AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[San Paolo]

and if we had the balls to do it snapping up Cassano would be an amazing move as then we have 3 to play in the one place, he could provide the creativity we need.

[vtec]

[vtec]

[vtec]

[vtec]

if things hold up, the teams that we may be drawn against for the first round are:
tottenham, lyon, manutd, barcelona, bayern, chelsea, and shaktar donetsk.

really, only chelsea and barcelona spell certain death; the others, we can handle on our day.

in order of preference, i think i would choose
tottenham, shaktar, lyon, bayern, manutd.

anyway, a clearer picture will probably emerge tonight.

[vtec]

[vtec]

also, as things stand right now, roma would face the same list but slightly more difficult, with real madrid replacing bayern, whereas inter's opponents would be tougher still, as it would be madrid replacing tottenham. however, inter still have a solid chance of claiming top spot in their group, and i think roma have an outside chance for it as well.

say what you want about how great it would be to finally win the league, but the champions league is still, by far, the most interesting competition around.

[maro]

We can't finish top, 'tec - it's head-to-head first rather than goal difference so Bayern will finish ahead of us regardless of what happens in the last round of games. Say what you want about how you find the Champions League the most interesting competition around, but Serie A is clearly much more seriously, richly interesting. The Champions League is like a showy Champagne; Serie A is like an aged Bordeaux.

[vtec]

nope. neither has anything to do with wine. the level of competition in the champions league alone makes it captivating and the format is what really makes it better, although the league is certainly necessary. if you want a better analogy, the league is like a marathon whereas the champions league is the olympic 100m sprint. you may find the single marathon race more interesting, but i prefer the 100m sprint that begins with several heats, then pins the best of those heats against each other in successively more exclusive rounds until a single winner emerges.

[maro]

Nah. One is rich, subtle, complex. The other is flashy, showy, full of quick, superficial reward and excitement. I prefer the Barolo, you like your dessert wine. What more need be said?

[The MAN]

[vtec]

well, you like to oversimplify things; i prefer to consider things more intelligently instead of offering a complete lack of knowledge of champagne and dessert wine, even drawing upon the fantastic conclusion that someone who likes a dessert wine won't like the barolo, perhaps even more so.

there is nothing any more rich, subtle or complex about grinding out a 38-game league than there is about masterminding your team's trip to the final in may.

[maro]

And Hitler.

[p_maldini_3]

You just got pwned.

[vtec]

damn, i did, and i didn't even see that coming.

[p_maldini_3]

Thiago told skyitalia that it will suck when nest a leaves the team at the end of the season! WTF?

[The MAN]

Nesta's agent said that if Sandro leaves at end of season it will be due to retirement, so it's either Milan or retirement..he has several years left at the top level for sure IMO

All that said, I find the club's stance on this matter totally unjustifiable. He's running out of contract and he said already he wants to stay at Milan..what's the holdup other than Galliani's strange position of waiting till March..you can do that with role players but Nesta and Pirlo are key players and it's inexcusable really

[p_maldini_3]

Thiago Silva: 'Nesta leaving Milan'
Thiago Silva has caused controversy by claiming “it’s Alessandro Nesta’s last season with Milan.”

The defenders form a solid partnership at the back and Nesta seems to have recovered fully from his injury problems.

“It’s a shame, as in my view it’s Sandro’s last season with Milan,” the Brazilian told Sportitalia television.

“It would be a great shame to see him go at the end of the current campaign.”

There had been reports that Nesta was considering an end to his career where it began, back at Lazio.

He has been at San Siro since 2002 and will be 35 by the time the next season kicks off.
====================

35 is pretty old for a footballer. if we can get a first-class replacement for nesta, then there will be tears shed over his departure. but if he leaves us with no heir, we are so fucked.

[The MAN]

35 is old, yes, but for CBs take longer to age anyways..experience is vital for this position....keep in mind that Nesta probably missed a combined 2 seasons over the last 4 years or so, so he has alot less mileage than his age, you can argue take their toll which is also valid, so 2 angles to look at it...as of this moment, he remains the rock of our defence and until that is no longer the case, letting go of him is purely moronic from every possible angle...I just don't see Milan doing it, not when we keep players that should be let go long time ago Galliani was idiot enough to dish out some hefty extensions a few years ago that continue to haunt us.

Finding a replacement is something that should be done right now regardless of his situation, we have to get somebody while Nesta is around to groom him, that's proper way of doing it...all that said, I still have my doubts whether the quote by Silva is even valid...I've read the full interview (see below) and unless my sheer lack of sleep this week is getting in the way, I don't see any mention of Nesta in it...might well be a BS this whole thing


http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=39597

[vtec]

i would assume that the only reason there hasn't been any talk of the club extending nesta's contract is because he does want to retire. let's hope they can change his mind.