Features news coverage of AC Milan and its players, including match reports, transfer rumours and general football news.
Today’s transfer roundup won’t be too long, because I’m being generous. I’m sure you all have much better things to do than to sit and read for an extended period of time…right?
Written by Eddie Griffin. One comment
Today’s transfer roundup starts with transfer-related news, but not a big rumor. Instead, I give two thumbs-up to Real Madrid’s Wesley Sneijder for looking out for his brother’s best interests, as he stepped in to prevent Real from making an offer to former club Ajax for his brother Rodney, a promising youth team player.
Written by Eddie Griffin. Leave a response
So, what’s going on in the world of transfer rumors today? As always, chime in and chip in with opinions - and with rumors!
Written by Eddie Griffin. 2 comments
The North East of England is often described as a ‘football hotbed’ – an area that is widely accepted to be rich in the culture, tradition and passion of the beautiful game. Three big clubs, hundreds of thousands of loyal supporters and a breeding ground for talent through the eras, there can’t be many parts of the world that top Tyneside, Wearside and the Tees on the hotbed thermometer ?
Well of course there are. Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne apart, how many world class players has the ‘hotbed’ produced ? And how many trophies have their teams won on a national or international stage ?
I know it’s not all about glory and home grown talent, but I can make a case for ten diverse areas on this planet all being bigger hotbeds than the North East (population: 2,515,442):
Written by Betfair. 13 comments
Today’s transfer roundup starts up as the last one did, so Arsenal fans, feel free to jump a couple of paragraphs.
Written by Eddie Griffin. 15 comments
Guess who’s back? That’s right, me and the transfer roundup.
The season’s winding down and the rumors are heating up, so you’ll be seeing me in this space regularly.
Anyway, on to the good stuff!
Written by Eddie Griffin. 13 comments
Three weeks ago, at the end of the 3-2 match lost to Juventus (Matchday 33) Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had declared: “Our objective for the rest of the season, in order to qualify for Champions League, will be to win all of our next 5 matches“. With the important fixture vs. Inter in the Rossoneri’s calendar, this was much easier said than done… but what do you know? AC Milan might just have achieved their objective.
To quote Gazzetta, some people had already nicknamed this title ‘The Scudetto of Hardships’ (more or less a translation of Lo Scudetto della fatica), and that may be why Inter continue to make things harder for them. 2 years and 18 days since their last derby victory, AC Milan have reclaimed the “Derby della Madonnina” and made a key step towards Champions League qualification. Indeed with the concurrent loss of Fiorentina at Cagliari, the Rossoneri now find themselves in 4th spot with a 1-point advantage over La Viola. In other words: their destiny is entirely in their own hands.
As for Inter well… it will take nothing short of a Roman miracle for the Nerazzurri to lose their grip on the Scudetto (on account of their head-to-head record with AS Roma, a win to Siena next week will effectively seal the deal for Roberto Mancini’s team), but today’s loss is certainly very sour. Is it a coincidence that when Filippo Inzaghi scores on Inter (today was the 4th time it happened), Il Diavolo always ends up victorious?
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Written by Marco Pantanella. 5 comments
Last year, with Tottenham’s season winding to a close and Jol already looking towards strengthening the squad in the summer, I suggested that Tottenham go for age and experience in midfield to compensate for the lack of composure (spine) that they’ve shown in the middle for the last couple of seasons.
That day the person I had in mind was the German international Torsten Frings, but a better player has, if rumours are to be believed, put himself on the market by saying:
“I don’t want to speak because I don’t want to inflict my personal problems on the group because our aim is fourth spot.
Afterwards there will be time to talk about my things. Right now we have an important objective, fourth place.
I would like to have the possibility to play in the Premier League. It’s a dream I’ve always had and have never realised.
I think I have the right characteristics to play in that championship.”
Gennaro Gattuso, AC Milan midfielder.
Now if you remember correctly, every summer we hear Gattuso being linked with a switch to the Premier League. It’s happened the last two summers with United being linked with him (and every time United go out and buy a defensive midfielder, just not Gattuso), and Ferguson himself has declared his interested in the player in the past.
And ordinarily, if Gattuso was to come to the Premier League you’d expect the big four to snap him up, but at least three of the big four (Chelsea (Mikel, Essien) Manchester United (Carrick, Hargreaves) and Liverpool (Alonso, Mascherano)) have enough players in that area and / or are going British anyway.
That leaves Arsenal, and while Gattuso would break Wenger’s piggy bank he would also be the ideal replacement for Flamini if the Frenchman chooses to leave Arsenal - in fact he’d be a better influence on the young Arsenal team with his experience and would add a real combativeness to the Arsenal side.
