On the AC Milan front during this international break, things are fairly quiet apart from the usual transfer rumours and other little stories that the media loves to blow up. But on the international front much has happened and even though much of it has little to do with AC Milan, I cannot help but say my piece regarding the ‘Hand of Henry’ incident. Frankly, I was astounded by Henry’s clearly obvious and intentional control of the ball with his hand not once but twice. What little if any respect I hold now for the player. He is by no way as influential at Barcelona as he was at Arsenal and for France his greatest contribution was an act of blatant cheating. So well done Henry.

I feel for Trap for after seeing Italy get cheated out of the 2002 World Cup, against France he was again the victim of something sinister perhaps. Who knows? The difficult thing is how can you stop such things from happening. Video replay is one idea and it is a good idea. The only problem is how do you implement it. I refer you to an article at goal.com which I believe may be an appropriate way to do it. One thing for sure and that is something needs to be done, video replay needs to be introduced into the game one way or another.

Back to AC Milan and the match against Cagliari this weekend represents the start of an important period for Milan. After turning things around recently, Leo needs to make sure his boys now consolidate their position in the table but most importantly win their remaining matches against Zurich and Marseille in the UCL. Maldini has come out said that Milan should focus on the UCL this year and I completely agree with him on this point. We do not have a squad that is built to win the league. For a team to win the league, it needs depth, and we simply do not have it. But what we do have is players like Pato, Ronaldinho and Pirlo who can win matches with a moment of magic. I will settle for a spot in the top four for I would prefer the the Champions League over Serie A any day.

Lastly, on the Huntelaar situation, I am impressed that he has come out and said he wants to stay at the club. He just needs more playing time and I hope Leo gives it to him before Milan go shopping for a replacment. Surely he has been poor but he was only given a chance early on in the season when the whole side was playing poorly. Borriello perhaps benefitted from his injury for by the time he came back, we had turned things around. But Huntelaar should be given another chance and I hope that Leo affords it to him.

I am off for a little holiday and will be back by early next week. Then, I will review that weekends match and look ahead to that all important match against Marseille. Until then, ciao.