AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[The MAN]

[vtec]

yeah, i am telling you that. ronaldinho is static when he doesn't have the ball. robinho, too. neither player does any work without the ball. seedorf is not much better, although he is, but he is the slowest of them all. what this team needs are players who are willing to run off the ball. pippo exemplifies this quality; we need more like him. as much as i hated him, we really could use a player like nedved in his prime.

[The MAN]

I think Ronaldiho was playing shit over the weekend, offensively speaking, but the only reason I didn't go off on him is beccase the Ronaldinho I saw vs Genoa had a high workrate and was tracking back,,,not usual for him I agree but maybe a new trend. Even Robinho was doing that,

We need to attack and play our game and not be scared like chickens. Dinho specially and to a lesser degree Robinho, his mere presence alone can unsettle many defenders out there. Again I raise the issue of width...the 2 are naturally effective players out wide, and we have many other central...that and the fact that I just do not see the point of dropping your most talented player (Dinho), unless all others are firing on all cylinders, which clearly isnt the case

[San Paolo]

[San Paolo]

Ajax - Milan: Key Battles

Jan Vertonghen v Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Vertonghen was suspended for Ajax's opening game against Real Madrid on Matchday One and the Dutch giants were a mess at the back. The centre-back is back for the match against Milan and he will be pencilled in to smother the threat of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 23-year-old is one of the strongest and capable defenders in Dutch football and his calibre will be put to the test against one of the finest strikers in Europe.

Ibrahimovic has been Milan's best player for the past three or four matches and was on target twice against Auxerre at the San Siro. The Sweden international is not always in the match but his deft touch, innate ability to read the game and genius will come into good use to unlock Ajax's defence. The tall stature of the former Juventus and Inter striker could also come in handy, even though Vertonghen (as well as Alderweireld) is tall too.

Vurnon Anita v Robinho

Anita is a good player but he is arguably a weak link in what is quite a strong and capable Ajax backline. The 21-year-old scored an own goal against Madrid at the Bernabeu but on Tuesday evening he will have to be on top of his game. Anita can be adventurous and tends to leave space at the back - against Milan the Netherlands international must be aware of the threat of Robinho down his flank.If Robinho hasn't been firing on all cylinders for Milan since being signed from Manchester City in the summer, then it is because he hasn't play that many minutes. The Brazilian has not always started from the first minute but against Ajax he could be unleashed right away. Robinho rejuvenated himself at Santos in the second half of 2009-10 and the former Real Madrid man will be aiming to make the best of what he gets in these early stages of the season.

Siem De Jong v Andrea Pirlo

This could be a direct head-to-head battle if Jol plays a flat 4-3-3 system and puts De Jong in centre-midfield. However, since Eyong Enoh is fit again, De Jong will be played further up the field. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old will be expected to nullify the threat of Andrea Pirlo from time to time by his own creativity and passes. Some have compared him to Wesley Sneijder and De Jong will try to put on an all-round performance against Milan.

Ajax have a sensational attack line and for Milan to neutralise that they will need to be the better side in the midfield. With Gennaro Gattuso likely to miss out because of injury, the bulk of the responsibility for anchoring the midfield will fall on Pirlo.

The deep-lying playmaker will have to be at his smart best as he will be hounded by the more agile and younger De Jong. But the Italy international is more experienced, especially in European football and his intelligence could be crucial in frustrating De Jong.

Luis Suarez v Thiago Silva

Luis Suarez is one of the best and most prolific strikers in European football and he will provide a stern test for Milan's fragile and yet-to-fully-convince defence. The Uruguay international can score from virtually every position and is a very tricky player to mark. He also possesses the ability to create chances for his team-mates.

Thiago Silva will be up against Luis Suarez and the highly rated Brazil international centre-back will be aiming to stop the Uruguayan from getting into his rhythm. Milan's full-backs pose problems and are weak; along with Nesta, Thiago Silva will have to strengthen the back-line and condense space so that the likes of Suarez are unable to move freely and create much danger.

[San Paolo]

[San Paolo]

MILAN – Marco Van Basten visited the Milan camp in Amsterdam this morning. He also had a chat with Pippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, before having lunch with the Rossoneri, sitting at the table of Milan’s coaching staff. Adriano Galliani, after meeting the Swan of Utrecht, took part in the official pre-game banquet along with the Ajax management.
======================================================
Whats MVB doing these days? does he work for Ajax in some capacity?

[Carlo Romano]

Greg, that guy is one of my all time footballing heroes. Marco was "The Man" in his time with Milan.

What a lot of people outside Italy aren't aware of is the way he was living in a twilight world after injury prematurely ended his playing days. It took him well over a year to come to terms with that fact and he would regularly appear almost like a ghostly apparition at Milanello, couldn't keep away.

Finally someone took pity on him and gave him a temporary position advising/helping train the primavera squad until he finally got his act together and returned home to Holland.

[San Paolo]

yeah they still have a banner out in the San Siro for him that says "Marco Unico", the video of him on youtube saying goodbye and clapping the fans is so touching, even Don Fabio was sat on the bench crying at Marco saying goodbye.

[The MAN]

Ajax: Stekelenburg; Van Der Wiel, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Anita; Enoh, S De Jong, De Zeeuw; Suarez, El Hamdaoui, Emanuelson
Ajax bench: Verhoeven, Sulejmani, Eriksen, Ooijer, Lindgren, Oleguer, Jozefzoon

Milan: Abbiati; Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini; Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini; Seedorf; Robinho, Ibrahimovic
Milan bench: Amelia, Inzaghi, Jankulovski, Abate, Bonera, Boateng, Ronaldinho

[The MAN]

I'm not in favour of benching Ronnie but the trident fielded is alright, looks like Seedorf will play as trequartista behind 2 strikers. The problem is, when you combine this trio with the midfield being used, we might have problems on the offensive side....dont think theres enough width...would've preferred Boateng instead of Rino, now this will be a much more balanced lineup...lets see what happens

Forza Milan

[vtec]

rino played very well on saturday, but i would have preferred boateng as well

[The MAN]

Rino played well but hes likely tired for this one. I hope he doesn't run out gas quickly but I'm afraid he might.

[vtec]

anyone with a link to the game? those assholes at adthe have hotlinked the arsenal game instead

[vtec]

fuck. suarez skinned nesta there

[vtec]

fucking robinho.

seedorf is playing like crap but he creates one piece of magic, and that bum drifts it wide on a one-on-one

[vtec]

our fullbacks just aren't milan material. when will we do something about that? zambrotta was world class 8 years ago, but a shadow of his former self now

[vtec]

robinho has been the most disappointing player of the half

[vtec]

and i think seedorf was offside on that goal

[The MAN]

OK, the lineup was not very good, I knew it and I think after the first half we can see why. No width, our midfield is too passive to take hold of the game.

This is too defensive a lineup, too narrow. We've done well to get ourselves back into the game, 1-0 @ HT would've really boosted Ajax so it's good we're level...but I hope Allegri makes the adjustments needed.

I thought Seedorf did OK so far...the problem is with the fucking idiot Robinho, how the fuck do u miss that chance???? Ajax is not a good team defending, and what do we do? We fucking sit back and let the take the initiative and rely on counters. We've really sliced their defence open at ease and at will, it's just that we haven't done it enough.

We really should go for the kill and take the game to them. The first move has to be Ronaldinho for Robinho (anybody mentioning the 2 again in the same breath will get my wrath lol) and change the system back to 4-3-3...with Ronaldinho, we can carve up their defence even more. The second move has to be Boateng for Rino. Our midfield stamp it's authority and with Rino we're basically just content to sit back.

We can get this game won,