Chapter 18 The Derby Has Never Been Peaceful

Chapter 18 The Derby Has Never Been Peaceful

From the day it was born, the Milan Derby has never been peaceful. Whenever there is a derby battle, the two sides are full of gunpowder from the offensive of public opinion before the game.

Kaka is looking forward to a victory. Berlusconi hopes that the players can use a victory as his birthday present. The same Inter Milan also hopes to use a victory to celebrate captain Zanetti. This game will be Zanetti made his 600th appearance for the Nerazzurri.

In the history of Inter Milan, there are only Bergomi and Facchetti who can stand out. One day before the start of the game, the entire Inter Milan team congratulated Zanetti at the training base. The chairman of the team, Moratti, personally presented Zanetti with a commemorative silver plate. At the same time, he also presented a new captain's armband, which was also marked with 600, and the team names of all his opponents during his time at Inter Milan.

A slogan also appeared on Inter Milan's official website at the same time: 600 games, a great heart, thanks to the captain.

600 games, Zanetti, like Maldini, used each number to refresh his loyalty to the Nerazzurri.

Now Zanetti is no longer the son of the mason who played football on the streets of Buenos Aires. In fact, from the moment he joined Inter Milan in the summer of 1995, he was destined to form an indissoluble bond with the Nerazzurri.

The sturdy and brave autumn wind reminded Inter Milan fans of Mateus, one of the "troika". As time went by, Zanetti crossed one milestone after another. In the 2003/2004 season, Zanetti ushered in his 400th game on behalf of Inter Milan, ranking among the top 5 in club history.

However, what the years have brought to Zanetti is only the growing affection for the club, but there is no desire to fade away. Last season, Zanetti was one of three players to feature in all 38 games in Serie A in the 2007/2008 season.

Around Zanetti, there is people's respect for him. Teammate Mancini Jr., who just joined this summer, expressed his evaluation: "Whether as a captain or as a player, he is a role model."

In the current Serie A, only AC Milan's Maldini and Juventus' Del Piero can be compared with Zanetti.

The former has played more than 1,000 games on behalf of AC Milan, while the captain of Juventus has not yet reached the 600 milestone.

Zanetti also said in an interview: "I am very proud. It is not easy to spend such a long time in a club with such a high reputation. I will reach the number 600 in the game against AC Milan. Hope to celebrate tomorrow after shaking hands with Maldini, a man and a player I respect a lot."

When saying this, Zanetti must also be thinking about how to defeat his opponent.

After Zanetti said this, Maldini immediately responded to his old opponent: "Zanetti wants to celebrate the championship at San Siro after shaking my hand. I'm too greedy. During the game, I will turn the whole stadium into red and black. I can only say sorry to Zanetti, but I hope his 600th game commemorates and leaves with disappointment!"

The dialogue between the two old captains was full of gunpowder. However, for a player, it is not easy to gain a foothold in a big club, and it is even more difficult to gain a foothold in a foreign country, let alone have been playing for more than ten years. , played hundreds of games, especially in modern football, the more intense game itself is a kind of damage to the player's sports life, and in Zanetti, people can see all the characteristics of a great player: perseverance, Loyalty, self-discipline, and great ability!

Next, Zanetti is about to face the next step, which will be the club's second most played position, and this position belongs to the legendary Facchetti.

It is foreseeable that if there are no major accidents, then Zanetti will surpass Facchetti at the end of this season, followed by Bergomi who once worked with the Argentine. Can Zanetti surpass the two legends? No one knows, but a well-known fact is that Zanetti has become another legend of Inter Milan, and will continue this glory.

Of course, Zanetti's 600-game milestone is just a small episode in the Milan Derby. What really attracts people's attention is always the 90 minutes on the field.

Over the years, especially after the Calciopoli incident, AC Milan lost three consecutive derby games. However, last season's successful counterattack in the second round marked the complete collapse of Mancini and Inter Milan.

But now, Mourinho leads Quaresma and Mancini to reorganize. The madman brings a series of tactical rules and beautiful words to Serie A. Derby is his first heavy test. Whether the brilliant resume and tactical principles really convince Serie A.

Before the game, Moratti supported his head coach: "He is the best in the world and he is showing it. The team's performance is also better than the previous two games. Everything is going well. It is too early to say who is the main opponent. It is important. The most important thing is that we must continue to play our own value."

Mourinho also responded to the chairman: "The main difference between Moratti and Abramovich is that Moratti has been crazy about football for 63 years since he was born, while Abramovich has only been crazy about football for 5 years. Year."

