[Fillipo Simone]

Now we go and face Sassuolo. Hopefully our 1st victory against them in an away game.

[X-Offender]

Only saw the second half, I thought we were rather poor. We coudln't impose ourselves onto Fiorentina and allowed them to lead the game. Thankfully they were poor as well.

3 points but I don't see us achieving more than a 5th place this season, which would still be a pretty good achievement nevertheless.

[Jack Sparrow]

Sorry, I'm late to the party. My mouth was too full of humble pie so I couldn't speak.

Good first half, and I think in the second half, we didn't want to waste energy, so just lay back and tried to spring the counter. I don't think Fiorentina were really all that threatening in the second half, and Gigio didn't look too perturbed.

Great win. Keeps us in the race for EL, and we still have head to heads against Atalanta and Inter to come. This is a welcome turnaround from the cursed January we went to.

Does anyone know why this is the case with certain coaches. Montella's team has always had a poor January, and it's the same once he started coaching Milan as well. So weird.

We went from 5 points in 7 games to 7 points in 3 games. Welcome uplift.

[Fillipo Simone]

Well. Perhaps it has to do with form. Just remember Ancelotti. We knew exactly what to expect in all periods of the season with few surprises.

[Jack Sparrow]

Well. Perhaps it has to do with form. Just remember Ancelotti. We knew exactly what to expect in all periods of the season with few surprises.

True. But why is it unique for each coach?

[Danny]

... too bad he is just an "Evernon reject" :-)

He is ;) but he's doing the business for us no doubt about it, and it seems I was wrong about what he can bring.

This match was the most enjoyable Milan experience for me this season. It beat both the derby and Juve wins for me purely because this was the first time I've looked at a Milan XI and actually liked the shape and team selection. Only Romagnoli, Antonelli and Jack would have made that XI stronger (in terms of where this Milan is right now).

I had a good feeling right before kick off, one which took me totally by surprise, and lo and behold we looked like the form we had last year. Well organised, players fighting for the ball, using it well, and while we didn't dominate possession, we don't need to - that's NOT the route to winning matches.

I liked the XI - that was close to our best defence and midfield - the removal of Locatelli was a Godsend and it made midfield a lot more cogent. Defence was not bad bar their goal, what Paletta was doing is anyone's guess, and Pasalic had a great match. Kucka was quiet but better than he has been and Sosa was excellent till he started to fade later on.

But the attack was intriguing - Bacca still doesn't suit Montella's system, and never will, but Suso, for the lack of pace he has, was more dangerous than he has been in ages, and was heavily involved in most things. But Deulofeu was our MOTM - his goal aside, the boy has pace to burn, and is like a mature and skillful version of the Niang we had, but with end product. If attitude is why he hasn't made it in football, well he's clearly grown up since he joined us. Has done little but impress and given our game a new angle. Sosa has a great outlet now to feed the ball from deep, and the Argentinian has one of the best right pegs around - it's like a radar.

We deserved the lead, but alas we did act like a team who aren't used to the lead and we sat in deep for the 10 minutes after we scored and they easily got it back to 1-1. But we responded well ourselves, Deulofeu scored a belter and this time we dealt with the lead way better.

Big credit to Montella for switching to a 3 at the back - a masterstroke. Fio were struggling to break us down as it was, and with more bodies at the back and midfield, we strangled them.

All round great night - the team got it right, individuals showed up, and Montella nailed it.

NOW - prove me wrong Milan and show this is an upturn in form, rather than a flash in the pan. God knows we could use European football again.

[maldini03]

Didn't get to watch the game, but I am very pleased with the result. The Deulofeu move is starting to look like a masterstroke. The guy can flat out run, and he is quite composed which is nice. However, in the same turn, Niang has started to play well in England which makes sending him away look like a bad move. I feel like we put so much into him for years and he is another year or two from making a breakthrough, but I think the team he is playing for now is going to buy him out.

I have also read somewhere that Barca is keen to bring back Deulofeu which is another shame. He is going to have a strong six months with us and be gone. For me Bacca can go, he is undoubtedly a great finisher, but this team needs more from the player in that position. We are a team based on everyone being able to do everything, and he is just too one dimensional to take us to the next level in this system. Montella for me has definitely earned the shot to get some money and build a real team and challenge for something. At this point, he has limited starters and is still getting the team to perform.

