AC Milan general spiel

[RomaShield27]

Oh yeah, him. No. Milan are screwed.

[p_maldini_3]

for gattuso, all there is to say is thank you and good luck.

its unbelievable if he thinks he deserves a spot in the starting XI just because hes been at the club for 11 years. i dont wish to believe those words, but if he said it then he knows where the door is.

good thing for us, our 'black gattuso', wilfred osuji, is tearing it up on loan at varese. man.utd tried approaching him as well, so we know hes good. it'll be a few more years before we seem him in the squad, but we've got lots of good prospects coming up in the youth teams.

i'd also like to see leonardo put pirlo in seedorf's role and play with 2 specialized DM's when necessary. pirlo can beam long balls to pato on a break then, which would be fantastic.

[RomaShield27]

LEONARDO UPBEAT DESPITE PIRLO KO
www.sportinglife.com

AC Milan head to Sicily confident of securing their fourth straight league win as they take on struggling Catania. Third in the standings, Milan are still pushing to break into the top two and increase the pressure on neighbours Inter Milan. Leonardo's expansive attacking style could be affected by the absence of Andrea Pirlo, who is suspended, but the coach is confident that others can fill in.

"We go to Catania with Pirlo disqualified, but our idea of the game will always remain the same," he said. "Even those who do not play often are able to understand our system." While Pirlo serves a one-game ban, Alessandro Nesta returns.

Gennaro Gattuso, subject of transfer speculation in the past week, should not be too much of a distraction as he takes his place among the injured players in the stands, joined there by Massimo Oddo, Oguchi Onyewu and Marek Jankulovski. Ignazio Abate could come in at right back, while Mathieu Flamini is fit again.

The 1-1 draw with Marseille in midweek means that Milan have eased the pressure on themselves considerably, with their Champions League fate in their own hands as they take on FC Zurich next week. Marco Borriello came up with the goal, adding to the run of impressive form that has seen him bag three in seven league games.

Catania are without a win in their last five games, but spirits were boosted by the creditable 1-1 draw in the derby at Palermo last time out.

"The draw against Palermo was a very good result," said defender Matias Silvestre. "If we continue on this road, sooner or later the results will come. Now we have Milan, a great team, but we're looking for revenge."

Silvestre's defensive colleague Giuseppe Bellusci warned the game may not be pretty. "Considering how we played in Palermo, one point isn't much," he said. "Starting from the match against Milan, for us it becomes important to earn points rather than playing well."

It is no mystery as to why the premium is put on points. Catania sit 19th in the table, three points from safety having won only once all season. A match against Milan is just the latest instalment of a tough early fixture list, which has already seen them travel to Inter and Fiorentina as well as taking on Roma, Udinese and Lazio, among others.

However, such factors do not ease the pressure on coach Gianluca Atzori, who needs to pick up some points and fast. His cause will not be helped by the absence of Gennaro Delvecchio, Pablo Barrientos, Fabio Sciacca and Giovanni Marchese.

[RomaShield27]

'tec, I told you he'd come good.

[p_maldini_3]

[vtec]

[RomaShield27]

Of course Huntelaar isn't out of the woods, but all the criticism of him being finished and a flop and being sold in January was ridiculous, I thought. Everyone expected him to be the new Van Basten instantaneously but that was never going to be the case coming to a new club and new environment where things were goin bad the pressure was really on. Not to mention not being able to speak the language. This can be a good turning point for him and perhaps now he can settle down and focus on just playing without the burden of pressure.

Shinpin, I agree about Ronaldinho, I thought he was impressive last night. He may not of scored or created one moment of magic for a goal or whatever, but Catania's defense was very tight and they doubled up on him all the time, but he looked eager, eager to get the ball, eager to make things happen, and eager to get back to his best, which can only be good.

[p_maldini_3]

[San Paolo]

[tonykart]

[marco]

[p_maldini_3]

[RomaShield27]

LEONARDO WANTS TO KEEP GATTUSO
www.SportingLife.com

AC Milan coach Leonardo does not want unsettled midfielder Gennaro Gattuso to leave the club during the winter transfer market. The Rossoneri veteran has failed to earn a regular spot in Leonardo's side because of injuries and coach's squad rotation policy.

Gattuso, a near-certain selection for Italy's World Cup squad, said last week he could leave Milan before the end of his contract in June 2011 if his playing time did not increase.

"If Gattuso has this idea in his head, I will try to make him change his mind," said Leonardo. "I know Rino (Gattuso) well. I played with him.

"I always speak to Gattuso and try to be very clear. Now the most important thing is that he recovers from the muscular injury."

Gattuso has been a reported target of Manchester City but AC Milan club administrator Adriano Galliani said: "The other day I showed him (Gattuso) the midfield of the top five teams in Europe and he would not have been a starter in any of those.

"Why leave, only to be relegated to the bench somewhere else?"

The 31-year-old has been with the Rossoneri since 1999 and was a crucial member of the Italy squad which won the 2006 World Cup. He has made seven league appearances for Milan this campaign.

[p_maldini_3]

AC Milan Striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Waves Off Marco Van Basten Comparisons
The Rossoneri striker believes he must accomplish much more to be in the same league as the Euro '88 winner...

AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored his first two goals for the club against Catania this past weekend in a 2-0 victory, but has shrugged off similarities with the legendary Marco Van Basten.

The 26-year-old scored with a volley and a spectacular lob in injury time, but claims one match cannot make or break the grade with the Diavoli.

"Don't make comparisons between myself and Van Basten," the player suggested to MilanNews.

"He is part of the history of Milan, I just scored a nice goal."

The player had been heavily criticised for his performances at San Siro since leaving Real Madrid this summer, but his brace gave Milan a decisive three points - which prompted many congratulations from his team-mates.

"The embrace from my team-mates was both exciting and beautiful," he concluded.
===============

humble guy. lets hope he keeps it up.

in other news, sampdoria have rossi, ciaccatore and palombo suspended for the game against us. thats excellent news for us.

[San Paolo]

[stefano]

[RomaShield27]

Nice article/profile on Marco van Basten, 'Lessons in Calcio':

http://www.footballitaliano.co.uk/article.aspx?id=815

[stefano]

[stefano]

Milanisti unite. If you value your freedom VOTE YES to keep the SHOUTBOX.

[San Paolo]