Leonardo:” We Can’t Rely Solely On Youth”

AC Milan new head coach Leonardo warned this Tuesday that his team will not have a good season relying solely on youth players. He believes that Milan is still in need of reinforcements.

This in response to comments made by Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi that it is imperative for Leonardo to utilize players less than 23 years of age.

If there is one thing the pre-season games made evident is that Milan is still in need of reinforcements; they have not been able to replace Kaka and are now in danger of losing Pirlo to Chelsea.

The only effort made for reinforcements, if you can call it that was the low ball offer for Luis Fabiano, which was emphatically rejected by Sevilla.

Abate (22), and Antonini (26)provided a glimmer of hope putting in solid performances in the pre-season.

Milan’s over 30 list:

Kalac - 36
Abbiati - 32
Dida – 35
Kaladze – 31
Gattuso – 31
Inzaghi – 35
Seedorf – 33
Nesta – 33
Zambrotta – 32
Jankulovski – 32
Favalli – 37
Pirlo – 30
Ambrosini – 32
Oddo - 33

Ronaldinho Left Out Of Brazil Friendly

Today Dunga announced the group that will participate in a friendly match against Estonia on August 12^th.

The Brazilian base will remain the same as the squad that won the Confederations Cup this past June. The only changes are Marcelo from Real Madrid (replacing Kleber) and Diego Tardelli from Atletico-MG (replacing Pato).

Marcelo has proven that he deserves a spot in the national team based on past performances. He was left out of the squad during the Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers because he was playing in a different position than customary for Real Madrid which greatly affected his performance for Real and for the National team. With new Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini he has been playing in his usual left back position.

What really caught me by surprise was the “nod” given to Diego Tardelli. While I have heard great things about this player including that he is one of the top goal scorers in the Brazilian Championship, the few times that I actually watched him play he failed to impress me. But I am not the one he has to impress and no doubt he has captured Dunga’s attention.

Based on his performance in the AC Milan’s pre-season games this past week, it doesn’t surprise me that Pato is being left out.

I am not surprised either that Ronaldinho has also been left out, but I am disappointed. I thought this would be a great chance to re-introduce him to the squad and give him an opportunity to win back his place in the national team. Especially since this is going to be a good opportunity for the players to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers against Argentina (4^th place with 22 points) and Chile (2^nd place with 26 points) in September. Perhaps it’s too early for him to stage a comeback. What do you think?

Brazilian National Team:

Júlio César (Inter de Milão-ITA)
Gomes (Tottenham-ING)

Marcelo (Real Madrid-ESP)
Daniel Alves (Barcelona-ESP)
Maicon (Inter de Milão-ITA)
André Santos (Fenerbahçe-TUR)

Lúcio (Inter de Milão-ITA)
Juan (Roma-ITA)
Luisão (Benfica-POR)
Miranda (São Paulo)

Felipe Melo (Juventus-ITA)
Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos-GRE)
Josué (Wolfsburg-ALE)
Elano (Manchester City-ING)
Kleberson (Flamengo)
Ramires (Benfica-POR)
Júlio Baptista (Roma-ITA)
Kaká (Real Madrid-ESP)

Diego Tardelli (Atlético-MG)
Robinho (Manchester City-ING)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla-ESP)
Nilmar (Villarreal-ESP)

Diego, Serie A's New Magician

Diego Ribas Da Cunha, or better known as just Diego. This player has come a long way since his early days in Santos of Brazil. One of the most prominent soccer teams in Brazil made famous the world over for introducing to the world the greatest soccer player that ever lived Pele. But that is a subject for another article.

At the young age of 12 Diego was signed to Santos where he was developed through their youth system making his professional debut at the young age of 16, playing alongside Robinho and Elano. The three of them captured Brazil by storm and before you know it Diego was on his way to Porto of Portugal.

While in Portugal Diego really failed to impress, and in 2006 he moved to Werder Bremen. This is when his star began to rise in the soccer world, winning Bundesliga player of the month both in August and in December of 2006, also named the best player of the first half of the Bundesliga season and later winning the player of the year award given out by Kicker Magazine.

His goal against Alemannia Aachen in stoppage time from 62.5 meters was chosen as goal of the year.

His last season with Werder Bremen was his best season (personally). He scored 20 goals.

Now this young magician is facing a new challenge in a new league. As of May of 2009 Diego has been brought to the Seria A where he will represent Juventus. Hoping to replace an aging, injury prone Nedved, it is my humble opinion that he will fit in very well with Del Piero and Amauri. Combining his passing, dribbling, vision of the game and his ability to create plays out of thin air will do wonders to feed Del Piero and Amauri many opportunities for goals.

