AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[San Paolo]

Better than the first half against Sampdoria? over the space of 2 games we've played a really strong 90 mins and the other two 90 mins were not weak ones but they lacked the same intensity. As you say, PM, Seedorf's Milan is starting to take shape and get some swagger. surely the fact he has his own formation can only help too when it comes to the summer recruitment process. rather than needing 8 players that can play multiple positions, Seedorf can say he needs 4 players that can play a position, we might see a little more quality coming through hopefully.

[red]

Milan weren't that good in the first half against Samp. They were decent enough, but not on the level they were in the first half against Juve or even on the level they were for chunks of the game against Atletico.

Was particularly impressed by Seedorf's tactics, as I've mentioned in the Juve section.

[p_maldini_3]

Samp was a solid win, nothing spectacular. We grinded out the result after a european night against a team who hadnt lost at home under the gypsy.

But im starting to get my excitement back.

[p_maldini_3]

i don't anything to add except this fantastic article by gab marcotti with whom i've only ever disagreed with once:

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcuni ... 74?cc=5901

How to fix AC Milan
Posted by Gabriele Marcotti


OK, so now the Champions League is done. There’s no point in AC Milan reflecting on the number of times they hit the woodwork in the first leg. In 180 minutes, Atletico Madrid were simply better, which is what you’d expect when the second-best team in La Liga takes on the 10th-best in Serie A.

“All we have left is the league, we need to set objectives and work to reach them,” manager Clarence Seedorf said after Tuesday night’s match.

“We’ll look at how many points we can get and have that as our goal.”

Wrong, Clarence.

Or maybe that was something he said for the benefit of someone else, something he said because it’s what others want to hear.

What Seedorf ought to do, in my opinion, is use these last 11 games to assess his squad and fine-tune how he wants to play. Milan won’t get relegated -- they are 14 points clear of the drop right now -- and nor will they make up the 20-point gap that separates them from the Champions League spots.

Europa League? Meh . . . Besides, there are eight points and four teams separating them from the continent’s secondary competition. Don’t hold your breath.

Instead, this time should be used to figure out what they have, who to keep, and who to ditch.

So, Milan, as I see it, here’s a breakdown of what you should do, reserving the right to change your mind based on what players show between now and the end of the season.

Goalkeeper:

Crazy as it sounds, Milan have three veteran goalkeepers: Christian Abbiati, Marco Amelia and Ferdinando Coppola. Plus Gabriel, who is supposedly the future. You don’t need that many, ever.

I don’t know what Coppola does, I’m sure he’s a lovely man, but no team in the universe needs a 35-year-old fourth keeper. Ditch him (I assume his contract is expiring anyway). Moreover, you don’t need to see Abbiati play again to know what he can (and can’t) do.

Instead, use the rest of the season to give Amelia and Gabriel playing time. Make them prove they belong, then make a decision. If both stink up the joint, sell them -- Gabriel is 21 and has value, Amelia (31) less so, but you’ll still get something -- sign a youngster and keep Abbiati, who is set to be a free agent in June, for another year.

Defenders:

AP Photo/Paul WhiteSeedorf was appointed Milan manager in January 2014.

It’s unclear how highly Seedorf rates Mattia De Sciglio, but for better or worse, he’s the future. Frankly, the temptation would be to ditch everyone else, but you can’t do that. One who will depart is Urby Emanuelson, who is a free agent after this season.

Adil Rami is on loan from Valencia, with a buyback option fixed at $10 million. He’s 28, so if he wants to stay, make him earn it. Play him every week, maybe alongside Cristian Zapata, who has a deal through 2016 and, if he has a decent World Cup, might have some transfer value.

Philippe Mexes (contract expires in 2015) is not worth re-signing, not least because he’s on a huge salary. Deal him if you can, and if not, keep him around for depth. I don’t know that Daniele Bonera can contribute anything meaningful, but you’re only stuck with him for another season (his deal also is up in 2015).

Cristian Zaccardo (2016) and Kevin Constant (2017) are beholden to their contracts. Loan them (if you can’t sell them) in the summer; there’s no point giving them playing time.

Ignazio Abate is interesting. He has terrifying pace, his deal is up in 2015 and, at 27, he’s not ancient. Let him audition for his job (at the very least, he may catch someone else’s eye) at right-back, with De Sciglio at left-back. But if you can get some money for him -- and he shows no indication that he’s learned how to cross consistently -- move him on.

