AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[p_maldini_3]

boateng isn't capable of pulling strings from the midfield. for the last 2 seasons ibra was the focus of making shit happen from the final third while boateng would be bombing forward from the deep. now it seems that allegri wants boateng to hang back and try to make something happen, but he's not smart enough or composed enough to make things tick.

it's no secret that ibra carried this team on his shoulders, and allegri took full advantage of that. putting a bunch of hustlers behind ibra made shit happen, but the same grunting won't work behind pazzini or whoever is leading the line. allegri now finds himself in a position where he has to go back to the drawing board, and the fucker doesn't have the charisma necessary to get his ideas across.

i'm missing the water now that it's gone, but i didn't realize that ibrahimovic was so vital to making the team tick. asshole and all, he won us some trophies. never took a moment to stop and thank him, he was our best player in the past 2 years and we'll miss him.

cosi va il calcio.

[p_maldini_3]

another dull outing today. there was a 15 min period early in the second half where we decided to play, but after that it was all bullshit again.

de sciglio looks like the real deal. he was all over our right flank, he got tired in the last 20 mins, but he was an absolute beast. based on today's game, abate should sit on the bench for a bit.

[RomaShield27]

Did Mexes really do this?! Ha.



Mexes showed his middle finger to Ac Milan supporters which booed Rossoneri.

http://mkidj.tumblr.com/post/3186729036 ... anderlecht

[Bagg10]

It looks like his index finger.

[p_maldini_3]

i would understand the finger after the end of the game, but it looks like they're in the pre-match outfit and it would be unusual to insult the players before the game.

[RomaShield27]

Well, he wouldn't be the first to do it, now would he...

[RomaShield27]

Il pomeriggio nero del Milan - Dalle liti agli ultras in casa

I capi tifosi hanno chiesto ed ottenuto un incontro con il tecnico e i giocatori più rappresentativi. Presenti anche dei condannati per episodi di violenza legati al calcio e non solo

di STEFANO SCACCHI / http://www.repubblica.it/sport/calcio/s ... -42970738/

MILANO - Quella di giovedì è stata una giornata durissima per il Milan. La notizia della litigata tra Massimiliano Allegri e Pippo Inzaghi, andata in scena il giorno prima al centro sportivo Vismara dove si allenano le squadre del settore giovanile, ha reso ancora più complicato il momento rossonero. Una tensione evidente, a malapena stemperata dalla annunciata pace televisiva tra i due. Una crisi di risultati - due sconfitte casalinghe e una vittoria in campionato e il pareggio senza reti con l'Anderlecht a San Siro in Champions League - che ha subito tradotto sul campo l'impoverimento della rosa, conseguenza degli addii dei "senatori" a maggio e delle cessioni di Ibrahimovic e Thiago Silva.

La partenza stagionale al rallentatore sta determinando anche uno scollamento con il pubblico rossonero: pochi abbonamenti sottoscritti, poca gente allo stadio e un alone di scetticismo intorno alla squadra che non favorisce le esibizioni a San Siro. Una parte dello stadio, però, non si è lasciata andare a fischi o contestazioni. E' la Curva Sud che giovedì ha chiesto e ottenuto un incontro a Milanello per ribadire il proprio appoggio al gruppo rossonero chiedendo massimo impegno ai calciatori. Otto rappresentanti degli ultrà milanisti sono entrati nel centro sportivo di Carnago e hanno parlato per circa mezzora con Massimiliano Allegri, Massimo Ambrosini e Christian Abbiati.

Succede nei momenti più delicati. Era già capitato tre anni fa quando il Milan guidato da Leonardo stava sbandando pericolosamente. Ed è un'abitudine in parecchie club italiani: gli ultrà che chiedono conto alla squadra dei risultati deludenti. E succede nonostante la presenza in queste delegazioni di personaggi che hanno alle spalle vicende inquietanti. Tra gli otto ultrà presenti ieri a Milanello, ad esempio, c'è chi è sotto processo, Luca Lucci, ed è stato condannato in primo grado per aver fatto perdere un occhio con un pugno a un tifoso dell'Inter durante il derby del febbraio 2009: il sostenitore nerazzurro si chiamava Virgilio Motta. Si chiamava, all'imperfetto, perché nel maggio scorso Motta si è suicidato.

Ma questo passato non impedisce di conservare ruoli di leader all'interno delle proprie tifoserie e, quando capita, manifestare la propria vicinanza e chiedere conto dei risultati deludenti all'allenatore e alle bandiere della squadra. All'incontro di ieri non ha partecipato Adriano Galliani. L'ad milanista, infatti, da qualche anno ha una scorta assegnata in seguito al procedimento penale avviato dalla Procura di Milano contro alcuni capi ultrà, accusati di estorsione e violenze nei confronti del Milan (i fatti risalgono al 2007, la conclusione del processo di primo grado all'estate 2011). E nella delegazione di ieri c'erano anche imputati di questo processo che ha portato a condanne davanti al Tribunale di Milano, ora discusse in appello.

E' un mondo quello delle tifoserie organizzate capace di incutere timore per i suoi legami che a volte arrivano a lambire la criminalità organizzata. "Questo processo è stato imbastito anche perché il contesto nel quale si muovono certi personaggi è preoccupante", spiegava uno degli inquirenti protagonista del procedimento milanese iniziato cinque anni fa. Ed è un mondo dal quale è difficile prendere le distanze in modo netto per la capacità intimidatoria di questi ambienti. Spezzare certi intrecci è un compito molto ampio. Ormai non è più solo un fatto calcistico.

(21 settembre 2012)

[p_maldini_3]

watched most of the game yesterday. i think the result was unfair for us. the team showed a drive that has been lacking in the past few games. we had some good chances in the beginning, but pazzini couldn't finish them.

zapata was a fucking beast until the red/penalty. i would say that 75/25 was the right call, i think he might've gotten a touch on the ball but who knows.

el sharaawy's goal was amazing, he nailed that ball with the utmost perfection. unfortunately, he still isn't imposing himself into a game, he needs to work on being more effective. he's improving though, so hopefully he smartens up.

i don't know why ambrosini is starting and de jong isn't.

[San Paolo]

i don't get why it was a sending off for Zapata and not a yellow, he wasn't the last man as we had players on the line, he wasn't stopping a clear goal scoring opportunity as i said we had players back guarding the line plus abbiati, now when Pazzini fell over for the penalty vs Bologna the keeper only got a yellow even though he stopped a clear goal scoring opportunity, so it's not so much the penalty that pisses me off because it was one but the consistency in which the red cards are applied to these situations, some refs send players off and some either book them or do nothing but award the penalty, how is this fair?

[p_maldini_3]

it was his second yellow, not a straight red.

and yes, we should've had a pk i think.

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

Chocolate magnate for Milan?
http://www.football-italia.net/25470/ch ... nate-milan

There are reports that Milan are in preliminary talks to sell the club to Michele Ferrero, the head of a chocolate empire. President Silvio Berlusconi is said to be increasingly frustrated with the pressures of running a football club and is on the look-out for new investors.

Newspaper ‘Leggo’ today claims there are early negotiations with Ferrero for a sale in early 2013. Ferrero is the head of a chocolate empire that includes Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, making him one of the richest men in Italy.

It’s claimed he has already analysed the books and is preparing to step in with at least a partial investment.

There have been suggestions in recent months that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were sold in order to balance the books, therefore making Milan more appetising for investors.

[San Paolo]

correct me if i'm wrong but didn't we have this rumour that Michele Ferrero was wanting to buy the club back in about 2009-ish? and nothing ever came of it, Silvio doesn't need to sell the club, he just needs to get somebody to invest money if he no longer wants to.

[RomaShield27]

Yeh, that story sounds like a lot of hot fudge.

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

Of course, sure im a cleva clogs.

