Jersey number 3 is sitting there, somewhere, at Milanello. It has been reserved to the Maldini family forever. Of the two sons, the oldest Christian has always taking his responsibility. He is a defender playing for Milan's youth team of boys born in 1996. Younger brother Daniel is playing as a striker with the 2001 squad. We have been aware of his talent for a while (Eli, I give you two years to practice), but it is too early to tell what it will lead to. The third Maldini is my cat. He showed potential early on, but he is a whining so much that I should rename him Totti.
So we're left with young Christian for now. I may be viewed as putting too much pressure on a 14-year old but we put our trust in the Maldinis like the yellow hat buddhists put their trust in Dhalai Lama. And his development is becoming slightly worrying.
Christian has been playing for successful Milan teams with very tight defenses since he was very young. It all looked very promising. But now Christian is at an age where he should soon be ready for the A squad, let alone the Primavera. He will have reached the age when his dad made his Serie A debut on 8 January 2013. The youth national team should come knocking at the door. They are, and they are asking for Cristian but Cristian without an h after the c. Who that?
I am still to figure out whether Cristian Galliani is a relative of Adriano, can anyone help me out? Is it the offspring of Uncle Fester that is really the next one?
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Orlando furioso
So Malmö FF has announced that coach Roland Nilsson will not extend his contract beyond the 2011 season. Both the club and Roland are very clear that he will not coach the club in 2012. That is all very well. But the question is what this announcement means in relation to the speculation that Roland will take over FC Copenhagen (FCK) already this summer?
The background is the following:
FCK's Norwegian coach Solbakken has agreed to take over the coaching of Norway's national team, either in January 2012 or after the Euro 2012, should Norway qualify.
FCK appears to be keen to find his replacement early on. The Danish season, unlike the Swedish one, goes autumn-spring. There is a long winter break but the Danes are now a club with serious Champions League ambitions. So they do not want to be forced to change horses (or jockeys, rather) at half time.
As replacement, Roland Nilsson has been earmarked by FCK. But if he is to take over already this summer, he needs to be bought out of his current contract and he would need to leave Malmö mid-season (there is no summer break this year) and just about when the club will enter into Champions League qualification.
The reason why I write about this here is out of fear. There is speculation that Malmö will go after Sixten Boström to replace Nilsson. For us to lose Boström mid-season is probably even worse than for Malmö to lose Nilsson (when Boström is thinking how Haddad should move in order for the Örebro midfield to win the ball back higher in the pitch, Nilsson is thinking of big boobs). But is my fear justified?
I hope not. I even think not. I believe the reason Malmö made the announcement is to secure a replacement early on. This replacement should ideally be available to start the handover early on, so that he can take over a going concern midseason, should Nilsson be bought out. That means Malmö has someone in mind that is more flexible than Boström. That person must reasonably be another bronze hero of 1994, namely Jonas Thern. I expect him to be contracted by Malmö in some non-head coach role within the next few days.
So, you can exhale now. Sixten will stay with us for the rest of the year. Then he may well leave, and is likely to bring assistant Mosander with him. We have all reasons in the world to start looking for replacements.
The background is the following:
FCK's Norwegian coach Solbakken has agreed to take over the coaching of Norway's national team, either in January 2012 or after the Euro 2012, should Norway qualify.
FCK appears to be keen to find his replacement early on. The Danish season, unlike the Swedish one, goes autumn-spring. There is a long winter break but the Danes are now a club with serious Champions League ambitions. So they do not want to be forced to change horses (or jockeys, rather) at half time.
As replacement, Roland Nilsson has been earmarked by FCK. But if he is to take over already this summer, he needs to be bought out of his current contract and he would need to leave Malmö mid-season (there is no summer break this year) and just about when the club will enter into Champions League qualification.
The reason why I write about this here is out of fear. There is speculation that Malmö will go after Sixten Boström to replace Nilsson. For us to lose Boström mid-season is probably even worse than for Malmö to lose Nilsson (when Boström is thinking how Haddad should move in order for the Örebro midfield to win the ball back higher in the pitch, Nilsson is thinking of big boobs). But is my fear justified?
