[han2503]

A must win for us in this group. Winning here will put us at a great advantage to reach the last 16 if Barca beat Celtic.

[kurtsimonw]

Odds on Bojan scoring? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[han2503]

Odds on Bojan scoring? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

So much for your theory (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Milan injury boost for Ajax

Stephan El Shaarawy and Riccardo Montolivo will be fit for Milan’s trip to Ajax, but Bojan Krkic is ruled out.

The Rossoneri will play at the Amsterdam Arena in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

“For Ajax we will have Montolivo and El Shaarawy back at our disposal,” said Massimiliano Allegri in his Press conference after a 1-0 Serie A win over Sampdoria.

“They haven’t played for a while, so I will have to evaluate their fitness levels when deciding how long they can play.”

Mario Balotelli will be available, as his three-match ban for insulting the referee only applies to Serie A.

Meanwhile, Ajax will be without former Rossoneri striker Krkic, who pulled his hamstring after just four minutes of a 6-0 victory over Go Ahead Eagles on Saturday.

Milan won the opening Champions League tie 2-0 against Celtic, so top Group H alongside Barcelona, who crushed Ajax 4-0.

They are still missing Kaka, Daniele Bonera, Matias Silvestre, Mattia De Sciglio, Giampaolo Pazzini and Riccardo Saponara.

Allegri was bullish when confronting the critics who say Milan’s performances have been worse than their results so far this season.

“Often the form of a team is evaluated only by the results, but with Napoli we just got the first six minutes wrong, while against Bologna we could’ve gone 2-0 up straight after Andrea Poli’s goal.

“Against Sampdoria we played well up until the edge of their box, then got the final ball wrong, but still created eight scoring opportunities.

“I am very satisfied with the performance of the team and the style of football.”

Bojan is out, SES and Monto are back

I think this will be really interesting to see what Allegri does now that these players are back in regards to Poli and Matri

Robinho and Birsa have both played well so I'm wondering what he'll choose to do with the attack. If he continues to insist on Matri when he has so many versatile options available in attack, especially for this game with Balo also available

My ideal front 3 for this would be

El Shaa--Balotelli
Robinho

I think it could give us a glimpse of how that would work when Kaka is back as well. It has the potential to be a very fluid and creative front line

Same thing with Poli now that Monto is back. Will he drop Poli and go for the conservative root and play Monto only or will he go for a more bolder approach and play both of them thus giving the team a much more fluid midfield with an anchor (De Jong), regista (Monto) and mezzala (Poli)

I think this will be Allegri's true test. Having all the options and seeing what he does with them

[X-Offender]

Benching Poli now that Monto is back would be asinine. Poli is a runner, he tackles and covers large spaces. He's a much better defensive option than Muntari. It's just that now that Monto is back he will have to be a bit more conservative in regards to going forward. Obviously Monto-NDJ-Poli is the best midfield we can possibly field.

As for attack, I'm not sure whether I would play El Shaa from the start. I'd still go with Matri and Balo, and either Binho or Birsa behind them.

[kurtsimonw]

Obviously Monto-NDJ-Poli is the best midfield we can possibly field.

Yeah.

[han2503]

Benching Poli now that Monto is back would be asinine. Poli is a runner, he tackles and covers large spaces. He's a much better defensive option than Muntari. It's just that now that Monto is back he will have to be a bit more conservative in regards to going forward. Obviously Monto-NDJ-Poli is the best midfield we can possibly field.

As for attack, I'm not sure whether I would play El Shaa from the start. I'd still go with Matri and Balo, and either Binho or Birsa behind them.

May I ask in all seriousness why you would still go for Matri?? He absolutely stunk up the place these last few games he's been given the opportunity to start

[X-Offender]

May I ask in all seriousness why you would still go for Matri?? He absolutely stunk up the place these last few games he's been given the opportunity to start

Because SES can't play the full 90 minutes yet. Maybe Birsa and Binho behind Balo would be another solution we could opt for.

[han2503]

Because SES can't play the full 90 minutes yet. Maybe Birsa and Binho behind Balo would be another solution we could opt for.

I'd rather the second option than starting Matri again. We already know that he'll most likely start against Juve, let's limit the painful viewing as much as we can

[Fillipo Simone]

Knowing Milan under Allegri, this could be a slightly nicer match to watch.

[X-Offender]

According to Mediaset, Montolivo and Poli are competing for a starting spot against Ajax. Allegri sees them as alternatives. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[acid911]

Why wouldn't he? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif)

[han2503]

According to Mediaset, Montolivo and Poli are competing for a starting spot against Ajax. Allegri sees them as alternatives. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

What have I been saying for weeks now?

Allegri was, is and always will be our biggest problem. He has the potential to play a pretty great trio in midfield yet he wants to drop one in order to play
Muntari or Nocerino

[Linkman]

It's a very italian point of view. He won't play two creative midfielders, he needs a defensive one as well.

Perhaps what I'd like to see see Monto or Poli as trequartista, with Robi-Balo upfront, SES coming in for Robi at half-time. What we will see though is... Birsa behind Matri-Balo, Robbie coming in at the 60 minute mark for Birsa, SES at the 80 minute mark for Matri.

In midfield, I reckon it's gonna be Noce or Muntari with NDJ and Poli, and Monto coming in for Poli at the 70 minute mark.

[han2503]

It's a very italian point of view. He won't play two creative midfielders, he needs a defensive one as well.

Perhaps what I'd like to see see Monto or Poli as trequartista, with Robi-Balo upfront, SES coming in for Robi at half-time. What we will see though is... Birsa behind Matri-Balo, Robbie coming in at the 60 minute mark for Birsa, SES at the 80 minute mark for Matri.

In midfield, I reckon it's gonna be Noce or Muntari with NDJ and Poli, and Monto coming in for Poli at the 70 minute mark.

He already has a defensive mid in De Jong

And at this point to call Muntari - especially - a DM would be a massive overstatement as he's more a defensive liability not to mention an offensive one. He does absolutely nothing during the game but jog and shoot at people in row Z.

[drucurl]

(IMG:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BVY8Wh0CUAEx_Qh.jpg)

No Poli ....lots of Muntari (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

This post has been edited by drucurl: Sep 30 2013, 02:32 PM