[p_maldini_3]

fortuitous result today. cagliari absolutely dominated us in the midfield, they just couldn't supply their forwards properly (although they wasted some good headers).

we started with a 4-3-3, and there was absolutely no control in the midfield. one player would find himself with the ball, pass it backwards, both center-backs get a touch and pass it back to abbiati who only knows how to donkey the ball up. we lose possession, cagliari's final ball sucked, we recover, pass it back to abbiati, rinse and repeat.

montolivo was disappointing today, he was decent enough, but the system around him doesn't utilize him properly, that is all on allegri. cagliari pressed us all over the pitch, and as a result we couldn't build out the back and just booted the ball forward. it didn't help that when de jong found himself with the ball in the middle of the field, he just doesn't know how to pass the ball vertically.

de sciglio struggled on the left, he really showed his youth today (first time i've seen him play so bad, but he was out of position so it's understandable).

el sharaawy was great, his quick and incisive movement was difficult to mark and his goals were a result of the space created by pazzini, who had a tough game.

all in all, poor performance. we played better in the games that we lost against udinese and bologna, but such is calcio.

[San Paolo]

CDS are reporting that Galliani could leave Milan to go and work for the lega, in which case he'd be replaced by Maldini and they'd replace Allegri with Pep.

[red]

Article on the tensions at Zenit caused by their big signings: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... in-defeats

[RomaShield27]

By | Pitchside Europe – 19 hours ago

No sooner had Stephan El Shaarawy set foot in Milanello a year ago than his new team-mates asked him to cut it off. "Absolutely not," he said. "No one touches the hair."

Since his early teens, El Shaarawy has grown what is known in Italy as 'la cresta', a mohawk that's short at the back and long at the front, climbing like the crest of a wave. "Let's say it's aerodynamic," he added by way of justification.

Call Milan's dressing room old fashioned, a claim that doesn't exactly ring true considering they play in the style capital of the world and many of the players, not to mention the coach, have modelled in little more than their underpants, but the veterans weren't overly impressed.

"Ibra threatened [to cut it] but he never picked up a pair of scissors or a razor," El Shaarawy recalled, "nor did Cassano."

Luckily, someone came to El Shaarawy's aid and stood up for him. "A team-mate defended me. 'If Hamsik, Neymar and Cisse style their hair like this then I don't see why he can't too'. He said that in front of everyone and just like that the debate was over."

Yet before this season began the pressure to conform returned, only for captain Massimo Ambrosini to make a compromise. "I hope that he scores at least 15 goals," the Milan midfielder explained. "If he doesn't, I will cut off la cresta. If he scores seven before Christmas, I will pay for his holidays."

The fear that one day he might hear the buzzing of hair clippers coming up behind him while he kneels to tie his bootlaces at training has served as quite the motivational tool to get the best out of El Shaarawy.

Saturday's goal in a 1-1 draw with Parma - a determined run to out-sprint and out-muscle defender Cristian Zaccardo to the ball followed by a well-timed slide to poke a shot under goalkeeper Antonio Mirante - was his fourth in six games. It looks like El Shaarawy's next vacation will be on Ambrosini after all.

Not even Ibrahimovic, the player who used to "growl" at El Shaarawy if he didn't pass him the ball, started a season this well at the club. He is Milan's top scorer, has already equalled his total from the last campaign, and should he continue at his current rate, will end up with 25 goals in 2012-13.

"He is the most convincing reason for the fans to buy tickets and keep following Milan," wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Progress is evident and it goes beyond goals... He is the supporters' anti-depressive."

There has indeed been a lot to be down about at Milan following the "painful but necessary" sales of star players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris Saint-Germain and the moving on of legends Alessandro Nesta, Rino Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf. Austerity has compelled the club to put its faith in youth, but given the circumstances, in particular the veering from one extreme to the other, and the expectations at the club, Milan's kids have little or no time to learn the ropes and are obliged to grow up fast.

El Shaarawy has acted older than his age. Still only 19, he has so far performed like a seasoned pro. The potential that has long made him one of the most talked about prospects in Italian football looks like it's about to be realised. The son of an Egyptian father - hence the nickname Little Pharoah - and an Italian mother, El Shaarawy is a fascinating mix and, like Mario Balotelli, is an example of Italy's latent multi-culturalism.