I hope not. I even think not. I believe the reason Malmö made the announcement is to secure a replacement early on. This replacement should ideally be available to start the handover early on, so that he can take over a going concern midseason, should Nilsson be bought out. That means Malmö has someone in mind that is more flexible than Boström. That person must reasonably be another bronze hero of 1994, namely Jonas Thern. I expect him to be contracted by Malmö in some non-head coach role within the next few days.
So, you can exhale now. Sixten will stay with us for the rest of the year. Then he may well leave, and is likely to bring assistant Mosander with him. We have all reasons in the world to start looking for replacements.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
The most important derby ever
We say that quite often (but not as often as the Spaniards say that about El Clasico).
Quite often you can make a case for it. Either because one or both teams have had a bad season and see the derby as a season saver, or because something bigger is also at stake. This time it is no doubt the latter. Clearly lo scudetto will stay in Milan and the question whether it will be blue or red that accompagnies the black is very much depdendent on Saturday night's game. The title has not been fought out between the two since the 1992/93 season, when both derbys ended in draws and Milan won the title four points clear of Inter. That meant Milan levelled the total tally of scudetti to 13 each. If Milan win this season, they would level again to 18 each. So "ever" is really since 1993. Or the Champions League encounters in 2003 and 2005. Or the face-savers in 2001. Have your pick. It is a bloody important game.
I'm sure you can read in many places that this game always ends up with a draw. But it doesn't. Of the last 14 derbys, Milan have won 7, Inter 7. So likely there will be a winner and that winner will be the title favourite. If there is a draw, Milan will have the upper hand but given recent form, I would say Inter will be a slight favourite.
So what speaks for and against the two?
Milan have many reasons to be worry. Ibrahimovic is banned. Even though with his recent form that may not be a disadvantage, the reason why Milan are where they are is very much thanks to him. The midfield is still plagued by injuries, Pirlo may be back on the bench but will not start and Ambrosini is still out. Milan's sad set of fullbacks hae also had another setback with the injury of Jankulovski.
On the plus side, Milan have an in-form, solid pair of central defenders, Tiago Silva is the best player of the team for the moment and Nesta is back in match form. Those two in front of Abbiate is Milan's strength. Up front, Pato has been prolific and let's hope he stays that way even though he will hear a lot, I mean a lot, from the Inter supporters on his love affair with the president's daughter. But neither Pato nor Robinho are the cool, cynical players you need in a derby. And Cassano on the bench, oh well.
What speaks for Milan is really what speaks against Inter. Leonardo when at Milan was a lousy lousy coach in the big games. Faced against Ferguson and Mourinho last season he was so clearly outbrained that it was truly embarassing. I hope there is a bit of that still in him, Inter survived against Bayern but no one can claimed they did it through clever play. And we know where his heart is.
What speaks for Inter is really two the class of Eto'o and the class of Sneijder. And that can take them quite a long way. My prediction is that those two will decide the game.
I think we will lose the Madonnia, 1-2 or 2-3, and then the scudetto. And I usually bet with my heart (see previous posts). With Midwest parental control switched on: Dang.
Quite often you can make a case for it. Either because one or both teams have had a bad season and see the derby as a season saver, or because something bigger is also at stake. This time it is no doubt the latter. Clearly lo scudetto will stay in Milan and the question whether it will be blue or red that accompagnies the black is very much depdendent on Saturday night's game. The title has not been fought out between the two since the 1992/93 season, when both derbys ended in draws and Milan won the title four points clear of Inter. That meant Milan levelled the total tally of scudetti to 13 each. If Milan win this season, they would level again to 18 each. So "ever" is really since 1993. Or the Champions League encounters in 2003 and 2005. Or the face-savers in 2001. Have your pick. It is a bloody important game.
