Chapter 76 Doubt

Rome sits at the Olimpico Stadium, coach Spalletti has a 4-3-2-1 formation, the goalkeeper is Doni, the defense is Panucci, Mexes, Chivu, Cufrey, midfielder Dero West, Aquilani, Tomasi dragged behind, Taddei, Perotta on both sides of the branch, Totti served as a single striker.

During the winter transfer, the bad boy Cassano finally left Rome and moved to Real Madrid as he wished, but Degan knew very well that the final result of this deal was that both Real Madrid and Cassano would suffer. Maybe the bad boy really thought he was the number one player in the world, and actually provoked conflicts in the dressing room of Real Madrid, but he was directly blocked to the end, and his good year was wasted in the stands.

For AC Milan, Ancelotti continued his 4-3-1-2 formation, the goalkeeper is still Dida, and the defense is Stam, Nesta, Karadze, Serginho, Midfielders Gattuso, Pirlo, and Seedorf stand in parallel, Kaka is in charge, and Gilardino and Shevchenko are partners in the striker.

AC Milan had scored 11 goals in the previous 3 games, and the pair of Shevchenko and Gilardino had arranged 8 goals. In comparison, Roma's striker is a bit awkward. Cassano defected, Montella was injured, Delvecchio was old, and Totti could only act as the lone striker.

After the opening, AC Milan and Roma launched a confrontation, while Nesta was responsible for staring at Totti. In the fourth minute, Serginho passed the header, but Doni got it first. Since then, Milan has won consecutive corner kick opportunities, but it is a pity that under the strict defense of Rome's defense, it only blossoms but does not bear fruit. ?? Stadium Maniac 76

In the eighth minute of the game, AC Milan ushered in their first good chance. Seedorf knocked back on the left side, and Shevchenko slapped him on his horse. From 12 meters in front of the goal, he shot from a small angle with his right foot. But the front corner was blocked by Dhoni, who reacted quickly, and the ball was confiscated.

In the 11th minute, AC Milan once again ushered in two points. De Rossi made a pass error and passed the ball directly to Seedorf. Seedorf's lob shot from outside the penalty area was about to hit the crossbar. But Doni flew out of the crossbar with one hand.

In the 15th minute, Serginho dashed along the left and made a cross. Gilardino missed the ball before. "Shoot", but still failed to hook the football.

The two teams played too fast and made more mistakes. Although the situation on the court was fierce, it was a pity that neither side had many chances to score.

Digan was wrapped in a coat and sat quietly on the stand, beside him was his girlfriend Avril who just came from the United States to accompany him.

Because of Degan's relationship, Avril Lavigne also likes football now. She is very aware of the situation Degan is facing now, and she can't help but secretly worry about her boyfriend. how many times.

"Rod! If you were on the court just now, you should be able to score that ball, right?"

Digan smiled: "I don't know, I'm in the stands now, not on the field!"

Avril saw that although Degan was smiling, her tone was filled with deep disappointment. If a player cannot play and can only act as a spectator every time, no one can stand it.

However, what Fiore said helped Digan a lot. No one is smooth sailing. Even in the face of adversity, hope cannot be given up. Opportunities will always be reserved for those who are prepared.

With the whistle of the referee, the chaotic first half finally came to an end. Degan also got up, took Avril Lavigne's hand and left first. He could tell that the AC Milan players were not in the right condition today.

Just before the end of the first half, Kaka obviously had a chance to break through the middle, but the weather was too cold and his body did not move. Kaka also seemed a little timid. In the end, he passed the ball and was directly cut off by Thomasi.

After the start of the second half, AC Milan still took the lead. Seedorf made a pass from the left. Chivu grabbed the ball in front of Shevchenko and rolled it out of the baseline. AC Milan took a corner kick and Seedorf broke into the penalty area. Knocking back from the left, Gattuso shot with his right foot in front of the goal and missed the right post.

