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Posted by: han2503 Dec 12 2014, 11:11 AM

Posted by: X-Offender Dec 12 2014, 11:53 AM

Diego Lopez; Bonera, Rami, Mexes, Armero; Montolivo, De Jong, Muntari; Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy

It just gets worse.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 12 2014, 12:21 PM

my, my, my, my, my...

To see Bonera once again in that line-up just says it all

Not even going to get into the Muntari thing, at least if it was Essien it would have been more deserved considering he's played well in his last 2 appearances.

This is obviously Pippo taking the more "conservative" route, as he's done in every game against teams in the top half of the table

Posted by: Danny Dec 12 2014, 04:31 PM

Bonera could masturbate on the centre circle over a picture of Pippo's mum while shitting on a photo of his dad and Pippo would still pick him.

Ah, good, Muntari back.

F*ck off Pippo. There's a good boy.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 12 2014, 06:21 PM

I lol'd loudly at this

Posted by: X-Offender Dec 12 2014, 06:25 PM

I simply cannot understand Pippo anymore. His obsession with the same formation and tactics, when clearly nothing is working, and his unwillingness to drop players who have proved over and over that they're just terrible is becoming obnoxious.

Zapata has been bad in only game this season, Bonera has been crap in almost every game, so why play the latter? Why insist with a dud like Muntari when you have the way more reliable MvG, Poli and Bonaventura in midfield? Why keep going with 4-3-3 when we have no proper wingers? The fact our players are average is one thing, Pippo's stubbornness and complete lack of ideas is another. Oh well...

Also, what's going on with Abate? He has been absent for over a month now.

Posted by: acid911 Dec 12 2014, 11:11 PM

Posted by: Danny Dec 12 2014, 11:35 PM

Rock bottom is when Torres gets recalled.

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 13 2014, 05:43 PM

Here are the 22 players called up to the Milan squad for the match against Napoli: Abbiati, Agazzi, Diego Lopez, Albertazzi, Armero, Bonera, Mexes, Rami, Zaccardo, Zapata, Essien, De Jong, Montolivo, Muntari, Poli, Saponara, Bonaventura, El Shaarawy, Honda, Menez, Pazzini, Torres.

source: acmilan.com

I REALLY REALLY hope we play like this:

------------------Lopez
--Zapata - Mexes - Rami - Armero
-----------------De Jong
------------Montolivo - Poli
---------------Honda
--------------------------El Shaarawy
-------------------Pazzini

Posted by: han2503 Dec 13 2014, 07:51 PM

At this point Pazzo wouldn't be able to score if the net was wide open with no one to throw him off.

If we were going to go back to a 2 striker system I'd rather give Torres a proper chance

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 13 2014, 07:55 PM

Why ? Playing him as target man wouldn't be so bad in my opinion. From what I've seen he didn't play much, or to say at all this season, but eitherway he's not the type of striker you need to cover lots of area.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 13 2014, 10:51 PM

He's just completely lost form and confidence, not to mention that as a player he's always been a limited poacher, it would be like playing with a man down

Posted by: X-Offender Dec 14 2014, 03:42 AM

Pazzini is crap nowadays. As Han said, he wouldn't be able to score if the net was wide open.

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 14 2014, 09:07 AM

You think he's crap, or you know he's crap from seeing him crap too many times this season ? Just 'cos someone is not playing we can't suggest he will fail. If he plays and then fail, we can say he's bad nowdays. But you can't say he's awful nowdays, if you haven't seen him play nowdays. It's not right.

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 14 2014, 09:17 AM

According to GdS Milan will play with: Diego Lopez, Bonera, Rami, Mexes, Armero, Montolivo, De Jong, Poli, Honda, Menez, Bonaventura.

Posted by: Danny Dec 14 2014, 10:38 AM

Another match, more change.

Pippo simply doesn't have a clue what he's doing. He's messing around, changing the team, and ultimately, as we say here in Scotland, putting square pegs in round holes.

In 5 months as coach he's started the same team 0 matches in a row.

Posted by: X-Offender Dec 14 2014, 03:41 PM

I'm not judging him on his absence from playing, I'm judging him from those times he's played in the last couple of years. Ever since he got off that injury he's been sluggish and indecent. He wastes too many chances. He's simply not the striker he used to be. No disrespect here, but you said you haven't followed Milan for a while, so I really don't think you know Pazzini well enough these days. He's just not good, man.



