The Becks Effect Pt. 2

The Becks effect was alive and kicking this past Sunday against Bologna, where Mr. Beckham has helped keep alive the hopes of attaining the Scudetto. Yes it could be said that Kaka had a great game scoring a brace ,but when David Beckham hits the back of the net for the first time since arriving to the club you know he is going to be the center of attention. It just can not be any other way. David Beckham like I have said in my previous entry is absolutely 100 percent an extremely committed professional to this craft and as he continues to gain minutes with Milan he is proving to gel in well with his team mates. The chemistry was present all throughout the match against Bologna who facilitated Beckham to run wild with moves and passes when Bologna went down to ten men. Like the Beckham of his glory days at United he closed the night with a spectacular strike to the top of the net. I know some will disagree on me saying that he was brilliant and has been fantastic in these past matches, but for the short amount of time he has had to adjust he is playing at a very good level in one of the most difficult leagues in the world. Not any player can do what he has done. Most would have flopped. He is becoming very valuable in the position that Ancelotti has fielded him in and it is clear that for Beckham this is the stage where he belongs. He knows that if he wants to continue the number of caps for England he needs to be competing in league like this one and not in the MLS. With all due respect to the MLS but Beckham’s talent is being wasted there. The message is clear: Don’t return to the U.S!!!

Should Kaka Leave?

When I hear the rumors of Manchester City insisting that Kaka could join them I usually laugh it off. Kaka many times before has clearly stated that he is happy at Milan and has no plans to leave, but still the rumors persist. If he did not go to Chelsea or Madrid then why would he leave to mid table and below Manchester City? They clearly are delusional or maybe it is all true and their actually is negotiation for the brazilian. Some reports go onto state that Milan are willing to give up Kaka for a fee of €100 million. If this is true it saddens me to hear that Milan would give up their best player just for the tempting money. It further saddens me to hear that others (e.g Gianni Rivera and some fans) are encouraging the transfer to happen. Yes it is a lot of money and we could assume that with it Milan could invest by bringing new players, but I ask what happened to the money earned when Sheva was transferred to Chelsea? Was it spent on rebuilding the squad with young players? Absolutely not, so how can the rossoneri fans be so secured that Milan will invest the money wisely. To fall for the seduction of the money would be Milan’s biggest sin.

The Magic of Gourcuff

When a new young french player comes into the scene the media immediately labels them as the ‘new’ Zidane. Just like in Argentina with the ‘new Maradona’, these young Zidane wanna-be’s soon fade out due to all the pressure or just proved to be average. These young kids just never seem to be able to fill the giant shoes of these colossal iconic players. However, out of all the Zidane immitators there may be one that actual does posses the magic to fill in his role. Yoann Gourcuff has always been tapped as being the next Zidane but in his stint at AC Milan it seemed as though he would belong to the category that I described that goes into the abyss. However, on loan with the French club Bordeaux he is proving that he has the qualities to become a great player. There with the confidence and playing time he has become their star player. With stunning matches along with stunning goals in the Champions League and in the French League 1 he  has every rossoneri mouth watering with the hopes of his return. Then when I found this video of his goal against Paris Saint Germain it confirmed to me that the magic of this playmaker is the works of a true genius. The roulettes and the elegant movement as he caresses the ball is a carbon copy of the similar movements that Zidane graced his fans. Gourcuff may never reach the levels of the grand Zizou, but if he continues to play like this then he may come close. 

His future is uncertain but Adriano Galliani has to fight hard to bring this talented player back to San Siro. It would be a costly mistake to do otherwise.

The Strip-Tease Strategy

The previous European league games have made it clear that strategy is still fundamental in winning those three points. A good example is Barcelona against Recreativo, where a brilliant rehearsed routine by Xavi in the free kick gave them the opener to what seemed like a complicated game. The Seria A also gave the world a interesting but unusual display of strategy this past weekend.

Catania were awarded a free kick against Torino minutes before the final whistle the scoreline up to that point was at 1-1. Mascara took charge of the ball and clocked it into the back of the net. Simple and truly beautiful. However, there is more to this free kick than meets the eye. Just as Mascara’s free-kick was making its way past the wall into the back of the net Catania’s number 16, Gianvito Plasmati, pulled down his shorts to distract Torino’s goalkeeper. It was the naked goal that gave Catania the victory.

 

Did Catania coach Walter Zenga have this planned? It actually could be that this was one of his tricks that he had up his sleeve and it worked. The issue now is that Italian pundits are fuming by this so called strategy and considering it a disrespect to the game. Some could argue that all is fair in the game of love and war, well as long as the ref doesn’t see it. So would this count as well? From what I have been reading there could be fines for this action, but I wonder if this is disrespectful to the game, then what about those players that continuously dive in the penalty box? Is that not just as bad? Where are the fines for that? My final say is that even though it is clear that Plasmati pulled down his shorts Mascara’s free kick was well executed and that Torino’s goal keeper had a very slim chance of stopping the ball even if he wouldn’t have looked at Plasmati with his shorts around his ankles.

Back Where They Belong

 Despite the rough start of the season Milan have pulled through to make it to the top of the Italian Championship. After facing a very complicated Napoli, Milan can once again have a view from the top after four years. I still find it hard to believe that they are the leaders, but could not be happier for a group of players that have managed to work through the difficulties and unite to bring home the results. And how can we not praise Ancelotti? After everyone wanted his head (including myself) after all the bad results he has proved that for the moment he is the ideal man for this job. He has been able to set order in a club where at times it seemed they were destined to fail. Now the football is not spectacular but what matters most is that Milan are first. Just where they belong.

Also I wanted to bring up what Ancelotti said about Kaka and his strength as a true leader:  

“A statement of Kaka has been fundamental. In that moment, he said that talent was not sufficient to win the game. He is the symbol of our turning point.”