Other clubs (Villa if they lose Barry) are likely to be interested as well but when it comes down to big transfers it’s a matter of Champions League football and deep pockets and while Arsenal can offer the former, Tottenham have the pockets to at least attract Milan’s attention, and after that it’s the ‘promise of the Champions League’ and the promise of the Ramos revolution at White Hart Lane.
Arsenal v Spurs for Gattuso? Sounds a bit far-fetched, but it could be something to look forward to this summer, especially if Milan fail to qualify for the Champions League.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 7 comments
Both Internazionale and Milan have balked at Barcelona’s asking price for the former World Player of the Year - supposedly valued at 30 million Euros by the Catalan club whereas the Italians are rumoured to offering 16-20 million euros (reasonable, if you factor in that he is ‘damaged goods’ and commands high wages).
However, Ronaldinho is more than just a player. According to Forbes.com he is the second richest footballer (Goldenballs has the #1 position locked in again) and his brand value, regardless of his injuries and form, is high enough for a club to throw a few extra million Barcelona’s way.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 23 comments
According to Forbes.com Manchester United have been valued at $1.8 billion, ahead of the club traditionally known as the richest club in football (Real Madrid, $1.285 billion) and their chief domestic rivals Arsenal ($1.2 billion), Liverpool ($1.05 billion) and Chelsea ($764 million).
Have fun sorting the lists according to different criteria. Here are some highlights:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 3 comments
Steve Amoia returns with his preview of Week 35 in the Serie A - with a look at Adriana Lima, transfer rumours involving Milan and highlights from last weekend in Italy.
Written by Steve Amoia. Leave a response
Apparently, these clubs have (or have had) players with the most Champions League semifinal appearances.
Before you go through the list, try guessing who’d be on this list. Several Italians, of course, which is where Juve / Milan come in, and then there is the Madrid - Chelsea connection (bonus points if you can think of the 2nd player before peeking at the list), and there’s a record-breaking Champions League winner and a couple of underachieving continental strikers to round off the list.
Here’s the list:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. One comment
Quotes of the Week in Italian Calcio
You didn’t know that Salma likes Italian football? Or can quote the great masters of literature? Do you really care? 
“I wouldn’t repeat the same gesture that cost me a five-game ban. It was a big mistake, especially for the example that I set the children who were watching.” — Antonio Cassano of Sampdoria
Were the children he was talking about one of the jewels of Bari Vecchia? Maybe he needs to tell himself “Vai a fan****!” the next time a Cassanate is on the horizon? Can a referee card him for that? “Mister Collina, the player was cursing himself. Repeatedly. Then he threw his shirt at himself. Should we fine him? No, his behavior has improved markedly. We should buy him another shirt, and call Donadoni…”
“Inter have some tough games coming up and we have been chasing them for two years.” — Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma. Speaking of chasing, some supporters behind the goal are still looking for the spot kick he sailed over Van Der Sar.
“If I have to analyse this game, then I say Palermo had three shots on goal and Gigi Buffon did not make a single save.” — Claudio Ranieri of Juventus
Mister Ranieri with his usual concise, creative, and confounding analysis. Maybe the Americans should hire him for political commentary. “Hillary sounds like Caesar’s wife. Barack sounds like Caligula. John sounds like Mr. Abramovich.”
“Walter will do well because he has lost the short fuse of a player and reasons like a Coach. To be honest, he has surprised me. I remembered him as being brash and also a loudmouth. The day that I left Inter, I didn’t think that he would have a future as a Coach.” — Giovanni Trapattoni of Red Bull Salzburg and soon to be manager of Eire. He was also born on 17 March.
Speaking of short fuses, Mister Trap had a famous video during his time with Bayern Munich. Walter Zenga must have studied that before his first game on the Catania bench. Brash and a loudmouth? Walter? A former goalkeeper? A Northern Italian?
Quotes courtesy of Football Italia.
Video Highlights
Image courtesy of Goalvideoz. Please click the image to view a video highlights menu after the game.
Image courtesy of Serie A TV. Please click the image for free video previews and selected clips after the games.
Giornata/Week 34:
For live scores during the games, please click here.
For an ESPN Matchtracker of Serie A games, please click here.
For a live game tracker called Match View, in Italian, from the Gazzetta dello Sport, which has very detailed statistics and graphical displays, please click here. You may have to click on the number of the week to see a full fixture list.
Saturday, 19 April
AS Roma x Livorno at 1300 GMT.
Fiorentina x Palermo at 1830.
Sunday, 20 April
Cagliari x Empoli: A relegation derby at 1300 GMT.
