Hit Milan where it hurts

Does the final rest on Liverpool controlling Kaka? Let us know below

Tony Cascarino: Analysis

Graphic: Keeping Kaka under control

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/liverpool/article1821605.ece

RAFAEL BENÍTEZ IS A cautious guy. He’ll be thinking about loading the midfield. Keep it tight, nick a goal, win on penalties again perhaps. But against AC Milan, one up front would be a mistake. How much evidence that it’s foolish does the Liverpool manager need? Three quarters of Milan’s semi-final against Manchester United? The first half of the 2005 final?

If you overload the midfield you are taking aim at Milan’s strongest area. And you won’t win that battle because the Italians are too good in the centre of the pitch. Too special to contain for 90 minutes. Why bother trying to turn the game into a chess match and becoming obsessed about how you can outsmart them? Just go straight for their weaknesses. That requires BenÍtez to show ambition by playing Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt together up front.

When I’ve watched Milan this season, the only time they’ve been troubled is when the opposition have got bodies in the box, pinged the ball into the danger area and really gone for them. Take the quarter-final, first leg against Bayern Munich and the second half of the game at Old Trafford in the semi-finals as exhibits A and B. Bayern played direct football and scored two goals at the San Siro.

At Old Trafford in the first half, Wayne Rooney was all alone: isolated, helpless. After the break Rooney, with Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes bombing on, was a threat. Dida is a good shot-stopper but hates coming off his line. When a ball is pumped into the area, the body language of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, the centre backs, betrays anxieties about Dida. They don’t know what he’s going to do. Neither does he. And they’re not so hot themselves under pressure.

Give the pair only one striker to think about and they’re lighting cigars. They will subdue him with their experience – including those hard-to-spot little fouls. Give Maldini and Nesta one striker and you’re giving them time, the time to play cultured passes to the midfield and set up attacks. Two strikers puts them under the cosh and makes them more likely to find the stand instead of Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf or Kaká. Two up front will open the game up, but the chances are that that trio will see the ball less, which can only be good.

If Crouch and Kuyt play, Liverpool must select two wingers to provide adequate service and sacrifice Xabi Alonso, who is a nice passer but just not quick enough. BenÍtez has to resist the temptation to put Steven Gerrard on the right. Sure, he’ll do a good job there, but out wide he’s on the fringes; in the middle he’s pivotal. He’s got a good enough engine to outrun even Gennaro Gattuso, the Milan defensive midfield player.

Harry Kewell is the best left-sided forward at the club but he’s not the best option to start in Athens. He’ll be running on adrenalin, but that can’t mask his shortage of first-team football. And no one will forget that he lasted only 23 minutes in Istanbul. Why take the risk again? Bring him on to inject a spark later in the game. Lots of fans and pundits seem unimpressed with Boudewijn Zenden, but he keeps the ball well and his delivery is good. He’s more reliable than Mark González, another left-wing option, even if Zenden is less showy and slower.

Pick wingers and two strikers and Milan will have to adapt to Liverpool – much more desirable than Liverpool adapting to Milan.

Italian teams double up all the time. I want to see Gattuso helping his left back to subdue Jermaine Pennant: that will free up Gerrard. The dream for Liverpool is to see Pirlo, Kaká and Seedorf going backwards. They hate defending , they’re not good at it, and if they’re nearer their goal than yours, it’s hard for them to hurt you.

When Milan do stream forward, Liverpool’s centre backs need to go forward and meet them. Forget being self-conscious about leaving a big hole behind you. It’s not like Milan have a lot of pace and Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi are hardly of the calibre of Milan’s strike duo in Istanbul, Andriy Shevchenko and Hernán Crespo. But just ask Manchester United about what happens if you allow Milan time 20 yards out.

Let’s see the Liverpool who beat Chelsea at Anfield in the semi-finals. It’ll take courage from BenÍtez, but his side weren’t bad two years ago when they had no option but to attack, were they?