Milan are traveling to Udine with their tails between their legs and a sudden apocalyptic level injury crisis. Since the match-that-everyone-would-like-to-forget on Thursday, Amorim lost three more players, which is especially problematic considering this is the first of of three matches in seven days. Milan literally play Sunday, Wednesday, and then the Derby on Saturday. Worse still, after receiving racial abuse from his own fans after Thursday night's match, Maignan has to go to Udinese, the club with all of the not-racist racist fans, and the stadium where he suffered a concussion last year. It is our Captain's cursed stadium, and our team is like the walking dead. It's a zombie apocalypse.
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| Far too much hate on these hands and the color of their skin this week. |
When people discuss discrimination, they often think that it is only the perpetrators who are the problem. But complacency is culpability, too. So many not-all-men, not-sexist sexist men, and rape-apologists have discussed the Cornell 7 case as only a "she said-they said" rape case. But they have missed the entire reason this case garnered worldwide attention. It was the texts. There were 57 men in that Snapchat group who saw those texts of a few men advertising a vulnerable woman as available for sex without her knowledge or consent. And none of those 57 men said or did anything. It is that complacency and culture of silence in the face of the inhumane objectification of and potential serial crimes happening against a woman that shocked the world.
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| Two banners. One club. The streets don't forget. |
Udinese had a complacency problem as well, two years ago when five people in their stadium racially abused Mike Maignan. Not only did none of the fans around them say or do anything about it, their Ultras actually came out against him and denied it happened at all. And the club itself was so concerned with their reputation, trying to convince the world that they were not racists, that they made the world aware of just how culpable they were, too, and they even refused to take responsibility for what happened in their own stadium.
And the following year, when their not-racist racist fans abused the person who had been abused the year before, "within the principles of fairness," and then applauded when that same person had to be stretchered off unconscious with a concussion, they sealed their reputation as one of the newer contenders for most racist fan bases in Serie A. They may think they are good people, but the world sees them as guilty of racism just as they see those 57 men on that Snapchat group at Cornell as complicit to serious crimes. And so far, Udinese lost both matches to Milan when they were not-racist racists, too. So let's hope that good vs. evil streak continues.
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| There is also talk of Runjaić getting the axe due to poor results. |
Kosta Runjaić's Udinese comes into this match near the relegation zone, with only four points thus far – one win, one draw, and five losses in Serie A thus far. Their most recent loss was a 3-0 thumping by 12th place Lecce last week. For that match, Runjaić lined up a 3-4-2-1 with Okoye; Solet, Alaba, Ebosse; Vojvoda, Karlström, Zarraga, Kamara; Ekkelenkamp, Chakvetadze, and Keinan Davis. Runjaić has a few injuries of his own, as he will be missing Vakoun Bayo, Gueye, Zanoli, and Alaba to injury.
Milan seemed to be managing injuries so well. But four matches into our seven-matches-in-three-weeks-nightmare that is October, we are suddenly missing seven players to injury. Not that we are the only team with injuries by any means. While Milan has played a number of matches with no injuries, most teams we have faced have had at least three players missing, while Juve had seven players out and Atalanta were missing eight. I cannot speak to how well all those teams were built, but I can definitely say that Milan were never built to compete well without any injuries at all. With so many starters out, we may as well stay home and rest and just forfeit some of these matches.
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| Hopefully De Winter is not bitten by our other two injury zombies before kickoff. |
For our match on Thursday, Amorim was missing five players: Gabbia, Saelemaekers, Pietro Terracciano, Chukwueze, and Ramos. The good news is that Ramos has been declared fit for this match. Unfortunately, though, now Rabiot, Moreira, and Gila have all been added to the injury list. That means he will be missing seven players, several of them starters. Our squad is like an army of zombies, not a team of elite athletes.
To combat the missing athletes, Amorim is stealing calling up five Milan Futuro players: Luca Menon, Perera, Silvano Vos, Ossola, and Malick Cissè. Which will be great for them if they get minutes, but awful for Milan Futuro, who are playing Club Milano earlier and could jump into second place if they take all three points from their two games in hand and keep winning. This is literally more than half of Navarro's starting lineup. It would be a shame to throw away Milan Futuro's chance for promotion because the first team had a few injuries.
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| Amorim calling up two captains for the price of one. |
As for the lineups, the system and tactics that Amorim will use, I refuse to even try to guess. He seems to pride himself on surprising people. Not like a good surprise, like "Surprise! We're going to the San Siro to watch Milan!" More like a jumpscare, something more appropriate for this Halloween week. But there are those who have speculated on who he might line up.
Maignan could potentially face a 100% hostile stadium. Not only will he have to face the not-racists racist Udinese fans again, but Milan fans have been racially abusing him online after the red card on Thursday. Well, actually, the Curva Sud won't be there, and the Club supports that. So, Mike will not have fans to support him, either.
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| Dear Udinese, can we just have a match without cursing Mike for once, please? |
His response to the red card was to deny all intent to harm, to clarify his character, and point out that many, including the media, are known to criticize. This statement was not enough for many fans, who apparently wanted him to prostrate himself on the ground and apologize until his head exploded, then beg for forgiveness or something. At a time when he needs our support the most, we don't have time for petty grievances. So who knows what mindset he will have? The past two years, even with the support of his own fans, this has been a cursed fixture for him.
The very idea of traveling fo the Stadio Friuli at this point after they barely touched down from their trip to England is already like some kind of horror movie. When you add the subtext of last year's concussion and the racial abuse against Maignan from both the Udinese and now the Milan fans, as well as the seven injured Milan players, it becomes a terrifying visceral experience. Our very own zombie apocalypse.
Milan Futuro vs. Club Milano
Sunday, October 25 • 14:30 CEST (9:30am EDT)*
Sunday, October 25 • 20:45 CET (3:45 EDT)*
Pavonese vs. Milan Futuro
Wednesday, October 28 • 17:30 CET (12:30pm EDT)*
Wednesday, October 28 • 18:30 CET (1:30pm EDT)*
Reviewed by Elaine
on
Rating:
