[han2503]

Who: A.C. Milan vs. U.S. Sassuolo



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/milan-Sassuolo_zpseb010f2c.png)



Where: Stadio San Siro



(IMG:http://www.acmilan.com/uploads/club/sansiro.jpg)



When:
6th January 2015 @ 3:00pm CET


Head-to-Head Record



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/milan-Sassuolostats_zps5de0bded.png)

[X-Offender]

Diego Lopez; Abate, Zapata, Alex, De Sciglio; Poli, Muntari, Montolivo; Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy.

[milanbuf88]

Diego Lopez; Abate, Zapata, Alex, De Sciglio; Poli, Muntari, Montolivo; Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy.

Looks pretty great except for Muntari. Hopefully he can handle playing against Sassuolo.

[Danny]

Defence is pretty much as good as it gets, personal preference for Zaps over Rami notwithstanding.

Midfield is a mess - Poli has been running out of steam early in the second half and Muntari is a liability. But unfortunately MvG is injured and until Cerci is ready Bona will stay up front.

I'd rather have had Essien, Poli and Monto all things considered.

And we will see if SES' display V Real will translate to a 'real' match. Geddit?

[X-Offender]

Update: Diego Lopez; Rami, Zapata, Alex, De Sciglio; Poli, Essien, Montolivo; Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy.

[han2503]

Update: Diego Lopez; Rami, Zapata, Alex, De Sciglio; Poli, Essien, Montolivo; Bonaventura, Menez, El Shaarawy.

Looks better

[Danny]

In Abate's absence that is absolutely our best defence. Rami is excellent as RB and everyone else is as good as we have in those positions.

Midfield is what I asked for in light of no De Jong, and with Cerci not available that's our best option up top.

Basically, it looks like Pippo's finally finding our best team and sticking with it.

Really looking forward to tomorrow's match.

[han2503]

In Abate's absence that is absolutely our best defence. Rami is excellent as RB and everyone else is as good as we have in those positions.

Midfield is what I asked for in light of no De Jong, and with Cerci not available that's our best option up top.

Basically, it looks like Pippo's finally finding our best team and sticking with it.

Really looking forward to tomorrow's match.

I don't see how it can be our best defence though, I think Mexes has shown in these few short weeks how important he is and how much of a stabling force he's been on our defence as a whole. You might not like the guy because he is a hot head, but he came from out in the cold and improved our defence completely, something that not even Alex could do when he was playing regularly before his injury, whether it was with Rami or Zapata, both guys actually started to look like the good defenders they are since Mexes has been back. It's been very clear to see what the common denominator was in this situation imo.

As for midfield, I personally still don't get why we have to include a slow, somewhat of a liability DM in there if there's no De Jong. We're playing Sassuolo here, putting Monto in the centre with Poli and Bona on either side of him would work like a charm, without the added baggage of having Muntari or Essien play in slow motion in the centre. If we were playing a more difficult fixture sure, the added muscle would be needed, but against Sassuolo?

[Danny]

I don't see how it can be our best defence though, I think Mexes has shown in these few short weeks how important he is and how much of a stabling force he's been on our defence as a whole. You might not like the guy because he is a hot head, but he came from out in the cold and improved our defence completely, something that not even Alex could do when he was playing regularly before his injury,

That's not even slightly true. We've never lost a competitive match with Alex in defence. Your pro-Mexes bias is blinding you to how astounding Alex has been for us. I've been pretty fair re: Mexes, he's played well recently, hothead moments aside, but Alex is simply our best defender.

Mexes in defence - we lost in Genoa. We're yet to lose with Alex at the back.

His cameo v Roma while half fit was arguably the reason we held out for the draw.

For me Alex is the best bits of Mexes, Rami and Zapata mixed together. Puts his head where it hurts, absolutely titanic in the air, astounding positional sense, fantastic at last-ditch blocks.

Maybe this is OTT but IMO he's been as good for us in his appearances as Silva was. Albeit in a much weaker Milan.

whether it was with Rami or Zapata, both guys actually started to look like the good defenders they are since Mexes has been back. It's been very clear to see what the common denominator was in this situation imo.