Mourinho is very satisfied with the status quo of Inter Milan. After three consecutive victories in the league, they are ranked first. In the first game of the UEFA Champions League group stage against Anorthosis, Inter Milan also won cleanly in the away game. , Quaresma, whom he had high hopes for, finally scored a goal, which also made Mourinho breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, Quaresma was the one he advocated the introduction of. After that game, Mourinho also praised his disciple: "I said that you have to be patient with Quaresma. He is an excellent player. , has always been, I believe he will perform better and better, just like Robben in the Chelsea era, he is destined to be a great player!"

There was a burst of harmony on Inter Milan's side, while the situation in AC Milan seemed a bit complicated. After the previous three-game losing streak, four technical meetings were held to stabilize Ancelotti's position and to confirm that the "Golden Ball" does not need to be played at the same time. Following two major victories in the UEFA Cup and the league, no one can figure out what the real Milan is like and how lethal it is.

Ancelotti said: "I would rather the Milan that won Lazio be the real Milan, because it is difficult for others to beat us."

Milan's two victories actually came from the 4312 formation with Kaka as the front midfielder. Kaka still showed his strength as a double footballer. Although there was only one goal in the two games, Kaka's excellence is not only reflected in In terms of goals, and in many other places, what Kaka has shown is the quality that a core player should possess.

However, Shevchenko, who has high hopes from Ancelotti and Berlusconi, performed very averagely. Although the nuclear warhead still seemed very calm, he said in an interview that his goal would come soon, and he played in any position. Can.

However, everyone can see that the current Ukrainians are no longer the majestic Mr. Golden Globe and the King of San Siro.

However, the youngster Pato has recovered the fastest. He has scored three goals in the last two games. Pato, who has been questioned many times before, has returned to the "child prodigy" of last season. Ancelotti also played after the game. He said proudly: "I remember that some people said before that Pato is a person full of doubts in AC Milan, but now, I think these doubts have disappeared."

Especially in the process of scoring against Lazio, it can be called clean and tidy. Zambrotta launched an attack with a long pass from the backcourt, Kaka passed back from the bottom of his right rib, and Shevchenko successfully ran to Two defenders were attracted in front of the goal. Pato left a space in front of him. Pato didn't make any adjustments. The space between his left hand and the left post bounced and rolled into the goal.

Berlusconi's words to describe Shevchenko as "good at attacking from outside the penalty area and having a good feeling in front of the goal" now seem to describe Pato perfectly. So happy after the last round of competition.

Speaking of Ancelotti and Pato, there is another interesting story. Ancelotti seems to have beaten Pato a lot, and even publicly warned him, but in fact he admires Pato very much in his heart.

Last season, Berlusconi once praised Pato too highly, exaggerating that he could score 30 goals in half a season, and Ancelotti quickly cooled down: "30 goals is too exaggerated, but scoring 10 goals in half a season is almost the same. ."

After the European Cup, Ancelotti said when talking about AC Milan's new formation: "The Christmas tree is more suitable for Inzaghi and Borriello, not for Pato, but Pato is still young and needs to learn many things."

After the last round against Lazio, both Seedorf and Gattuso were hugged and thanked by Ancelotti after they left the field, but Ancelotti didn't even look at him when Pato was off the field.

But behind the seemingly sternness is actually appreciation, just like Mourinho warned Balotelli to be down-to-earth, Ancelotti just didn't want Pato to be praised too much and then there would be ups and downs, so when Dunga publicly criticized Pato At the time of Tortoise, Ancelotti publicly accused Dunga of "this approach is inappropriate", and in the formation of troops, Ancelotti unconditionally trusted Pato after having absolute control over the lineup.

Kaka is as stable as ever, and Pato seems to be ready to finish Inzaghi's gun. Against the background of these two outstanding young people, Ronaldinho, the world's number one star at the time, looks a little bit down.

In fact, it's not just Ronaldinho, the new aid who joined AC Milan this summer, in fact, they are not doing well now.

Mourinho once declared that his tactics are suitable for a team of 20 people, but Ancelotti is always worried about the lack of manpower. AC Milan's bench has been criticized by people last season. The market made 10 purchases to enhance the thickness of the team, but the facts show that the thickness of the team's bench does not seem to have changed at all.

For example, the striker line, the original idea of ​​the club at the beginning of the season was that Shevchenko and Ronaldinho were the main players, and Borriello and Pato were reliable substitutes who could play at any time. Now Ancelotti has an absolute lineup. The right to deploy has become Borriello and Pato are the main players, but Shevchenko and Ronaldinho have never been able to play.

