Hey guys, back from a trip.

Seeing the developments about Higuain p!ssed me right off. I mean, why even sign if he was reluctant to begin with? Piatek will most likely be the guy brought in, I'm not that excited about it, if he can keep up his Genoa numbers that would be great but he just doesn't give me that kind of impression of being a big game player capable of making the mark in a big team with big ambitions.

It's not like Higuain has been scoring a lot either but he does bring in that extra confidence level that I can't see Piratek doing


As for Paqueta, he's looked impressive so far, he definitely has the confidence to be starting, showed great character in the Juve game as well.

Also, I think some of you are going a bit overboard with criticizing Rino. He hasn't had a fully fit squad since the first month of the season but still has managed to keep results relatively stable. We played the Juve game without any of our big attacking threats and still managed to create some good chances while also keeping the result respectable when we went down to 10 men. Add to that the wholly BS refereeing that went down as has been the case for the last 5 or so games we've played against Juve where we got screwed over in some way or the other and you just have to give respect to these players and the coach as well

Are you watching Han? Tell me, when was the last time Milan played so dull and consistently bad football?

we did win. i think 2nd half was an improvement over the first

Yes I am, and let me think.... The last decade or so fits that bill, only we weren't even getting half decent results then, which we are now.

You know, you can criticize Rino as much as you'd like but facts are facts, we're in 4th after 20 games played all while having some serious injury issues and a relatively small squad especially in terms of quality off the bench which is pretty much non-existent

Add to that he had to deal with his marquee player being mentally checked out since November

All in all, he's done a damn fine job if you ask me. What do you guys really expect? That's we'd be on par with Napoli? We knew the problems we had going into the season. The only real disappointment so far was the EL exit, but in the long run it could prove helpful for us

As for the football in general, I think we've played much worse stuff under Allegri, Montella and Pippo. We still manage to create nice plays in the majority of the games but generally lack the quality on the final ball. hat being said, Rino might not have made us beautiful to watch, but he's definitely made us difficult to beat, if Leonardo and Maldini can give him the 2 players we need in the attack that can give us that extra spark and added quality than the nice looking football will follow from there

On another note, I'm really impressed with Paqueta, this kid approaches the game with such style and quality, I'm really looking forward to seeing more of him

So, we're 4th after 20 games played. When was the last time that happened?

No idea. But the majority of Milan fans, and this is not an observation of just this forum, are still complaining about Rino...

With that all being said, we have a ridiculous schedule coming up, Napoli, Napoli, Roma within a span of a few days, thankfully we're recovering some of our injured players, but we might not still be in 4th after these game are played

Conti will also be a major boost for us, already 2 assists in around 120 minutes of football played since coming back

Yeah, all in all, I think I agree with you han. I was quick to criticize Gattuso but it seems he has sorted things out. I think having Higuain out will be a good long run decision. To be honest, I never much liked him, always thought he failed to show up in the big games. He was never a good fit here where we need someone to work to take us back. Higuain needs the team to play for him and I think he upset the atmosphere we have under Gattuso.

The next few games are a good test for us. If we can manage 4 points from those two games with Napoli and Roma we might be looking good. I still have my eye on the transfer window though I think we will bring someone else in on top of Piatek.

Perhaps. I do understand that the situation Rino got himself into isn't easy to deal with. But we had injury crisis like this under Allegri as well. Only our expectations were higher, and granted, our team better. Yet who said anything about being on pair with Napoli? But we are unable to be on pair with Lazio or Roma as well.

Yes, results are momentarily good. But we had a golden opportunity in December when Lazio and Roma were in crisis and Inter also started shaking to take a grittier approach and win points against the likes of Torino, Bologna, etc. But we never found an ounce of strength to show some face. Just like last season when the team simply disappeared on the first real European test against Arsenal, or like we hit numerous times self-destruct in important games - we caved. I really do not believe Rino can stir us to 4th place and the temporarily good position is just that - temporal. Soon we'll find ourselves back in 6th or 7th.



Conti has been very good I must admit, just what we needed. Hopefully he can maintain this form.

Agreed about Higuain. I still don't understand why he even agreed to the move if he wasn't willing to do the work it takes when you join a team who are going through a rebuilding phase. Such a complete lack of character


Yes, we had an injury crises with Allegri, and what happened? We conceded the Scudetto to Juve while having the best team in the league by a good margin, and it wasn't a team that was lacking in resources be any stretch of the imagination either, we had a a deep squad that Allegri could use, the same cannot be said now.

As for not taking advantage of the crises, yes it is disappointing, but you have to take into consideration that we have been in our very own crises since September with all the injuries we had to deal with, and this is not Alegri's Milan, if a player like Bona, Biglia or Suso go down, we have no alternatives that would allow us to still maintain the same level of quality without them in the starting 11. We've at least been lucky that Bakayoko has recovered his form and has been producing great performances since Biglia's been out or our crises would have been much worse, and I attribute Bakayoko's retun to form in part to Rino as well.

Look I'm not someone who's blind to Rino's faults (which mostly are due to his lack of experience), would I still like a Conte or Klopp? Of coure, but those guys are unrealistic, and given all the challenges Rino has faced, you simply cannot deny that he's done a commendable job. And I think if we can give him the backing he has so far deserved, he'll continue to grow and improve as a coach and we'll reap those benefits.

Also I said Napoli because that's where we should be aspiring to in the short term, I already think we're on par with Roma and Lazio now, and as for where we'll finish, we'll see, we're lucky because the majority of our difficult fixtures are all clumped in the coming weeks, so we'll be able to get those out of the way and re-assess after that. Hopefully we can make 1 more signing and bring the winger we need in and it will give us that added push.

Don't know who watched the Napoli game, but there were definitely some positives to take away, Paqueta is such an interesting player, major potential in him, he plays with a level of confidence that you rarely see in players his age coming from outside the league. There are definitely things he needs to cut out, like holding on to the ball too long in tight areas and going for the risky pass in dangerous areas but that's something that can be coached out of him

Piantek looks good as well, certainly looks to be more than just a poacher. He looks to be a powerful runner, good with his back to goal and on link up play and has great positioning. This obviously from the little I've seen of him so far. It's also a relief to have a player who so clearly wants to be on this team and not feeling like the other players are tip toeing around him because he's the "star"

If only we can get that winger in. We're linked with Carrasco and now Deulofeu as well, and honestly, I'd take the latter. He'll be cheap and he's a known quantity to us. And I think his characteristics are exactly what we need to make our trident complete. Obviously Carrasco would be great but he's harder to get plus much more expensive

Anyway, overall it was a good game I thought. I'll take a point off Napoli any day of the week, the Roma game is what will be crucial

Piatek (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

2 0 both goals from out new boy

And another one today.

We drew but i think its a missed opportunity for us