At least we avoided group A. This one it very hard though. As soon as Atalanta managed to get the bottom of the group halves, I knew we were in trouble. But well... it was always expected to go this way.

Btw. shouldn't we open up a CL thread as well?

No man, no. We don't have the personnel to pull this one out. Rebić is as inefficient as Leao with that formation. And a 3 man defense is something you train day and night before you implement. Just remember how Montella failed.

Inter won 1-3 against Verona with two goals from Correa.

They might have lost Lukaku upfront, but now they have so much options and versatility with Lautaro, Correa, Dzeko and Sanchez. And I read they're after a fifth striker as well.

Meanwhile we got 40 years old Zlatan who's more injured than fit, 35 years old Giroud who's scored a meagre 21 goals in his last 4 Premier League seasons, and some kid who's played a total of 23 games in the last 4 years due to injuries. Good to know.

On another note, Capanoglu was the worst on the pitch.

Inter lost 3 huge elements from last season but they still have a very good side imo. Probably level with Juve now that C. Ron is gone.

What I do think though is that they will miss that edge that Conte gave them over the course of the season and it will be felt. The top spots will be very tight this season.

It's very worrying for us as 2 spots will surely go to Inter and Juve.

We'll have to fight tooth and nail to get one of the remaining 2 spots. Roma are going to have a bigger say this season imo, and Atalanta will not go quietly into the night. That's why we have to be out of the gates as quick as we were last season. The great start gave us a cushion for when things started going sideways.

Btw, reading that Pioli could start Krunic again tomorrow...

If he does that I'm seriously going to start questioning his f@cking eye sight let alone his judgment.

He was waxing lyrical about him in the press conference. Either he's hyping him up because we want to sell or he's blind. The guy has no business starting games for us and when I think about the potentially precarious situation we have in the AM position with him being the direct alternative to Diaz, I get stomach pains...

I'll give you the point on Leao that he faded out of the game

Look I think when it comes to him we have to have patience because the management invested heavily in him so they clearly believe in him. If he has a good season, which I think he will, it's all the better for us as his price will increase.

I do think that he will make the step up. He just needs to focus more during the game


Uhhhh

Don't mention Ibra and Giroud starting in the same formation again pls!!

F@cking suicide mission!

Some sources have Krunic starting, some have Bennacer. I think Krunic will start only and if only Bennacer is still not fully fit, which didn't look like it against Sampdoria as he was vivid and full of energy.

As for Pioli spending good words on Krunic, he was answering a question by some journalist, who asked him "Krunic played well against Sampdoria, can he be the extra man Milan need this season?", which is an insanely stupid question to ask and I really want to pummel the idiot who asked it. Of course Pioli would respond saying Krunic is a reliable player yada yada. What else was he supposed to say? Talk smack about his own players?

Juve lost yesterday... Against Empoli!


Talk about an opportunity to really compete this season! And we're forfeiting because we miss 2 quality attacking mids that would make us serious Scudetto challengers...

What a bitter taste in the mouth

We can compete. It's all about who we sign the next few days, how does he integrate, how long Ibra stays injury free...there are lots of things that can factor during the season.

Watched the whole match, Juve were appalling. Such a disorganised side, no ideas whatsoever. And now that they've lost Ronaldo who secured them 30 goals per season they're really going to struggle big time unless Allegri works some magic which I highly doubt.

Lazio have been impressive thus far. 9 goals in the first two games, saw the highlights vs Spezia and their combinations were fantastic. Maybe they'll turn out the big surprise this year with Sarri.

Atalanta have been completely underwhelming. 0-0 at home vs Bologna and last week they only won at the 93rd minute.

Yeah Lazio were pretty impressive. I think Sarri is a good fit, and they could outcompete Atalanta. We'll see how consistent they are though!

Agree William, re lots of factors playing into it. But it's going to be very difficult this year. The issue with Serie A is that the bottom half are walkovers while the top half is very competitive. So you have to be inch perfect against the smaller sides while being able to win 60% of the big match ups imo.

And imo this squad is 2 quality players away from being able to compete with Inter, but sadly we're not going to make these moves happen

Top 4 is going to be a big fight imo


I agree re the Roman clubs. Lazio will be ups and downs imo. They don't have it in them to go the entire stretch as they have a pretty thin squad. If we had any sort of budget, this would have been the year to push for Milenkovic-Savic. He'd be a perfect Hakan replacement imo. But sadly we're acting like a mid-table club on the transfer market and would neven even attempt to go for a big player, which is disheartening.

Roma with Mourinho we'll have to see how they fair. But they will be better than they were last season for sure.

I think we'll start to see Atalanta slowly fade away. Gasperini has squeezed all he can out of that squad and with losing players each window, the house of cards won't hold up for much longer.


Allegri playing Danilo as a regista and McKennie as an AM with no recognisable CF in the squad is laughable, and reminded me of when he used to play Urby as an AM (PTSD episode incoming). He could really be exposed for the fraud he is this season

Re Milinikovic-Savic: the guy is a CM, I don't see how he could have been Hakan's replacement. And he has a market value of 70M and a contract expiring in 2024. I have better chances of dating Margot Robbie than us signing him anytime soon.

I don't see any big teams coming in for him so that market value is very questionable

And he can play a more advanced position, he just doesn't do it at Lazio because of Luis Alberto

Anyway, it's moot as we'd never even attempt to go for a big signing. We're struggling to raise offers above 10m at this point (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

So you're right the chances would be the same as you landing Morgot (we're on a first name basis). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) But I mentioned him because I was trying to make a point. That even after getting CL, we're still acting like a bunch of beggars and annoying other clubs. It just p!sses me off so much, and to see Maldini having to do it makes it even worse for me because he should be given complete trust by this management

Leonardo f@cked us over, but Paolo's work speaks for itself

Official line-up same as last week. Krunic again. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)