Not Simple as ABC: Milan

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AC Milan. Champions League. We basked in glory and improbability at the very notion of it last time out. Our club, dining with European royalty; silver polished, collars starched, hair immaculately coiffured and moving elegantly to the feast when the dinner bell rang out. Over the 90 minutes, we all marvelled at what the North London gentry offered up; our often domestically dizzy, gung-ho and sometimes brilliant collective maintained a most un-Tottenham like reserve and defensive discipline to pull off a performance and result, the likes of which will live long in the memory and surely provide a benchmark for all future away nights in Europe. Tottenham Hotspur, so far the idiot-savants of this years competition, took to their biggest stage yet and produced an equally, if not more note-worthy performance, than the one which was witnessed on THAT famous European night at home. This was no one man show. This was a team going to the home of a European behemoth armed with belief and spirit, heels dug in; bite, fight and technique everywhere you looked. And we won.

I somewhat bullishly, stated that if both teams turned up to White Hart Lane with the same focus and work rate, there would be only one winner, and that winner would triumph comfortably. I’ll shatter the subterfuge, I was talking about us. On the morning of the game however, notes of caution find themselves winging their way to my oft’ sloppy thinkbox, so let’s safely assume that there is no way Milan will be as lacklustre in our house as they were in theirs. They suffered some stinging criticism from their own fans and press after we ourselves put on an away performance you might have seen from Italy’s finest back in the day, and will be itching to flex their tactical muscles to avoid yet another defeat to English opposition, having been beaten convincingly by the arse and manure in the recent past, and not forgetting of course, that game where Liverpool were rubbish for ages but beat them on penalties.

I find myself reminded of Sevilla in the UEFA Cup a few years back. After being narrowly and unconvincingly beaten away, we were all confident we’d get the job done at home. On the night, we went a goal down within 5 minutes and never recovered, the Ramos led Sevillains had well and truly stolen the rice from our paella, and we were taught a valuable lesson by vastly superior technicians in the ways of European football. It certainly had an effect on me, anyway. It is this lesson I carry with me into every European game against any side- always thinking that they know something we don’t, always worried that we’ll get too Jol-ey and try to ‘English’ them to death, while they pass and move around our head-spun Neanderthals to victory without breaking sweat. Thankfully, the technical competence and European know-how of the players who’ll be taking to the pitch tonight are incomparable to the troops we sent out that evening, but my scars remain. The first 10 minutes will be crucial, the first half even more so. If we can get to half time with our lead still in tact, we’ll have a great chance.

Personnel wise, Milan will struggle in the middle without grass-botherer and all round exponent of the Scottish language, Gennaro Gattuso to add bite (and how we all would have loved to have seen him out there!), so pantomime villain status will be generously afforded to Flamini. A heady mix of being an ex-goon, and an assassination attempt on our only competent right-back in Italy places him firmly in the crowds cross hairs, so let’s hope the attention is the breaking rather than the making of the little stoat-faced bar steward. It was Gattuso himself who got the winner away at Juventus on Saturday (0-1. Hmmm), where former WHL favourite KPB was making a return to the first team, only to suffer an ankle injury and rob him of an ominous return. These are players on which Ibra, Pato and Robinho rely to do a lot of their work, so they will find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to run about a bit. Welcome to the centre forwards ‘just run about a bit’ spiritual home then gentlemen, if you’ve got a midfield to bail you out, it should be enough. I don’t think they have.

Bale’s back! Well, Harry's making noise about him being a bit stiff (ooh-er) or something so you can bet your bottom dollar he'll start. Whether you see him as our saviour on which the result will hang (I don’t), or whether his return rocks the apple cart, bearing in mind the heroic Bale-less display in Italy, you can’t argue that having him on the green stuff certainly boosts our attacking options and will put the fear of God into any defender. Good tactical piece on the BBC website yesterday (probably still there today ‘n’ all), discussing the implications of the Bale-Lennon 20 minute wing-switch experiment at Wolves on Sunday. Does Harry see Nesta and Yepes as the weaker links and an easier route through for the cut-ins, rather than our flyers getting in the faces of the 2 full-backs? Or is it just a double-bluff and they’ll both start on their favoured wings? It’s a bigger headache for them than having Steven Peanut to worry about, that’s for darn certain.

As great as Peter’s been in this years competition, and as much as I’m not his biggest fan, perhaps starting Defoe would be a better option tonight. His mobility early on should give them more headaches, and if Harry’s going to go with a Lennon-Jenas-VdV-Mods-Bale midfield, which I suspect he will, then a 20 minute cameo from the big man towards the end for set pieces and holding the ball up, might just be the way to go. If Alan Hutton starts over the fit-again Charlie, everyone bring custard pies. I’m not having him win the clown-off without a bit of competition.

Interesting. The Italians need to attack away, and we need to be cautious at home. Keep it tight early, be patient and get in decent positions to retain possession. We can most definitely do this if we’re clever about it. I fancy a 2-1 win on the night and a trip to Barcelona.

**Picture by Matthew Craig-Greene. Follow him on twitter @mattcg, or visit his blog for plenty more Spurs related artistry http://spursdrawings.posterous.com/