Siena x Genoa
Atalanta x Juventus
Catania x Lazio
Parma x Napoli
AC Milan x Reggina
Sampdoria x Udinese
Torino x Internazionale at 1830.
For more news in English about Italian football, please visit mCalcio.
For a live radio stream (subject to availability) from RAI, please click here.
If you are new to calcio and the Italian language, I wrote an article called “Soccer Terminology in the Mother Tongue.” Unfortunately, you will not learn the actual chants (i cori) from the stadiums, useful terms to describe rival players and fans (gli avversari), or how to compliment your favorite referee (l’arbitro). For those, you will need to make a visit to bella Italia…
Place your predictions below and may Gerry McDonnell grace us with his odds. And may Salma grace you with, well, I will leave that to your imaginations.
“I could never die on Sunday. Then I would miss my Italian football.”
Steve Amoia is a featured author on Soccerlens. He is the author and editor of World Football Commentaries, and also writes for Keeper Skool.
Written by Steve Amoia. One comment
Previously, I had mentioned that AC Milan have chosen Singapore to set up a youth football base. Now, according to Channel News Asia (CNA), training camps could begin as soon as this year.
Milan have plans for 5 day football camps for children aged 6 to 16, and these camps could begin later this year. Aide Iskandar, former captain of the Singapore national team, will be the technical director. He will be aided by coaches flown in especially from Italy.
Written by Kenny. One comment
Once the world’s most feared attacker, injuries and a drastic loss of form have Ronaldinho a shadow of his former self.
For a long time, Ronaldinho has been widely rumoured to be on the way out of the Nou Camp and today, numerous reports [Goal, Soccernet, International Herald Tribune] have emerged claiming that the former FIFA World Player of the Year has already agreed to a deal with Italian Giants AC Milan.
Ronaldinho is said to have to have agreed to a 4 year contract worth €8 million a year and all that is left for the deal to be set in stone is to work out a fee with Barcelona.
More as this develops.
Written by Kenny. Leave a response
This can be a difficult time of the season for strong recommendations as title hopes evaporate; teams get lost in mid-table mediocrity with little to play for and those resigned to their fate fail to perform to expectation.
But there are some interesting clashes this weekend as in Serie A six of the top seven take each other on. In the Premier League, Arsenal’s season will finish early unless they can win at Old Trafford. There’s much to be decided at the bottom of the Bundesliga as any three from five could still be relegated and two of them meet this weekend. Ligue 1 is even less defined as only six points separates 12th from 19th and four of the bottom five have the same number of points. Only in Spain could nearly everything top and bottom of the table be resolved this weekend.
Written by Soccerlens. Leave a response
Amidst a week of hectic Champions League and UEFA Cup matches, this piece of news almost slipped past me.
According to TODAY newspaper, Milan have plans to set up a football school in Singapore. The camp, set to be called AC Milan Junior Camp, will provide training for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 18. TODAY also reported that officials from Milan could be in Singapore as early as next week to meet local officials and discuss plans for the camp.
Milan are obviously trying to extend their sphere of influence (Editor: Milan already have a youth talent initiative in North America) and this can only be good news for Singapore Rossoneri fans and local football. I’m eagerly waiting for developments on this.
Kenny maintains a personal blog called ‘The Meditation Chamber‘.
Written by Kenny. One comment
At the beginning of the season, no one expected Juventus to achieve UCL qualification. All the critics (some of them were even Juve fans!!) predicted that La Vecchia Signora would only manage the UEFA Cup.
But they’ve been proven wrong. The question is: can the bianconeri rise from the mist and mount a season-ending title surge against an increasing Roma and a declining Inter? Let’s take a look at the stats:
Written by GT. 2 comments
Just got done reading through Steve’s translation of Seedorf’s recent interview (the original appeared in La Gazetta dello Sport last week, I think).
Seedorf talks about his future plans (he’s very focused and clear on them), how he deals with pressure, his thoughts on the commercialisation of football and most enlightening, what he says about footballing authorities acting only in terms of protecting their public image as opposed to doing what is right (something that we see, sadly, everywhere in football and elsewhere in our society as well).
Good stuff, go have a read.
Written by Ahmed Bilal. Leave a response
Having lost to Arsenal a couple of weeks ago a lot of journalists went on ‘Milan are old, its the end of an era’ rants which personally I think is just a lazy theme that they can knock out quickly and painlessly - this same theme could quite easily have been said when they lost to Liverpool or even when they beat Liverpool – they were still old bastards then!
In my opinion, although Arsenal deserved to win, I don’t think Milan were as outplayed as the press said. Seedorf was hugely missed. I also thought the Fabregas goal was quite lucky but inevitably secured the game considering the timing of it (I await the tirade of Gooners completely disagreeing with me). Don’t get me wrong, Fab and Flamini bossed Kaka out of the game which was the key. I just think Seedorf would have made a real difference to that game, regardless of the ‘one man doesn’t make a team’ comments that some will send in reply.
