[il_diavolo_mtl]

Hm, maybe Rino won't play at all due to his injury in the derby.

Play merkel (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) ?

[han2503]

dont expect robinho to start there, Had cassano been available then yes but him suspended i dont think that will happen although I do like the diamond midfield we can keep rotating it a lot as well

I agree that he shouldn't play there against Fiorentina, to give us an option from the bench, but on other occasion that shoud be the starting midfield imo

[CrazyMilanFan]

I agree that he shouldn't play there against Fiorentina, to give us an option from the bench, but on other occasion that shoud be the starting midfield imo

+1

[CHU-LIP]

@ Chu's long post (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

In regards to Boateng, when he plays in the Am position he's both a part of the attack and the midfield, he has his position to hold, he still needs to be in the attacking third or the attackers get stranded. I agree that we should have 4 mids, and if Robinho is playing behind the strikers he forms part of that midfield.

As for the 2 DM issue, I stand by what I say, we essesntially have DMs that don't really have any skill on the ball, so obviously the midfield becomes stagnant with so many packed in there, at one point we were playing with 3, so after 45 minutes of trying to go through that god awful midfield and failing over and over again, the long balls to Ibra ensue.

A Diamon midfield of

V.Bommel
Boateng--Pirlo
Robinho

Is the best midfield we could put out there and would produce our best football without loosing our defensive balance

Boateng is good at both AM and in deeper midfield. Even if you're right he's better in deeper midfield, we have no one who is as good as option as Boateng is as AM, nor close to it. While we do have plenty of non-AM midfield options. Robinho I don't find as good as Boateng as AM option, but I have to say Robinho is the best option for that when it comes to forwards because of his energy, work rate, pace, dropping back, building up, linking up, and so.

I prefer:
Robinho, Pato(vs good teams who gives us space)/Zlatan(vs weak teams that park the bus against us)*
Boateng
Pirlo or Seedorf, Van Bommel or Ambrosini, Gattuso or Flamini
Zambrotta, Thiago Silva, Nesta, Abate
Abbiati

Oh and I forgot to say, I agree about 3 DM's being too much... but I'm okay with two DM's

*or Pato and Zlatan up front - if anything, hard to choose who to bench of them... very, very tough decision

This post has been edited by CHU-LIP: Apr 5 2011, 09:10 PM

[Jack Bauer]

I agree with CHU-LIP. Till we buy better AM, Boateng is better there than Robinho. With Boateng there, we don't have huge gaps between midfield and attack and the linkage is much better.

[Fillipo Simone]

I agree that he shouldn't play there against Fiorentina, to give us an option from the bench, but on other occasion that shoud be the starting midfield imo

+1

[X-Offender]

I'd be tempted to rest one of Nesta or Silva but I'd let caution prevail (omg I'm starting to think like Allegri (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) ) and still start 'em. But taking a gamble and letting Yepes play in Nesta's place would also be nice.

Why in the name of the good lord would you rest Nesta or Silva? We play only one game per week now, there's plenty of time to rest for everyone. If one or both of them should rest, that's against Palermo in Coppa Italia, not against friggin' Fiorentina in friggin' Serie A!!!

Sorry for the rant, but sometimes I find certain comments very peculiar.

I agree with CHU-LIP. Till we buy better AM, Boateng is better there than Robinho. With Boateng there, we don't have huge gaps between midfield and attack and the linkage is much better.

+1

[il_diavolo_mtl]

Why in the name of the good lord would you rest Nesta or Silva? We play only one game per week now, there's plenty of time to rest for everyone. If one or both of them should rest, that's against Palermo in Coppa Italia, not against friggin' Fiorentina in friggin' Serie A!!!

+1

[TriniKing_CE]

+2

[Zed.D]

+3 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I think we're overrating the importance of players getting a rest a little bit. when we had to play two games a week, yes, maybe Nesta because of his age and physical condition needed to rest sometimes. but that's about it. Silva is a young beast with great physical condition, he's one of the last ones on our team who needs to "rest".

[Jack Sparrow]

Can't say Zed. There's also the mental burnout of it.

[han2503]

Boateng is good at both AM and in deeper midfield. Even if you're right he's better in deeper midfield, we have no one who is as good as option as Boateng is as AM, nor close to it. While we do have plenty of non-AM midfield options. Robinho I don't find as good as Boateng as AM option, but I have to say Robinho is the best option for that when it comes to forwards because of his energy, work rate, pace, dropping back, building up, linking up, and so.

I prefer:
Robinho, Pato(vs good teams who gives us space)/Zlatan(vs weak teams that park the bus against us)*
Boateng
Pirlo or Seedorf, Van Bommel or Ambrosini, Gattuso or Flamini
Zambrotta, Thiago Silva, Nesta, Abate
Abbiati

Oh and I forgot to say, I agree about 3 DM's being too much... but I'm okay with two DM's

*or Pato and Zlatan up front - if anything, hard to choose who to bench of them... very, very tough decision

I think both line-ups depend on the opposition imo.

As for the 2DMs, I think it depends on who we're playing, against a top team 2 are needed, against run of the mill Serie A sides where it is much more difficuilt to break them down due to their defensive set-up, Van Bommel is enough

Oh, as for resting players, we've just come off a 2 weeks break FFS! And the players have had an entire weeks rest between games for a while now! Don't see any reason as to why we shouldn't play the best team possible in all the upcoming games, especially considering the importance of all of them and getting max points out of them

[Zed.D]

Can't say Zed. There's also the mental burnout of it.

I don't think resting really helps "mental burnout". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) there should be psychiatrists for that.

[CHU-LIP]

I think both line-ups depend on the opposition imo.

As for the 2DMs, I think it depends on who we're playing, against a top team 2 are needed, against run of the mill Serie A sides where it is much more difficuilt to break them down due to their defensive set-up, Van Bommel is enough

Oh, as for resting players, we've just come off a 2 weeks break FFS! And the players have had an entire weeks rest between games for a while now! Don't see any reason as to why we shouldn't play the best team possible in all the upcoming games, especially considering the importance of all of them and getting max points out of them

Obviously the opponent matters. Against stronger teams 2 DMs are needed and 4 mids also, so Boateng as AM. Against smaller teams 2 DMs / 4 mids may not be necessary (so then Robinho as AM could be an option)*, and Zlatan will be needed unlike in big games where I think we are better with Robinho and Pato in front of Boateng.

*but only if the third forward (AM) is Robinho, while all of Cassano, Pato and Zlatan can't do what Robinho can do. Robinho comes the closest to a midfielder from them all. But I've said this before, so I kept this short.

This post has been edited by CHU-LIP: Apr 6 2011, 01:10 PM

[X-Offender]

Can't say Zed. There's also the mental burnout of it.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)