What could be better than facing the bottom of the table newly promoted side on a Friday night? Especially with so many players out injured? After the painful loss vs. newly promoted Cremonese in August, even Allegri clearly has his concerns. However, this one is welcoming back an old friend, Alberto Gilardino. And the Pisa fans just made it even easier for us by earning themselves a three match travel ban, giving us the chance to have a sold out all-Milan San Siro, complete with flags and banners again. So, maybe this one won't be so bad. After all, if we can avoid the danger of a team with nothing to lose, we could go into this weekend with a four point advantage at the top of the table. Kinda seems like the perfect way to celebrate the return of Gilardino.
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| Returning to the San Siro with a nothing to lose. |
Pisa will arrive at the San Siro with only three points to their name this season, all from draws, with zero wins thus far. (Translation: desperate for a win.) Leading them will be Gilardino, the World Cup winner and former Milan player who has been working his way up the coaching ladder from Serie D. This is his second stint in Serie A after having helped Genoa to promotion from Serie B, he served has head coach for them briefly last season. Fun fact: Gilardino replaced another former Milan striker and World Cup winner, Pippo Inzaghi, who led Pisa to promotion last season, but left this summer to manage Palermo.
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| The veteran rock of Pisa's defense, Raúl Albiol. |
Pisa's last match was a scoreless 0-0 draw with Hellas Verona last weekend. (That was where Pisa and Verona fans clashed and earned their travel bans.) For that match, Gilardino lined up a 3-5-2 with: Semper; Caraccioli, Raúl Albiol (yes, that one,) Canestrelli; Léris, Akinsanmiro, Aebischer, Marius Marin, Angori; Moreo, and Nzola. In addition to Gabbia's former mentor from Villareal, the 40 year-old Albiol, Pisa also features 17 year-old Louis Buffon, (son of that Buffon,) who plays as a winger. Gilardino has three players out with serious injuries: Stengs, Tomás Esteves, and Lusuardi.
Many say it was the six months of Albiol's mentorship at Villareal that turned Gabbia into the rock of our defense. Although Gabbia may not remember much of that, as it was actually Albiol's knee that caused his serious concussion near the end of his time there. Also, Milan have our own player we got from Spain in Modrić, who is also 40 years old but makes Albiol actually look old.
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| Gabbia in his newest yellow jersey, picking up his new 40 year-old teammate on Sunday. |
However, what Milan don't have are a number of players out to injury. The current list is Pulisic, Rabiot, Loftus-Cheek, Estupiñan, and Jashari. Estupiñan is actually close to returning, and may even be back in time for our match on Tuesday. Jashari is nearing the end of his recuperation period, and positive estimates say he could make it back for the final match before the break on November 8th. However, none of those five players will play on Friday.
Allegri did recover Nkunku for this one, so he will have another reinforcement in attack. That's one more player on the bench than he had on Sunday.The press are hopeful that he will start Leão and Santi Gimenez up front, given how well they paired on Sunday once Santi came on. There are also theories that De Winter may get a start ahead of Tomori, but that may be wishful thinking. Allegri loves Tomori and is encouraging a contract renewal from the club, even if De Winter has played very well in the minutes he has had thus far.
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| Ready for more? |
With a quick turnaround on Tuesday, Allegri will likely consider rotating his paper thin squad to prevent further injuries. But he may also relish the idea of a potential plus four advantage at the top going into the weekend enough to give a lot of minutes to his strongest players as well. Either way, even if Pisa put up a good fight, the San Siro should have an incredible atmosphere with a completely pro-Milan crowd. A perfect way to celebrate the return of Gilardino.
Campionato Primavera 1 Week 9