The next match completely belonged to Roman Prince Totti. First, in the 52nd minute, he forced three players and was knocked to the ground by Karazze. The referee directly took out a yellow card.

Three minutes later, Totti appeared on the right side of the court again, rushing all the way, Nesta had no choice but to shovel, and the referee once again showed a yellow card.

One minute later, Totti turned over and fell to the ground facing Stam's defense. The referee whistled a free kick again, but the slow motion showed that Totti was suspected of diving. Dida made a thrilling save.

In the 65th minute, there was another dangerous situation in front of Milan's goal. Taddei went straight, and De Rossi made a low pass from the right side of the area. Totti appeared in time and scored with a header. The ball was knocked down by Dida. Point the ball to break it out of the baseline.

Although he didn't score a goal, Totti turned AC Milan's entire defense upside down by himself. Both Karadze and Nesta received yellow cards.

Tassotti on the coach's bench looked at it, and couldn't help but think of the very classic scene last season. Degan captured the entire Olympic Stadium by himself and stuffed countless laxatives into the mouths of the Romans. ". ?? Stadium Maniac 76

If Digan was on the field at this time, the situation might be different!

Tassotti suddenly had such an idea, then shook his head with a wry smile.

He could see that Gilardino and Shevchenko were not in very good condition today. They had several chances in the first half, but they failed to grasp them.

Seeing that the midfielder lost control, Ancelotti immediately replaced Gattuso with Ambrosini. The decline, the main position was also re-robbed by Gattuso.

However, after Ambrosini came on the field today, he almost sent an assist. Seedorf made a long pass from the left. After receiving the ball, he turned around and shot with his right foot. His movement was obviously slower, and he was blocked by Cufrey. Was destroyed by the opponent out of the sideline.

After that, Spalletti also replaced Aquilani with Mancini Jr., and Mancini Jr. got a chance to shoot in less than a minute on the pitch. The volley hit Nesta's body, and Perotta followed up with the supplementary shot, and it went slightly wide.

Since then, Totti and Mancini played a wonderful cooperation on the left rib, but was destroyed by Stam first.

Ancelotti made another substitution after another, replacing Pirlo with Rui Costa and Gilardino with Inzaghi.

But in the 81st minute, Roma took the lead to break the deadlock. After Tomasi intercepted the ball in the midfield, Roma played a fast break. Totti moved to the left in time and pulled Milan's defense. After making adjustments, he volleyed with his right foot 13 meters in front of the goal. The ball passed through Stam's crotch, and touched his leg, changed direction and bounced into the near corner. AC Milan fell behind 0:1!

After conceding the ball, AC Milan immediately launched a counterattack. In the 84th minute, Kaka crossed Inzaghi from the far side of the penalty area, but Chivu, with the help of God, took the lead and destroyed the ball out of the baseline. Milan opened on the right. A corner kick was taken, and Shevchenko's header was confiscated by Doni. At the last moment of the game, Shevchenko had a good chance to equalize the score, but unfortunately his volley missed the near post, and AC Milan finally won. Powerless.

In the end, AC Milan lost 0:1 to Roma in the away game, and the ranking fell to third place. The points gap with the leader Juventus was widened to 8 points.

AC Milan lost 0:1 to Roma. Compared with the previous victory over Parma, Ancelotti used an almost identical lineup, but only in the position of right back, Stam replaced Simic.

However, the problem happened precisely on the right side of AC Milan. The media only scored 4.5 points for Stam after the game, which was somewhat low. After all, that "refraction" was somewhat unlucky, and in The assists did not accomplish anything, and it was not just Stam's problem. He ran out of space twice in the second half, but Kaka once and Seedorf once, neither chose to hand the ball to Stam. , but directly dribbled the ball to break through, but failed.

Perhaps, they did not trust the ability of Stam, who was born as a central defender, to pass from the side. Indeed, Stam himself said: "My favorite position is the center."

