[han2503]

What do you think our first 11 should look like? Here are the 27 gems you have to pick from:

Goalkeepers:


1. Christian Abbiati
2. Gianluigi Donnarumma
3. Diego Lopez
   
   Defenders:
   
   
4. Cristian Zapata
5. Alex
6. Alessio Romagnoli
7. Philippe Mexes
8. Rodrigo Ely
9. Luca Antonelli
10. Ignazio Abate
11. Mattia De Sciglio
    
    Midfielders:
    
    
12. Nigel De Jong
13. Giacomo Bonaventura
14. Andrea Bertolacci
15. Andrea Poli
16. Riccardo Montolivo
17. Antonio Nocerino
18. Jose Mauri
19. Juraj Kucka
    
    Attackers:
    
    
20. Suso
21. Jeremy Menez
22. Keisuke Honda
23. Alessio Cerci
24. Luiz Adriano
25. Carlos Bacca
26. Mbaye Niang
27. Mario Balotelli

[han2503]

Berto nowhere near as good as Poli? You make it sound like Poli is Marchisio. And if Romagnoli is mediocre, then he's better than Alex who's just plain terrible.

If we're going 4-3-1-2, then my picks would be:

Lopez
Abate - Mexes - Romagnoli - MDS
Montolivo - De Jong - Bertolacci
Bonaventura
Bacca - Adriano

Though if Montolivo continues his crap form, then I'd swap him for Bona and play Menez as AM. No Kucka, Poli or Nocerino please. They add absolutely nothing.

Agreed on the line-up, I'd probably try Balo over Adriano though

As for Bona in the midfield, I don't think it's a good idea when you have Berto on the other side of De Jong, it creates the type of scenario we saw against Fiorentina and that's just asking for it.

If Monto is utter horse sh!t (IF) given the chance, than Kucka would be my pick for that other slot in midfield, he's better than either Poli or Nocerino

Also, to those wanting Poli to start, let's not forget that he's the type of player that runs like a headless chicken for the entire game and gets burned out fast, he should only be used as a sub, just like Nocerino who should only be used as an emergency sub.

Also, I think we should seriously give Honda a try as a Mezzala if Miha has completely shunned Monto out of the side. I think he'd be decent there, and some of his biggest weaknesses won't be as exposed as they are in the trequartista position

I think that's probably the best possible XI but I'm intrigued by the possibility of playing Balo in the treq slot and Bonnaventura in the midfield over Bertolacci.

Nah, I don't think Balo should be used as a trequartista, that causes too much of an imbalance and leaves our already fragile midfield too exposed. Best way to go imo would be to go for 4 mids, all of which capable of dropping back and being dynamic in how they approach the game. That's why I think Bona is the best option there. He can easily drop back into midfield and help out defensively while also being a decent extra man in attack to help out the strikers.

I'm not anti-Romag, I've just been unimpressed. He has not played like a 20M defender. Nothing like it. Soon as he does I'll joyously bound around the room regaling his virtues.

But let's not lie and say he's done anything worthy of note.

Going for Zapata and Alex instead of Mexes and Romagnoli is a bit of a stretch. Zapata is a huge liability. He's careless on the ball and prone to mistakes, especially when he doesn't have someone solid next to him. And Alex has proven to be far from solid during the summer and from what I read on boards was also a bit of a horror show in the Mantova friendly on Friday as well. Why insist on 2 players who each seem to be carrying a mistake in them during each game? Especially when you could go for a much simpler and easier solution in Mexes and Romagnoli?

Sure, sure, Mexes is a risk because of his temperament, but as I said to you before, statistically he's not the red card magnet you paint him out to be, with only one straight red during his entire time at Milan and 3 overall.