You have some reasonable players out on loan (and some horrid ones, like Didac Vila, who will need to be paid pay until 2016 and will likely return to haunt you because Betis are dead last in La Liga and going down).

Give Rodrigo Ely and Jherson Vergara a shot in training camp; see what you have. If they’re not up to it -- and you don’t think they will be -- sell and get some money back.

Defensive midfield:

Riccardo Montolivo and Bryan Cristante are obvious players to keep, and both need to play. You can’t pair them together, they need a defensive guy with them, so I’d go with Nigel de Jong.

He is the only one of a trio who become free agents in 2015 who has (or should have) a prayer of getting a new deal, the other two being Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari. Sell both if you can, loan if you can. If not, you’re stuck with them.

Andrea Poli is 24 and has a long-term deal; he’s the least of Milan’s worries. Keep and find room for him, most likely in the front four.

You’re on the hook for Antonio Nocerino as well, through 2016 no less. He has started exactly zero games for West Ham on loan so the chances of moving him on are slim. You’ll just have to suck it up and, most likely, loan him elsewhere next year.

Bakaye Traore? Another loan beckons. He’s 29, has a year left and obviously won’t be part of the future.

Marco Fossati has had his ups and downs but he’s young, an under-21 international and has some skills. Give him a chance to make the team in the summer when he returns from his loan at Varese.

Attacking midfield:

Marco Luzzani/Getty ImagesIn his second spell at the club, Kaka remains a key man for Milan.

Kaka has another year on his deal and you won’t get anything for him. Besides, Silvio Berlusconi loves him, so he’ll be around for another season. But that doesn’t mean you need to play him between now and May.

Sure, Kaka wants to prove to Luiz Felipe Scolari that he deserves to be at the World Cup. But he hasn’t been called up by Brazil in nearly a year, so he’s the longest of long shots.

Talking of the Selecao coach, pray that Scolari bangs his head, calls up Robinho and he has a brilliant World Cup . . . and then sell him as quickly as you can. Again, there’s no need to see him again this season.

The same goes for Valter Birsa, who, like Robinho, is on the hook until 2016. He doesn’t make much money and doesn’t cause trouble, so maybe you can find someone who will take him this summer.

Keisuke Honda hasn’t done much since arriving in January, but he’s signed up through 2017, so get him some playing time and figure out what he can do. Again, hope that he has a wonderful World Cup so that you can make a quick profit on his sale.

Adel Taarabt is on loan; send him back to QPR in June. It’s not his fault -- he has been on his best behaviour -- but he just doesn’t fit into the rebuilding process.

Kinglsey Boateng has been a bust on loan at Catania, but the good news is his contract is up. Gone.

As for players to see more closely, find space for youngsters like Riccardo Saponara and Stephan El Shaarawy when (if?) he’s finally fit.

Forwards:

Mario Balotelli's bad night only continued to get worse as Milan were thrashed in Madrid.
GettyImagesBalotelli cut a frustrated figure on Tuesday in Madrid.

Your main goal with Mario Balotelli is figuring whether you want him up front or out wide. He’s staying, you’re wed to him and there is no point in selling (again, unless he’s the top goal scorer at the World Cup and you get offered stupid money).

Giampaolo Pazzini’s contract expires in 2015. Keep a close eye on him -- he’ll still fetch you some money in the transfer window -- but have him share time with Andrea Petagna. He’s 18 and looks good, so find out what he can do.

Alessandro Matri will return from his loan at Fiorentina: hope he scores a few more goals and you find someone to take him off your hands. Even if it means taking a paper loss on him, it will be worth it.

Then there’s M’Baye Niang, who is on loan at Montpellier. He can obviously play and he’s just 19 years old. But he also has issues, such as the 18-month suspended prison sentence he was given for a hit-and-run incident in his Ferrari last month.

You won’t get value for Niang if you sell, but then again, you don’t need someone like that at your club. Not now. So loan him out to whoever is willing to take a gamble.

There are three young on-loan strikers who merit their own paragraph, if only as a warning of mistakes not be repeated: Simone Ganz (20), Gianmario Comi (21) and Gianmarco Zigoni (22). Apart from having famous footballing dads, there is no reason to believe they can cut it.

In the future -- and this one’s on team vice president Adriano Galliani and former director of football Ariedo Braida -- maybe think twice before letting their last names impress you. Ditch. Ditch. Ditch.

Conclusion

That’s the general assessment. Pippo Inzaghi’s youth team won the Viareggio tournament last month and there will be guys, like Petagna, whom Seedorf should probably look at.

