Completely agree with this.

The basics of what we were last season are still there which is what's worrying.

I thought we did well in the second half, but PSV were playing a very open game which helped in that. Fitness wise we look good though considering it was our first game and they managed to not only keep up with a team that had played 5 competitive matches but also managed to start to overpower them as the game went on

I still think that based on what I saw in the second half, we'll do the job at home.

I'm not that sure. It also depends on whether Narsingh and Bakkal will be available. Those are the names that can make the difference.

Bakkali, yes, but the other player I don't even remember any of the PSV fans mentioning him in the pre-game when I was browsing around.

Still I feel this was the chance for PSV to really hurt us, we were sitting ducks in those first 30 minutes or so and they didn't take their chances, they took the game to us at their home ground but I think it will be a completely different game at the San Siro, not to mention we'll be in better shape by then as well

Narsingh is a winger, and I'm sure will cause more problems in tandem with Park.

Yes, surely we've got the upper hand now. But I'm not so convinced as you are that everything is going to pass smoothly.

I think it's usually Bakkali and Depay who play on the wing for them (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just going off of what I read) so it would most likely be Bakkali instead of Park with the rest being the same.

And obviously, it won't go smoothly, when have things ever gone smoothly for us under Allegri? Especially in the CL!

Our away form under him has been simply atrocious, so personally I see it as a good sign that we got the away leg out of the way and came back with a good result. But based on what I saw and how PSV play, I think we'll get through in the second leg. The players will be in better physical shape, they'll have better match sharpness, we'll be at home where I think PSV's kids' lack of experience will show even more than it did yesterday.

..It has come to this...fans nowadays are happy with a draw and consider it a good result..poor Milan..

It is a good result no matter how you look at it.

No man, a president shouldn't be saying stuff like that. Fiorentina have been constantly pulling inappropriate comments over the past three months. They are so butthurt over us grabbing Montolivo for free and 3rd place, it's getting embarrassing and unbearable.

Technically speak a draw isn't a good result, no, not in the general sense. But this is a 2 legged tie in the CL. So in this context a draw is a good result. You take back home the away goal, it's not a 0-0 draw which could be dangerous. Which is why I think that all in all it's a good result.

Remember how we became CL experts under Carlo, imo no one could master a 2 legged tie like Carlo while at Milan. And this strategy was a big part of it. When we had the first leg away we usually were successful in the tie

Yeah a score draw is basically a win. Now PSV have to come to the San Siro and attack us or they're out, it's ideal for us.

Welll... they are younger, faster, fitter, more technical and playing at home in a 2-legged tie..... I wouldn't look too far into the meta or macro reasons for being pleased, but it really is situational...

This post has been edited by il_diavolo_mtl: Aug 21 2013, 05:21 PM

Rewatching the game (for a second time) i have my points to make

-Rekik could have gotten sent off for 2-3 very violent tackles in the back of players, especially considering how soft some of our yellows were (minus Muntari's stupid yolo tackle).

-I credit the entire defence with having, for the most part, kept very dangerous PSV moves outside of the box. Abate played well for his first game back. Emanuelson played a good 2-way game and proof of that for the first 30 minutes or so they kept coming through our right flank (and not, as most fans would imagine, the Muntari/Eman axis). From that point on their attacks would either have to do with getting muntari out of position and doubling on Eman (Wijnaldum and Park proved useful) or just giving it to Deepay and hope he unlocked Zapata and/or Abate...which luckily, he didn't. Even Matavz, a major threat domestically, was kept in our CBs pockets.

Our midfield was a tad more confusing as it took a while to get everyone going offensively...
Montolivo had some very good attacks and would be upset with not having taken the shot for 1-2 of them but for the most part, his passing was very good.

De jong...what more can be said, he has been the best player in the squad. We know all about his amazing ground-level passing range, unwavering tenacity and overall strong demeanor but what really impressed me was his leadership in the defensive half, whether he was translating what the players were saying, telling Muntari to not go off the deep end or just placing players about, I will never know but he was very vocal and was a great surprise at clearing out corners (which i counted 3 of). The fact that he might be the shortest guy on our squad and is getting this job done should speak plenty for his aforementioned tenacity. He seems to be a player we can count on and really on as his previous "badboy" nature has seemingly been curved.

