Catania Preview: Berlusconi at It Again

This weekend Milan take on Catania in what is another weekend of matches that will bring us another step closer to seeing just who will run off with the Scudetto.

With Inter playing away to Fiorentina there is a real chance, if La Viola does us a favour, of Milan catching them. But of course, Milan also needs to register a win in order for this to happen and against Catania this will not be easy.

Catania have pulled of some impressive results this season and especially in recent weeks with wins against the league leaders Inter no less, Fiorentina and Palermo.

However, along with the fact that Milan do have a stronger side despite numerous injuries, playing at home will be a big advantage for the Rossoneri who have only lost twice at home this season. Additionally, Catania have only won twice on the road.

So it should be three points in the bag for the Rossoneri and given that the Scudetto dream is still very much alive, the players should be sufficiently motivated to perform.

Looking more closely at the form of the current Milan side and it has become all too apparent in recent weeks that without Nesta at the back Milan struggle not to concede goals. In the six matches played since Nesta’s unfortunate injury ruled him out for the season, Milan have conceded nine goals in six matches.

Last week against Cagliari Milan looked particularly suspect at the back as Favalli was up to his old tricks again of giving away goals alongside a Thiago Silva who increasingly looks like he is missing Nesta more and more.

Up front in the attacking department things are not much better as far as recent trends go with Milan. Like the effect of a Nesta-less back line, it is the absence of Pato, Milan’s top goal scorer this season, that is having a detrimental effect on Milan’s scoring ability. Even Berlusconi can see this, but more on this later.

In the seven matches played since Pato’s injury against Atalanta, Milan have managed to only score six goals in seven matches with three of these coming in the last match.

This is another disconcerting trend and with Pato no closer to fitness, it is one that will not be solved anytime soon. Well at least until Pato returns, if and when he does so.

Despite everything, Milan head into this match this weekend as clear favourites to win. A win is of vital importance for the confidence of this Milan side ahead of the remaining rounds of fixtures that will provide Milan with a problem or two.

For starting with Sampdoria next weekend, Milan will have to travel to Palermo and Genoa whilst they will entertain Fiorentina and Juventus at the San Siro in the coming weeks in what represents a particularly difficult remaining few rounds for the Rossoneri.

Another insidious Silvio gibe at Leo

Berlusconi is at it again after he has come out again to criticise Leo’s tactics by offering the insult that Milan’s attackers play too far away from goal.

Whether Berlusconi has a point or not (which he does not) does not matter here. What is the matter here is that Berlusconi has shown yet again the audacity to criticise this current Milan side and in doing so their coach too, despite the fact that Milan’s real problems stem from the complete incompetence of the current board, Silvio included.

At the start of the season many, myself included, feared the worst for the season. The opening few rounds of the season only seemed to confirm that these fears may become true.

But then Leo eventually struck a masterstroke as he reinvented the side in his own light making Ronaldinho the talisman and in the process helping the Brazilian maestro steer Milan away from catastrophe and instead on to the path where they now find themselves, which is fighting for the Scudetto.

How unlikely it is that Milan find themselves in this position for this is a side that has been allowed to decay in recent years without any clear plan implemented by the board to reinforce the squad and keep it competitive.

Leo simply has done a marvelous job this season and of all people it should be Berlusconi who should be expressing nothing but gratitude for Leo’s fine work. Moreover, from the start Leo was a gamble for he had no experience as a coach at any level, yet he has come good, very good in fact and Berlusconi better realise this before it is too late.

Given the treatment of Leo by the Club’s president it is no wonder why in recent weeks Leo has shown signs that he is more than willing to leave the club if the club does not want him.

If Leo wants to leave and if he does so at seasons’ end, then it will come as no surprise for Berlusconi has shown little support to Leo all season despite his significant achievements. But here’s to hoping that he does not.