Can you smell the fear?

It seems that AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has been taking night classes at the Alex Ferguson school of mind games by claiming that we are not one of the strongest in Europe and that we took advantage of 'mistakes' and the counter attack at the San Siro to win. Now it seems to me that Mr. Allegri would not be saying these things if he were not very very nervous about coming to White Hart Lane tomorrow night. By claiming we are not one of the strongest teams in the competition it would seem on the surface that all he is doing is setting up an even bigger fall for Milan. Surely he should be saying 'Ooh it'll be really difficult for us, Spurs could go on and win the whole thing'? In fact I think Allegri is trying to trigger the one weakness we have showed in the Champions League this year: stage fright. By claiming we still have a huge task ahead of us and are still European minnows, I can only think Allegri is hoping Spurs let the occasion get to them and choke like they did early on against Young Boys and Inter at the San Siro.

Allegri is asking for trouble. These comments of his show he is struggling to find positives. He is already making excuses about the number of midfielders Milan are missing. The size of the occasion will only focus Lilywhite hearts and minds. In the going on 20 years I've sat at White Hart Lane I've never experienced an atmosphere like our Champions League games. Spurs won't choke at the Lane. We won't let them.

Now to the 'mistakes' Milan made which gave us the win in Italy. What mistakes were those? Employing a one-paced backline that struggled against our pace all game? And that was without Gareth Bale. Playing an over-the-hill borderline psychopath in midfield? Not easily rectifiable really.

I have to agree that we took advantage of the counter attack at the San Siro. Well done for spotting that. But who wouldn't play the counter attack away from home in Europe? Bit like saying 'We knew they would use that tactic. They did use it and as a result they won.' Not exactly doing us a disservice. Plus, if Allegri really thinks that the counter attack will form a big part of our game tomorrow then he's in trouble. a) We should attack them from the word go, put the foot on the throat and don't take it off like we did to Inter. b) If we do hit them on the counter, can they stop us? They'll have to go for the win, push people forward and gamble on attacks. Gareth Bale has already showed he likes the big occasions and if Milan struggled against a Bale-less counter attack, then I cannot wait to see our Welsh marauder in full flight tomorrow.

It really doesn't matter what Allegri says about us. If we play our own game, stick it on Crouch's head, give it to VdV, Bale, Modric and Lennon as much as possible, don't play silly buggers at the back then I believe we will win. Against Inter we lost concentration just once, gave Eto'o a yard too much space and he scored out of nowhere. Ibra can do exactly the same. Let's put in another performance that makes Europe sit up and take notice. Let's put ourselves into the hat for the next round and ensure that every team in Europe fears drawing us. Let's show Allegri what one of the smallest teams in the competition can do.