United Are Untouchable

I had the pleasure of watching Man United's game against Arsenal on Saturday and I was left with a loss of appetite, albeit after eating like a mad man at my in laws. Arguably this wasn't that bad on that particular day I was spared from watching Milan's 4-0 thrashing by arch rivals Inter...Rock on Galliani and Berlusconi!

The Arsenal game had everything you could wish in football, goals and drama. Showsports presenter Rob McCaffery said it beautifully "And you wonder why people pay to watch the English Premier League". For the neutral it must have been a blast but being a Gooner myself I was left feeling robbed and angry. Yes my perspective possibly is bias but surely the refereeing display on that day by Mike Dean was a farce. United had luck and the referee on their side that day. Where to begin.....?

Before scoring the opener Andrei Arshavin was hacked down inside the penalty area via a blatant double tackle by Darren Fletcher, the ball also might have struck Fletcher's hand while Arshavin was applying the dummy, there was no doubt in my mind...a penalty and a yellow card but to my shock the referee waved play on??? I couldn't believe my eyes. What made things much worse for me was that early in the second half with Arsenal knocking on United's door for a second to put this game to rest Mike Dean decided to award Rooney a penalty. Well in my eyes this was not a penalty and all what Rooney hoped to achieve with his run at Almunia was any contact so he could tumble to the floor. Yes there was contact, but seeing the replay from the back (also the view of the referee) Wayne proceeded to throw his legs up before Almunia touched him. Add this to the fact that prior to contact Rooney had already nicked the ball too strongly and it was heading outside of the stadium and this to me was no penalty. However for arguments sake lets assume Mike Dean didn't see what I saw and we all know how poor referees have only a second to make a decision and blah...blah...blah..... How can he possibly give Rooney's penalty and not Arshavin's? Fletcher in the latter managed to lift Andrei off the ground and bring him tumbling down. All I am asking for is consistency. You can't give one and not the other, period!

Penalties aside, Wenger complained that a certain United player was present to only make fouls on Arsenal, while I think Arsen is exaggerating a bit, Darren Fletcher throughout the game had earned himself a minimum of one Red Card and possibly two. Mr. Dean (pictured above pointing out that 3 fouls was too much) I counted around 5 0r 6 fouls that game two of witch would have warranted a yellow card each for sure. The penalty that was never given, and the high boot with studs showing into Clichey's shoulder, Dean never acted. This case reminded me a couple of seasons back when Paul Scholes used to wear the invulnerability cloak too and in some Old Trafford games he just couldn't be booked if he tried.

Wenger was then red carded at the end of the game for kicking a bottle of water, this had no impact on the game but turned out into a comedy sketch that best displayed the calibre of refereeing in the game. What added to the comedy affair was the fact that the fans that once cheered the king of synchronised diving Mr. Ronaldo for so many years proceeded to jeer Eduardo for a dive (in a Celtic game, earlier in the week) that was no more than what Rooney produced a few minutes earlier.

The game overall was very competitive, hats off to United for grabbing three points, in a game where they were outplayed throughout most of 90 minutes. Arsenal and Arsen have alot of positives to look at as they dominated the reigning champions at their fortress, and lost via a debatable penalty and a fluke Diaby own goal, what was he thinking?. A Van Persie goal was correctly disallowed late on, that on another day could have been the equaliser. The team as a whole and Diaby in particular showed great metal to come back after the own goal and try to level the game by playing their football, but how they missed Fabregas that night. It might seem difficult to imagine this Arsenal team winning the title (I still consider Chelsea favorites) but if Wenger can bring in one or 2 players before the window ends tomorrow it might just happen.

Milan Win Berlusconi Trophy, Really?

Well a couple of days back I managed to watch AC Milan take on Juventus for the annual friendly played to win the Berlusconi Cup. It is the last friendly before the Serie A kicks-off next week, so naturally it is quite important for both teams to have a some sort of idea of where they stand. Juve had a mixed preseason but miles better than that of Milan. Milan had not won a single preseason friendly up to that point although they managed to grab a draw or two, so logically Milan would be putting more importance on that game, more to the fact they were playing at home. I never thought though it was that important!

Both teams started out with more or less their best eleven on the field. The game played out to a 1-1 draw with Diego who was extremely impressive through out grabbing the lead with a deflected shot off Milan defender Thiago Silva who had a decent game himself. Alex Pato equalised late on with a header from an inch perfect Abate cross. Milan overall played fairly well, looked threatening and their overall display was miles better than any of their preseason games thanks to occasional moments of brilliance from Ronaldinho, Pato and Pirlo. Yes I know I argued before that Pirlo can be sold, but in no way is his presence in any team in the world not an advantage for that team. New signing Huntelaar struggled a bit, but gave me hope that if given a few games he can deliver. Overall I still think Inter are almost a sure in for winning the Serie A again this season, that's were I would put my money. Their overall squad and tactical displays are better than any other Serie A team.

