubbing was not bad enough for Juve, Quagliarella’s injury, and the fact that the club had to settle for the hulking, but heaving, Luca Toni as a purchased replacement (so ludicrous to contemplate that Juve actually had to deny that he was a direct replacment), could mean the end of any lingering Scudetto ambitions.
This weekend, then, was sobering for some, while mirthful for others. Roma’s 4-2 win over Catania was both. While a four goal haul is encouraging, the fact that the game was 2-2 for a discomfiting amount of time should remind Claudio Ranieri that his team needs to find its feet definitively. A team that can beat Milan away one weekend, and then struggle at home to Catania is not championship material. And the table shows as much.
At the other end of the table, away from the riches of the top, is the working class’s battle for survival. Bari beat Lecce 1-0 while Brescia fell to Cesena 2-1. The results make the relegation battle all the more difficult as now only a point separate the bottom side (Bari) from the one occupying the third from last (Brescia).
