Who will Silva pass the baton on to if he moves?

The words AC Milan almost never fail to make the sentence that contains ‘World’s Best Football Clubs’. The Italian powerhouse has been one of the most successful clubs in Association Football and boasts of some of the greatest players and teams overs the years. San Siro has always been the home to great champions and over the years everyone would have been accustomed to seeing top-class defenders in the Red & Black of Milan.

Nereo Rocco’s success was largely due to the manager’s use of the Catenaccio system, while Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan boasted of perhaps the greatest back 4 ever. Even Carlo Ancelloti enjoyed much success thanks to a reliable defence that had the likes of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta.

In the last 15 years, when many of these defending stalwarts left the club there was always a gaping hole to fill, a very high benchmark to live upto, but there has always been someone to pass the baton onto. Someone whom the fans have grown to trust over the years but it’s turning out to be a little different this year.

Franco Baresi to Paolo Maldini and Billy Costacurta

One of the first names that spring to mind when talking about the Rossoneri or defending is Franco Baresi. The legendary captain was and is widely renowned as the best defender of this era. Always seeming to know what unfurls on the pitch well in advance.

The defensive quartet of Mauro Tassotti, Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini is often regarded as the best in history and to no surprise. The Italian foursome had a fearsome reputation of bottling down anything an attack could throw at them and with them at the back Milan represented, arguably the finest exponents of football. The team were unbeaten for a record 58 games and much of the credit went to Baresi to skippering the team to such unprecedented success.

Baresi passed it to Maldini fifteen years ago!

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However, with his retirement came Milan’s downfall, albeit brief. Baresi’s retirement in 1997 was followed a barren run, perhaps their worst since Silvio Berlusconi took over the club. Milan could only collect 1 trophy in the 5 years following Baresi’s retirement and Milan were left fervently looking for a top class defender to put to an end their woes. The answer came 5 years later, through SS Lazio’s Alessandro Nesta.

Paolo Maldini to Alessandro Nesta

The Maldini name is, of course, synonymous with the red & black of AC Milan. Paolo Maldini has been Milan’s greatest hero for as long as one can remember. The former skipper holds the record for the most number of games in a Milan shirt and spent a massive 25 seasons with the Rossoneri before finally hanging up his boots, playing in over 900 games for the Milan club.

Maldini, fondly known as ‘Il Capitano’, may have been an entirely different player when compared to Baresi but certainly was equally effective and soon with age started to reflect many of his mentor’s traits – failing to panic and reading the game well in advance.

Maldini and Nesta together in defence is probably the most common sight a modern Milan fan would have seen over the past decade or so. The duo carved a niche for themselves as one of the finest defensive pairings in the world and subsequently trophies followed. When Nesta came to Milan, he was already a great defender, having proven his worth at Lazio and in the Serie A, but under the tutelage of Maldini he blossomed into a more complete product. When Maldini’s time came, Milan fans were able to breathe easy knowing there was a certain ‘Sandro Nesta’ who they can easily bank upon.

Alessandro Nesta to Thiago Silva

Nesta’s arrival at Milan also heralded good times for the club. One, the defender was the closest a player came to Franco Baresi, brilliant at the back, unflustered in defence and comfortable on the ball. Two, Milan returned to familiar territory, consistently competing for and winning top honours in premier competitions. Milan made 3 Champions League finals in the next 5 years, winning 2 of them. Won 2 Club World Cups and 2 Serie A titles with Nesta at the back.

Nesta was like the cornucopia of top defensive talent at the back and Milanista around the world could rest assured knowing Milan’s defence was in safe hands once again. The former Lazio man, may not have always had the greatest of partners – varying from the likes of Daniele Bonera to Billy Costacurta, from Paolo Maldini to Kakhaber Kaladze, from Thiago Silva to Djamel Mesbah but nothing stopped the Italian from making the defence seem twice as good as it was. Graceful as ever, Nesta never looked a terrifying defender but more than made up for it with his astounding defending. But Nesta’s defending became more effective thanks to the emergence of a certain Thiago Silva.

It's over to you now!

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As Nesta’s influence on the field dwindled (not by much, mind you) with age another of Milan’s defensive prospects started to shine. Thiago Silva’s ascendency to the list of world-class defenders was quite sudden. Yes, the Brazilian came with huge promise, but even the astute Adriano Galliani could not have predicted that Silva would have been ready to take over from the legendary Nesta in just a couple of years’ time.

Even with the Italian World Cup winner missing out many games due to injury, Silva stood like a rock at the heart of Milan’s defence keeping the best of attacks at bay with calmness that belied his age and experience. In his very first season, Silva proved his worth for the Italian club playing in 33 league games and helping give Champions Internazionale a run for the money before fading away towards the end.

