AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[red]

I didn't think Milan were any worse than they normally are.

It's just that Lazio were pretty solid and able to take advantage of Milan's errors, while most teams in the league shit themselves at the sight of Ibrahimovic and surrender tamely.

Will Milan win any games against decent teams this season?

[p_maldini_3]

[Brigate Rossonere]

[San Paolo]

Allegri has said that Antonini will most likely start the game tomorrow. so with that what do we think of Mesbah up to now?

[p_maldini_3]

i think he still needs to time to understand the mechanisms of the game. i initially thought he wasn't a smart player, but let's see how his moves develop as he grows with the team.

[red]

[p_maldini_3]

we haven't had a decent crosser since david.

[San Paolo]

Saw the first 25 mins but then i had to leave for work. We lack passion, drive, motivation and creativity. we pass the ball side to side from midfield to defence but never get anywhere, Napoli set there players to defend and we look clueless even Robinho who can actually dribble pretty well doesn't take a man on and run at them he just makes 3 yard passes to Abate or Antonini and then stands there, no run into space or nothing, we need to get KPB back asap because he is the only one who runs for the team, the midfield today is too old or static to create anything and due to this Ibra is dropping deep where he isn't a threat or is marked out of the game. Allegri needs to pick his game up and realise this is Milan not Cagliari who are happy with 0-0 against top teams and winning against the bottom teams. The fact of Arsenal being able to counter attack and having mad pace scares me a little because playing like this we could get beat very easily, Allegri still owes us a decent CL game because at the moment it looks like the end of the Ancelotti era version 2.0.

p.s Forza Milan!

[The MAN]

Fucking Zlatan, now he's gonna start his second half season of shit again, its the same timing as last year

Our best chance once again goes to Robinho and we know how that ends. I dont know what it will fucking take for that to change. The injuries are killing us and we have no options on the bench pretty much, this could not have come at a worse time for us

The silver lining is that, overall, considering the Zebras were held by lowly Siena at home and we were down to 10 for a good 30 mins to Napoli, it's a slightly less negative round for us than for them

[p_maldini_3]

we played better with 10 men minus ibra than we did with him. that ugly motherfucker should fuck off with allegri. what a monkey.

[RomaShield27]

HOW WILL MAXI LOPEZ AND SULLEY MUNTARI FIT IN AT AC MILAN?
/ Posted on Monday, 6th February 2012 by Ogo Sylla

There’s been a lot of talk about AC Milan’s January mercato, with more than a few fans somewhat disappointed in Adriano Galliani’s dealings this winter.
Indeed the Milan tifosi are still salivating over last year’s genius winter campaign that proved so pivotal in the Scudetto challenge, when the Rossoneri brought Antonio Cassano, Mark Van Bommel, Urby Emmanuelson, and Didac Vila.

The former two were instrumental in sealing the Scudetto, Emmanuelson proved useful in patches, while Vila did not feature. All in all though, Milan’s transfer guru was again lauded for his keen instincts in improving the squad while doing so at minimal costs.

This year is completely different however, as AC Milan have acquired the services of Algerian left-back Djamel Mesbah, brought back Rodney Strasser and Alexander Merkel from their respective loans, and finally acquired the services of Maxi Lopez and Sulley Muntari on loans from Catania and Internazionale respectively. Although none of these seem very impressive, they do answer the main issue the Rossoneri have had, which has been their lack of depth following a persistent injury crisis in attack and midfield. Consequently, it is the signings of Maxi Lopez and Muntari that have aroused the most discussion amongst AC Milan fans.

The question on all Milanisti’s lips is: what could either of these players possibly bring to the team? Firstly, and most obviously, they are extra bodies. With Cassano’s heart issues, Filippo Inzaghi not being in Massimiliano Allegri’s plans, and Alexander Pato often injured, the Rossoneri needed a striker. In midfield, with Mathieu Flamini having been out since the start of the season, Gennaro Gattuso’s health issues, and the creaking legs of Van Bommel and Massimo Ambrosini, Muntari once again becomes an extra body to come in.

However I don’t believe that Galliani signed just for the sake of signing. I believe that Allegri has also [to some extent] sanctioned these signings as he sees some use for them beyond just adding squad depth. On a tactical level, both players offer things that Allegri finds useful and that has to do with the way he has tweaked the way AC Milan have played this season.

I have often lauded Allegri’s flexibility at having come to Milan as a 4-3-3 merchant – a system that was so successful for him during his Cagliari days – and adapting to the lack of dynamism of AC Milan’s older legs by switching to a Calcio classic in the 4-3-1-2. Allegri still plays the 4-3-1-2 today but he has tweaked it ever so slightly and very cleverly in order to mimic his old 4-3-3. The key difference this year has been the role of Zlatan Ibrahimovic who drops much deeper into a trequartista (playmaker) role.

Much of the issue last year has been that the big Swede verticalized the Rossoneri’s play too much and made the team too predictable when he played as the prima punta (target striker). Allegri has gotten rid of the reference point [that was Ibrahimovic] this year however and allowed the Swede to find more space and utilize his fantastic vision, passing and ability to run at defenders.