I believe that he is the player to watch this coming season.

AC Milan - Pre-Season Review

After a difficult season for AC Milan I was excited to see them play in their pre-season. After a week of games against Galaxy, Club America, Chelsea and Inter I was left a little disappointed, but only at first. Then I proceeded to take apart the games for what they really are…Pre-Season Games!!! Even though it would have been nice to see AC Milan win all 4 games, specially the one against Inter, I think that these matches served their purpose. To get the players re-acquainted, to test the new players, see how they will gel with the others, get Leonardo’s feet wet. There were some very positive signs as well.


Let’s take Ronaldinho for example. Last year there was no continuity to his playing. He was left on the bench most of the time and only put in when there was little time to really make a difference on the pitch. In these four games I have already seen a different Ronaldinho. He is moving around, looking for the ball, trying to get on the same wavelength with the other players. He hit the post twice on free kicks and made Julio Cesar (Inter’s goalie) make a couple difficult saves. He may have looked a little slow at times, perhaps unsure of himself in a couple of plays but that is common after not playing for a while.
Plus you have to take into consideration that he played four matches in the span of one week, even players in top form would show signs of fatigue. The problem is that everyone is so used to watching Ronaldinho create magic with his feet that anything less is viewed as a disappointment. If you ask me he still has all the ingredients to come back as the best player in the world. Can he lead this team to a Scudetto title?…Only time will tell.

I am still amazed at how Seedorf continues to have a slot on this team. Talk about lack of creativity!!! This man wears the number 10 jersey. Other greats that have worn this number…Pele, Maradona, think of what they have done for their teams. Seedorf only has two plays, pass is backwards or attempt a dribble and lose the ball. We saw this time and time again last season, and we saw it again in the three matches that he played. Ok so he scored a goal…big deal. As a midfielder he should be creating plays, creating chances to score. I saw nothing like that at all. May be he should consider a career in the MLS.

Pato showed some signs of brilliance but he is still young and very unreliable. The one thing he has that Milan desperately need is speed. His ability to turn and leave the defender in his wake is incredible. With the right players helping him out, I believe he can shine this season.
Inzaghi, what can I say. He is a born goal scorer. If he could only get his off sides under control. I think Milan is in desperate need of a striker. After talks with Luis Fabiano have cooled off I don’t know what they are going to do, but I think he would have been a great choice to complement this squad.
I was very excited to see Onyewu play. I think overall he played well. He gave up a goal against Chelsea and I think he could have done better against Inter. Milito gave him a nice introduction to the Serie A twisting him around a couple of times before scoring. I think he will learn quickly, he has everything to be a great defender. I don’t have to say what this can do for U.S. soccer but what a shot in the arm. The crowd went crazy when he took the field. I hope he does well.

Zambrotta played well, Nesta played well, if they can just keep him injury free he will continue to be an asset. Thiago Silva showed some good soccer. Ambrossini played like a rock. Gattuso is Gattuso there is nothing else to say. He will give 110% in every match. They definitely need either Dida or Abiati back. Kalac is terrible in goal. He missed a couple of saves that I am sure that Abiati would have made. Specially Inter’s first goal.

Overall I think the team showed some good signs and I think Leonardo is on the right track.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Everyone is familiar with the saying: “Be careful what you wish for you just might get it”. Well Ronaldinho Gaucho’s fans you are going to get exactly what you wished for. Last season many complained of Ronaldinho’s lack of playing time (myself included), wondering why Ancelotti kept opting to keep Seedorf on the pitch instead of Ronaldinho. While I appreciate Seedorf’s physical style, his conditioning as an athlete, he will never be the game changing player that Ronaldinho is.

With Kaka’s departure to Real Madrid, that opens the way for a new leader in Milan, for someone to change the pace, direction, feel of the game. That important job filled so well by Kaka, has now been passed on to Ronaldinho. New head coach Leonardo is looking for Ronaldinho to once again show the world why he was chosen two years in a row as FIFA’s best player. In hopes of getting him in top shape there are even rumors that he is on a special diet hoping that he will be able to drop 4 kilos by the beginning of the season.

Can he do it? Only time will tell. But this year it won’t be for a lack of playing time. Maybe with the World Cup just around the corner will serve as an incentive for him to dig deep down and find the joy he once had for the game just as Ronaldo (not C. Ronaldo…the real one!) has done now playing for Corinthians in Brazil. Once again the saying proves true…”Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!” but as a Ronaldinho fan it could not have come any sooner.