While he has often visited his dad's family, who are from near Cairo, and is a Muslim like him, remaining in touch with his roots, he admits he doesn't speak Arabic or observe Ramadan. In recognition of being born and brought up in Italy, El Shaarawy "feels Italian" and chose to represent the Azzurri following discussions with his family from the moment it looked like he had a promising future in football.

Spotted by Genoa and drafted into their academy at 14, he was a member of the youth team that won the treble [a Scudetto, Coppa Italia and Super Cup at that level] and became the youngest player ever to play for the oldest club in Italy when he made his debut for the first team a few weeks after his 16th birthday. A loan spell then followed at Padova in Serie B and El Shaarawy proved a revelation.

He almost got the team promoted to the top flight only to be left in tears after a play-off defeat to Novara. The pain was eased somewhat by the news that he was named the second division's Player of the Year and that Milan, the Italian champions at the time, had signed him, initially in a co-ownership arrangement with Genoa. A permanent deal was subsequently struck this summer and El Shaarawy extended his contract at the club until 2017. He was awarded his first full international cap for Italy in a friendly with England last month.

So much has come so soon to El Shaarawy that even he confesses it has been difficult to remain humble. "I thought it would be easier not to let it go to my head," he told MAX. "Instead, it's hard. When people see footballers, they often say: 'How can they be so bloody arrogant?' I thought that a thousand times too. Then you find yourself in their position with fans asking you for photos and autographs, building you up, and you start to feel like a phenomenon, even if you don't want to. Thank goodness there's my dad who refuses to leave me on my own in Milan and keeps my feet firmly on the ground."

Even so, it's clear El Shaarawy enjoys some of the things that come with fame. "You get into Serie A and immediately the sexual attention around you multiplies. I like it." Asked to reveal how he meets girls if, as he says, he rarely, if ever, goes out, he replied: "You can find a lot of stuff online." Wink. Wink.

Speaking of women fluttering their eyelids at him, El Shaarawy can return their glance, confident in the knowledge that, should he bat his lashes and raise a brow, his grooming is impeccable. As if his hair style wasn't already enough, the grizzled Rino Gattuso was furious one day when he saw his young team-mate, trimming and plucking his eyebrows. "As soon as he realised, he really had an awful go at me," El Shaarawy recalled. "He said: 'You should be only thinking about playing, do you understand?' He's a great guy. I am going to miss him."

Metrosexuality among Italy's footballers was a hot topic this summer and El Shaarawy, unsurprisingly, has since heard his name mentioned in the discussion. But despite his reputation as something of a 'pretty boy', don't make the mistake of thinking he is afraid of getting his hands dirty and putting in a shift.

El Shaarawy, along with goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, is the only Milan player to have started every game so far this season. He gets through a lot of running. It's partly the exuberance of youth but also the adrenaline rush he gets under the pressure of playing for such a big club. "San Siro is a crazy place," he said. "It's like a Buffalo breathing on you for 90 minutes. You feel it a lot on the pitch. So you know what I do? Simple: I put my foot down. I go a thousand miles an hour. I chase every ball because at the end of the day this is what the fans want."

In each of Milan's last two games at home to Cagliari and away to Parma, he has sacrificed himself to become an auxiliary full-back, either doubling up with fellow youngster Matteo De Sciglio or directly filling in for him like at the weekend once he went off injured.

"I like Stephan a lot," Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani insists. "He runs. He scores great goals and tracks back when needed. I like strikers who also play at full-back. In this respect, he reminds me a little of [Samuel] Eto'o."

The Pharaoh still has a long way to go before he justifies the comparison, but to Milan right now he is a wonder in a desert and the sooner he gets to the top of the football pyramid the better.

James Horncastle will be blogging for us on all matters Serie A throughout the season. He contributes to the Guardian, FourFourTwo, The Blizzard and Champions magazine amongst others.

Follow @JamesHorncastle