Ammaar I'd agree with you if I was a fan of any other team. But we have a thing for giving away 'safe' fixtures and I've been hurt too many times before to open up and celebrate already
.
This Milan team is slightly different from the Milan to last year or the Milan we beat at the San Siro 4 years ago (wow, that's just a distant memory now
).
You have got one of the best strikers in world football on your team in Ibrahimovic. He has the whole package -
- strength
- change of speed
- good direction
- exquisite finisher
- can shoot from any distance
- good at set-pieces
- has excellent close control
Don't know what more you could ask for from a 6 foot 5 striker, to be honest. The sad thing is, he has temperamental issues and cannot curb his emotions. He is such a talented football player, but his attitude lets him down at times.
An example of this is his three match ban for slapping a Napoli player. No offence, but what is the point of that?
He's a great player, though, and his attributes generally overshadow his poor behaviour.
Robinho has blown hot and cold, from what I've heard, but it was typical of a player who was deemed to be out of form, to pick themselves up and tear Arsenal a new one. Out of form players generally do raise their game against us :smileani:
I joke. But seriously, Robinho can offer you extra dimension to your game and isn't afraid to run at players and take them on. Decent player.
Your midfield trio of Nocerino, Boateng and van Bommel is a perfect combination - steel, doggedness, creativity and pace.
And I think we know how sturdy and rock solid your defence is, generally. Currently, Thiago Silva is the best cb in the world in my opinion, you have a very exceptional player on your hands there.
The most important thing is that your manager is getting the best of your players and knows his tactics, he knows how to nullify the opposition and knows how to stifle the opposition's game plan. And your players are playing with confidence....and they know how to get revenge!
All in all, you have assembled and revamped a brilliant squad and have good strength in depth. You've been severely undermined by the British Media but you showed them that Italian football isn't as ''poor'' as it's made out to be.
Arsenal don't have the ability or the confidence to smash 5 goals past your defence. We simply can't do it because we have no clinical players with the exception of Robin van Persie and we are severely lacking any creative spark or motivation whatsoever. The damage was done in the first leg and now we are all but out of the competition.
I know over the last few years you may have had a habit of throwing away a lead, but sometimes biased and incompetent officiating plays a part in that.
For example, in the Champions League final 2005, you were 3-0 up at HT. Then Liverpool brought it back to 3-3, courtesy of one of the most biased and unprofessional displays from a referee in the history of football. But people won't look at how bad the referee was, they will just look at how ''amazing'' Liverpool were for coming back to 3-3, even though the referee bottled it and virtually handed Liverpool the Champions League trophy.