Silva proved that he was no one season wonder as Milan went two better in the next season and clinched their first Serie A in seven years. The Brazilian was part of a stellar defensive unit that gave away only 24 goals in the league. Napoli had the second best defence but had conceded 15 more than Milan did. Such was Silva’s influence on the team; he had turned around the fortunes of a team that had many players on its last legs.

Credit, of course, would go to Silva for proving himself, but with such reputation also comes interest from the big boys. Silva has not taken long to establish himself as a crowd favourite and that is precisely the reason the Milan contingent went apprehensive the moment there were rumours of PSG closing in on signing the defender away from Milan in what could have set a record for a transfer. Of course, the money involved was far too lucrative to deny the prospects of the deal outrightly but speculations suggested the cash might not be immediately invested on buying world class replacements for Silva.

However, with the latest development in the red half of the city, it has been all but confirmed Milan are not selling their prized asset and that has finally allowed the fans to take a sigh of relief after a week that produced all sorts of rumors that disturbed their general levels of comfort. Not giving into an offer as profitable as this one makes a definite statement of intent and asserts that Milan are intending to compete at the highest level and add to the club’s glorious history.

With the clubs legend having collectively called it a day at the club at the end of the previous season, there are too many boots to be field. The one at the heart of the defence however is a position that has historically been graced by the game’s greats at Milan. The baton from Nesta has now been passed to Silva and it remains to be seen whether the Brazilian continues to build on the legacy. For what he goes on to achieve with the club is unforeseeable at this moment but the fact that a player of his caliber is preserved against all odds is definitely a reason to uplift the morale of the dressing room.

You ought to know more about: Il Caffè Herrera

Herrera's Coffee, in English.

Helenio Herrera(H.H) is renowned for many, many things – For leading Internazionale to consecutive European Cup glory in 1964 and 65, for making 'catenaccio' a part of every football aficionado’s vocabulary, for imposing totalitarian methods on players' lives and introducing an ultra-strict regime for improving fitness and psychology, for turning Inter into 'La Grande Inter'. But there's is a little extra to Herrera than what made him a top-class manager, who changed the way everyone looked at a coach.

His Coffee. Yes. Coffee.

The Argentine born coach was known for pushing his players to the limit, so much so that some players were pushed to train till death, but would he do anything for a win? He apparently did. Herrera was known to give his players a pill(anphetamines) that apparently worked as a performance enhancer.

Anphetamine according to Wikipedia is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class that produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite which answers why Herrera was apparently so keen on his players consuming it.

What started as a pill soon turned into a solute because the players used to spit out the drug when the manager was not looking. Once Herrera figured out that his pills were, literally, going down the drain he came up with another formula, one which was fool proof – Coffee with the pill dissolved in it.

Ferruccio Mazzola brother of the legendary Sandro Mazzola, who was synonymous with La Grande Inter, wrote a book in 2004 highlighting Herrera's use of performance enhancing drugs. The former Inter man also said in an interview the same year that Herrera had his players place pills under their tongue. He went on to add that the pills were first tried on the reserves and then the main players.

Ferruccio believed there was Anphetamine inside those pills and once even suffered '3 days and nights in a state of complete hallucinations, just like an epileptic' after consuming Herrera's coffee. Even though his brother Sandro has denied the allegations, Ferruccio has always struck to his claims saying his brother preferred to not wash dirty linen in public while he liked to speak out especially for the number of players who have died or are suffering due to Herrera's coffee. Some of Ferrucio's claims seem to be true considering that Anphetamine can trigger side effects like hallucinations.

According to Ferruccio, Armando Picchi (who died aged 36 due to a cancer), Marcello Giusti (who died of brain cancer in the 90's), Carlo Tagnin (who died in 2000), Mauro Bicicli and Ferdinando Miniussi (who died in 2001 and 2002 respectively) and Enea Masiero and Pino Longoni (who are undergoing treatment) all suffered due to the continued consumption of the drug. We might never know if the drug was the real cause of the death.