[Danny]

However, in the same turn, Niang has started to play well in England which makes sending him away look like a bad move. I feel like we put so much into him for years and he is another year or two from making a breakthrough, but I think the team he is playing for now is going to buy him out.

Nope, Niang is a low-pressure player. He was also excellent at Genoa. He simply couldn't handle us. He isn't mentally strong enough for a club as big as Milan, but give him Watford or Genoa and he looks great.

[Danny]

Starting to wonder if this forum has any future. I pop on usually about once a day and it's getting deader and deader with each passing one. We're lucky if there's one new post a day now.

[Jack Sparrow]

It's a little hard to keep the interest levels up, when there is no fresh blood in the forum.

Also, when this forum started we were a bunch of kids. And it's hard for us to keep that passion up as we remain adults. In the sense of writing walls of text endlessly analysing games and debating points. As I get older, I find myself being more 'Que Sera Sera'.

For example, Warchant was not married even, and now he's got two lovely kids. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Same with R7, though I think he's just got the one kid.

I think it's combination of no new membership, Milan being crap and members getting older and spending less time online and more time with real-life responsibilities.

[Jack Sparrow]

On a separate topic, we haven't won at Sassuolo forever. I really want us to beat them because for me they're like Mini-Juve and I've started disliking them. I want a smash and grab win. We need to keep pace with the teams above us.

But it doesn't look very likely.

[Danny]

It's a little hard to keep the interest levels up, when there is no fresh blood in the forum.

Also, when this forum started we were a bunch of kids. And it's hard for us to keep that passion up as we remain adults. In the sense of writing walls of text endlessly analysing games and debating points. As I get older, I find myself being more 'Que Sera Sera'.

For example, Warchant was not married even, and now he's got two lovely kids. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Same with R7, though I think he's just got the one kid.

I think it's combination of no new membership, Milan being crap and members getting older and spending less time online and more time with real-life responsibilities.

RE: membership thing, you've introduced that idea before and I agreed with it in the past; we've had no new members for 5 years but only in the past few months has this place absolutely died.

Which also lays into it not being 'we've all grown up' either. In fact the older you get the more you want to escape the nightmare of real life and responsibilities and moan about things on the Internet.

I do agree the lack of new members stops the place growing, but my OH's forum has like 5 people on it and gets no members yet it's still going and still gets posts. Ok I just asked her and apparently it's had no new posts in weeks hahaha.

X Off and Acid seem to have gone entirely as well.

I actually think I know what it could be; social media has taken over, and quite simply the day of the humble forum, itself down in popularity anyway, is a thing of the past. These boards are relics and while there are still many around and many are still active, once your board stops growing and activity slows, its days are numbered till the last person is gone.

Shame really because for me it's social media that's a thing of the past.

[Danny]

On a separate topic, we haven't won at Sassuolo forever. I really want us to beat them because for me they're like Mini-Juve and I've started disliking them. I want a smash and grab win. We need to keep pace with the teams above us.

But it doesn't look very likely.

WE. NEVER. BEAT. SASSUOLO.

[han2503]

True. But why is it unique for each coach?

I think their training techniques play a key part in this. Like Fillipo said, with Carlo we just knew that the team would peak at the absolute right moment to make the final push in the league for a good placement and, most importantly, get to the latter stages of the CL. I think it's a sign of a good coach that a team is able to establish a familiar rhythm

We've been very erratic for years now, so a bit of familiarity is actually quite nice

However, in the same turn, Niang has started to play well in England which makes sending him away look like a bad move. I feel like we put so much into him for years and he is another year or two from making a breakthrough, but I think the team he is playing for now is going to buy him out.

I don't want to sound too harsh, but it simply has to be said, the kid is simply not good enough, Danny brought up the big fish, small pond argument, which has its merits in Niang's case but I just think that he also lacks basic fundamentals for what it takes to be a great footballer, something he'll never be. Watford id great for him, the EPL is right up his ally as well, all physique, barely any need for brains, which is basically Niang in a nutshell. And to make it even worse, he'd gotten so complacent in his final month with us that his lac of effort magnified the lack of skill his possessed by about a ratio of 1:100

He's simply not good enough, and if we can get that reported 18m option they tacked onto his loan deal out of a rich EPL club we should take it and run for our lives.