You’ll need to be clever in the summer and had better hope that Sean Sogliano -- assuming he’s the guy to take over as director of football -- is up to the job. Expiring contracts and loans will only free up three spots -- four, if you ditch Rami -- on this squad and the harsh reality is that there really isn’t too much else of value that you’d be willing to part with and someone would be willing to buy.

Oliver Morin/Getty ImagesCan Galliani and Berlusconi work together to revive the Rossoneri?

You also have a huge millstone around your neck in the two-headed monster -- Galliani and general manager Barbara Berlusconi -- running the club. It’s the worst kind of compromise solution, with two bosses (plus the owner in the background) who clearly have differing visions.

Also, both come with baggage: Galliani, because he has been in charge of the ship for more than two decades and many blame him for the current predicament. And Barbara because she’s 29, has very little experience, got her job because her dad, Silvio owns the club, and is a woman. (This is still a highly sexist industry and, horrid as it may sound, she’d have an easier time if she were a man.)

You’re also now in an era of Financial Fair Play, which means Silvio Berlusconi won’t be able to simply cut a big check. And while you wait for stuff to fall into place on a macro-level -- stadium redevelopment, revamping of commercial operations -- you will likely need to operate on a tight budget.

Centreback and central midfield are the biggest priorities, so that’s where you blow whatever budget you have. Go young, even if that’s more expensive in the short term.

The key is how you sell this to the fans. I’d be honest and tell them the rest of the season is one big experiment and that next season will be one of transition, with the aim of being competitive in 2015-16.

It will take time to undo the damage that has been wreaked on this club -- not so much because of results, but in terms of short-termist decisions -- in seasons past. There can be no more of these; you’re going to build from the ground up, and you will do so around stars like Balotelli and De Sciglio.

Gianluca Vialli, speaking on Italian TV on Tuesday night, said that many of these guys looked a lot better when Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were still at the club. His point was that world-class superstars make the guys around them better.

A lack of such quality is Milan’s problem right now but the fact is the club cannot afford a Zlatan at this time and nor, probably, would a Zlatan want to move to a side with no Champions League football to offer.

So you need to grow your own stars, guys who buy into the Seedorf project and who can fit into the style he wants to play. Fans are often more reasonable than we in the media give them credit for.

Talk to them, both the Ultras and the mainstream supporters. If you offer a project, push the kids and are honest with them, they’ll back you. They know the world of football has changed and that a certain era ended a long time ago.

No more patches, no more quick fixes and no more 180-degree turns. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and show what you’re made of.

[RomaShield27]

/ March 18, 2014 / By Ben Gladwell, Italy Correspondent

Paolo Maldini has told La Gazzetta dello Sport that AC Milan are "throwing away 10 years of hard work" and pointed the finger at general manager Adriano Galliani.

The Rossoneri are currently enduring one of their worst spells of form in the last two decades. Dumped out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid, it now appears qualification for the Europa League next season will be beyond their reach.

Twelve points separate them from their city rivals Inter Milan in fifth place and, with only 10 games of the Serie A season remaining, Milan are having to face up to their first season without European football since 1998.

Club legend Maldini, who has kept a relatively low profile since retiring in 2009, has decided it is time to break his silence with a damning assessment of their current plight.

"There's a mixture of anger and disappointment inside me," Maldini, who won the Champions League five times with Milan during his 24-season stay, told Gazzetta. "Not so much for the results, because it's already happened for Milan to finish 10th or 11th, but because I get the impression that they are throwing away 10 years of hard work. This really hurts.

"I know how much work went in to all those triumphs and what it took to build such a beautiful story and to see it all destroyed drives me crazy."

Maldini believes the time has come for Galliani to step aside and let some of the club's former greats shape the future.

"At Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, former stars are all working within the club," the 45-year-old said. "This is the first big problem -- Juventus have realised that and they're rebuilding with a solid group of Italians who know how things are won. I'm suffering seeing Milan in these conditions.

"Galliani is a great [general] manager, but he's not able to understand the players. He does everything by himself and this is not possible. If you have plenty of competent people around you, you make fewer mistakes."

On the decision to allow Andrea Pirlo to join Juve on a free transfer in 2011, he added: "If the coach comes and says, 'Andrea's past his best, I don't need him anymore,' you need somebody in the club strong enough to say: 'Hold on -- Pirlo's part of the club's heritage, he's got to stay'.

