Who is gonna be our left back?? :-/

Maybe VB will start and get subbed off if we're somehow winning by the 60th. I'm really not looking forward to seeing a Rino-Ambro combo...

@ Jack, I think we might see Bonera on the left since every LB we have is injured (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Great. Ok...and thus we shall begin our campaign on a not so good note!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Now it's funny, but in a few hours this place will be full of "****** Bonera" etc.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) So true

Well this is mediaset's lineup

Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, T. Silva, Antonini; Gattuso, Ambrosini, Aquilani; K. P. Boateng; Cassano, Ibrahimovic

Still insisting on the Rino Ambro duo. Oh my. Allegri will obviously go with this... Why not push Boateng back and let Cassano play behind Ibra and Pato? His fixation with the 2DM system, especially 2 DMs that have been poorer then poor in the last few years, has gotten to the point of ridiculous

antonini defintely ahead of bonera (bonera at LB makes me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/puke.gif) )... nocerino-ambro-aqualani/KPB (both can play behind stiker or at CM) ..

What makes you think Cassano is a good fit at AM? Cassano plays excellent for both Milan and Azzurri as forward (along Rossi or a Milan striker like Ibrahimovic). Unlike players like Kevin-Prince, Cassano is not a midfielder and Cassano lacks the immense energy plus workrate Robinho has to make up for that. When exactly has Cassano played as AM behind two forwards anyway?

He's more of a creative outlet then Boateng ever is. Cassano has played that position multiple times for the Azzuri in the past, Samp, etc. Also Boateng is not an AM, and I'd rather have Cassano who might not track back, then a ghost on that right side (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I believe our AM tracking back is one of the key things in Allegri's formation. An AM should not only be just creative. With Aquilani we got creativity elsewhere in midfield, and in attack there's also creativity.

But I don't think his creativity, Boatengs that is, will suffice. Long term speaking. And also, to me it's a complete nonsense. The AM has to track back because you have two invalid DM's fielded; that's Allegri's system. If it were two proper DM's, the AM would naturally be more free, but since it's Ambro and Rino together, yes, it's the Allegri system.

I don't think it's a matter of how many DMs and how good, but having four mids playing being an advantage.

Boateng as AM worked well for us last season, much better than Cassano/Robinho there. We won't play them there unless we have an injury crisis or are are behind during the match. Anyway, it will be less of an issue after Aquilani and Nocerino will settle in.

We need Boateng working his @ss off because we've got an almost-man on the right, also note that things started going well for us, regardless of where Boateng played, when VB was brought in. Boateng has nothing to do with stability. Had we continued to play with Ambro and Rino there we wouldn't have done so well in the second part of the season. Boateng will still do a top notch job of covering the midfield from a deeper position, him playing behind the strikers is unnecassary, and imo, he does not provide the creative support that our strikers need.


Completely agreed with you


It's a huge issue. The right sided DM shouldn't be there, and Allegri tops it off by playing a combative player behind the strikers instead of a creative player. VB is more then enough, play Boateng in his natural position and a proper AM and we'll see some really good things this season, but Allegri seems dead set on it. In Serie A we might be able to bulldoze over some sides, mostly thanks to Zlatan. But in Europe we need more, we need too keep possesion, control the tempo, etc. And we won't be able to do this with Rino in that midfield and a player like Boateng supporting the strikers.

Imo, this is Allegri's real test, Serie A has gotten stronger after last season, and he has to do better then the humiliation of last season in Europe. I don't care about last season, that is done. Like Filippo says, this will be the season that determines whether he's a Zaccheroni or Ancelotti


The most significant aspect of last season was VB, not where Boateng played. We were lucky to get out of jams such as the Chievo games thanks to individual brilliance from our strikers. Boateng does not provide the support our strikers should have. And playing Rino on the right is useless, especially when there is a much better player in Boateng who can play there and we have different options for the AM position.

Robinho, Cassano, Aquilani or Seedorf can all play that position and support Pato and Zlatan better, while Boateng is sill putting a lot of hard work from deeper

That is exactly why 4 mids is better than 3 mids. So I don't get why you then prefer Cassano over Kevin.

Cassano is probably 1 of the top 5 passers in our team, and I don't specifcally prefer him, it could be Robinho or Aquilani there. I don't prefer them over Kevin, I prefer them over Rino. And that is the biggest issue in our midfield. Rino.