Nope, Niang is a low-pressure player. He was also excellent at Genoa. He simply couldn't handle us. He isn't mentally strong enough for a club as big as Milan, but give him Watford or Genoa and he looks great.

True, but as I said above, it's not just about a mental block, he's simply lacking in basic footballing skills and the more you demand out of him (which is what usually happens when playing for a big club) that lack of skill shows

It's a little hard to keep the interest levels up, when there is no fresh blood in the forum.

Also, when this forum started we were a bunch of kids. And it's hard for us to keep that passion up as we remain adults. In the sense of writing walls of text endlessly analysing games and debating points. As I get older, I find myself being more 'Que Sera Sera'.

For example, Warchant was not married even, and now he's got two lovely kids. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Same with R7, though I think he's just got the one kid.

I think it's combination of no new membership, Milan being crap and members getting older and spending less time online and more time with real-life responsibilities.

True, back in the day I used to spend hours here posting from school and when I got home I had all the liberty in the world to sit on my backside and type at you guys for hours and that is just something that I simply can't do today. Back then I could spend hours at night as well on my pc just p!ssing time away, on here, watching series episode after episode, movie after movie, game after game; sleeping at 3 in the morning and then waking up hammered for school at 7 the next day and not caring much about it. Now I'm lucky if I have the time to turn on my pc in between the time I get home from work and then going off to bed at a reasonable hour so I can be up by 6 the next morning.

Back then I used to relish the late night kick-offs, both Saturday and Sunday. Now I cringe when I see that we have the last kick-off on Sunday because that means I have to be up at least until 11:30, which is no bueno for me since I'm not getting my 8 hours of beauty sleep (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Times have simply changes for all of us I presume, we're no longer hair brained kids who could p!ss days away doing nothing. I barely have time to shower these days, let alone come here everyday and chat with you old geezers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

RE: membership thing, you've introduced that idea before and I agreed with it in the past; we've had no new members for 5 years but only in the past few months has this place absolutely died.

Which also lays into it not being 'we've all grown up' either. In fact the older you get the more you want to escape the nightmare of real life and responsibilities and moan about things on the Internet.

I do agree the lack of new members stops the place growing, but my OH's forum has like 5 people on it and gets no members yet it's still going and still gets posts. Ok I just asked her and apparently it's had no new posts in weeks hahaha.

X Off and Acid seem to have gone entirely as well.

I actually think I know what it could be; social media has taken over, and quite simply the day of the humble forum, itself down in popularity anyway, is a thing of the past. These boards are relics and while there are still many around and many are still active, once your board stops growing and activity slows, its days are numbered till the last person is gone.

Shame really because for me it's social media that's a thing of the past.

True about social media as well. Still I don't find twitter for example a comfortable format for discussing Milan for example, I just follow a couple of people who put up news/transfer updates and that's about it

This is basically the only place online where I discuss Milan in any sort of depth. So it's still an important place for me, but like I said above, I simply find it hard there days to just find the time to actually get on here and make clear points. Also, this is a personal pet peeve for me, but it applies to the social media aspect as well, I just simply cannot post on here from my phone. I need to be on my pc/laptop, because as you said, the rickety old forum is just not exactly the most mobile friendly medium out there

And most important point here which both of you guys mentioned is that this team has been struggling for a long time, it's only natural to see interest dwindle when fans can clearly see that there's barely any interest from the owner of the club himself. Hopefully with this sale going through and the reported cash injection coming in we'll see and upturn in people coming back on

[Jack Sparrow]

Bringing up the Niang thing again, I too thought it was just a mentality thing - but then I read this very interesting interview by Acerbi on football-italia.

He's doing really well at Sassuolo, so again I imagined it was mismanagement from our side. But he was honest enough to say that when he was in Milan he was 5 kgs overweight and his mentality was that he'd made it. So he felt he was in a big side, and could coast from then on.

That puts things in a different perspective I think. Quite a lot of players who suddenly seem to take their foot off the accelerator once they make it to a big club and then just seem to flop. Maybe we think they can't handle the pressure, but quite possibly it could be they're not putting in an honest shift at all.

With Niang- if you look at his last few games, it seems more like he wasn't trying at all - versus trying too much. For e.g. Suso tends to try too much, get frustrated and angry. Niang looked like he couldn't be bothered. A lot like Balotelli. Once he's made that immediate impact he thinks he's owed something and likes to chill.