Only just realised the game's today. Any reason why it's a Friday game?

You confuse a good passer with a good AM. If we play with Cassano at AM, we play with 3 fwd's, a 4-3-3 it will turn out to be on the pitch. It will make our midfield only weaker, and our midfield is already our weakest area.

at kurt: cuz of CL / Barça

This post has been edited by CHU-LIP: Sep 9 2011, 03:04 PM

Because we have a CL game (that too against one of the "giants" Barcelona) coming up on the 13th. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Simple!

We started playing with Boateng as AM before VB arrived and it worked better than Robingo there. The 4-3-3 wasn't a good fit at the beginning of last season. Aquilani and Seedorf are better in the left side.

I don't mind playing Boateng on the right but we gotta get a real AM first. Now that we have aslo Nocerino, I think Allegri will player either him or Rino at the right almost all the time. He won't bench both of them for Boateng and go back to Cassano/Robinho as AM. Next season it might be different if Rino leaves and a real AM arrives.

I'm curious to see how we would play with Nocerino in the lene up. He should push Rino out of the starting 11.

This post has been edited by Jack Bauer: Sep 9 2011, 03:20 PM

Surprising. I could see them pushing it to a Saturday, but Friday seems a bit much. Let's hope it works..


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

Yeah, well I couldn't have asked for a much tougher opening schedule, really. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) Lazio, Barcelona and then Napoli, holy mamma of all things good in this world. We can potentially lose all three matches.

Well, few Serie A matches used to be played Friday evenings, a long time ago (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

We weren't comparing an AM to a good passer, we were talking about keeping posession, and to do that you need someone who will know what to do with the ball once he gets it. Boateng is not the smartest midfielder we have, sure he does well at making the insertions, but he can do that from a deeper spot.

The main point was possession, and having a midfield containing all 3 of VB, Rino and Boateng won't help that.

Like I said, the AM could be anyone from Cassano, Aqui or Robinho. It really doesn't matter to me. Our right side is basically being wasted by playing that runner. And we'll see the true result of this not this weekend, or even in Serie A, but in the CL, and that could be as soon as next Tuesday when we face Barca. That could be one loooooooooooooooooooong @ss night


We were doing badly at the beginning of the season because Allegri had to somehow fit in all of Seedorf, Pirlo, Dinho, Zlatan and Pato into a starting 11 and then make room for Robs as well. Boateng only started playing there around the xmas break IIRC, maybe a couple of weeks before that.

My point is that we really started to find our true identity on the pitch once we had VB. Because we didn't have to depend on a useless Rino running aimlessly or Ambro anymore. He brought stability to the midfield and covered the defence amazingly well. Boateng could have still done all that he did from where Rino played and helped out the midfield 3 more then Rino ever did.

Yes we don't have a pure AM, and that should have been addressed this summer, I agree. But Aquilani played that position, Cassano as well, Seedorf also, and then there is Robinho. All of these 4 would support the 2 upfront better imo. Boateng does not provide the incisive pass to the strikers and that's why we sometimes struggle. Have you watched Cassano for Italy lately? He's amazing at supporting the frontman, some of the balls he feeds Rossi or the runners from midfield are amazing.

Anyways, you have a point about Nocerino, the thing that mostly irritates me is having a shadow on the right, and we tend to get vulnerable on that side, which is ironic really considering that the right side should be our stronest since we play a pure creative player on the left...

All said and done, my problem is Allegri's fixation with playing Gattuso. fOr God's sake, even a basketball fan can see that Rino and Ambro is about the worst midfield pairing in Europe's top football. It is lethargic, dead and dull.

Thank you!!

I agree with a lot of what's being said here but I really like the potential of a midfield shaped as follows.
MVB
Nocerino Aqua
KPB
For me I would have this as the base defensive structure to take advantage of Boa's high energy for pressuring teams father up the pitch. This will be especially helpful against Barcelona since their CBs like to move the ball a lot. Between MVB and Nocerino the midfield should be pretty tight defensively. Offensively I love Boa's speed for potential counters again especially important against Barcelona since we may have limited time on the ball. When we are in a standard offensive position Boa and Aqua can switch so Aqua's creativity and good long distance shot are closer to the net. We could even switch to kind of 4-2-2-2 sometimes where Aqua moves up next to Boa and we depend on our DMs to stifle potential counters. But like you have said, above all, no more Gattuso. He isn't capable of holding strong for an entire 90.

This post has been edited by milanbuf88: Sep 9 2011, 06:11 PM

MILAN: Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Aquilani, Boateng, Ibrahimovic, Cassano.
LAZIO: Bizzarri, Konko, Biava, Dias, Zauri, Ledesma, Brocchi, Cisse, Hernanes, Mauri, Klose.

These are the official line-ups, Gattuso and Ambrosini pairing in the centre (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

Worst fears realized. Ambrosini and Gattuso in midfield. Here's to hoping the ball gets played down the left...ALOT.

Well, okay, let's accept it and move on to see what it will result.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has already scored 5 goals vs Lazio in Serie A, including his first for AC Milan last season.