[Tennie]

(IMG:http://i36.tinypic.com/1401lu.jpg)

Milan play Lecce in the first matchday of the new season.

EDIT: Here is Gazzetta's projected Starting XI:

4-3-3
Abbiati
Papastathopoulos Nesta Thiago Silva Antonini
Ambrosini Pirlo Seedorf
Pato Borriello Ronaldinho

[Bluesummers]

Game Info:

Sunday

August 29 2010

20:45 CET

San Siro

[X-Offender]

Why does Allegri insist on playing Pirlo and Seedorf together?

Abbiati
Zambrotta - Nesta - T. Silva - Antonini
Boateng - Pirlo - Ambrosini
Pato - Borriello - Ronaldinho

This is how we should always play.

[d'Arc.LP]

Why does Allegri insist on playing Pirlo and Seedorf together?

Abbiati
Zambrotta - Nesta - T. Silva - Antonini
Boateng - Pirlo - Ambrosini
Pato - Borriello - Ronaldinho

This is how we should always play.

I say we should play like this :

Abbiati
Zambrotta - Nesta - T. Silva - Antonini
Flamini - Pirlo - Ambrosini
Pato - Borriello - Ronaldinho

Ibrahimovic instead of Borriello if he's signing today (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[servbot]

I won't be around to see this (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

But it's because I'll be on vacation in Las Vegas (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Tennie]

Don't do anything Fishdoll wouldn't do, servbot! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Dracoris]

Don't do anything Fishdoll wouldn't do, servbot! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

That gives him a very wide range of things to do...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[amancik]

My prediction:

Milan 2 - 0 Lecce
Pato, Borriello

[Tennie]

(from acmilan.com's english page. yay for new in-house translators!) link

ALE TRAINS WITH THE TEAM

Training at Milanello two days before the team’s match against Lecce on Sunday, at 20.45 CET, at San Siro. Today Pato resumed training with the rest of the squad.


MILAN – Milan trained from 17.30 CET on the reduced-sized pitch at Milanello today, as part of the preparation for the team’s championship opener, to be played on Sunday, at 20.45 CET, at the San Siro. The good news was Alexandre Pato’s return to full training.

Today’s practice started with exercises focusing on ball possession, that saw the participation of Gianluca Zambrotta and Rino Gattuso (who already went through all the drills in yesterday’s training) as well.

The squad then played a series of matches where the players were divided into four teams on two different areas of the pitch.
Uruguayan youngster Bruno Montelongo followed a personalised programme today.

The practice finished at around 19.00 CET, with a series of tactical drills on one half of the pitch, 11 against 11 overseen by Coach Massimiliano Allegri.

The team’s final training session before Sunday’s match is scheduled for tomorrow, at 17.00 CET.

[X-Offender]

No reports on Flamini? Sportmediaset claims he won't be called due to some injury.

[MizNelson]

Egad, the first game of the season and someone's ALREADY predicting a clean sheet.

[Bluesummers]

Egad, the first game of the season and someone's ALREADY predicting a clean sheet.

dont worry, abbiati is overrated enough. He'll def get the clean sheet.

This post has been edited by Bluesummers: Aug 27 2010, 11:20 PM

[Bluesummers]

Lecce call ups:

Donati Giuliatto, Gustavo, Sini, Reginiussen, Bergougnoux, Munari, Crow, Mesbah, Ferrario, Giacomazzi, Plates, Vives, Grossmuller, Rosati, Chevanton, Brivio, Benassi, Bertolacci.

[d'Arc.LP]

MILANELLO – The quotes from Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri’s press conference, one day before the Rossoneri’s match against Lecce:

ABOUT THE GAME AGAINST LECCE
“We need a good start in the championship. Lecce is a team full of enthusiasm, as they just returned to Serie A and definitely want to make a good impression against a team of Milan’s calibre. As for us, we have the right motivation to start with a victory, otherwise we’ll be in trouble.”

ABOUT THE TEAM’S PREPARATION
“The team trained very well this summer. The players showed willingness to work together. We still need to raise our level of fitness, but the important thing right now is winning tomorrow’s game, seeing that we haven’t had much success in this period.”