I'm sure you can read in many places that this game always ends up with a draw. But it doesn't. Of the last 14 derbys, Milan have won 7, Inter 7. So likely there will be a winner and that winner will be the title favourite. If there is a draw, Milan will have the upper hand but given recent form, I would say Inter will be a slight favourite.
So what speaks for and against the two?
Milan have many reasons to be worry. Ibrahimovic is banned. Even though with his recent form that may not be a disadvantage, the reason why Milan are where they are is very much thanks to him. The midfield is still plagued by injuries, Pirlo may be back on the bench but will not start and Ambrosini is still out. Milan's sad set of fullbacks hae also had another setback with the injury of Jankulovski.
On the plus side, Milan have an in-form, solid pair of central defenders, Tiago Silva is the best player of the team for the moment and Nesta is back in match form. Those two in front of Abbiate is Milan's strength. Up front, Pato has been prolific and let's hope he stays that way even though he will hear a lot, I mean a lot, from the Inter supporters on his love affair with the president's daughter. But neither Pato nor Robinho are the cool, cynical players you need in a derby. And Cassano on the bench, oh well.
What speaks for Milan is really what speaks against Inter. Leonardo when at Milan was a lousy lousy coach in the big games. Faced against Ferguson and Mourinho last season he was so clearly outbrained that it was truly embarassing. I hope there is a bit of that still in him, Inter survived against Bayern but no one can claimed they did it through clever play. And we know where his heart is.
What speaks for Inter is really two the class of Eto'o and the class of Sneijder. And that can take them quite a long way. My prediction is that those two will decide the game.
I think we will lose the Madonnia, 1-2 or 2-3, and then the scudetto. And I usually bet with my heart (see previous posts). With Midwest parental control switched on: Dang.
We don't fly but we may qualify
So. We lived through another unexciting performance from Sweden. If the option is between unexciting and disappointing, as it currently seems to be, I guess this was just about what we could wish for. The inability of the Swedish
But, still, other teams are doing what they should to help Sweden qualify. We should finish second in this weak group, we really should, and we actually have a good chance of qualifying directly as the best runner up of all groups.
With the reservation that no one knows what will happen to Bosnia and hence the entire Group D, this is what seems to be going on:
Holland, Spain, Germany and Italy are cruising through their groups. We can give them tickets to Euro 2012 already.
England and France are in good control of their groups although there is a little bit of work still to be done.
Croatia, Portugal and Russia look like the most likely winners in the three groups that remain really tight.
As to runners up, I think Denmark are in the best position to qualify as the best number two. Sweden are not far beyond, but we need to see how Sweden behave in games away against the slightly worse teams before we can take anything for granted. The other number twos will lose more points I believe and thus haev to qualify throw play-off against each other: Greece, Ireland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Belgium, Bosnia (unless they are banned) and Slovenia.
- defence not to make us nervous (too many free kicks conceded, too many uncontrolled passes from Antonsson who should never again play for Sweden I hope)
- midfield not to control the ball when the Moldovans increased the pressure (it will take not just one but a couple of injuries or suspensions before we see Wernbloom in the starting line-up again; Elm improved things when he came on, good to see)
- attack not to finish better (Zlatan's missed penalty was dreadful, Elmander ran but that was also all that he did)
But, still, other teams are doing what they should to help Sweden qualify. We should finish second in this weak group, we really should, and we actually have a good chance of qualifying directly as the best runner up of all groups.
With the reservation that no one knows what will happen to Bosnia and hence the entire Group D, this is what seems to be going on:
Holland, Spain, Germany and Italy are cruising through their groups. We can give them tickets to Euro 2012 already.
England and France are in good control of their groups although there is a little bit of work still to be done.
Croatia, Portugal and Russia look like the most likely winners in the three groups that remain really tight.