On the back line, injuries made Ancelotti's staff stretched, and the bought Senderos was a "glass man". After Antonini and Abate returned home, they seemed to have suddenly lost their light in Florence. Let Ancelotti have more choices, but the return of these two young people does not seem to be successful, and this is the biggest problem.

Although the last game beat Lazio 4:1, Ancelotti admitted after the game that AC Milan was passive. It's really hard to say what the result will be for the substitute lineup. The key is that AC Milan can't afford to lose because of the three-game losing streak at the beginning of the league.

Judging from the effect of the rotation, it is not good. After Shevchenko came off the bench, although his attitude was positive, but the technical level was too far from the past, especially after Pato was off the field at the last moment, Shevchenko changed to play. The center almost never managed to get the ball under the opponent's defender. From the current point of view, Shevchenko is obviously not the nuclear warhead he was in the past.

The substitute is still not good, forcing Ancelotti to continue to use the main force, but the full set of main lineup will bring the same problem as last season, fatigue fighting.

How will the old and tired AC Milan play the Milan Derby?

Judging from the current point of view, Borriello may not be able to play, and it is hard to say whether Inzaghi can recover from his injury in time. Can the defensive line composed of Maldini and Karadze prevent Ibrahimovic and Adelaide?

It's hard to believe. If Favalli is against Mancini, the situation will be even worse. In the midfield, Gattuso is likely to continue to fight with injuries and fatigue, while Pato, Seedorf, Kaka, Zan Brotta will certainly face a fourth match in 10 days.

I am afraid that this is the only way for AC Milan in the near future, but for Ancelotti, some people on the bench of AC Milan cannot be used, and the other part is not used because they have not been given a chance, because for the first three rounds For AC Milan, which has lost consecutive games, every league game is a decisive battle.

In the current AC Milan team, Flamini, who was signed for free in the summer, may be a real rotation, but in the last game against Lazio, the effect was not good. In the score after the game, Flamini was also The bottom one in the Milan team.

In fact, in terms of the role played, Flamini's contribution to defense is not small, Gattuso's physical strength is no longer as good as the previous game, and although Seedorf is working hard, it is difficult to expect him to be as good as he was 4 or 5 years ago. With such a contribution to defense, Flamini, who serves as a right central midfielder, played the role of a "right half-fan" barrier to the greatest extent, and sometimes even added to the left backcourt to defend. But it is precisely because his defensive coverage is too large that in addition to having to use high-speed running to make up for the lost position, he also has to frequently use technical moves of tackles.

Before, Flamini was called "AC Milan's most valuable signing". Indeed, for such an outstanding midfielder, it is indeed too worthwhile to get him as a free agent, and Judging from the performance of the previous few games, Flamini is indeed worth the money, but even though he has half Italian blood, he is a player who kicked out of the Premier League after all. There is still a process to adapt to Serie A. It is common for referees in the Premier League Loose, both Drogba and Henry mentioned this feature when they first arrived in the Premier League, and this aspect of the Premier League is not in line with the entire European football.

Flamini has all the advantages that AC Milan needs, but if he wants to adapt to the relatively strict law enforcement in Serie A, he must first change the habit of excessive defensive actions developed in the Premier League, otherwise no matter how many advantages he has, he will be covered up by it. Therefore, Flamini Ramini still needs more time now. Ancelotti wants to rely heavily on the French, so there is no need to think about it in a short time.

Now that the Milan Derby is about to start, another interesting detail of this game is that Mourinho will see his former enemy Andriy Shevchenko in San Siro. In San Siro, no one may want to see each other, but the fact is that, when they did, both of them maintained a peaceful face.

Mourinho said: "If Shevchenko is happy for his return, I am also happy for him. Of course I will not wish him the league championship. I can only wish him the top scorer in the UEFA Cup."

Shevchenko also responded immediately: "I wish him well at Inter Milan, just like he has succeeded in other teams before. He is a coach who knows what he wants and how to get it. I have cooperated with him. One year, my first year in the Premier League, it's not easy for anyone."

Later, Shevchenko somewhat eased the conflict between the two and excused each other: "Now we are in the same city, but each is our own master. We will do our best."

But the fans will never forget, let alone the stadium. Under Mourinho, Drogba and Shevchenko's 442 never took off. The madman once said: "Abramovich is very smart, he will not say certain things to me , if he really tells me that Shevchenko must be in the main lineup, then I will leave immediately."

The madman even made fun of the Ukrainians in front of the fans. People asked where Shevchenko was placed?

Madman said, "On the golf course."

These are beyond the scope of pure technology, how could Shevchenko not know.

Fate will arrange it even more. Like the Prime Minister, Shevchenko's 32nd birthday is just one day after the Derby. The word revenge will hover over the city of Milan in September.