I would be more than fine with that (Bonera aside) if Pippo played Honda and Bona behind Menez (Christmas tree). However, we all know they're going to be completely wasted on the wings, Menez will do the f*ck it pleases him and our midfield will remain detached from attack. That's how it goes.

I can't watch the game cos I have my flight back home in a few hours, but I can't see us winning this one. X2.

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 14 2014, 05:05 PM

+1

Posted by: William405 Dec 14 2014, 08:09 PM

Milan: Diego Lopez; Bonera, Mexes, Rami, Armero; Poli, De Jong, Montolivo; Honda, Menez, Bonaventura

Milan bench: Abbiati, Agazzi, Albertazzi, Zaccardo, C Zapata, Essien, Muntari, Saponara, El Shaarawy, Pazzini

Napoli: Rafael; Mesto, R.Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; David Lopez, Jorginho; Callejon, De Guzman, Mertens; Higuain

Napoli bench: Andujar, Colombo, Britos, Henrique, Inler, Gargano, Hamsik, Duvan Zapata

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 08:47 PM

I hope the attack takes shape as a xmas tree, but something tells me both Bona and Honda will be very wide

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 08:53 PM

MENEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 08:53 PM

Menez!!!!!

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 08:55 PM

Nice play on the goal

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 09:33 PM

Decent first half although we were barely holding on by the end

This no striker system though is just not really working, it's very obvious that we do not have any outlet up there that the mids can play off of

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 14 2014, 09:35 PM

Agreed.

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 09:39 PM

This has been a problem for us for the longest while (not even just this season)

No proper transition or cohesion between the midfield & the attack.

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 14 2014, 09:44 PM

Well, it's firstly the system and secondly our strikers are bad/out of form.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 09:46 PM

I think if we take off Honda and just stick SES up top as a striker we'd probably do a bit better in attack

Honda is really absent and Menez is just too mobile so he can't be used as a point of reference for the mids

Sh!t Muntari warming up, and I thought our midfield was doing relatively well so far

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 14 2014, 09:49 PM

But SES will never play the central striker role. That ain't gonna happen.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 09:50 PM

I really do wish he was given a chance there, he's just not a winger imo and to continue to force him into that position will just make him regress further

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 09:52 PM

Damn it!

And to think I was saying to myself at HT how much better the MF looks without the fool.

Which speaks leaps and bounds bcuz we were still far from spectacular (...but still much better).

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 09:54 PM

I've noticed in the last 3 games that Bonera just cannot play 90 minutes anymore, he's usually half decent in the first half at RB, but in the 2nd he's just a ghost and everyone is running past him.

When's Abate gonna be back??

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 09:57 PM

BONAVENTURAAAAAAAAAAAA

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 09:57 PM

JACK!!!

Posted by: William405 Dec 14 2014, 09:58 PM

YES YES YES!

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:00 PM

Rami and Mexes have been great

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:01 PM

Poli... Should have done a lot better there

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 10:06 PM

Yup, one too many touches there. He was to shoot sooner!

Promising 2nd half thus far though.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:07 PM

WOW, Menez!

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:07 PM

More like a really bad first touch that took it away from him

Posted by: William405 Dec 14 2014, 10:07 PM

Wow, great skills from Menez!

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 10:07 PM

Everything but the finish there from Menez.

SES should be introduced sooner rather than later.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:09 PM

Sh!t! Rami down!

Posted by: William405 Dec 14 2014, 10:18 PM

Really worried about Zapata! He is exactly what Napoli needs right now.
Created a dangerous play from his first touch.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 10:41 PM

Pretty good...

Napoli weren't that great either so they made it easier.

Roma is the real test next week. But I definitely want to see the same midfield we saw today

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 10:41 PM

Decent enough game. 3 points most importantly.

I can live with this. Forza Milan!


Next weekend's game against Roma is gonna be a tough one!!!

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 10:41 PM

Agreed!

+1

Posted by: William405 Dec 14 2014, 10:41 PM

Yes, FT! Important win.

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 14 2014, 10:42 PM

Good. A working victory. And everything would be fine, but well...

To me this is a true working win. We should be able but build on this result and performance, try to elevate and use it as a focal/turning point. The problem is, I fear this kind of performance is our maximum with this team, system and coach. I'm really not seeing much space for further improvement under these conditions.

Posted by: TriniKing_CE Dec 14 2014, 10:45 PM

I understand exactly where you're coming from.

