Topic: Spyin Kop: European Cup final preview

[Armin]

Welcome once again to the Spyin Kop match preview.  For the European Cup Final we have asked our new forum member and AC Milan fan Vlad to give us an insight into our opponents.  No time to waste as I'm off to Istanbul!  So on with the questions:


How did you come to support AC Milan?

Yeah, my name is Vlad Boldan and I'm from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In 1989 Milan trashed Steaua Bucharest 4-0, and they gained my respect and admiration for doing that, as I couldn't stand Steaua. I was 7 years old at that time, and I remember getting a good beating from some family-friends of my age cause they supported Steaua and I cheered for Milan the whole game. Being so young I was easily seduced by the power of Milan and their players quickly became my idols: Maldini, Van Basten, Gullit. I knew I would be a Milan fan for life in 1994 when Savicevic scored the most beatiful goal ever against Barcelona in the UCL final, which we won 4-0. I've been following Milan's games from that point on. My greatest luck was that we had
Mr.Berlusconi's channels "MediaSet" on cable when I was in Junior-high so I got to see a lot of Milan's games. Boban was my favorite player in that period. In high-school it was much easier with the developement of romanian Tv channels as they started to transmit matches from Serie A and UCL. Today, I am a fanatic, spending a lot of time on Milan related websites and forums!


AC Milan made their way to the final with much emphasis on their superb defence, Liverpool have also been impressive defensively.  Do you expect Milan to play a typical Italian defensive game in the final or will they be more forward thinking?

I expect us to play cautiosly, but I hope the usual play of Milan will be practiced, one in which we dominate the midfield and keep the ball in our possesion. The match will start at 0-0 so there's nothing to defend, so we will play offensively till we score. Then, after scoring I'm sure we'll defend the score in a typical Italian defensive game. If you score first then we'll surely be all over you. Don't expect to see the same game as when we lost at PSV because we started the match
defending trying to score on the counter.

Liverpool and AC Milan have never met in Europe, despite being two of the most successful sides in the history of the competition.  What view do the Milanese have of Liverpool and how did you feel when you heard that we had knocked out Chelsea?

I cannot speak for all Milan fans as I am not their representative. I'm just a simple fan, with my own thoughts. IMO Liverpool have gained much by signing Rafael Benitez, as I didn't really see any chance of having success with Houlier in charge. Now, Liverpool are a top team. It felt really good for me when you eliminated Chelsea, cause I really can't stand arrogant Mourinho. I didn't really like the fact that he said he'll win for sure 4 trophies this season, as if all other teams in Europe and England are garbage compared to his. I do not like his attitute in press conferences prior to matches and after them. So I was really happy when you knocked Chelsea out!

How has your season been?

It's been satisfying until now, except for some performances against lesser teams, which we underestimated. I feel we deserve to win Serie A this season.

Who do you think is your most important player(s)?

I think the spine of our team is the most important: Dida-Nesta-Kaka-Sheva. They are probably our most valuable players, and they confirm it whenever the opportunity.

Your worst player(s)?

The ones that don't get to play very often like: Abbiati, Rui Costa, Brocchi and Simic. From the ones that get to play often I'd say Kaladze and Tomasson haven't been constant in their performances.

Any young up and coming players in the Milan squad that we might not know about (we've heard of Shevchenko and Maldini)?

Not really.

What sort of line-up do you expect to see from Milan for the final?

4-3-1-2. Here it goes:                                           Dida
                                                           Cafu - Nesta - Stam - Maldini

                                                               Gattuso - Pirlo - Seedorf

                                                                             Kaka

                                                                     Crespo - Sheva

Do you have a favourite/best chant(s) and perhaps any that require an explanation?

Personally, I like the official anthem, and also "’Siam venuti fin qua per vedere segnare Kaka".

Which Liverpool player(s) will you fear the most?

Gerrard of course, and Luis Garcia. I think they can make a difference. Milan Baros is a good striker but I don't see him doing much without some creativity from the first two players I mentioned.

Care to predict the score?  Go on!

Milan - Liverpool 1-0 (Sheva the scorer). Smiley


Thanks to Vlad for helping us with this article.  My apologies as I'd hoped to include several Milan websites in this, but alas I didn't    Maybe next year?  Anyway thanks for reading the previews this year, hopefully next season we can add a question about what it'll be like to be playing the European Champions ...

© Armin 2005

[Red-juvenated]

So it looks like their plan would be to attck from the start, get a goal, and defend like a good Italian boy. If that happens, they will exploit us with quick counter attacks (Hoof's more like).

I also think the game will be cautious from bith sides, and not 'open' as we would prefer it. It will be good if AC try to attack, 'cos I think we'll be too, and that should open the game up a bit (suits us better I think)

[PaulF]

As always a superb read.
That predicted starting line up of theirs really is fantasy football stuff though 

[HIRA]

For me, I feel if the game is open, we are the ones who will suffer. Because I feel Milan have the better finishers. I feel if we get a goal again, it will be through a little luck, or a spectacular goal, as is often the case for us this season.

But that's just my view.

[Bergio]

I expect Liverpool to come out and play as they did against Juventus.

A high tempo game is the only way to try and find holes in the Milan defence.

If we do score early we mustn't fall into the trap of all out defence which left us unstuck in the Carling cup final.

Cisse will score first!!! 

[afc tukrish]

The Return of the Spyin' Kop...

class, Armin.

nice to see that Romanians and Milan supporters also think that Mourinho is an arrogant little shit.

and as to Milan's line-up being fantasy football stuff, that's true, but then Liverpool playing in this season's Champions League Final is a fantasy in itself.

[r3dman]

I just wanna congratulate all you Liverpool fans for your victory last night and to say that it was really a pleasure to talk to you on this forum. You are the champions!

P.S.: I hope you do get to play next year in the UCL, so we can get our rematch.