Growing Guts

Pato

Bari 2 AC Milan 3

Questions have been raised about Allegri not having the personality or the air of authority to be able to talk down the big boys at Milan. And these words must have flown with the wind and fallen upon his ears. The man must have straightened his tie and stood up like a manager of this club must, which could be an daunting task for someone who has recently walked down the glorious corridors of the Milanello from a humble provincial side based in Sardinia. His decision to bench Pato, Ronaldinho and Pirlo would have come as a stupendous surprise to fans and neutrals alike. He opted to go with Ambrosini, Gattuso and Flamini viz, a very work-man like midfield against a gritty side of Bari. Seedorf was given the role to assist Robinho and Ibrahimovic as Yepes partnered Nesta in the heart of defense and he did so, quite literally twice in the game.

Ambrosini's trademark has been his ability to head the ball exquisitely and he showcased this talent with the opener. Flamini struggled initially and the lack of match practice seemed rather evident. Milan played a zonal marking system when not in possession of the ball. Gattuso has been reborn this season and continued to be a live-wire in this game. He chased players, closed down creators and put in the inevitable crunching challenge from time to time. Robinho played off Ibrahimovic, however he was perhaps given a free role. Marking him would have been a tough job with him moving from the left to the right and sometimes even running down the centre. His movement is second best to only Inzaghi in the team but his finishing is unbelievably poor. He created chance after chance but couldn't find the back of the net. I can't think of another reason but low confidence to be the trigger for not scoring given the chances he was provided. Allegri has probably realised that teams will attack his wings. This was visible as midfielders pulled wide to assist the fullbacks. The absence of the creator meant that the centre backs would have to direct the long pass to find the forwards, but both the centre-backs were poor with their passing, their passes often being easily intercepted. Flamini's darting runs into the box are amongst his brightest assets and he put that to good use on the second goal. The opposing midfielder however should have tracked his run. Barreto's runs and sharpness tested Yepes a number of times. The forward turned the defender on one occasion and should have put Bari in touching distance before the break.

Ibrahimovic has been a bit off with his performances lately. However, he still comes up with a goal or an assist in every game even if he doesn't blow the oppositions away with his enviable talent. He tried to go for the spectacular a few times in the game when simplicity was the easier option. Bari found themselves on the ball a lot more in the second half. Pato was introduced to give Milan more bite in attack and he responded with a brilliant goal from the edge of the box. That, with his weaker foot and from a tough angle. The goal is a must watch. YouTube it. But that wasn't before a former Milanisti walked though our defense to peg one back for the home side. Gattuso's legs refused to match up with his effervescent spirit. He simply couldn't keep up with the pace of the game in the second half. Bari's right sided midfielder Alvarez consistently employed pace to get beyond Zambrotta, who dragged him down on a number of occasions. Bari intentionally focused on the weaker full back and attacked him with pace and overlaps. They refused to give up and scored another in the closing stages. A well weighed lob into the box was volleyed into the back of the net by Barreto. I would like to add here that he was Nesta's man on this occasion. Enough said. Yepes had the added responsibility to cover up for Zambrotta's lack of pace in the latter stages which created a massive hole in the defense which the home side couldn't take advantage off.

We are getting the points, somehow, someway. This is characteristic of a title winning team. Therefore, I am not complaining. The quality of performances need to improve though. Our opponents this week are Palermo and Inter. Two cracking games against two formidable sides. Did I tell you that our natural full backs are either injured or lack match practice? And to make things worse, Thiago Silva is out with injury too. This is hardly the time we could say 'Bring it on Pastore, Ilicic!'

Bari - Kutuzov 66', Barreto 90'
Milan - Ambrosini 5', Flamini 31', Pato 72'