Stam has also played a few times at the right back position this season and played well against Siena, but judging from the past games, Stam is most afraid of the fast and flexible winger who cuts in from the left. The most embarrassing battle of the Dutchman's career was against Juventus in Lazio in the 2002/03 season. At that time, he was full of loopholes when facing Zambrotta. In the second half, he was replaced by Mancini, who was still the head coach of Lazio at the time. After Mancini played today, he played on Stam's side. In fact, Mancini broke through Stam's defense once before but failed to shoot well. The two-on-one with Totti was also penetrated from this side of the ribs. In the end, Stam was not responsible for the "accident" this time, but the change to the right still weakened the role of the Dutchman.

Maybe there is a "employment pattern" in every coach. The reason why Stam played right back was because he replaced Simic, and the reason why Simic was replaced was because of Ancelotti's mind. Among them, his position is a substitute, a substitute who can never be promoted to the main force.

But in fact, in the 4:3 victory over Parma, Simic was the one with the highest score of the "Gazzetta dello Sport" in this line of defense, and in the score of "Gazzetta dello Sport", Simic was also the one in this line of defense. The second only to Maldini, from the 15th to the 18th round of this season, he started to serve as the right back of AC Milan. In the five games, AC Milan conceded 4 goals, but none of them played from the right Enter. Simic was replaced for no apparent reason other than his low value and relatively little reputation.

Stam should indeed play, but his correct position should be in the middle, Stam, Nesta, Simic, Karadze, or even Stam, Nesta, Simic, Serginho The line of defense will be more reasonable than it is now. Kaladze has been in good form recently, with some signs of recovery, but after all, Stam is more experienced in the central defender position, and after Cafu was injured, among AC Milan's current players, Simic is the most suitable right back.

I am afraid that there will be no place for the Croatian in the future. After Cafu recovers, he will definitely be ranked ahead of Simic. After several good performances, he will be on the bench again. This is Simic's fate.

But this is more than one Simic?

In the many years that Ancelotti has coached AC Milan, there has never been a case where the main force has been taken from the bench. Kaka and Stam are not positioned as substitutes. Dida ran into Abia after returning from loan. Ancelotti is injured, and he has no experience as a substitute under Ancelotti. After a player is positioned as a substitute in Ancelotti's mind, it is difficult to "turn over". Maybe Serginho is the only special case, but that is also Because Maldini can no longer play as a full-back, Ancelotti must choose one of the three players positioned as "substitutes" in Karadze, Jankulovski and Serginho. Look at AC Milan You can tell how many potential substitute players have left over the years.

Brocchi, Abbiati, and Donatti were rented out. It is unknown whether they can return. Dorasu simply left the team. Not everyone can persevere patiently like Ambrosini. ?? Stadium Maniac 76

In addition, some young players such as Brodek, Abate, and Borriello have never been able to make their debut. Wait a minute, the age when they can really make progress by leaps and bounds has passed, and the new stars have already become mediocre players. Maybe this is also why ac Milan's lineup is aging, and there is no longer an important reason for self-produced newcomers in recent years.

AC Milan lost 0:1 to Rome. While losing three points, it also completely shattered the theoretical hope of "catching up with Juventus", and also broke Ancelotti's self-justification for two consecutive 4:3.

"The important thing is to get the three points, we always score more goals than our opponents."

Ancelotti once explained it this way, but don't forget that in a defensive-minded league like Serie A, it is much easier to let the defense line score a clean sheet than to ask the forward line to score four goals in a game.

Ancelotti's damn fixed mode caused loopholes in the defense, and his on-the-spot command made AC Milan completely lose the game.

In this game, once Ancelotti encounters a difficult situation, it is inevitable that there will be a wavering situation. Changing Ambrosini, it is clear that he wants to strengthen the defense and control at the end. It can be seen , Ancelotti wants to accept a draw.

However, the next two substitutions made people doubtful. The replacement of Rui Costa and Inzaghi was caused by the idea of not being reconciled to a draw.

