____T.H.E. .P.A.S.S.

____Defending by Brains, Attacking by Heart

The last post left me with brains drained and I haven't come up with a post for a while. I've been training hard for IPPT and my back acted up again today. Amongst many things, the IPPT is one of the goals I had in mind for this holidays. Although I can't say I can bring my fitness levels up to the point where I was before, I will try to achieve a gold award nonetheless. The holidays are almost over and looking back, I still find that I have many things I have not done yet. Will be looking to finish all these within the next week.

Once the holidays end, it would mean a new season of football will start and that I will once again fulfill my bid to perform even better academically. However hard life is going to be then, football will still be a major role with the IBG then later IHG during December. I will be looking forward to see how Manchester United and AC Milan perform in the new season. (The following paragraphs will be really technical. Probably only the football enthusiasts will understand what I'm trying to say)

Both of these teams that I support haven't achieved anything in the last season but their performances have been largely different. Manchester United started slow but progressed strongly through the mid-season. Their style of play doesn't excite me anymore. Rarely do I go "oh yes, this is it!!" when I watch Man Utd play now. When I think of the time when their midfield consisted of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and David Beckham, I would say the Man Utd now is on the decline. Sad.

Which is why I would prefer to focus my attention on AC Milan. They have got a wonderful team, and even after losing the Champions League final to Liverpool, I still have sleepless nights thinking of how efficient their style of play is. The defence of Milan is impressive, save for their tendency to collapse big time. Some may argue that it is an ageing defence and Maldini and gang are too slow for players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben, I wouldn't agree more. But I have noticed that the back four sit deep in their own half. This makes up for their pace by limiting the space for through passes to be played behind them. All the defence have to do is intercept balls and make intelligent clearances upfield to launch a counter attack.

Milan's midfield consists of 3 defensive players and 1 attacking midfielder. Gattuso and Seedorf provide the strong anchor in front of the slow defence to stop potential attacks even before they become a reality. These are the 2 who does most of the tackling and winning the balls by snapping at the opponents' heels, making sure that the defence hold firm.

Pirlo, the defensive attacking midfielder, picks up the loose balls and passes the ball to Kaka/sprays a long through ball to the strikers/lauch a counter attack down the flanks using Cafu and Maldini. Pirlo has such a sweet and cultured right foot to aid him in his quest, he hardly misplaces a long pass, not to mention a short one. And when I come to the last midfielder, Kaka, one would know that I have time and again been amazed by his level of play. He is the main man in making this formation a successful one. Be it running at the defence, making defence splitting passes, or bringing wingbacks Cafu and Maldini into play, he is a master in all aspects of the attacking game - no one in the world comes close to imitating the directness of his style.

Leading the attack are proven strikers Shevchenko and Crespo. They are strikers that can finish off half chances that come their way. In addition, they possess pace and adequate ball control to latch on to through balls by Kaka and Pirlo, and stick the real chances into the back of the net.

With Dida in goal, Milan have arguably the best first XI in Europe. Milan adopt a defensive stance throughout the 90 minutes of the game and only attack when they feel that they have a chance to punish their opponents. It is because they have such a reliable defence and extremely potent attack, they are the only team that makes me believe that possession doesn't necessarily win games - every counter attack almost always seem to result in a goal. However, this doesn't mean that Milan cannot keep possession. On the contrary, they are great possession keepers too, especially when they are a goal up and nearing the end of the match - they excel in the "shut out" cattenaccio too.

Milan is not a team without flaws, it is just that the players complement each other so well that I cannot help but salivate whenever I see them at their imperious best. In the future, they have to keep buying players that have the potential to suit this playing style. Micheal Owen is a pacy finisher that comes to mind and quick attacking wing backs like Ashley Cole can fit well into this system.

I'm quite a fan of this system and I find that it works well with Hall One's defensive tradition. Time and again when I urge the team to attack, I am disappointed by replies that we're a defensive team. This comes as a great solution to our problems but we also need to find the suitable players. Do hope we perform well in the next Inter Hall Games.

In the meantime, one can be sure that I will still preach the system of "defending by brains, attacking by heart".

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