Milan travel to Turin for the second time in three matches, this time to take on the Old Lady. And no, I'm not talking about the fabulous Trixie and Katya on the podcast called The Bald and the Beautiful. I'm talking about La Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady), Juventus. And the bald, of course, is Spalletti, Juve's manager in his second year at the club, and the beautiful is Milan, led by Amorim's beautiful, refreshing attacking football. But who could possibly win in such a matchup? Both clubs spent big but also had less than ideal transfer windows, although one (Spalletti), of course, is bitching about it, and the other (Amorim), of course, is grateful for the players he has. But I guess that's the difference between being old and bald and young and optimistic. Or the difference between the bald and the beautiful.
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| Experience can help, but it can also cloud your vision. |
Despite Milan having both the Cardinale Syndrome and the Allegri factor last season, Juventus managed to out-Milan us to sixth place, one point behind our failure to qualify for the Champions League. Sure, they have been through some things with the whole board resigning, the points deduction and UEFA ban situation, and they started last year with Igor Tudor as their manager, hiring Spalletti at the end of October. But while they've changed CEO's, board members, and managers these past years, while they were winning nine Scudetti in a row, Milan had four differen ownership changes in addition to CEO, board members, managers, etc. Also, this year, they have one Ricky Massara as their Sporting Director, so we know they are in good hands again.
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| We know this guy, he probably built Juve a much better team than our clueless owner did for us. |
For Juventus, aside from Inter destroying them the most in the Calciopoli scandal, losing Marotta and his omnipotence to Inter is the second worst thing that has happened to their club in the past 30 years or more. But Spalletti is a very experienced manager at least. And they are two for two thus far in this season as well. Last week, their 2-0 win over Parma featured a 4-4-2 with new signing Vicario from Tottenham in goal; our former Kalulu, Bremer, Lucumi, Çelik; Francesco Conceição, dead-to-me former Milan youth Locatelli, Douglas Luiz, Boga; their new big signing Kolo Muani from PSG, and their now-on-loan Jonathan David.
Their last minute transfers included Nick Woltemade on loan from Newcastle and Pepe Matar Sarr on loan from Tottenham. They also reinforced by signing the in-demand young talented Bosnian, Kerim Alajbegović, Jhon Lucumi from Bologna, Jeff Ekhator from from Genoa. They also managed to score Jérémie Boga from Nice and Zeki Çelik from Roma. However, signing all these new players can't help them in the injury department, as Spalletti already has seven players out: Pepe Sarr, Yıldız, Ekhator, Képhren Thuram, McKennie, Cambiaso, and Cabal.
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| Moreira has been here for a few weeks now, will we get to see him play? |
Amorim, on the other hand, had resolved the contracts of nearly every player he had pushed/frozen out by the end of the transfer window. Unfortunately, Gabbia was injured, and while there is no definitive news about how long he will be out, they are making it seem like it could be a while. Therefore, despite recent statements, Fikayo Tomori, who is powered by raw grinta, makes breathtaking goal line clearances before breakfast, and has been here for seven years, winning the Scudetto with Milan, was welcomed back into the fold this week. I hate how he and the others were treated, and I hate that Gerald made Amorim go in front of the cameras and make the definitive statement that he would not be part of the team this season, then have to backtrack on that statement. But who cares, Fik is back. And I am here for all of it.
There are Milan players that we have yet to see take the pitch thus far this season, including Pulisic, Moreira, Diawara, and new signing this week, Omari Hutchinson. Then there are the players I have already seen too much of, like Musah and Estupiñan, and players such as Fillipo Terriacciano, whom I hope I never see again. But it remains to be seen how many changes Amorim makes to his starting lineup. He did mention Camarda in his prematch press conference, which I love.
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| Will we get to see the newest signing, Omari Hutchinson in this match? |
There is a very alarming stat, that Milan has not scored vs. Juventus in the league for seven matches, for three years now. We scored against them when we defeated them last year in the Supercoppa (in Conceição's first match in charge.) So that desperately needs to change in this match, regardless of the result.
I assume that the Curva Sud will be boycotting, as they usually do with Juventus away, but in a strange twist of fate, Gerald will actually be there. Many people overrate his sudden overinvolvement, particularly when you consider his complete lack of knowledge about football and Milan. Comparing the two clubs, the way that Juve have delegated their work to competent people, whereas joker Gerald has taken a very controlling, hands-on approach, I would assume that their outcome will likely be better
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| Beautiful. |
And in other douchebaggery, after last year's pathetic actions, Chivu is already trying to mix things up, insulting both Milan and Juve in his press conference ahead of Napoli this weekend. And, back to comparing the bald and the beautiful, Spalletti took Chivu's childish words seriously and wasted time in his press conference addressing them, while Amorim, with class, just dismissed them in the way pathetic attempts for attention like that should be.
I have no idea which of these teams-in-progress will win this one, if at all. Recently, too many of these matchups have ended up in boring draws, more often than not, even scoreless matches at that. I think both sets of fans are ready to see some goals. But much of that will be up to the tactical and lineup choices made by the bald and the beautiful.
This post inspired by the music of Lush's "Ladykillers"
Milan Primavera vs. Juve Primavera
Sunday, September 6 • 11:00 CEST (5am EDT)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Milan Futuro vs. Caldiero Terme
Sunday, September 6 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)
This match can be streamed LIVE on the Official Serie D YouTube channel
Juventus vs. Milan
Sunday, September 6 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)
In the U.S., this match can be streamed in Spanish on Telemundo or Peacock,
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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