The head coach is vacillating, and the players on the field naturally don't have a unified tactical thinking. They don't know how to deal with what will happen next, and they can only fight on their own on the field.

Ancelotti is not without skill in on-the-spot command. For example, in the Milan derby two seasons ago, Thomason reversed the situation after he came on the field. Jena, against Palermo and Lecce this season, Inzaghi's key goals are all vivid.

But the game against Rome will never be considered by Ancelotti as the proud battle of his coaching career, because AC Milan's goal happened exactly one minute after he replaced Pirlo.

Rui. After Costa replaced Pirlo, Ambrosini hit the position of the midfielder, and AC Milan's formation immediately became 4-1-3-2, Ruy. Costa and Seedorf pushed forward together on both sides, and Ancelotti's thinking was very clear-strengthen the attack one by one.

At the same time, the strong defensive Ambrosini was used as a barrier in front of the back line. In fact, after 80 minutes, the score was still 0:0. Ancelotti's approach only showed one attitude: he could not accept this game It ended 0-0, and the difference between taking a point and losing a game is not that big anymore.

When Berlusconi put forward the view that "the league has ended early and the focus has shifted to the European Champions Cup", Ancelotti implicitly expressed different opinions, "I don't think everything has been determined."

But in fact, this time Ancelotti also paid the price for his persistence.

If it is based on the idea of catching up with Juventus, there is nothing wrong with Ancelotti's substitution this time, Rui. Costa's playing can indeed play a role in strengthening the offense. The Portuguese has been in good form recently. It is undoubtedly the first choice to replace him, but the problem is that under such circumstances, Rui. Who will Costa replace?

Replace Kaka or Seedorf?

Formation remains the same?

In this case, at best, it is just to let the team change an offensive routine and thinking, instead of strengthening the offensive manpower, replace the next Gilardino and play the Christmas tree?

In theory, it is not impossible to take a step back, but when eager to win, replace a striker with a midfielder. I believe no coach will do this, so Ancelotti chose the most radical, which is also The most aggressive choice, replacing Pirlo, the 2+2 configuration of midfield defensive players and offensive players has become 1+3.

Roma's goals aside, in the rest of the stoppage time, AC Milan occupied the vast majority of the field. Ambrosini and Inzaghi all had good opportunities, and Rui Rui. Costa's scheduling in the frontcourt played a role.

Of course, the price is that the gaps in the defense will also be exposed. In fact, such a substitution itself is a kind of gamble. If Mancini's shot does not hit Stam's leg and change direction, maybe This will be another game, but obviously, Ancelotti is the loser of today's gamble, but since he doesn't believe in Berlusconi's "Juventus winning the championship in advance", gambling is also his only choice .

If before this game, the gap between AC Milan and Juventus in the standings is not 5 points, but 2 points, Ancelotti can rest assured to get 1 point at the Olympic Stadium, and then wait for other opportunities , Facing Roma's state of recovery from before the winter, and the background and strength of this team, this is by no means an unacceptable result, but the current situation does not allow him to do so.

The real question for AC Milan is why they were 5 points behind before, and they "forced" themselves to the point where they had to gamble against a team like Roma.

Before facing the underdogs, AC Milan lost too many points, and although Juventus lost to AC Milan, they were able to score enough points when facing the middle and lower teams. This situation is not the same as 02 /The 2003 season is very similar. At that time, AC Milan lost too many points in the small clubs, so it set the third position in the league early. However, AC Milan was good at playing strong teams at that time, so it made it all the way to the European Champions Cup Won the final, but what about AC Milan now? Maybe nothing.

The problem of stability against weak teams is still there, but the defense of strong teams can no longer withstand the opponent's strong attack. This is the biggest problem AC Milan has to face now.

AC Milan lost 0:1 to Roma in the away game. They were 2 points behind Inter Milan in the standings, tied with Fiorentina, and 8 points behind Juventus. Faced with such a result, Ancelotti summed up the game after the game The gains and losses of the game, while still expressing that, until the end, any result may happen.