Picchi and Tagnin never featured regularly in Herrera's first team plans but Ferruccio believed that was what made them more vulnerable. The younger Mazzola said that reserve team players were often used as Guinea pigs, with the coffee being tested on them before being given to the regulars. H.H, allegedly, had also tried to entice his players at Barcelona to take the pills but was kicked out of the club after László Kubala, their star player, refused to take them.

il Mago (the Wizard) as Hererra was called won a total of 7 trophies with the Nerrazuri, including back-to-back European Cups... but it still leaves one wondering how many of these would have been possible without the infamous drink. The entire Ferruccio interview could also be looked upon as a selling point for his autobiography that was released the same year or as a way to get back to the club that gave him nothing but his brother, god-like status. But then again, when Inter sued Ferriccio for trying to defame his old club the former Inter man won the the legal case in 2010, adding more authenticity to his claims. Ferruccio himself says it was not his intention to seek publicity for his book by bringing up details of Hererro's coffee as he could have chosen more interesting and controversial topics like match-fixing and bribing the referees, opening a new can of worms.

H.H was one of the greatest managers the game has ever seen and if it wasn't for him the likes of Jose Mourinho would have been viewed and judged from a completely different angle. He made the Nerazzuri one of the greatest teams of that era and deserves all the kudos for the same. If he did it by working them to death(Giuliano Taccola) or by drugging them may never be known, but Il Caffè Herrera is a part of footballing folklore that will live on for ever – fact or fiction.

This article is not to project Herrera in bad light, that is for you to decide. It is also not a piece that aims to take away anything from the legendary manager. If Herrera had the access to and could get away with giving his team Anphetamine, so could every other club or country in top flight football.

Il Caffè Herrera, it is just a little something everyone ought to know.

If you are not tired of reading yet, here is the full Ferruccio Mazzola interview:

Q: What are you referring to Mr Mazzola?
Ferruccio Mazzola: Even if just a bench player, I was part of that Inter too. I've seen with my eyes how player were treated. I saw Helenio Herrera providing pills that were to be placed under our tongues. He used to experiment on us bench players only to later give them to the first team players. Some of us would eventually spit them. It was my brother Sandro that suggested me that if I had no intention of taking them, to just run to the toilette and spit them. Eventually Herrera found out and decided to dilute them in coffee. From that day on "Il Caffè Herrera" became a habit at Inter.

Q: What was inside those pills:
A: Don't know for sure but I believe anphetamins. Once, after a Caffè Herrera, it was prior to a Como vs Inter (1967), I suffered 3 days and nights in a state of complete allucinations, just like an epilletic. Nowdays, everybody denies, even Sandro......

Q: Your brother?
A: Yes Sandro and I, since I decided to speak out, simply don't talk to eachother. He says that dirty laudry should be washed at home, on the contrarary, I believe that it's right to speak out, above all for a number of my former teamates, a number of which are either very sick or dead.

Q: To whom are you referring too:
A: The first was Armando Picchi, captain of the team, that died aged 36 due to a cancer. Then came Marcello Giusti, a reserve player, that died for a brain cancer during the 90's. Carlo Tagnin, a great player that would never refuse a pill, since he wanted to further his career as long as possible, he died in year 2000.
Mauro Bicicli and Ferdinando Miniussi have left us respectively in 2001 and 2002. Enea Masiero, with Inter from 1955 to 1964, is undertaking chemotherapy, whilst Pino Longoni is on a wheel chair.

Q: But for Picchi and Tagnin, all the other players are not that famous.
A: That's cause us bench players would take more of those damned white pills, were treated as cavies. I talked about all this in my autobiography ('Il terzo incomodo', scritto con Fabrizio Càlzia, Bradipolibri 2004), that eventually lead to the opening of athe Rome trail.

Q: Why?
A: Cause after the book was published, I was sued by Inter President Mr Facchetti. They want to go in front of a jury? Very well, the 19th of November, their will be a 2nd hearing. All the players of that team, I mean all the players that are still alive, have a choice to testify. I just want to see if they won't have the courage to say the truth under oath.

Q: Weren't you once friends with Facchetti?
A: Yes, let's just leave Facchetti out of this, I'd have to mention heavy stuff.

Q: Do you think that after the trial we will have another kind of image upon that winning Inter?
A: Frankly, I don't know and I'm not interested. If I wanted to cause real damage to Inter, within the book, I could have added a number of other episodes. I could have added details about fixed matches and bribed referees, especially in Cup ties. Never mind

Alessandro Del Piero – Legends deserve better

'When the legends die, the dreams end; there is no more greatness.'

I had long heard people waxing lyrical about the greatness of Alessandro Del Piero, but hadn't had to chance to see him play till in 2002. The first time I saw Del Piero was in a World Cup book my cousin gifted me, there was a complete 3 page interview where he had spoken about football, life, fans etc. - He was already one of my favourites and the admiration only grew as I started watching him play – for Juventus, mainly.

For me, and many many more, Juventus = Alessandro Del Piero. Yes, there was Pavel Nedved and even Zinedine Zidane, but neither was as much a talisman for Juventus as Il Pinturicchio was. It was one of the reasons I admired Italian football that much, the way the legends were treated – Francesco Totti, Paolo Maldini, etc.

