In Athens We’ll Make It Six!

Well we’re almost there. This Wednesday evening, the eyes, prayers and dreams of every single Liverpool fan across the world, will be well and truly focused on Athens, as we kick off against AC Milan in the Champions League final. I just can’t wait for things to get started, even typing that last line has sent a shiver up my spine, I think if I get any more excited I might very well explode!

The reason for my extra excitement on this occasion is that I firmly believe that come the final whistle on Wednesday, we will all be celebrating Number 6! This isn’t an easy blog to write because my mind is racing in many different directions at the moment, so apologies if I ramble a bit more then usual, but I will attempt to lay out the reasons why I am so full of confidence about our chances on Wednesday, as logically as I can.

Let’s start with our opponents, and while I have a lot of respect for AC Milan, some of the noises coming out of their camp over the past couple of weeks have done nothing but provide me with an extra bit of confidence. It seems that many of their players such as Cafu, Kaka and most particularly Ricky Tomlinson’s stunt double Gattuso, have been full of talk about revenge for their Istanbul defeat.

Apparently they are pissed off about the fact that we had the cheek to refuse to lay down and die when we were 3-0 down in that game, but that’s fine because if those thoughts are still eating away inside their minds, it can only be good news for us. Besides, we had all this ridiculous revenge talk from CSKA London before our semi final, but it didn’t do them any good and I don’t expect it will do Milan any good either.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank their manager Carlos Talksalotti. I thought it was a great sporting gesture on his part, to help Rafa with his pre-match talk to the players by stating in a recent interview that Liverpool were the worst team of the four semi finalists and nothing but a long ball team etc. Cheers Carlos, I’m sure Rafa will have a copy of that interview pinned to our dressing room wall as an extra little motivational tool for the lads.

I also think we should be thankful to manc boss Alex Fungusface. Not only has he also provided our lads with a nice little piece of motivation by stating that he is “absolutely certain” Milan will beat us in the final, but his ridiculous tactics in the second leg of their semi at the San Siro, has provided Rafa with a nice little training video of exactly what not to do. If we give the Milan players time and space, and our midfield stands back and admires the likes of Kaka and co, instead of actually tackling them, then there is a real danger that we will be demolished and embarrassed in much the same way as the mancs were. So thanks for the reminder Alex, you fucking idiot!

AC Milan are many peoples favourites to win on Wednesday, which of course suits us, but I think their favourites tag is based largely on their performance against the mancs. However, I think the stupid tactics employed by the mancs contributed to their own defeat and has fooled some people into thinking Milan are a better side then they actually are. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are a very good side but when I look through their team I see plenty of reasons for us to feel optimistic about our chances.

I’ve watched them a few times this season and I think they are very vulnerable at the back. Their keeper Dida is extremely dodgy and their back four doesn’t seem to be as organised as it once was. I think Nesta is a brilliant player and one of the best defenders in Europe but other then him they seem to struggle. Maldini and Cafu were both World Class players in their day but these days they seem to have slowed down a lot and as for Oddo, I think his best performances were on Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. If we can get a decent supply into our forwards I think we will cause this defence a lot of problems.

In the 2005 final they had a formidable strike force of Crespo and Shevchenko (in the days before he was destroyed by Jose Moaninho). These days they play with just one upfront and on Wednesday it will either be Gillardino or Inzaghi and to be honest I don’t think much of either. Gillardino is really nothing more then a workhorse and while Inzaghi was a great striker in his day, that day seems to have long since passed.

However, if ever that old cliché about the game being won and lost in midfield were true, its certainly true of this game because that is the area where Milan are extremely formidable. Pirlo, Ambrosini and Seedorf are all very good players, Gattuso is one of the best battlers in the game, but the crème de la crème of their midfield is most definitely Kaka.

There’s no doubt he is a wonderful player and as far as I’m concerned, the best footballer in the world at the moment. He is the key player for Milan and I’m sure he will be central to Rafa’s thinking ahead of the game, because if we can stop Kaka we will effectively nullify the majority of their threat. However, the good news is that we’ve been there before. In 2005 he tore us apart time and again in the first half but once Didi Hamann came on in the second half, Kaka totally disappeared from the game. No doubt Rafa is very aware of this and I’d expect Mascherano in particular will be asked tofill the Hamann role this time.

So what eleven will Rafa put out to get the job done? Well your never quite sure what his tactical plan will be but as I’ve already made my case for Harry Kewell in an earlier blog, I think our starting line-up will have the usual suspects across the back, Gerrard on the right of midfield with Alonso and Mash in the middle and the Wizard of Oz on the left, and Kuyt playing upfront alongside Crouch. The other options to this is that he might play Riise on the left of midfield with Arbeloa behind him and he might decide to go for pace upfront and play Bellamy instead of Crouch.

With those one or two exceptions I think that would essentially be our line up. Alonso and especially Mascherano will be given the job of keeping Kaka quiet with Gerrard and Kewell/Riise tasked with keeping the Milan full backs out of the game. However, with so much of Milan’s strength in their midfield, I think there’s also a chance that Rafa might decide to counter this by playing three central midfielders and perhaps using Finnan and Riise as wing backs.

There are also at least another couple of variations to our line-up that I can come up with, off the top of my head but the point I’m making is that we have plenty of options. AC Milan, as good as they are, essentially always play pretty much the same way and although they are good at it, its predictable. Our side is a lot more versatile and Milan will be left guessing about our line-up up until the last possible minute and this will give Rafa a big tactical advantage ahead of the game.

These are some reasons why we should feel good about our chances but the real reason for my confidence comes down to this. AC Milan are a very good side but other then midfield, they are not nearly as strong as the side we beat in 2005, whereas our side is far stronger now, then it was then.

I also believe we would be the most deserving winners of the competition. Afterall we topped our qualifying group, beat the holders Barcelona in the last 16 and we also beat the favourites CSKA London in the semi’s, and I think both of those sides are better then Milan.

Before the final in 2005 I was desperately hoping we would win, this time I know we can. Of course, being Liverpool I don’t expect we’ll do things the easy way and no doubt we’ll be given a few frights along the way but I firmly believe we will win on Wednesday. My money’s on a 2-1 scoreline to The Reds and “old big ears” returning to Anfield for a sixth time!

SO C’MON YOU REDS, HISTORY AND NUMBER 6 AWAITS!!

From
http://www.kopblog.com/

Final Score: We lost 2-1. :(