"That way, maybe we wouldn't have done Juve a favour. Another thing: Milan can no longer afford to have such a poor network of scouts. Milan are light years behind clubs who are far smaller than they are.

"It's not up to me to decide [if Galliani should go], but when you feel omnipotent, you fail to realise that the results you get are thanks to other people. To win, you need ideas, plans and passion, and all Milan have left is passion."

Maldini insists former teammate Clarence Seedorf, who replaced Massimiliano Allegri as coach in January, cannot be blamed for the poor results his side are delivering on the field.

"Not even Pep Guardiola could do anything," Maldini said. "I'm not apportioning any of the blame to Clarence. Of course he can't be an expert, but he's got great courage and personality. Maybe it would have been wiser to bring in a more conservative coach until the end of the season because there's a risk that [Seedorf] gets ruined. I never thought that any other coach could do better [than Allegri] and turn things around."

[p_maldini_3]

He speaks the truth.

[San Paolo]

Read the interview else where earlier but the most interesting bit for me is not mentioned there and Paolo speaks about how he nearly had Galliani's job earlier in the season, he had numerous meetings with Barbara B and it was all set for Galliani to depart and Paolo to step in and then Galliani changed his mind, Paolo was told by the club he would be telephoned to inform him of the arrangements but with Galliani staying nobody ever phoned him back and still haven't to the day he did the interview. Who the fuck does Barbara B think she is that she can waltz into the club in a high profile position due to being the owners daughter and then snub one of the greatest Living Legends the club will ever have like that, it's just so amateur it's unreal. The sooner we have a new owner and fuck off the lot of them at the top the sooner we will save the club.

[p_maldini_3]

i don't even think that it's about ownership. it's all about mismanagement. why?

we have the highest wage bill in the league. and we sit in 10th place. there is no bang for the buck. it is misspent money.

that is all on galliani's head. he has to go.

[Bagg10]

[p_maldini_3]

I said this when seedorf first got here, as long as we dont get relegated, he will be a success.

Andd maybe he is too friendly and brotherly with the players, he needs to use both the carrot and the stick.

[p_maldini_3]

Has Dr. Seedorf misdiagnosed Milan’s symptoms?
By Eurosport | Pitchside Europe – 1 hour 21 minutes ago

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pit ... 41521.html

When Clarence Seedorf returned to Milanello two months ago, he claimed to have the anti-virus for the team’s ills. The initial reaction to his treatment was positive.

Brief signs of recovery were discernible. But then Milan’s condition only deteriorated further. It became critical again the weekend before last.

Beaten 4-2 by Parma at San Siro, Milan hadn’t lost by that scoreline in front of their own supporters in 75 years. It was their fourth straight defeat in all competitions. They were 11th with 35 points from 28 games.

To find a worse state of affairs at Milan at this stage of the season you had to go back to 1982, the year they were last relegated.

Protests were held before, during and after the match. A communique issued by the Curva Sud had called on chief executive Adriano Galliani to leave. They’d warned him back in the summer that the defence and midfield required investment, not the attack.

Did he listen? No. He signed Alessandro Matri for €11m, who flopped and is now on loan at Fiorentina.

The ultras asked a number of questions of Galliani. How is it possible, for instance, that he could let another player representative of Milan’s DNA, a strong character in the dressing room, their captain Massimo Ambrosini leave? Why is he offering players like Keisuke Honda and Michael Essien the kind of contracts that might have kept Andrea Pirlo at the club two years ago?

Galliani, the ultras argued, has become too reliant in recruitment on a couple of agents. And whose interests are they acting in? Milan’s or their own? Shouldn’t more effort be put into developing a scouting network?

The criticisms and recommendations made by the Curva were in close alignment with those made by Barbara Berlusconi back in the autumn. Coincidence? Perhaps. But it must be said Galliani wasn’t the sole focus of their derision.

Apart from Riccardo Montolivo [the captain], Daniele Bonera, Christian Abbiati, Kaka, Ignazio Abate, Mattia de Sciglio, Nigel de Jong, Andrea Poli and Giampaolo Pazzini, all of whom are “true professionals” according to the Curva, the conduct of the rest of the squad isn’t befitting that expected of a Milan player.

Far from it. Instead it is composed of “a host of useless overpaid players whose first thought is to posting idiotic pictures of themselves on social media [i.e Balotelli and Kevin Constant] and about booking a table for themselves at a nightclub.”

