AC Milan general spiel

[marco]

[RobHood]

[vtec]

GREAT REACTION
10/25/2007 12:44:00 AM
In the dressing room, after the match, there is joy and satisfaction. But everyone knows it will be important to do well in the league too, for that reason Adriano Galliani and Carlo Ancelotti suggest it's better to keep their feet on the ground.

- ADRIANO GALLIANI
Just after the match Adriano Galliani stopped to talk about the match with a large smile on his face. He began by talking about the difference between playing in Italy and in European competitions: "Playing in the Champions League is different. All teams play and let play. But everyone is free to interpret football like they want. It's certainly a pleasure to watch games like this one." He then went on to talk about Kaká's performance: "This is a fact: it's almost impossible to imagine Kaká being able to make runs like the one he made tonight in an Italian league match."
There was great support from the Milan fans tonight, as Galliani acknowledges: "Tonight the crowd reminded me of the one in Athens. It means it's still fresh in their memories, as it is in the club's."
He then continued to talk about the match: "We could have had 10 goals, but we are happy like this, also because on Sunday our mood could change again. I am happy for Kalac, because he did well, but let's not forget that with Dida we reached 3 finals in 5 years."

- CARLO ANCELOTTI
The coach is overjoyed, after the victory and the performance of the team: "I knew we would have a strong reaction, because I know this group well. Now we have to repeat this performance, even though it won't be easy. There are many components that determine the outcome of a match. Scoring quickly, for example, is very important. Then there's the psychological aspect, the physical and the athletic one. Not all matches can be played with the same mentality. That's human. Now it will be important to find the right key to start winning again in the league. And if other teams close down we will have to be stronger. It's inevitable that in Europe we have an advantage, because foreign teams play more attacking football." On the singular players, particularly Kaká, Gilardino, and Dida-Kalac, he said: "Tonight Kaká did well. Saturday he was given a medal for his 200 matches with Milan and I stole it from him as a joke. As soon as he arrived at Milan I did not waste any time letting him play. He deserved it and still does. Gila, meanwhile, always took a while before unblocking himself. This is always the case, but then his performances also improve. I'm also happy about Kalac's display, because he silenced a few critics tonight. But I still maintain faith in Dida."


no way. in kalac we trust.

[vtec]

HERE'S THE FEROCITY
10/24/2007 11:45:00 PM
They were looking for it and they got it. The team wanted it strongly and found it: the victory. Against Shakhtar Donetsk found back the 3 points in the Champions League and goes back on top of the table. Braces for Seedorf and Gilardino.

90 enjoyable minutes. Carlo Ancelotti's team strongly wanted the 3 points, they wanted to get back to winning... and they did. There were many chances created by this evening's protagonists; not all of them were converted, but the percentage was raised by two braces: Gilardino's in the first half, and Clarence Seedorf's in the second half.

Carlo Ancelotti played Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze and Favalli in defence (with the left back substituting the injured Jankulovski); the classic midfield with Gennaro, Ambrosini, and Pirlo; the coach also decides to play Gilardino in front with Seedorf and Kaká behind him. The Brazilian was in doubt ahead of the start of this match, but shrugged his knee problems aside and was able to play.
Meanwhile Mircea Lucescu, with a 4-man defence, opted for two strikers, Lucarelli and Brandao. In midfield his Brazilians and Lewandowski as his lynchpin.

The first part of the match is exciting. In the first quarter of an hour, Milan manage to strike twice. In the 6th minute, after a corner kick taken by Pirlo, Gilardino hit the ball with his head and beat his marker to score the first goal, with goalkeeper Pyatov nailed to the ground. Not much later came the second goal. In the 14th minute, Seedorf crossed the ball in for the number 11, who beat his marker once again and put the ball in the top corner of the net, with Pyatov once again standing still. After this, Shakhtar started to create some dangers, but they were all well controlled by Kalac. The big Australian goalkeeper handled himself very well throughout the match, keeping out several dangerous balls.

The second half started with the goal that made it 2-1. After 6 minutes, Lucarelli found his strongly-wanted goal with a header. But the Rossoneri picked themselves up immediately and continued to create dangerous moves.
Kaká seemed especially eager to find the net, but he was frequently denied by the goalkeeper tonight. The most memorable of his moves came when he ran 50 meters with the ball at his feet, only to shoot the ball on the inside of the post. But soon after the third goal did come. Pirlo sent the ball in from the corner flag, nobody got a touch on it in the middle, but Seedorf did and after a good control he slammed the ball in with a diagonal shot from a difficult position. His control was reminiscent of the one against Manchester United in last year's semi-final.
Soon later the Dutchman was a protagonist again, with a fantastic volley from outside the area after Pyatov punched away another corner kick by Pirlo. That goal made it 4-1 and made the stadium erupt.

Now the team have the right confidence to face the national league again, and keep believing in the victory.

seedorf with 2 goals and 1 assist - not too shabby - coming close to the old seedorf we know and love. too bad i didn't have him in my uefa fantasy team.

[vtec]

now, anyone have a link to the download of the game so that i can watch it tomorrow?

[vtec]

good article:

Calcio Debate: Can Milan Win The Champions League Again?

Milan’s form in Serie A may be diabolical but in Europe they still continue to produce some simply breathtaking performances. Carlo Garganese asks whether the Rossoneri can win their eighth Champions League title in Moscow next May…


It has been well-documented but Milan’s recent record in Europe’s premier club competition really is incredible. In the past five seasons, the Rossoneri have won the tournament twice, and reached the final, semi-final and quarter-final on one occasion each.

For the past few years we have heard the same age-old arguments that Milan are too old, they are too slow, their squad is not big enough and so on.