What is most interesting, is the movement of the rest of the team in relation to Ibrahimovic dropping deeper. When he does, the other two front men fan out and occupy the wide spaces as either of Alberto Aquilani or Antonio Nocerino bomb forward into the space vacated by Ibrahimovic. In essence the formation therefore morphs into a 4-3-3 – in the offensive phase of the game when Milan try to break down a team sitting deep – and provides ‘artificial’ width that did not exist last season.

Here is where our two new recruits prove their usefulness. The ex-Catania striker is very mobile and loves to drift into wider areas to escape marking before ghosting in on unsuspecting defenders. This ability to work the channels is very important to Allegri who looked this season to not play in vertical spaces as much and instead widen the pitch. In other words Maxi Lopez could very conceivably be seen playing alongside Ibrahimovic. He also offers decent workrate, which is always something that Allegri looks for as he seeks to press all over the pitch.

As for Muntari, he offers energy, dynamism, and versatility. When the Ghanaian still plied his trade at Udinese (2002-2007), Muntari was one of the best mezzala (box-to-box midfielder) in Serie A and he returned to the peninsula in 2008 under Jose Mourinho to confirm that fact.

Allegri’s system suffers today however due to an imbalance created by the unavailability of both Aquilani and Flamini. Indeed both absentees are forcing Allegri to play with two mediani (holding midfielders) – in Van Bommel and Ambrosini – as opposed to two mezzala flanking a mediano. Clarence Seedorf has played that role in the absence of Aquilani but the Dutchman’s advancing years are an issue and creating a long-term strategy based on his presence would be counter-intuitive.

Furthermore, Muntari is a very similar player to Andrea Lazzari, who played at Cagliari under Allegri and was very much sought out by his ex-coach during last winter’s mercato. Muntari will give the extra bite and aggressiveness in midfield Allegri craves so much, the ability to press and close spaces quickly in order to win the ball high up the pitch. Indeed, and not simply due to their nationality, Muntari could serve as a replacement for Kevin Prince Boateng should he be unavailable.

The two Ghanaians boast of similar enough attributes [in terms of physique and athleticism] that Allegri might attempt a repeat of the experiment we have known to be so successful. Finally, Muntari offers versatility and a new option in that he can play not simply in midfield but up top as well as a wide forward. In that instance, Allegri would be able to more genuinely replicate the 4-3-3 he was so attached to before.

Of course by no means am I saying that these players will be a success and that Milanisti are lacking foresight in their cries discontent. But both Maxi Lopez and Muntari deserve a bit more credit than to simply be thought of as extra depth to the squad when they can make a genuine contribution to the squad. Certainly Maxi Lopez has lost much of that pace he once had that made him dangerous when he moved out wide. However he still remains a decent poacher – even if one that I don’t personally rate – who can nick a goal here and there.

As for Muntari, it is evident that the Ghanaian has lost some of that grinta that once made him the engine and uncompromising midfielder he once was, but his versatility and venomous long-range shot are sure to bear some fruits even in this short six-month stint. Only hindsight will be the judge here, lest we remember how perplexed the Milan tifosi looked when Galliani unveiled Van Bommel to the San Siro faithful.

[Bagg10]

Monday February 6 2012

Ibra nets three-game ban
By Football Italia staff

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspended for three games – so he’ll miss Milan’s big clash against Juventus.

The striker was handed the punishment this afternoon following his red card against Napoli on Sunday. He was dismissed for slapping Napoli’s Salvatore Aronica.

Ibra will thus miss the Rossoneri’s next three League games against Udinese, Cesena and the Scudetto encounter against former club Juventus.

However, Milan will appeal against today’s sentence after yesterday claiming that the striker’s gesture didn’t warrant more than a two-game stop.

Ibra’s record against former club Juventus is not great. In seven Serie A games versus the Old Lady, he’s scored just once.

Meanwhile, Lazio’s Mobido Diakite has been given a two-game ban and 10 other players will be stopped for 90 minutes.

They are: Andrea Consigli, Luca Cigarini [Atalanta], Moris Carrozzieri [Lecce], Paolo Cannavaro [Napoli], Kevin Constant, Juraj Kucka [Genoa], Daniele De Rossi [Roma], Andrea Lazzari [Fiorentina], Maicon [Inter] and Mark Van Bommel [Milan].

http://www.football-italia.net/node/15438

[San Paolo]

Why are only milan players falling on this new pitch? ffs

[RomaShield27]

[p_maldini_3]

san siro might get a synthetic turf field soon. that's the word on the playground.

[red]

They should just paint the dirt green like they did a couple of years back.

[soccergurl1989]

As much as there is a problem with the team the overall standards in serie A are not that fantastic either..our problem lies with allegri
there is no reason to doubt anymore i agree with everyhting these guys said here..

Capello resigned yesterday so why not ?

[RomaShield27]

[p_maldini_3]

welcome to the forums soccergurl.

most of us agree with the gist of your article, that allegri is an average coach with incredibly mind-numbing strategies. i wish he fuks off into eternity, we need to play with style. winning is secondary to that.

[San Paolo]

A blog showing assists and chances created from the midfield from 03 to 09 and from 10 to today

http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/sanfjxo5e ... stca/Show/