Following the Parma game and not for the first time this season, Seedorf and a delegation of players met Milan’s ultra chiefs to offer explanations and reassurances. One of the most famous and longstanding among them, il Barone, Giancarlo Capelli, would go on local TV in the week and made a quite sensational claim.

Capelli alleged that soon after Seedorf had taken the Milan job he had told the ultras he didn’t want “three quarters” of the players in the squad.

A denial was forthcoming from Seedorf in Saturday’s pre-match press conference, not that many of the journalists were convinced by it. Why? Because many agreed with the assessment.

Discussing Milan’s problems in La Gazzetta dello Sport a week ago, Paolo Maldini didn’t “blame Clarence” for them:

“Logically he can’t be experienced. He has great courage and personality, but not even Guardiola could do anything about it. [Milan’s] objectives lack clarity. Maybe they could have appointed a more conservative coach to get to the end of the season and then [brought in Seedorf] to allow him to start next year well. [Instead by doing it] this way there’s the risk you burn him.”

And Seedorf is getting burnt by the experience. Last Thursday Gazzetta claimed owner Silvio Berlusconi had given him “seven days” to save his job.

A summit had been held at his Arcore residence attended by Galliani, Barbara Berlusconi and according to conflicting reports Montolivo and Abbiati. Their alleged presence, which was also later denied, added to speculation that the dressing room is divided on Seedorf.

Players have apparently complained about the system or lack thereof. Some haven’t appreciated their deployment out of position either. His decision to disregard the hierarchy and give Philippe Mexes the captain’s armband against Napoli was supposedly met with disillusion.

As have been the exceptions, the excuses, the preferential treatment he has given to Mario Balotelli, which was something his former Manchester City team-mates begrudged Roberto Mancini for.

Blaming his predecessor Massimiliano Allegri hasn’t gone down well, either.

There have been gaffes. Allegedly five minutes late for training after Milan’s defeat to Atletico in Madrid, one paper close to the Berlusconi family also claimed Seedorf had sent Hernan Crespo to ‘spy’ on his former club Parma only for their director of sport Pietro Leonardi to hear about it and tell Roberto Donadoni to change the time of his training session.

“Frankly I don’t know what went on,” Donadoni said, “but I’ll say this: if Seedorf needed some info on Parma he could have called me on the phone. I’ve no secrets to hide.”

Whatever you make of the above, Milanello, it seems, has sprung several leaks. The good ship Seedorf has taken on a lot of water, but it didn’t sink on Sunday.

A 1-1 draw at Lazio led Gazzetta to proclaim him “safe [for now].”Balotelli incidentally started on the bench.

The question is: was it a response to dressing room disgruntlement at his recent behaviour or a decision, as Seedorf indicated, based on form and tactics given his stated opinion that Pazzini’s a striker with the characteristics Lazio defenders struggle with?

That’s up for debate and it of course remains to be seen how Milan line up away at Fiorentina Wednesday night.

The consensus is Seedorf will be kept on providing they don’t get embarrassed at the Artemio Franchi. And even in that scenario you suspect Milan would be reluctant to part company with him not least because it will be expensive.

The contract they gave Seedorf is for two and a half years. Breaking it off would hurt, particularly considering the financial circumstances at Milan and their forecasted absence from Europe next season.

It’s a problem of their own making. Milan have asked an inexperienced swimmer to throw himself in at the deep end knowing he doesn’t have all the badges.

Seedorf, backing himself as he has always done, didn’t shy from taking the plunge even while the wave machine was well and truly on. He should have hesitated.

“In my opinion he has made two mistakes,” wrote Gianni Mura in La Repubblica. “He has trusted in his own ability too much and also in Berlusconi who must have given him the impression that the situation is less prickly than it really is.”

Milan remain in a real tangle. And more than straighten things out the fear is that they will tear and come apart at the seams again between now and the end of the season.

James Horncastle

[RomaShield27]

Clarence Seedorf Hardly to Blame for AC Milan's Problems
http://www.beinsports.tv/news/article/1 ... s-problems

Clarence Seedorf's job has been saved for now, but Milan's problems run much deeper and stem from bigger, institutional decisions.
Clarence Seedorf and Kaka of Milan

By Colin O'Brien (@ColliOBrien)

Crisis over for Milan? Hardly, but Mario Balotelli's confident display against Fiorentina on Wednesday has granted Clarence Seedorf a stay of reprieve, in the short term, at least.