However the Diavoli have continually silenced the so-called football experts with a recent record in the Champions League, which is comparable to any of the former great European sides of the past - the Real Madrid of the 1950s, Inter of the 1960s, the Ajax, Bayern Munich and Liverfekkin'wankscum team’s of the 1970s, and Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan side of the late 1980s.

One former European Cup legend, Graeme Souness, who won three Champions League titles during a glittering playing career, had his say on the matter a few weeks ago.

Whilst a pundit on Sky Sports’ coverage of Celtic vs Milan a fortnight ago, the Scotsman completely wrote off the Rossoneri’s chances of winning this year’s Champions League, branding them as “too oldâ€

[vtec]

Ronaldo To Fans: Please Give Me More Time

Further complications mean it is still unclear when the Brazilian striker will be returning to action, and he is urging fans to remain patient...

Ronaldo has been away from football pitches since the 31st of July, as the former Real Madrid player is currently trying to regain full fitness in order to be available for the team.

However, some fans are starting to lose patience with all the postponements. The Milan striker is begging them to give him more time.

"We are doing well," he said when asked about his recovery. "A recovery is always difficult."

"We are working well, but problems always occur: I just ask my fans to have a bit more patience. I, more than them, have the desire to return to play."

Still, when asked when he will return, Ronaldo could not give a definite date.

"We're close, I hope as soon as possible. But we cannot risk absolutely anything," declared Ronaldo.

Glenn Debattista

[The MAN]

[vtec]

[The MAN]

SERIE A: MILAN'S DECEMBER
10/26/2007 6:22:00 PM
The Lega Calcio has comunicated the schedule for the Serie A matches of December. In this month the Rossoneri will skip two matches due to their involvement in the Club World Cup.

MILAN - The Lega Calcio has comunicated the schedule for the Serie A matches of December.

Here is the programme:

14th MATCHDAY:
Saturday 1 december 2007 - 18.00 - Sampdoria-Reggina
Saturday 1 december 2007 - 20.30 - Milan-Juventus
Sunday 2 december 2007 - 20.30 - Torino-Genoa

15th MATCHDAY:
Sabato 8 december 2007 - 18.00 - Lazio-Catania
Sabato 8 december 2007 - 20.30 - Palermo-Fiorentina
Sunday 9 december - 20.30 - Napoli-Parma
Reggina-Milan is postponed due to the team's involvement in the Club World Cup in Tokyo.

16th MATCHDAY:
Saturday 15 december 2007 - 18.00 - Catania-Udinese
Saturday 15 december 2007 - 20.30 - Lazio-Juventus
Sunday 16 december 2007 - 20.30 - Cagliari-Inter
Milan-Livorno is postponed due to the team's involvement in the Club World Cup in Tokyo.

17th MATCHDAY:
Saturday 22 december 2007 - 18.00 - Genoa-Parma
Saturday 22 december 2007 - 20.30 - Roma-Sampdoria
The derby, Inter-Milan, is confirmed for Sunday 23 december 2007 - 15.00

[The MAN]

So our December will look like this

Sat Dec.1 vs Juve [Serie A], after our start, we need points in every game
Tue Dec.4 vs Celtic [CL], the way i look at it, we'd probably need a result hre to top the group
Thu Dec 13 vs Asian club [WCC] nice 9-day rest before our quest to win the trophy
Sun Dec 16 vs Boca [WCC] should be Milan vs Boca for the world title
Sun Dec 23 vs Inter [Serie A] we get a week break to overcome the jetlag from Japan for the derby

Talk about having a big month!

[arthurfonzarelli]

[p_maldini_3]

damn, chelsea just beat man city 6-0.

man city's defending was so diabolical that even shevchenko scored.

[p_maldini_3]

and damnit to hell, oddo is injured too...

[The MAN]

Forget about Roma missing Totti, we have even bigger injury worries and , without our first choice fullbacks, not mentioning we have been playing with only half our strikers until R99 and Pato can play....now our inability to provide at least one good backup fullback will come to the fore at the worst possible time, we're talking about possibly the most crucial positions in our tactics and yet we neglect them...we're literally screwed without Oddo and Janku, Im not even sure we can create any chances, and worse still Roma's wing play is not something we have dealt well with even with our best fullbacks available

[vtec]

damn, that sucks. man city is my prem team this season, i want to see them in the top 4.

sucks about oddo. how long is he out for? cafu and serginho should make a brave, last stand.

funny things over at dead.com: drucurl saying that, and i paraphrase, everyone knows that quaresma > seedorf and essien >>> gattuso, as if they were universally acknowledged facts. quaresma can't hold a candle up to clarence, and likely never will. he is probably the most one-footed player there is.

[The MAN]

Well they're not even in identical positions, Seedorf is not a winger to begin with, but alas, stupid people are stupid for a reason.....Clarence owns all those fancy wingers and their dads as well, he's a clutch player and a proven match-winner, and has more skills and class than those clowns who entertain crowds but produce nothing but empty flashes

And Essien> Gattuso, LMAO, i wont even comment on that, oh and Grant> Carletto, Maluoda > Kaka

[The MAN]

I would play Bonera as LB to be honest, Serginho is not even half-ready to start such a big game, when was the last time he played a proper game, probably a year and a half ago. As for Cafu, well he's finished but we can always believe a miracle can happen and see him play like he's interested in playing

[vtec]

what about kaladze as lb and bonera as rb? that would work and might even give us that defensive solidity we could use against roma's scary wings. the only problem with that si that i doubt it has been practiced with enough for the players to be comfortable with.

[The MAN]