As to runners up, I think Denmark are in the best position to qualify as the best number two. Sweden are not far beyond, but we need to see how Sweden behave in games away against the slightly worse teams before we can take anything for granted. The other number twos will lose more points I believe and thus haev to qualify throw play-off against each other: Greece, Ireland, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Belgium, Bosnia (unless they are banned) and Slovenia.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Yes we can - Allsvenskan predictions for 2011
A couple of weeks ago, Örebro SK announced the target for the year. Top 3. I would have formulated it as follows. "Örebro SK should challenge for the championship title by claiming more than 60 points. It should challenge for the cup title and at least progress to the third round of the Europa League qualififyers". That's how good we are and we should settle for nothing less.
This is the introduction for my Allsvenskan predictions for 2011. I usually do not overestimate Örebro, at least not by much. And I have never ever predicted them in the position where I predict them this year.
For those of you who aren't too familiar with the beloved allsvenskan, you should know that this is a tight championship and inherently difficult to predict. There are a few rules though:
- After 7 rounds all newspapes will claim that this year's edition is "tighter than ever"
- The champions will not defend the title
- Everyone will fear the summer transfer window but in reality it is rarely decisive
Allsvenskan
Top 5 - the title challengers
1 Örebro SK – I have weighed the squad of the five teams that could win it, and this is what I get to. Örebro have the best squad. I feel lightheaded, but if I need to pick a winner I will go with Örebro. The caveat is really the summer transfer season, but I just told you it is rarely decisive. My prediction is based on us losing no more than one player over summer, and that we get paid well for him so that we can go for an immediate replacement. Bedoya looks the most likely to go, but Almebäck’s displays with the national team could trigger the attention of for example the top teams of the Dutch League. If we lose both, we will feel shakier but my feeling is the club management knows what it’s doing.
2 Malmö FF – Last time Malmö won they became the favourites for a few consecutive years, and failed every time. What will happen this time? A strong squad but a loss-making club. How will the youngsters cope with Champions League qualifiers? They will be up there for sure, but they will lose more points then last year now that the focus gets divided. And the uncertainty of coach Roland Nilsson (expected to take over FC Copenhagen this summer) and the economy (money in the bank still but very red figures in the books) does not help. Daniel Andersson cannot carry the whole team on his shoulders. On top of that, big question mark for Yago in central defense. And big vulnerability to summer transfers too, in particular Larsson and Molins seem likely to go.
3 Elfsborg – Have become a regular in the top 4 but given the strength of the squad, that is an underachievement. Don’t see them improving over 2010, although player by player they have a team that should have one every title the last 4-5 years. But why would it happen this year, when the team has become weaker? Avdic was great last year, and is replaced by two bench players of doubtful quality. Elm was never a top player even in Kalmar. Why has he become a star because of an utterly failed spell at Fulham?
4 IFK Göteborg – In my view a bigger under-achiever than AIK last year. Let’s see if they can avoid a raft of injuries this year. If they do, there is enough talent in the squad.
5 Helsingborg – A team that wins most games by one goal can soon start losing them by one if they lose their backbone. Ask AIK. Will be vulnerable in central midfield without Lantz. Ekstrand’s replacement in central defence (Peter Larsson) is only there on loan until the summer, and surely Gerndt and probably Jönsson will disappear as well (you see, I keep on doing that mistake of overestimating the importance of the summer transfer window).
No man's land
6 Kalmar – one of the toughest to place this year, a little bit like Helsingborg last season. The squad does not long strong, but coach Nanne does.
7 AIK – Had a terrible 2010 and can only do better this year. Bangura I filled one gap last autumn, and will be the most important player also this year. Bangura II feels overhyped, and the remaining gaps compared to the 2009 winning squad are too many for AIK to really challenge. But less pressure and a better squad than last year secures a position on the top half of the table.
8 Mjällby – Hard to tell what will happen when El Kabir leaves, as he will this summer. Looks like they will end up around here, the squad is still too strong to get involved in the relegation battle.
9 Djurgården – For a while there, last year, Djurgården started to play good football again. That was much thanks to Thouma who is now gone and Sjölund, who is the only remaining class player. A good target for the year would be to beat rivals AIK. I think they will fail, though. Sad to see a team that had so much strength in the first half of the 2000s have such a weak squad. Good Riddez!
