Seedorf gifts Milan three points

Milan etched past Chievo thanks to a late wonder goal from Clarence Seedorf to claim all three points and to move within one point of leaders Inter. But, it was by no means a pretty affair. In fact, it was an ugly, uninspiring and frankly dour match. Milan perhaps only just deserved to win and though with this win leaves Milan with a real chance of clinching the Scudetto, it was a performance that left much to be desired.

Despite Milan being in the best position they have been in years to win the Scudetto, the performance against Chievo raises many question marks over the team’s actual ability to bring home the trophy. One will do to remember that Chievo are not a great side and nor did they play a great match.

There are ten matches remaining and for Milan it is not an easy run in. Of the ten matches remaining, seven of them are against teams in the top half of the table which includes tricky encounters at home to Fiorentina, Napoli and Juventus and away to Palermo, Genoa and Sampdoria.

If Milan perform in these upcoming matches like they did against Chievo, any title aspirations will quickly dissipate.

At the back for Milan, Favalli was out-paced time and again by the likes of De Paula and Luciano. In the end, and thankfully for Milan, Chievo really did not make the most of this major weakness of Milan’s but be sure that in the coming matches the likes of Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina will.

In the absence of Nesta, Silva was still probably our best at the back. Abate looked shaky when defending and Zambrotta clearly lacks match sharpness, though his age probably had much to do with his inability to keep pace with the Chievo attackers.

In midfield, things were not much better. Pirlo, who is usually our best in the middle, failed to impose himself on the game. Alongside Pirlo, Gattuso was very poor. He simply cannot play at this level anymore and really should not demand a starting birth. Ambrosini was probably was our best in the midfield, at least until Seedorf’s introduction, and this does not say much about our midfielders performances.

Up front, Borriello was again anonymous. The recently capped Italian international has been suffering a major dip in form lately having only scored twice in his last ten appearances for Milan. Not only is he not getting on the scoresheet, but his workrate has dipped also. Definitely not playing like a player all the intent on going to the World Cup for Italy, but for Italy, maybe it is not such a bad thing.

Again Ronaldinho was our main creative force up front and was perhaps unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with his shot that rebounded of the inside of the post. Probably Milan’s best player though the accolades will be given to Seedorf for his late winner.

The one player for Milan that actually looked determined to put on a good show was David Beckham. The Englishman is such a model professional. He always plays with the right attitude and is ever so willing to dig in and work hard and against Chievo he was no different. It was only extremely unfortunate for Beckham, and for Milan for that matter, that he was taken off with a serious injury. It now appears that he will miss the remainder of the season along with the World Cup in what would be a tragic way to end his international career if this injury does spell the end of his time in an England shirt.

Beckham's world cup hopes disappear

Beckham’s career is over

With Beckham out for the remainder of the season, along with Nesta, Milan’s resources are really being stretched. Though not as valuable as Nesta maybe, Beckham’s loss is still a major blow to Milan as there really are limited options for Leo now in midfield.

Milan will surely have to improve on this performance if they are serious about winning the Scudetto. But despite the loss of both Beckham and Nesta, the race for the title has now really started with Napoli next up for Milan.

Forza Milan!