We need to show more determination & hunger in all our games.

Posted by: han2503 Dec 14 2014, 11:05 PM

Well, I don't think this is the best 11 Pippo can put out tbh.

Bonaventura is a very hard working player, but he hardly brings in the flair/creativity upfront. I personally prefer him in midfield, but I understand that Pippo goes for him because he's the more conservative option as he can contribute in attack and drop easily into midfield while we're defending, same thing with Honda really, I just don't agree with how wide he plays on the pitch, he was mostly anonymous in the first half.

I think midfield is probably the best we can field, but the drastic improvement over what we've seen throughout this season compared to today shows very clearly imo. Monto is simply the only player we have capable of opening up play to relieve pressure on our midfield and keep the ball moving as much as possible, and that's why he's so important to how we play (even if some don't consider him any good, he's still very important for us)

Defence is obviously not what we want either, the FBs are both atrocious in their own way, Armero gives me the runners when I see him defending, while Bonera maked me want to bash my head against a wall when he's doing basically anything. Thankfully Poli was pulling a lot of weight on that right side because Bonera simply faded away completely in that second half and could barely run. I seriously cannot wait to have both Abate and DS back ASAP

As for the attack in general, I personally think that when we go this route with no striker we're limiting ourselves a lot, there were so many occasions when the midfielders simply had no one to make the forward pass to. If there was a striker he would be there as someone they could play off of, even Pazzini would be able to do what I'm saying, which is hold up the ball for the midfielders to make their runs, we just didn't have that today and we probably could have been able to do a lot more damage to that awful Napoli defence had we played a proper striker instead of Honda or Bona

Posted by: Danny Dec 14 2014, 11:54 PM

Not fully read the whole thread but it's so rare to be pleased with both a performance and result when it comes to Milan these days, and all the more pleasing that it's against a genuine rival for the European places.

The attitude from most of the players was spot on, and while I was predictably frustrated with the team selection and continuing rotation, I have to say we got most of it right tonight. I've castigated Pippo recently, so he gets some praise for this result - players played for him, the fans, and each other, and the quality of the football, if not remarkable, was a step up from recent performances.

Napoli are rubbish compared with last season, yes, but they hadn't lost in Serie A since September so they were on a decent run. For us to have even got a point tonight I'd have been delighted, but to get all 3 and fully deserve them is genuinely inspiring. If we can take this on we have an outside chance of making the third spot, but there is SO far to go and one result does not mean all our problems are fixed.

Ratings:

Lopez: 8 Excellent. Some vital saves, some great saves, and communication with defence appeared far better than last week.

Armero: 5 Mediocre. Every flurry forward yielded nothing bar the one fine cross for Bona's goal, and defensively he was shaky, losing Callejon far too frequently. Just completely lacks discipline in terms of the position.

Rami: 8 Excellent display, best defensive showing he's produced in a long, long time. One brilliantly timed sliding tackle late on summed him up, and his composure on the ball was never in question.

Mexes: 8 Led Rami well, nothing got past him, and he saved us at least one goal. No sign of the poor discipline which blighted his showing last match.

Bonera: 5 Shaky at best at the back, and weak up front. Fullbacks are a real problem right now. They appear to be disjointed from central defence, with no understanding between the two units.

De Jong: 7 Far better from him tonight - broke up a lot of play, and used the ball a fair bit better than he has been recently. Every player goes through a dip, here's hoping he's now out of his.

Monto: 8 Started out poor but from about 15 minutes onwards he was titanic. Good defending in midfield when needed, and some excellent distribution. Resembled Monto of 2012/2013. If he's still to fully regain fitness and form he will be a wonderful asset again for us.

Poli: 6 Great work in the first half, with a lot of pressing and passing - dirty work that he excels in, but he went very flat in the second with plenty of loose balls and had to be taken off. Looked like he may have been struggling for match fitness.

Honda: 3 I can't just let him away with his absolutely shocking form because he works hard. Yes, he does work hard, but he has zero ability. Our one utterly sh*t display tonight.

Bona: 8 Work work work - with creativity, superb movement, enthusiasm, spirit, and a great goal to finish the job. He's developing into a fine signing, and all this while not even playing in his best position.

Menez: 7 I give him 7 for the goal, the nearly goal, and some fleeting good play in the second half. But he was patchy, and that inconsistency is his undoing. He's by far our best talent up front, if he could just fine-tune how he approaches the game and keep it steady he'd be absolutely wonderful.