Muntari... where does one start? running around aimlessly while defending? Attempting a bicycle kick with SES wide open next to him? Performing the most eye-soring tackle of the game? ...pffft...take your pick. The fact that we only have co-owned Poli will be an ongoing saga, i assure you. It guarantees we will see alot more of Sulley then Poli. Granted having Muntari protect the LBs can be useful, but i only wish we could set the early tempo of games instead of toughing them out before making an offensive sub, when we've fallen behind...

El Sha...One of the worst games i have ever seen him play, if this is a sign of things to come, i'm terribly disappointed we didn't ship him out for the rumoured fortunes we read about. What gets El Sha his payraise last year is his clinical finishing and fast movements with the ball at his feet. He had anywhere from 3 to 5 very good scoring chances and sent them all off-mark because of anything from lack of concentration, ducking for the possibility of incoming impact (that was nowhere like Serie A grade, if I'm being honest).His most proven position with us so far has been, IMO the defensive winger role he played so brilliantly until he was relied on to consistently put in numbers people thought would only come naturally to the boy. This is a mistake, put him back as a DW and we will have player that tracked back, bridged the mid and the attack, create chances from deep runs into the box and started effective counter moves. If you think i'm being too hard on the lad, that's alright but just seeing him losing the ball while running up the field for what could be very opportunistic counter attacks was well...upsetting. I don't see how the relationship between Mario and Stefan is too grow is Mario gives him goals on a platter and he can't, in turn, convert them....

I suspect Milan will play the "mario is injured" card for long spells in the season for ref pity and to this classless tactic, i suspect we only need to look at management's dealings in the transfer market and it's press releases to get a sense of where the saga-factory is burning coal for this distasteful procedure (and the co-own thing with Poli that will become Aquilani 2.0).

Say what you will about niang,Everyone knows he's still raw, but he's taken this position on the wing with a little more seriousness than SES (who, for what it's worth, will never adapt his game to look more winger-like and Allegri's name will no doubt suffer for it...). He is a physically gifted youngster who wants to get much better (and we're beginning to see what the off-season has done for him) and wants to do so with us. Let the kid play! When we look our worst most of our players get into the "business as usual" body language that drives me up a wall. Niang is, albeit unpolished, a spark that can and will have a much increasing return on investment all the while being at a club he likes and will mature at.
For my money, I still maintain both for these reasons and the stratospheric plummet of Boatang's effort, bother, importance, class and role in the club, M'baye should be getting chances. Obviously it would have been risky to start him (and that's not what i'm saying MUST be done) just given more then 7 minutes when the player he's replacing is injured and invisible (except for the moments when he oversteps with no one around him, shoots and, in turn, makes a fool of himself. I'm beginning to think the worst thing to ever happen to him was that Lecce game...

Hope i didn't leave anything out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

This post has been edited by il_diavolo_mtl: Aug 21 2013, 06:15 PM

Nope, all check. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

well I could have bashed Abbiati, but i'd say a solid performance with one howler is a typical game for him, sadly we wern't able to cover this one up...

mtl, I was nodding along with what you wrote until we reached the parts about SES and Niang.

SES was one of our best players out there yesterday, his movement was top notch, yes, he missed a couple of chances where he could have really went for it instead of showing hesitancy, but aside from that it was a great performance from him. Sharpness in front of goal will come when he's had a few more minutes under his belt imo.

And I'm sorry, but Niang has no business starting games for us. He has talent (hidden somewhere deep inside behind all that foolishness) but he's not ready yet, nowhere near it. He needs to be playing for a smaller team, he needs to be playing consistently, he needs to be away from Mario, he needs to let go of the notion that he's much better than he truly is. Loaning him out should have been the first thing on our to-do list this summer.