Huntelaar needs to go on loan

It appears like Huntelaar will stay on at Milan as the transfer window approaches its close in a couple of days. Seeing that if Huntelaar were to leave it would most likely have been on loan, I fear that the decision for Huntelaar to stay in Milan may be the wrong one.

I have repeatedly expressed my faith in Huntelaar’s abilities yet things just do not seem to be working out for him. The Dutchman has been unlucky in that he was given his chance in the atrocious Milan side of the first few rounds of the season. Back then, we had a side that was really struggling, especially in creating goal scoring chances. Huntelaar suffered as a result just like any striker would have. Since then Borriello has been the preferred striker as Leo seems to have no faith in the Dutchman.

Even when given a chance like last night against Udinese, Leo did not let the Dutchman play out a full ninety minutes. Admittedly, Huntelaar was not having a great game but it has to be said that the team Leo fielded was very weak. A midfield composed of Janku, Rino and Flamini is not going to be the most creative midfield. Far from it. It is typical of Huntelaar’s time at AC Milan that when he is given a chance, it has been either when the team was under-performing or, like last night, with a second string team.

The fact is that Leo does not have confidence in Huntelaar and as a result he affords Huntelaar little playing time. Barring an injury or a sudden drop in the form of Borriello, things are set to continue as they are and for Huntelaar this is not a good thing. The striker’s confidence in his own ability will only further decline, greatly reducing his chances of making the world cup and greatly lessening his already declining reputation. Huntelaar needs to go on loan and prove himself at a club that will give him playing time.

For Milan, such a move would be highly beneficial. For one, if they decide to bring him back he will be a rejuvenated spirit with a regained confidence in himself and a strong drive to prove that he can make it at Milan. But, if the club decide they do not want to keep him, then they can sell him at a higher price that he will demand following a (hopefully) successful loan.

The transfer window is still open so there is still a chance that Huntelaar will secure a loan move. There are also a good number of clubs apparently interested in his services including Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester City. A stint in the Premier League where defenses are not so tight along with the change of scenery would do a world of good for Huntelaar.

For the Dutchman’s sake, I hope a loan move is secured. If not, than he needs more playing time at Milan but with Leo at the helm it seems unlikely.

Out of the Coppa Italia we go….. but does it really matter?

The last few days has been a real humbling experience for Milan. First it was the loss to Inter in the derby. A win that Inter fully deserved. Now, we are out of the Coppa Italia after losing again at home this time to Udinese.

It was a dour display by the Rossoneri but considering the lineup we should not have expected anything less. With a midfield comprised of has-beens Jankulovski and Gattuso alongside the never-has-been Flamini, we struggled to create chances and without Pirlo we, as always without Pirlo, struggled to retain possession let alone create enough chances to score.

But losing out in the Coppa Italia is a good thing. Apart from the fact that the Coppa provides an ideal opportunity for Leo to field some of our fringe players, with the squad we have we were never going to get far unless we fielded our first team. And this is something we simply cannot afford to do with the Serie A and UCL commitments we already have.

We simply do not have the quality in depth in our squad to make a real challenge for the Coppa, Serie A and the UCL. Since the Coppa is the least important competition, being eliminated allows us to focus our resources on the far more important objective of making the top three in Serie A and making the latter knockout rounds of the UCL.

Good Riddance Coppa!

Inter drivel

In the wake of the derby della Madonna, the petulant mouth of Jose Mourinho was at it again. Instead of basking in the glory of his team’s complete domination of Milan, Jose decided he would rather cry about a red card that changed the game in no way at all.

Admittedly, Schneijder’s red card was harsh. The FIFA rule book states that if a player dissents a referee’s decision, it is only a warning and not a red card. But, the Dutchman’s red card in the end was academic. Sure, Milan, following the red card went on to enjoy their best period of the game but they still never looked like scoring to be honest.

So why Jose chose to elaborate about this wrong decision is baffling. What is more absurd is that Jose hinted to some conspiracy in Italian football against Inter…. excuse me! For such comments, Jose should be punished along with Moratti who also hinted the same thing when interviewed. Perhaps Moratti should call up his old friends at Telecom Italia and start to engineer Calciopoli 2 just to clean up the game. In the end, it was just more drivel from the Inter camp.