Subs:

Zapata: 6 Solid - made no errors.

Muntari: 4 Didn't really have a lot to do, and other than nearly falling on his backside when he came on, he didn't do much wrong with what little he did.

Essien: 6 Reliable and dependable - a far cry from what he was when he joined. Should have come on for Poli, not Muntari.

Pippo: 6 Better. Your players played for you tonight, but you have to get that kind of industry far more often. Rank displays like in Genoa last week ruin nights like tonight. The team you picked did the job, but the weak spots on paper (Bonera, Armero, and Honda) were the weak spots on the pitch. But then, who else we got for LB or attack?

The problem up front is we have only one player of 5 who's actually got any form. To have SES, Honda, Pazzo, and Torres as absolutely crap as they are is painful, and we're basically relying on Menez. And we need MDS & Abate back ASAP.

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 15 2014, 12:18 PM

MILAN- This is what was said by the players, the management and the coaching staff after the Round 15 Serie A match against Napoli on Sunday night at the San Siro, which ended 2-0 in favour of the rossoneri:

ADRIANO GALLIANI
"The squad is working well with great commitment. One of the signs of group strength is how the players come off the bench, this evening they all came on foaming at the mouth. Congratulations to the coach and to the team.
Menez is an important player, the goals this evening came from 2 players that arrived over the summer. Bonaventura works a lot and is extraordinary. Honda sacrificed himself for the team for 90 minutes. I saw a good display from Armero and a nice “Christmas Tree” that reminded me of the one by Carletto (Carlo Ancelotti, editor’s note). It’s 3 important points against a direct rival for third place and the Champions League. There is a big group now in the hunt.
Us directors are geniuses when a player does better than expected, whereas we’re not so good if a player doesn’t do well. Inzaghi deserves all the luck because he’s focused, determined, what he did as a player he’s now doing as a coach. I am happy for him and for the President who I have just spoken to and informed about the league table.
Last year we didn’t do well in Serie A but did well in the Champions League. Now we have to think about doing well against Roma, I am a bit worried about the muscle injury to Rami who has been playing well. Mexes even when he wasn’t playing trained well and he was good tonight. He wasn’t ever playing and now he is a pillar of this Milan, it will be hard to take him out of the team because the French pairing are doing well.
I am very sorry for Van Ginkel, I saw him yesterday at Milanello, what a shame. After 30 years of watching training sessions, I know that he is a player of great talent, let’s hope he gets better soon and shows his talent. He’s a good lad and intelligent, I wish him the best and I hope he can get back soon and give the squad a hand.
Diego Lopez has good feet, and Magni (goalkeeping coach, editor’s note), wanted by Inzaghi and who came from Brescia, makes the goalkeepers work a lot with their feet. Nowadays, a goalkeeper is an extra defender. Menez scored a sensational goal, if he had scored against Genoa, when he was in an easier position, perhaps we would have been speaking about another result. The goal is credit to Menez but also to Montolivo and Bonaventura who set the goal up. The return of Montolivo is important for us, we had to go without our captain for lots of matches. Bonaventura is a wonderful lad, a fantastic person, it was a divine intuition to bring him here.
You have to stay close to us, there is a desire from everybody and from the President to take Milan back to the levels it deserves. Happy Christmas to everyone."

COACH INZAGHI (TO THE MILAN CHANNEL)
"I think we’ve been doing well since the Sampdoria match, we’ve collected less than what we actually deserved. Those that play have an incredible spirit, I am happy for them, the lads tonight can be very satisfied. Bonaventura is a very committed player, with great intelligence, but they all showed great commitment tonight. We’ve finished well in front of our fans and who will be proud of this Milan, just like our President.
As soon as the name Menez was mentioned, I called Ibrahimovic and Ancelotti, they told me he was a great player, a good lad and to get him right away. I chose to speak to him face to face, I didn’t have him available over the summer, but I am happy for his displays, displays of a champion. Mexes is the emblem of this Milan and of the players that came on this evening, with a desire to do well. Mexes deserves all the compliments, he wasn’t playing, but always worked and took his chance and now he is playing well. Rami has a good physique and I hope to have him back soon. On Saturday we play against Roma, the side that is doing the best in the league along with Juve. We have little to lose. We can dream of getting a great result. We will try and play a top match."

