AC Milan vs Chelsea

With all due deference to the sides we have faced thus far this preseason including an Inter Milan side which is the emaciated shadow/ghost of the triple winning juggernaut that Jose Mourinho built our match later today against AC Milan is the first game we will play that with offer a true challenge to our team and give us some idea how we stack up against quality opposition.

It is a match I will be watching with considerable interest for this reason.

Ac Milan we all know is no longer the force they used to be but this team was third in the Serie A last year and despite the major exodus of top level talent last season at least this transfer season they haven`t lost anyone substantive. It is true that they looked like Zombies against Man City in the first 30 minutes of their Audi Cup tie but they did reclaim some pride by scoring twice themselves then subsequently dispatching the hopeless and hapless joke that Santos has now become (anyone who thinks those guys came to Europe this preseason for anything other than to be tourists only need look at their performances in the Audi cup and then at the Nou Camp against Barca..in my humble opinion and absolute disgrace and huge disservice to the entire Briziliero).

Ac Milan earned the place to face us by dispatching Valencia 2-1 at the Estadio Mestella (the only game of this unique tournament played outside the continental US).

Date/Time: August 4th, 2013 at 6:30 pm EDT (August 4th at 11:30 pm BST; August 5th at 4:00 am IST).

Venue: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, USA

I am sorry I have little information as to exactly who is showing the match across the pond in Europe but it is being aired here in the State on Fox Soccer (now in its painful Nunc Dimitus).
For those who are still unfamiliar with the somewhat unusual format of the Guinness International champions cup the appended url below should get you caught up; http://internationalchampionscup.com/


AC Milan`s Squad: The Serie A side brought the following players for their US tour:
Marco Amelia, Christian Abbiati, Gabriel, Mattia De Sciglio. Philippe Mexes, Salamon Bartosz, Cristian Zapata, Daniele Bonera, Dídac Vilá, Luca Antonini, Cristian Zaccardo, Bartosz Salamon, Sulley Muntari, Antonio Nocerino, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Bakaye Traoré, Riccardo Montolivo, Urby Emanuelson, Nigel De Jong, Bryan Cristante, Rodney Strasser, Riccardo Saponara, Robinho, Giampaolo Pazzini, Mbaye Niang, Mario Balotelli, Nnamdi Oduamadi, Stephan El Shaarawy, Giacomo Beretta.

Of particular note here is Super Mario Balotelli who as far as I can tell has thus far not played in any of their pre season games and has been on extended break following the Confedration`s cup. I suspect that his pre season debut will come against us later today.

Chelsea FC`s Squad: We brought the following players for the US tour:
Petr Cech, Mark Schwarzer, Henrique Hilario, Jamal Blackman, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Ryan Bertrand, Michael Essien, Ramires, Frank Lampard, John Obi Mikel, Marco van Ginkel, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Oscar, Victor Moses, Andre Schurrle, Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba.

With 4 goalies on this list and Frank Lampard again unlikely to be available thanks to his niggling achilles injury from which he continues to slowly reportedly recover there are rather limited options for surprises regarding line ups. I for one hope KDB is included the starting line up and that Andre Schurrle is fully recovered from his bout of illness from the Asis tour to play some role in proceedings later today.

Jose`s choice for the starting striker, mid field personnel and attacking mid fielders will be interesting. How much time he gives to the Confedration cup veterans as opposed to those with more pre season fitness will be interesting because make no bones about this..it is called a friendly but as Inter showed in our last match this is being taken seriously on all sides. No one of the clubs showing up for this want to make fools of themselves the way Santos did and I know that Jose hates to lose in the worst way!!!

What follows: The winner of this match will face Real Madrid in the final of the tournament as Real earlier yesterday dispatched a very game Everton side 2-1. Anyone who thinks Jose doesn`t want to match up against Real doesn`t know how driven and competitive the guy is. It will indeed be a mouth watering final should we make it there. I love Carlo Ancelloti as a player (during his playing days) as a manager (and I have fond memories of what he achieved at Chelsea) and as a person. He is one of the true gentlemen still left in the managing business. If however it does end up being Real vs Chelsea for the final you need not even ask where I stand even with Carlo in the opposing dug out. Chelsea all the way for me!!! (BTW don`t take my love for Carlo to mean I have any less fondness nor utmost respect for our own special, happy one aka the Dark Sith Lord by his detractors). They are two very different men but I love them both.

Players of note: Obviously in the attacking third our defence will finally get a quality work out with Super Mario Balotelli and the "Pharaoh" Stephan El Shaarawy the main threats. However how our midfield actually stacks up against the best set of mids we have faced thus far this preseason in Riccardo Montolivo, Nigel De Jong and Kevin Prince Boateng as the stand outs, will also be worth watching.

Final world: Yes it is a "friendly" and yes no BPL points or champions League places are at play here but make no mistake this game means something. I watched Juve stink it up against LA galaxy after losing to Everton and the Juve fans gathered there at LA who came decked in the Juve replica jerseys booed them of the pitch. Antonio Conte was not a happy camper and I know he will let his player hear it from him for lack of effort, passion and interest. Jose wont brook that from our boys. We need to go out and lay a marker in the sand-send a clear message and lets then face Real as a prelude to the coming European Super cup clash with the behemoth that is Bayern Munich FC. (I still have nightmares of how we acquitted ourselves the last time we were there in Monaco last year against Atletico Madrid). KTBFFH.