10 Trelleborg – Absolutely magnificent autumn last year. Coach Prahl gives the club super powers they should not have. Enough to steer them clear but not to challenge for a top spot yet again. Drugge will be missed.
11 Syrianska – Clever reinforcement of the squad. They now have the experience their local rivals Assyriska did not have when they tried. Syrianska will stay up thanks to a good, experienced midfield.
The relegation battle
12 Häcken – A strong pre-season means nothing. We have seen this before. Häcken will struggle this year.
13 Halmstad – How does a team with absolutely no money sign a bunch of “Real Madrid players”. The Spanish theme does not seem serious although they may surprise from time to time. But overall HBK is on the wrong track and need a time out. Relegation would do them well but I think they will stay up. Just.
14 Norrköping – Good ol’ Peking is back, and as always they dream of being something they are not. Trusting Ajdarevic to be the star does not bide well. Thorvaldson does not feel very fresh.
15 Gais – Alvaro Santos’ greatness are many years and kilos away. Wanderson? Not sure he will come and if he does, his spell will be too short to make a real impact. Bassombeng? Has the potential. Florén? A clever loan. But this is not good enough.
16 Gefle – Stayed up because two teams were even worse last year. Not the case this year. Orlov will be gone by summer if he continues to deliver, and I hope Lantto gets a better club as well. He deserves it. For the record, I’m not one of those that predict Gefle to go down every year. But this year they will – what can I do?
Thursday, 24 March 2011
A whiter shade of pale
Örebro SK's 3-0 victory is not much to brag about, Djurgården is not a top team and when they had som many players missing we should run them over like we did.
But most of the discussions after the game appear to focus on the new neon light ad boards. These turned out to be the white equivalent of Kenny Roaster.
Now, as you know our coach is a Finn and as you also know the Finns are probably the most pale people in the world. So when poor Sixten was facing the big bright white light yesterday, he almost disappeared. There is a fine line between ghosts and our eastern neighbours.
But most of the discussions after the game appear to focus on the new neon light ad boards. These turned out to be the white equivalent of Kenny Roaster.
Now, as you know our coach is a Finn and as you also know the Finns are probably the most pale people in the world. So when poor Sixten was facing the big bright white light yesterday, he almost disappeared. There is a fine line between ghosts and our eastern neighbours.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
6-10's 11
Pre-season friendlies are what they are. We have suffered through winter months with freezing temperatures (not like I've been there in person, we in this respect is the club as a whole), empty stands and more than anything weird and ever-changing line-ups. But when you see the squad for tonight's friendly against Djurgården, the last before it all starts, you can feel that we are almost there. A couple of injuries on bench players Haginge and Johansson (both former Djurgården players) and Astvald is playing with the U 21 national team, otherwise this is it. I'm sure you are all as excited as I am. Confirmed squad for tonight:
John Alvbåge
- - - - - - - - - -
Patrik Anttonen
Michael Almebäck
Magnus Wikström (K)
Samuel Wowoah
- - - - - - - - - -
Alejandro Bedoya
Magnus Kihlberg
Nordin Gerzic
- - - - - - - - - -
Valdet Rama
Andreas Haddad
Kushtrim Lushtaku
Bench:
Simon Nurme (Mv)
Tommy Wirtanen
Fredrik Nordback
Erik Nilsson
Emil Berger
Ahmed Yasin
William Atashkadeh
John Alvbåge
- - - - - - - - - -
Patrik Anttonen
Michael Almebäck
Magnus Wikström (K)
Samuel Wowoah
- - - - - - - - - -
Alejandro Bedoya
Magnus Kihlberg
Nordin Gerzic
- - - - - - - - - -
Valdet Rama
Andreas Haddad
Kushtrim Lushtaku
Bench:
Simon Nurme (Mv)
Tommy Wirtanen
Fredrik Nordback
Erik Nilsson
Emil Berger
Ahmed Yasin
William Atashkadeh
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