I thought Ronaldinho was getting a haircut? I must have skimmed some important paragraphs in those reports, because when I saw “Ronaldinho prepares for Inter by cutting his hair” I assumed he was doing something Spartan and serious, shearing off his tresses in order to prove that his focus on crushing Milan’s rivals precluded all decorative intentions. And yet, there he was, hoofing it down the touchline, mane rippling like a Chinese dragon, still looking more or less like Florence Griffith-Joyner.
It was a good match, though, played on a strange axis of composed and furious. I don’t know why Inter ever tried anything other than getting the ball to Maicon on the wing and letting him cross for the strikers, because he was acid on the defense and Milan leaping couldn’t contend with Adriano and Ibrahimović standing on flat feet. By the same token, Milan’s best play was clearly just to let Pato do anything he wanted, and then later to mix that strategy with the occasional through ball to Inzaghi in the hope of catching him on one of the three seconds out of every minute when he isn’t egregiously offside. To their credit they largely figured that out.
I don’t think Inter deserved to win. At their best they looked stronger and meaner than Milan, but this was a match where the seesaw kept tipping and a Milan team that generally looked right on pace with their scheduled decline into old age and lassitude would suddenly rediscover the dangerour potential of their own unruffled patience. Adriano’s goal—as great as it was to see him playing well after the impersonation of a piece of malfunctioning construction equipment that he turned in last week against Brazil—was clearly a handball. (Not the first time he’s scored that way, either.) And at least a couple of Milan’s penalty appeals should have been given: Inzaghi was visibly hauled down in the box at one point late in the game, and early in the second half Stanković bashed Ambrosini.
There were some murderously good tackles on both sides. If I were building a team from scratch and Iker Casillas was taken, I might pick Júlio César over both Buffon and Petr Čech. It was sort of theatrically amazing to see Patrick Vieira come back from the dead and win a standing ovation on the night of Maldini’s last derby—though that’s a probably, and I’m not taking anything for granted.
Lastly, how massively cool is it that Pato is turning out to be everything everyone predicted? Having him and the not-so-terribly-out-of-form Ronaldinho together on the attack for Milan is like hearing some pure sunny pop song leaking through the headphones of a motionless man in a suit.
Read More: Inter, Milan, The Occasional Match Summary
by Brian Phillips · February 15, 2009
a motionless man in a suit.
You rang?
Nice article Brian. Julio Cesar is definitely amongst the very best in the business these days.
Highly entertaining it was, clearly the best Derby in the four years we’ve been here (a period during which Julio Cesar’s career arc has been the exact opposite of Dida’s).
We were blissfully unaware of the controversy over Adriano’s goal until we got home close to midnight and turned on the television. The fact that no one other than Abbiati (in particular Maldini, who was less than a metre away) said anything (and that the keeper’s protest was somewhat half hearted) meant that it was a non-incident for those inside the ground (though I imagine that the Milan Curva got immediate word via SMS).
Rosetti was abysmal, but that is not anything new.
I was extremely impressed by Pato, who is maturing into a true world class player. The apparent unwillingness of his club’s management to address their obvious defensive weaknesses continues to be a tremendous souce of pain to the Rossoneri faithful (including A., I would imagine).
As to the result, I can’t claim to be impartial, but Inter did waste considerably more chances than they converted, starting with Ibra’s free header in the first minute.
If that was indeed Maldini’s last Derby, he went out on a high note. Before the match, the Inter Ultras put out a huge banner saying “For 20 years our rival, but in life always loyal” (it works better in Italian) and one cannot help but be grateful to the football gods for having been given the chance to see him play.
Great game. I thought the score line was fair, and I even pulled for Milan in this one (although i am usually fairly neutral when it comes to Italy). Ronaldinho showing that he is almost there again (when he is on, his passing is still the best in the world). Like Ursus said, the difference was defense. Kaladze was simply getting steamrolled, and they really need Gattuso back to stop attacks in the midfield.
You imagine correctly, Ursus. Inter’s tactic of pumping the ball long to the two burly strikers and have the Milan back-line scampering about like headless chickens should have gotten them more goals had Adriano been able to use his feet as well has he does his arms. Btw I think we should petition Colina to relegate that Rosetti clown to Serie C1 referee status, he hasn’t had a good game since the WC.