Hence, the way Juventus president Andrea Agnelli announced recently that this season will be Del Piero's last with the Old Lady came as a huge shock. This is not some player who has spent a season or two at Turin for the matter to be done away with – This was Alessandro Del Piero. The guy who stayed on to help Juventus haul themselves back into top flight football after they were relegated to Serie B thanks to the Calciopoli scandal. The guy who has scored close to 300 goals and has represented Juve in close to 700 games. The guy the tifosi have been calling their own for over 18 years now. Their all time top goal-scorer.

The decision to not retain the striker may be a logical one, they have a host of younger strikers to count on but the manner in which the announcement was made was surely not worthy of a top tier club. Agnelli made the announcement at a shareholders' meeting saying, “The unique link between the old Juventus and the new Juve is our captain, Alessandro Del Piero. The link between the Stadio Comunale, Stadio delle Alpi to Stadio Olimpico to the Juventus Stadium is our captain Del Piero. He wanted to stay with us for one more year, (but) this will be his last season wearing the black and white jersey.” That's it. Everything was over... as abruptly as the announcement.

Juventus' all time leading scorer's abilities may be on the wane, and keeping him on for another year maybe a liability for the title contenders. But a press conference with the player himself and the club president announcing the decision would seem right in many fans' eyes. Instead of a collective gasp when the statement was you'd have had fans writing tributes and recollecting the glory days.

The only justification that I can think of is if the 36 year old had had a falling out with Agnelli or if he personally requested the President to make such a statement. But there have been no indications of either which begs the question: What did Del Piero do to deserve such treatment? Raul had such a memorable sending off, so did Maldini and Billy Costacurta and a host of others, why Del Piero did not, we may never know. Maybe there is something in the pipeline and Juventus will do something about one of their best ever players leaving the club and ensures he has happy memories about it.

Well, maybe we will see goals from 'The Del Piero zone' at other clubs next year, but not seeing Il Pinturicchio in Black & White will take a little getting used to.

'If I'm such a legend, then why am I so lonely? Let me tell you, legends are all very well if you've got somebody around who loves you.'

Alexander Merkel: The Next Schweinsteiger?

Milan youngster Alexander Merkel is all set to become one of the tiny few German players to have had a successful stint in Italy. Jurgen Klinsmann and Oliver Biehoff, legends in their own right, were the stand out German players to have played in Italy.

The 18 year old showed tremendous promise and potential in his few outings with AC Milan which would probably have Germany boss Joachim Low take a second look at the budding midfielder.

Merkel is being touted as the next Bastian Schweinsteiger, and going by his performances for the current Serie A leaders one can see why these comparisons have been raised .

That the youngster gives the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso, et al a run for their money in a side no less in success and pedigree as Rajinikanth is in movies speaks volumes of his can-do.

After his performances lately, the Italian press have been quick to label him a 'baby genius'. To be waiting on the benches and press for a permanent spot in a team like AC Milan, which prefers experience to youthful exuberance on most days, puts him along the likes of Kaka, Pato etc.. The duo are few of the very few who got a chance to play for Milan in their early 20 or even teens, recently atleast.

No he was not bought for a handsomne sum from another club and thrusted into the main team.. he made his way up rung by rung.. from the youth squad to now along the sidelines waiting to pounce once any golden oldies can't run anymore.

Milan's youth director Filippo Galli showers praise on the midfielder.
"Alex is very good technically, and his speed and endurance are very good," Galli told the Internet sports portal Spox. "He needs to improve a bit in making the right decisions on the pitch when he has the ball."

"His fundamentals are good, he passes well, and he's got a good sense for positional play," Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters after trying out the youngster in a series of test matches.

Playing with international superstars should keep Merkel in good stead for the future, and the youngster is quick to acknowledge that.
"Milan is one of the top clubs in the world, a team that has won all the titles there are and has a great tradition," Merkel said in an interview with the German Football League, the DFB. "Silvio Berlusconi comes to the grounds every once in a while, so you see him sometimes."

Being named in Goal.com's 10 Promising youngsters with the likes of Mesut Oezil and Sami Khedira is no mean feat, but for 'baby genius' life in the super league is just starting and Milan look to have sealed the services of a fantastic youngster.

Ajax's Urby Emanuelson moves to Milan

AC Milan have at long last got a left sided player in Ajax's Urby Emanuelson. The Serie A club have dwelved into the market looking for a left back/midfielder and had been interested in Cagliari's Andrea Lazzari, Genoa's Domenico Criscito and Sampdoria's Reto Zeigler among others.