ANDREA POLI
"It was a positive response, we wanted the win. We deserved it and out on the pitch you could sense that we were in control. Let’s continue like this. We want third place. A battle is now waiting for us in Rome, but we want to move forwards like this. We will be taking on a great side, but we will try and impose our game as always. Tonight we all did well. It was a team victory. Let’s enjoy this evening and tomorrow we will get back to work.
I always work for the side, but it’s a shame about not scoring, there were two occasions to score. In the first half, the effort went just wide, while in the second I could have done more, even if I was a bit tired. I know I will score soon. It’s always wonderful to play at the San Siro. I’ve always felt the affection of the fans. In a stadium like this, it’s always a great satisfaction. Let’s hope we can continue like this."

GIACOMO BONAVENTURA
"We worked on headers this week, the coach told me that I jump up well for headers and why I had never scored like this before and today the goal came! We have won an important match that we really cared about. I realise I am at a fantastic club and for this reason I try to work hard, as a professional, and do well. I am part of a team that is fighting for important goals and I try to give my all. The coach has given me lots of confidence and this for me is fundamental. I’ve played a lot, I’ve scored goals, given some good displays and I am happy to have done all of this. It will be hard against Roma, it will be a completely different match with a team that has collected many more points than us and that is fighting for the title."

COACH INZAGHI (PRESS CONFERENCE)
"In my opinion we cannot settle. I don’t get down after certain matches, like at Genoa. I am happy that the defence in 3 games has only conceded 1 goal. The whole side has a great spirit to work for one another. Today was a top performance and I am proud of these players and this team. I told my players to enjoy the match tonight. It’s a big confidence boost, against a side that is fighting for the title. To single out names is hard tonight. We were compact and I asked the 2 forwards to play closer together in the first half and a bit wider in the second. There wasn’t a player who didn’t deserve praise. At 2-0, we had the chance to wrap up the win. We played a great match today, that gives us a great awareness. On Saturday we will have an important test. Today I thought about playing the 3 forwards in a certain way. Having Montolivo available again is important for this team and I am happy that he is back available. In the first half we played with a “Christmas Tree” formation. It reminded me of the match last year, with Birsa and Balotelli playing behind Matri, and that put them in difficulty. When things go well, the choices are right, otherwise they are wrong. The credit goes to the team however. Benitez is an excellent coach, but the players made the difference. Saturday? We have little to lose. We’re taking on a stratospheric side, but a good result would increase the awareness in our abilities. In the end, dreaming doesn’t cost anything."

source: acmilan.com

Posted by: Danny Dec 15 2014, 12:35 PM

Milan Napoli and it barely scrapes 4 pages. Has this forum lost its enthusiasm?

Posted by: d'Arc.LP Dec 15 2014, 02:19 PM

Milan 2-0 Napoli: It was Milan's third clean sheet of the season (in 15 matches).

35.867 spectators were at San Siro: 19.462 season ticket holders and 16.405 who had bought single tickets.

Posted by: X-Offender Dec 15 2014, 06:35 PM

Well now, who thought we could win. Nice one.

Posted by: maldini03 Dec 15 2014, 08:36 PM

I thought the team played an excellent game yesterday. In the beginning of the game it seemed that Bona was playing a little deeper in midfield, and I thought that we were playing in more of a 4-4-2 formation. I was hoping that Pippo would see that Honda was being rendered useless, and that SES would have really broken Napoli's back yesterday. Their two central defenders were having a hard time keeping up with Menez, and the introduction of SES would have crushed them.

For me Bona was the MOTM, he outworked every other player on the pitch. He always gives everything, and he seems extremely grateful that he plays for Milan. This is the type of player that we need, someone who will give everything for the club and the shirt, and I am very happy that he grabbed a well taken goal yesterday.

We deserved the win yesterday, our midfield dominated theirs IMO. Rami and Mexes are really starting to gel, they both played excellently yesterday controlling Higuain and co. and making Napoli's strength look like a weakness. Armero and Bonera both didn't play well, and that's why they are the subs when DS and Abate return to fitness. Monto looked like the missing link, completing passes all over the field, and setting the tone for the team. Poli also had a good game, he doesn't excel in any particular area, but his work rate is amazing. The guy is happy to run all game. He is definitely aided by playing next to two experienced players in NDJ and Monto. I hope the team can build on this performance and push Roma next week. With the 3 points this week we are still very much in the thick of it.

Posted by: Fillipo Simone Dec 16 2014, 01:37 PM

New match poll http://www.milanfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8477&st=0