[han2503]

Who: A.C. Fiorentina vs. A.C. Milan



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/milan-Fiorentina_zpspz9xtyv0.png)



Where: Stadio Artemio Franchi



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/Artemio%20Franchi_zpsmidogfkn.png)



When:
23rd August 2015 @ 8:45pm CET


Head-to-Head Record



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/Milan-Fiorentina%20Stats_zpslqyj5fpj.png)

[acid911]

Bring it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/devil.gif) First real Milan match that I'm interested in watching, in years!

[William405]

Great job. <3

Excited to see what we will look like. Of-course there is this feeling that we're not ready yet, but the season has to start!

[Forza Milan!]

I have a brother and a future son in law that are both Fiorentina fans, and they both appear rather worried about the state of their team. In any case, we will get to see how good we really are ...

Forza Milan!

[Danny]

Early team predictions from the major outlets:

Lopez, MDS, Ely, Romagnoli, Antonelli, De Jong, Bertolacci, Bonaventura, Honda, Bacca, Adriano.

In case anyone hadn't noticed, Mexes, Alex, Paletta, Zapata - none are now in favour at central defence. Roma and Ely are our first choice defensive partnership.

This post has been edited by Danny: Aug 21 2015, 10:55 PM

[Danny]

PS whoever captains this one is our captain. Also, if no one had noticed, Monto's been completely ditched.

[Fillipo Simone]

Comments han?

Anyway, does anyone know anything more about Fiorentina? How did they do in the mercato and what's their teams strength?

[maldini03]

Of those names I would say that NDJ would get the armband. No Abate for the start of the season? I would make him the captain of all of the players we have at the moment, he and NDJ are a few of our players with the propensity to lead. Is he injured or Miha just prefers MDS

[Fillipo Simone]

So Miha is what, the 3rd coach in a row fielding MDS first as a RB? I wonder if he'll transfer him to the left again like the others did. Very funny.

[Danny]

So Miha is what, the 3rd coach in a row fielding MDS first as a RB? I wonder if he'll transfer him to the left again like the others did. Very funny.

That one is reported as 50/50. It's either Abate or MDS at RB, and most outlets have guessed at MDS.

[han2503]

I have a brother and a future son in law that are both Fiorentina fans, and they both appear rather worried about the state of their team. In any case, we will get to see how good we really are ...

Forza Milan!

Any details on Fiorentina? Haven't really followed them this summer. Anyone knows how there pre-season was? Who did they sign? Aside from loaning Gomez to some Turkish side I don't know much else about what's been going on with them

Early team predictions from the major outlets:

Lopez, MDS, Ely, Romagnoli, Antonelli, De Jong, Bertolacci, Bonaventura, Honda, Bacca, Adriano.

In case anyone hadn't noticed, Mexes, Alex, Paletta, Zapata - none are now in favour at central defence. Roma and Ely are our first choice defensive partnership.

More or less what we've been seeing so far as the most likely starters.

I think Mexes was going to be the first choice next to Romagnoli but so far Ely has done enough imo to be ahead of him. What worries me with that CB due is they're both very experienced. Don't know, we'll see how things go tomorrow night. First real test for them. Really hoping this could be a pairing for the future. Not to mention DS next to them who's been looking much better this pre-season than he did all of last. So we could have Italy's future defence right there seeing as Abate still has a good few years left.

Mexes and Zapata for me would be very good options as a back up pairing as well (in the event that Ely-Romagnoli duo works out) with Paletta being the alternate for either (thinking Alex will be the one sold)

All I'm hoping for in the defence is that we don't see a merry-go-round like we did last season, especially with the 2 CBs.

Would personally prefer Abate and DS to start at FB instead of Antonelli but that's just a personal preference for me

PS whoever captains this one is our captain. Also, if no one had noticed, Monto's been completely ditched.

Still hoping Abate takes it tbh and it doesn't look like he's starting though. But De Jong is definitely the best candidate after him.

And yeah, Monto seems to be completely out of Miha's plans. I personally didn't see that coming even if I did know that they had issues with each other at Fiorentina. But seeing as he was Milan captain I thought he'd still have a spot as a starter, even if it is a begrudging one from Miha. But it looks like he's been given carte blanch from the management.

So Miha is what, the 3rd coach in a row fielding MDS first as a RB? I wonder if he'll transfer him to the left again like the others did. Very funny.

I personally prefer him on the left. and I'd prefer Abate starting instead of Antonelli. Also, in pre-season when Abate came on DS was always on the left. So I'm guessing Miha sees it this way to.

My guess is that this choice mostly comes from Abate's fitness issues. He's had some sort of a knock in each game he started this pre-season and he was also out injured for a couple of weeks after having to come off in one of the games (can't remember which one).

Continuity is important, but once Abate is fully fit I'd really like to see an Abate-Ely-Romagnoli-DS back 4 being the go-to defence for us and Miha sticks with it as much as he can

[Danny]

It just shows Miha's not p*ssing about.

I don't rate Honda but his weak displays are not down to attitude - he just isn't very good. But right now he's the only treq we have so Miha's stuck with him.

Monto's sh*ttery though is down to a combination of attitude and not being good enough - and we have better players than him in both aspects. Miha's more ruthless than predicted and I'm delighted that he's being cuthroat like this.

Not a single player in that starting XI is undeserving in terms of attitude. Whereas guys like Menez, Monto et al were.

[han2503]

It just shows Miha's not p*ssing about.

I don't rate Honda but his weak displays are not down to attitude - he just isn't very good. But right now he's the only treq we have so Miha's stuck with him.

Monto's sh*ttery though is down to a combination of attitude and not being good enough - and we have better players than him in both aspects. Miha's more ruthless than predicted and I'm delighted that he's being cuthroat like this.

Not a single player in that starting XI is undeserving in terms of attitude. Whereas guys like Menez, Monto et al were.

Menez is a different case though, he's still not completely recovered from his back problems and was in France last week to see his doctor.

And Menez considering he was the reason we were even 10th last season for me deserves it, even if he is a selfish little sh!t most of the time. I think Adriano and Bacca will have trouble playing next to each other in the long run. And with our squad as is, the only solution is Menez

Also, with Monto I don't think it had anything to do with attitude, but fitness. He's looked like a player who's 38 years old last season and this pre-season. He looks tired, slow and unfit. I don't think that has anything to do with attitude though, we've never heard anything about Monto being a slacker. At least not that I can ever recall.

[Fillipo Simone]

But han, you were convinced Monto would be a sure starter, it was us who told you he won't. Now, fitness, effort or overall quality, I don't know, but he's been benched and I think (hope) it's permanent.

[d'Arc.LP]

Ive been checking our merkato on daily basis and I started to get more interested about Milan last weeks. So Ill probably watch this match. We have 5-6 new players in our starting line up so I hope Mihajlovic can compose the team in that way that we dont need half of the season in order for the players to get used to play with each other.

I dont know what to think, theoretically we should have a decent start, but it all depends on how the players understand each other.