"Our performance tonight was intermittent. In the first half, we passed too many balls and did not play concisely. This actually caused us to consume too much energy and fatigued too early. In the second half, the Roma team played relatively openly. Their long balls The ball counterattack caused us some troubles, and we also failed to implement an effective press on the opponent. But we also created some good opportunities, but our opponents caused us troubles, their defensive space was very small, Serginho only got space to 'punch' in a couple of times. Roma played very well today, they did a good job of keeping the ball and took full advantage of Totti's drop-back catch, we should have marked the opponent more Tight. Losing the game, the problem is that we cannot coordinate and unify. When the opponent makes us more difficult, we lose our balance, but we have the ability to regain our strength and come up with a more compact and aggressive game. The way we play. Once we lose this game, it will be more difficult in the standings, but we still have a lot of games to play, and anything can happen."

Shevchenko also had a gloomy face after the game. Obviously he was dissatisfied with the result of the game. He said: "There are no identical games. This is football. We had some opportunities, but we didn't take advantage of them. We Everyone is not very happy because we could have gotten a better result, it's too bad to lose, but the road to the league is still long, now we should think about how to bounce back and get back to winning ways, this game It will make you think that Juventus is out of reach, but nothing is impossible, now we don't talk about points anymore, we just need to think about playing every game well, AC Milan still hasn't stopped, my performance today is indeed Not good, but you can't talk about individual performance without the whole. We are a team. We just lacked a little integrity tonight, but what we lack is very important. We did have a chance to score today , if we could press forward and be more determined, we could have caused some problems for Roma, but then Roma scored and we lost the rhythm."

Gilardino, who has scored four consecutive goals in the league and the Italian Cup, stopped the pace of scoring in this game: "This game is really annoying. We shouldn't lose this game in Rome like this. We Not so good in the first half, but they did a good job with the ball in the second half, but then their goal complicated things, conceding the ball was not anyone's fault, the whole team lacked some confidence and determination today, lack of concentration? We are normal Try to improve, especially in the set-piece defense, maybe 0-0 is a reasonable ending because neither team has many chances."

Veteran Serginho believes that AC Milan's performance is average, and the loss is mainly due to Roma's excellent performance, which also caught up with the team's bad luck. He said: "I can't say that we played very badly today, but we It is true that some continuity is lacking, it was a tough game, we had expected it, now we need to look forward, the pain of the loss will be quickly forgotten. Roma is a good team, but You also have to admit that we were not very lucky today, what we need now is to be calm, and then prepare for the next game."

AC Milan only admits that the team's condition is not good today, and that luck is too bad. No one is willing to admit that the team has problems, and Ancelotti's employment in this game will only go wrong.

Immediately following the team's executive "chairman" Galliani also expressed his support for Ancelotti in an interview: "The team is now on the right track, only lost a game, this It's not the end of the world, we all believe that Ancelotti will take care of these things and lead the team back to victory!"

Of course, there is another topic that cannot be avoided is Degan. Although he has been forgotten by the Milan club, as a topical character, reporters will not suffer from amnesia.

"Degan's body is still in the recovery period, and his current physical condition has not yet returned to the best state. Regarding the arrangement of the team's lineup, I will also communicate with Ancelotti, but the final decision is made by him. , Milan's strikers are not short of manpower now, we have the most powerful attacking group in the world, if Degan wants to win the main position, he must impress Coach Ancelotti in the usual training! This is the first condition! After all, Ancelotti has the final say on the team!"

Impress Ancelotti! ?

The reporters collectively rolled their eyes towards Galliani. At this moment, Digan is probably the incarnation of Xianglin's wife, who is whispering in Ancelotti's ears all day long, and Ancelotti will not drop a drop. tears.

It seems that if Degan wants to survive, it will be really difficult in Milan!