Seedorf now needs more of the same for the rest of the season. The Rossoneri are currently in 11th, an unthinkable low for one of the most successful clubs in the world. They need to finish the campaign strongly—and then Silvio Berlusconi needs to back his manager during the summer, because this team needs a complete overhaul.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Seedorf commended his players for the win and took the opportunity to lash out at those he feels have been spreading falsehoods about him and the team.

“There's been a lot of lies said and written about us recently,” said the Dutchman. “I don't want to say what, but those who are responsible will have to answer to their own conscience. Mine is clean, and I can look everyone in the eye. I'm concentrated on the best for Milan, not these falsities.”

Perhaps Seedorf is right. The rumours flying around, that Berlusconi was preparing to fire him, were just that: rumours. But there's rarely smoke without fire in these situations, and anyway, the simple fact that people would believe such gossip so quickly should be extremely worrying for the 37-year-old manager.

Milan need change, and not on the bench. They gave a reasonable performance in their draw against Lazio and were worth their win against Vincenzo Montella's Viola, but this is still the same side that lost so embarrassingly to Sassuolo. Massimiliano Allegri wasn't the only man to blame for that performance; a lot of the squad is simply not up to scratch and there need to be major changes this summer.

The players aren't solely to blame, either, because they're just doing their jobs. If a player performs to the best of his ability, but is still unable to play consistently at the level that a huge club such as Milan requires, then he can't be blamed for the shortcoming. Culpability for that lays squarely with whoever hired him in the first place.

Those in charge need to take a good look at themselves, rather than heaping the blame for this sorry situation on the coach they hand-picked and convinced to retire early from his playing career. All that hassle can't be simply so that he could return to Milan to ruin his reputation at the club and damage his standing in the game by taking the fall for their incompetence.

Perhaps the most obvious example of that ineptness is Alessandro Matri, who was woeful up front for Fiorentina against the Rossoneri. He looked like someone who'd be lucky to get a game for a small club in Serie A. But remarkably he's still a Milan player—one that they paid €11 million for last summer, despite there being plenty of evidence that he isn't good enough for a top club. Then after starting him just six times, they decided to loan him out.

This is the same club that, three years ago, decided that renewing Andrea Pirlo's contract would be bad business, and the same club that said it couldn't afford to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Thiago Silva. If the people making decisions were a little more careful with their money, perhaps Pirlo or Silva might still be at the San Siro.

It might sound harsh, but it's no exaggeration to say that less than half the current squad is at the level they should be to play for one of Italy's—and Europe's—great clubs. On top of that, they've got an enormous amount of players out on loan, or on co-ownership. That's not the players' fault, or the manager's—that's down to the Berlusconi family and Adriano Galliani.

The squad needs both trimming and serious improvement. The manager needs support, and the ownership needs to commit to a long-term strategy that involves more than blaming and sacking managers.

Things are bad when someone like Paolo Maldini, a Milan legend who won six Scudetti and five European Cups during his 24-year career at the club, turn on you. Which is just what he did. In a recent interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, the former defender hit out at the board, accusing them of running the club without any plan and destroying the beautiful history that players like him had worked so hard to build. He said he was angry and disappointed. He has cause to be.

And he's not the only one.

[San Paolo]

How did we manage to only concede one last night?! Glad Honda got his first league goal for the club, hopefully that will settle some nerves and help him start to play a more consistent game. We need to sign Rami and Taarabt up too, they were both immense last night.

[p_maldini_3]

Taraabt is someone we've been missing for awhile, somebody who can beat their man with dribbling. He's the best on the team in that regard. The real question is if he is the best we can do?

[vtec]

man that pirlo guy is having a good season. milan should sign him

[p_maldini_3]

since the winter break, we've collected the third most amount of points, behind only to juve and roma.

not bad, clarence. not bad.

[San Paolo]

Anybody read Pirlo's book yet? He's quite complimentary about us apart from Mr. Bic who you get the feeling he loathes with a passion.

[San Paolo]

One up front just doesn't work. It was like watching the Juve game all over again. We play okay but not threatening, they break and score right before halftime with one of their few chances, we come out determined in the second half and they score again from nothing, we give up.

[Lupa]

I didn't see the first half, but the descriptions I read didn't sound like Milan "played okay but not threatening". It sounded like small team tactics. There was a time it seemed like a big deal for Roma to beat Milan, but not this year. Milan are just another mediocre club. You need to get rid of Silvio to be significant again.

[p_maldini_3]

We need to get rid of galliani. Now we are considering the sales of de sciglio and the pharoah to keep matri? What a fucking joke, while keeping 40 players on the first team payroll...