Fair enough, most others see it differently.

As for midfield, I personally still don't get why we have to include a slow, somewhat of a liability DM in there if there's no De Jong. We're playing Sassuolo here, putting Monto in the centre with Poli and Bona on either side of him would work like a charm, without the added baggage of having Muntari or Essien play in slow motion in the centre. If we were playing a more difficult fixture sure, the added muscle would be needed, but against Sassuolo?

You've not watched Essien recently much - he's been far more like his old self. I've been harsher than most on his failings especially given how happy I was with us signing him, but recently he's been quite simply very good indeed.

As a DM backup for De Jong he's a fine deputy.

Re: the rest, we need Bono up top as we're threadbare there and Cerci isn't ready to start. Otherwise yes, for me our best midfield is of course De Jong, Monto and Bona, and for now the best attack is Menez, SES & Cerci. Hopefully we get Destro and that completes the puzzle.

[han2503]

That's not even slightly true. We've never lost a competitive match with Alex in defence. Your pro-Mexes bias is blinding you to how astounding Alex has been for us. I've been pretty fair re: Mexes, he's played well recently, hothead moments aside, but Alex is simply our best defender.

Mexes in defence - we lost in Genoa. We're yet to lose with Alex at the back.

His cameo v Roma while half fit was arguably the reason we held out for the draw.

For me Alex is the best bits of Mexes, Rami and Zapata mixed together. Puts his head where it hurts, absolutely titanic in the air, astounding positional sense, fantastic at last-ditch blocks.

Maybe this is OTT but IMO he's been as good for us in his appearances as Silva was. Albeit in a much weaker Milan.

With Alex we drew a good deal of games, most of which because we couldn't stop the opposition from scoring once or twice in each game

We've managed to keep clean sheets with Mexes in there, most notably against top opposition like Napoli and Roma. For me, whether we won, lost or drew doesn't really figure into this, for example, we won against Parma but conceded four, I repeat, four goals. Sure we won, but that's hardly a certificate of excellence for the defence

For me, our best defenders ARE Alex and Mexes, no doubts about it, as for me they're a level above both Zapata and Rami. But what I'm looking at is when Alex was the "leader" sort of in that pairing and when Mexes took on that role, and I think you can see how good Mexes is by looking at how both Rami and Zapata performed when he was in there.

No one can deny how hugely important Mexes has been since he's been used as a starter again, and this after spending months sitting on the bench because of whatever personal issues Pippo had with him

Not to discredit Alex who is colossal in the air and such a physical presence, but I do think Mexes is the more tactically astute defender of the 2, which is why both Rami and Zapata thrive next to him, and this has always been the case. Which is why I think we'd have a very strong defence if we manage to get both Alex and Mexes fit at the same time and playing regularly together

You've not watched Essien recently much - he's been far more like his old self. I've been harsher than most on his failings especially given how happy I was with us signing him, but recently he's been quite simply very good indeed.

As a DM backup for De Jong he's a fine deputy.

Re: the rest, we need Bono up top as we're threadbare there and Cerci isn't ready to start. Otherwise yes, for me our best midfield is of course De Jong, Monto and Bona, and for now the best attack is Menez, SES & Cerci. Hopefully we get Destro and that completes the puzzle.

I think you know by now that I watch Milan religiously, so I've seen Essien just as much as you have. And while I agree with you that he has done well the last 2 or 3 games he's played (certainly a LOT better than Muntari), he still has a lot of issues, mostly the fact that he's very slow, and takes a lot of time to control the ball and decide where to pass it, which has put us under pressure a fair amount of times either because the ball is taken off him or making a terrible pass under pressure

Basically he's Muntari 2.0 without the shots at row z and the ridiculous passing attempts to no one

[Danny]

Didn't watch the Madrid friendly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

[han2503]

Didn't watch the Madrid friendly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

But in all honesty that game looked ridiculous, I'm happy that SES scored for example but I'm not deluded into thinking he'll be back just because of that performance

[han2503]

POLIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Great work

[han2503]

Have you guys forgotten that we play now?

[William405]

POOOOLI!!!