But alas back to the point, old Milan. Yes they are old, ridiculously old when you think about it but how have they managed to play together for so long? Paolo Maldini is coming up to 40 and has floated the possibility of playing another season. A lot of this has been put down to the Milan Lab. Since its introduction in 2002 the praise showered on this elusive institution has been endless – some have even credited it with giving players 5 extra playing years to their careers. But what is it and are these accolades completely justifiable? Can a glorfied physio room really make the difference to a players career?
Written by Ben Fawkes. 3 comments
After Milan’s disastrous showing in the Champions League against Arsenal, many are predicting major signings to be made in summer and names have been thrown around. Drogba, Benzema, Frey, and Thiago are all said to be potential signings, but the one that shocked me the most was Shevchenko.
Written by Kenny. 12 comments
Well, that was a surprise. No, not Real Madrid losing at home to Roma (bye bye Schuster, hello Jose?), although Roma must be commended for their excellent efforts (for full coverage, read Chris’s live blog / report).
No, the surprise was seeing Liverpool fans searching on Google for information on the 2nd leg game against Inter (easily outstripping the search efforts of Chelsea fans, so there’s one debate settled about which club has more fans) - apparently a large contingent of Reds thought that Liverpool were playing this Wednesday. What, Hicks and Gillett are too busy dragging the club through mud to send you guys a memo?
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 2 comments
Milan have threw away all the good work done at the Emirates Stadium. 0-0 at Emirates, they had the upper hand going into the second leg, but then, they threw it all away.
Both sides started the match nervously, and both sides had periods of domination but halfway through the first half something inexplicable happened. Milan suddenly lost it. It seemed as if the devil himself had descended upon San Siro and sapped the Milan players of their will to win. From then on, it was one-way traffic all the way.
Written by Kenny. 7 comments
With Europe coming to a standstill (or the whole world, if you believe Scudamore) for the 2nd leg of the Champions League round of 16, we’re not doing the daily news today, just a wrap-up of Champions League action. Of course, there’s the small matter of Liverpool being taken over (ok, I mean under discussions), but let’s save that for a different article.
On to the review / preview:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 11 comments
After a triumphant year 2007 in which the Rossoneri conquered successively the UEFA Champions League, European Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup, the Red & Black king was forced to abdicate his throne tonight. The mighty Gunners of Arsenal, lead by the brilliance of their talisman player Cesc Fabregas, felt a bit of emotion for playing inside the Italian ‘Temple of Football’, a Giuseppe Meazza stadium covered in colours and roaming with chants of the AC Milan supporters. However, once they stuck their heads out of the hole, Wenger’s men began suffocating their prey with an asphyxiating domination in ball possession, and eventually brought Il Diavolo Rossonero down to his knees. Tuesday night marks the end of an era for AC Milan.
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Written by Marco Pantanella. 20 comments
Today’s roundup - a quick wrap of interesting links plus a look at today’s Champions League games:
Written by Ahmed Bilal. 13 comments
There was once an Aladdin who used to gently stroke the side of his magic lamp and a genii would rush out and serve him as he would ask him to. There was once a Frank Rijkaard who used to lightly pat Ronaldinho on the back before matches and the Brazilian would tie the knot between sorcery and efficiency with marvelous result.
But that gold-encrusted magic lamp has corroded to a pale bronze and even after you brush its side for hours, the only things that gallop out are a dense cloud of smoke and a rueful sense of nostalgia. Yet on Saturday night, it was slightly different. And the difference was that for one moment there was a bit of the leg of that Ronaldinho genii stretching out. And boy, wasn’t that some leg!
Written by Subhankar Mondal. 19 comments
Champions League preparation wasn’t the same ballpark game for Milan as it was for Roma on Saturday. While the Giallorossi will be travelling to Madrid with a confident feeling (Roma put on a brilliant display of footy today, winning their home game vs. Parma 4-0), the Rossoneri will be coming from a rather bleak week of Serie A matches: 1-1 vs. Catania Wednesday, same score vs. Lazio today. Granted, Milan will be playing their second leg vs. Arsenal at home, defending a good 0-0 result obtained at Emirates stadium (while Roma will have to keep a potentially troublesome Madrid away goal in mind), but absences in the roster may be starting to take their toll on Ancelotti’s team. They certainly did today.
Bringing you the latest news from the Italian Serie A, mCalcio.com’s Marco Pantanella looks at Saturday’s matches.
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Written by Marco Pantanella. Leave a response