Anyways, as the game ended in a draw it had to be settled on penalties, fair enough. What really surprised me was the presence of Milan vice-president Galliani on the bench celebrating after each penalty kick as if Milan were playing a "World Cup" final, not even a "Champions League" final could enlist such exaggerated emotions from the Milan number two. Frankly it was too much for me. Maybe he was genuinely happy, who knows? but it seemed to me that Galliani wanted this win just to prove to us and mainly to himself that everything is fine in Milanello. There were a lot of positives to take out of the game for Milan and I'm sure Leonardo breathed a sigh of relief following his teams display as it gave him hope for the future. Not among the positives was beating Juve, because frankly it never happened. Milan drew 1-1 at home with Juve and struggled to equalize, (a poor result in any two legged competition or even in a league meet), and later won a penalty contest to win a friendly competition, nothing more nothing less. I hope that the next time I see Mr. Galliani jumping up and down would be in a Champions League final, on second thought a Coppa Italia final will do!

OFFICIAL: Huntelaar to Milan!

According to Football Italia

It is now official – Klaas Jan Huntelaar will sign a four-year contract with Milan and undergo his medical tomorrow.

“AC Milan announce they have reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the purchase of Klaas Jan Huntelaar,” read a statement on the club website.

“The Dutch player will undergo a medical tomorrow, after which he will sign a contract tying him to the Rossoneri until June 30, 2013.”

Vice-President Adriano Galliani had already stated this morning that a deal was done with the Merengues, but now the news is official.

Although no figures have been confirmed, it is believed Milan will pay around £13m for the striker.

It is still almost £8m less than Real Madrid paid to take him from Ajax only seven months ago.

Pirlo Can Go

The AC Milan transfer policy this season has been a joke in my opinion and that is not because they sold Kaka' to Real Madrid. I was never for keeping players in a club against their will although it seems Kaka' might have been pushed out of AC Milan starting with Man City's offer last season. I think at the end of the day he did want to leave and that is why he picked Real whose offer was substantially lower than that of City. Never the less 65m Euros seems to be a great price for Kaka' and Milan would have done well to sell him for that kind of money. Everyone expected the rebuilding to commence immediately especially that the Milan squad is so old that you can actually picture current coach Leonardo on the field with great ease. But no, nothing happened and the Milan administration came out and told us that the bulk of this

some will be to settle debts and no big money transfers are to be expected. They chased Wolfsburg striker Dzeko for a while and ultimately failed to land the prolific goal scorer due to one reason, money! Oh and lets not forget attempting to renegotiate the Aly Cissokho deal with Porto by claiming he had bad teeth! They followed this up with an embarrassing attempt to lure Brazil Striker Luis Fabiano. I'm not a fan of him but a 12.5m Euros offer for Brazil's number one striker is a joke. Again Mr. Galliani and co. told us that funds were tight. One thing crossed my mind at that point...Where did the 15m Euros from the sale of Yoann Gourcuff ever disappear to? Don't let me start on how Milan managed to chase away the super talented Frenchman who was one of the main reasons Bordeaux broke the grip Lyon hand in France and would have been a direct replacement for Kaka'. However I feel in this case the damage already done by Carlo Ancelotti was irreversible. Anyways Milan have managed to acquire around 80m Euros in transfer funds and all we got to show for it was U.S.A Defender Oguchi Onyewu. Don't get me wrong he is a solid addition to the aging back line, but surely we deserve more.

It seems now the Milan Administration is once again going to sell one of it's stars only this time it's Andrea Pirlo. The Brescia born midfielder has been a prominent figure in AC Milan for the last 8 years managing to win all possible domestic honours, two Champions Leagues, one FIFA Club World Cup and off course the World Cup in 2006. For once I happen to agree. There is no doubt regarding the talent of Pirlo but with his high salary, age and the amount of money offered (reported to be around 15m Euros) Milan could be on to something. The talented play makers slow pace and lack of fighting spirit has been ever so evident in preseason friendlies plus rumor has it that he doesn't fit into Leonardo's plans. Add to that the presence of battling midfielders in the squad like Gattuso, Flamini and Ambrosini and it's clear the move makes more sense from Milan's side. From Chelsea's perspective it makes less sense to me, but it's very possible Ancelotti wants to add much needed depth to his squad so he is able to battle on all fronts this season. Galliani this time around has finally informed the Milan faithful that money from Pirlo's sale would go into strengthening the squad and with rumors flying regarding Sneijder, Hernanes, Fabiano and Huntelaar I think its fair to say that Pirlo can go.