Emanuelson was in the last year of his contract at Ajax and Milan decided to move in and capture the 24 year old, who has had 7 seasons with the first team. This is Milan's second signing after they got Antonia Cassano early on.

Emanuelson is understood to have signed a contract with the San Siro club until June 30, 2014.

Milan's defense line was a little frail with no back up to the likes of the injured Gianluca Zambrotta and the out of form Luca Antonini.

The financial deatils are yet to be revealed by the Rossoneri. "AC Milan announce the purchase from Ajax of Urby Emanuelson, who has signed a contract until June 30, 2014," a club statement said.

Emanuelson was due to move in June in a Bosman transfer but a deal was struck by AC Milan for his immediate capture. Emanuelson has won 11 Dutch caps.

Results: For Saturday, Jan 22, 2011

English Premier League:
Wolverhampton 0-3 Liverpool
Arsenal 3-0 Wigan Athletic
Blackpool 1-2 Sunderland
Everton 2-2 West Ham United
Fulham 2-0 Stoke City
Manchester United 5-0 Birmingham
Newcastle 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City

Ligue 1:
Lens 2-0 Caen

French Cup:
Clermont Foot 1-3 Stade Reims
Angers SCO 1-0 Bordeaux
Strasbourg 1-0 Evian Thonon Gaillard

German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich 5-1 FC Kaiserslautern
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 VfB Stuttgart
Hannover 96 0-1 Schalke 04
Mainz 0-1 Wolfsburg
SC Freiburg 1-1 Nurnberg
Koln 3-0 Werder Bremen

Serie A:
Palermo 1-0 Brescia
Parma 2-0 Catania
AS Roma 3-0 Cagliari

Portugal Primera Liga:
Olhanense SC 2-1 Academica Coimbra
Pacos Ferreira 1-1 Uniao Leiria
Rio Ave 2-3 Vitoria Guimaraes
Sporting Braga 2-2 Vitoria FC Setubal
Beira Mar 0-1 FC Porto
Associacao Naval 1-1 Portimonense
SL Benfica 4-2 CD Nacional

Scottish Premier League:
Hearts 1-0 Glasgow Rangers
Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen
Inverness C.T. 1-1 Hamilton FC
Kilmarnock 1-1 Dundee United
Motherwell FC 2-0 Hibernian FC
St. Johnstone 0-0 St. Mirren

Spanish Primera Division:
Sevilla 4-1 Levante
Barcelona 3-0 Racing de Santander
Valencia 4-3 Malaga



Click on the score to view highlights...

Results: For Wednesday Jan 19, 2011

The FA Cup:
Leeds 1-3 Arsenal

Ligue 1:
Lille 3-0 Nancy

Dutch Football League:
Ajax 2-0 Feyenoord
AZ Alkmaar 2-2 NEC
FC Twente 5-0 Heracles
VVV Venlo 1-2 FC Utrecht

Serie A:
Inter Milan 3-2 Cesena

Copa Del Ray:
Real Betis 3-1 FC Barcelona
Deportivo La Coruna 2-3 Almeria


Italian Cup:
AS Roma 2-1 Lazio Roma
Sampdoria Genoa 7-6 Udinese Calcio (on penalties)

P.S- some links to the highlights may not work/not yet available for free over the Internet... apologies.

Milan vs Bari: Vishaal's throw-in

Throw in

Milan will be looking to the Coppa Italia match with a lot of anticipation, especially after having 2 back to back Serie A games against Udinese and Lecce. Bari have their eyes firmly strained on survival in the Serie A, and Milan will see this an the ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways.

As Max Allegri already confirmed, the match will be the first start of Italy enfant terrible - Antonio Cassano - for A C Milan. And Fantonio will want to prove with his first start why he is so highly rated with a performance to savour. Milan will also take the opportunity to give some much needed rest to veteran, Alesandro Nesta which could mean either Bonera or Yepes or both could be seen in defence.

Clarence Seedorf has had a torrid last few weeks, and the writing seems to be on the wall as far as the Flying Dutchman is concerned, with many fans dubbing him the Dying Dutchman after his less than impressive performance the past few weeks.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic who re-wrote his desire to win everything with Milan with a stunning goal last weekend looks likely to partner Cassano, while Pato could also use the chance to get back to goal scoring form.



For Bari, the Italian Cup progress would feature way down in their scheme of things. With things looking bleak at the wrong end of the table in Serie A, needing 4 points to get off the drop zone Bari would be hoping to not lose embarrassingly at the San Siro.

Prediction: Milan to win by 2 goals or more.

- Vishaal Loganathan