ON THE SUMMER FRIENDLIES
“Against Arsenal we had a lot of shots on goal, just like against Juve. We need to do better in front of goal, but for example, also our midfielders can find themselves in position to shoot. Our attackers have to be more decisive, but I’m sure they’ll do better. In any case, I believe that in our summer friendlies we had enough shots on goal.”

THE COACH’S ASSESSMENT OF HIS FIRST TWO MONTHS AT MILAN
“I feel good, even though I’m not a big fan of press conferences, but they have to be conducted also because one have to show respect for other people’s work. Here, at Milanello, I found an ideal environment to work, the team showed willingness in training, everything is in place for us to do well. We have good players, who won a lot also on the international scene, this is obvious. In the meantime, I also discovered their personal side, and in my opinion this is a fundamental thing.”

ON THE INDIVIDUALS
"Pato is doing well, therefore he will be available for selection tomorrow. We have all the players available, with the exceptions of Flamini and Oddo. The roster for the game will be made public after today’s training session.
Inzaghi? He’s an important player and regardless of his qualities, he always plays with the enthusiasm of a youngster. He provides a great example for our young players who need to learn to take to the field with the right attitude.”

ON IBRAHIMOVIC
“If president Berlusconi acquires Ibrahimovic, we’’ll be all happy, because he’s a champion, who would complete our very strong attacking department. As for the administrative issues, the club will take care of them. I can only say, seeing that it’s almost official, that if Ibrahimovic arrived, he would be welcome and we would be very satisfied. The players and I, however, have to think about tomorrow’s match, this is our priority right now. Maybe we’ll celebrate Zlatan’s arrival with a victory. But even without Ibrahimovic, Milan have a roster good enough to fight for the league title. The Swedish striker is a player every coach dreams of, with his physical and technical characteristics he would fit in well with our pool of attackers.”

ON THE FORWARDS
“I haven’t thought yet about the possibilities in attack in case Ibrahimovic arrives. Borriello? He is an outstanding player, he demonstrated it last season, too. In any case, everyone will have his opportunity during the course of the season.”

ON THE MIDFIELDERS
“The composition of our midfield depends on the single matches. Boateng is a player who runs a lot, but also Seedorf works well for the team. When all the players show their availability, it’s easier to do well.”

ON THE INTERNATIONAL BREAK
“The break may interrupt our preparation, however it will give us an extra week to train, this time without our international players. In the end, in order to work in a good atmosphere we need to win our games before the break. We’ll have our first match tomorrow, and we all want to do well.”

ON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW
“Milan’s group is a fascinating one, especially the Milan-Real Madrid match-up. Our first game, against Auxerre, won’t be easy, as the French are ahead of us in terms of fitness and also played in the Champions League preliminaries.”

ON INTER
“Obviously, Inter are the favourites for the league title, also because they have won four trophies this year. So it’s normal to consider them favourites, but then, every season is different. There are too many factors that can play a role in deciding who wins and who loses. The Nerazzurri remain the favourites, but in football invincible teams don’t exist.”

source acmilan.com

This post has been edited by d'Arc.LP: Aug 28 2010, 05:05 PM

[Tennie]

call ups (from acmilan.com)

MILAN-LECCE: I CONVOCATI ROSSONERI
28/08/2010
MILANO - Questo l'elenco dei 20 rossoneri convocati dal tecnico Massimiliano Allegri per la sfida di domani sera contro il Lecce:
PORTIERI: Abbiati, Amelia, Roma;
DIFENSORI: Antonini, Bonera, Nesta, Papastathopoulos, Thiago Silva,
CENTROCAMPISTI: Abate, Ambrosini, Boateng, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Strasser,
ATTACCANTI: Borriello, Inzaghi, Oduamadi, Pato, Ronaldinho.
Indisponibili: Oddo, Flamini.
Non convocati: Jankulovski, Kaladze, Onyewu, Zambrotta, Yepes, Huntelaar.

No Huntelaar. Bit of a surprise.