[Bluesummers]

Fishdoll. o O (Surely it's a sign of the Apocalypse if my person and Blue are agreeing).

I think there are other ways the fragility of the formation can be shown in addition to what's been mentioned above -- namely, if you stick a guy on Pirlo and stick another one on Seedorf, the team's passing ability is more or less nullified. That's what OM did and, well, that was just not a fun game to watch.

agreed, and Leo should have better prepared for that.


There is no way DD is going to let us just play our game, no one in the champions league will.

[Jack Sparrow]

Hmm. True. In a way we have reaped the advantage of teams thinking we're weak and therefore trying to attack us, instead of the old days where they just focussed on shutting down our strengths.

Well maybe sell Pirlo is a bit too much (I still love him (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif) ), but if it means that we get someone else who can actually make this formation stronger, I'm for it. I can watch Pirlo elsewhere (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) . Imagine, I could get to see Carlo and Pirlo together again in England. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I'm glad you brought up the Xavi example. That's exactly what I'm talking about. That position is fine tuned for Xavi. He doesn't bother about the dirty work, except the occasional interception. In fact Xavi's game is mostly designed towards making those great passes amd runs into the box. This is pretty much exactly Pirlo's ideal game, but in the new formation, he's forced to run back to cut space.

Maybe Leo can think of a plan B and is just stuck for option. Perhaps this is the only formation we can play with the squad we've got and that will work.

I mean the guy too 10 games to come up with Plan A. I suppose we can wait another 15-20 before we get a Plan B.

My only worry is he's very influenced by Brazillian tactics and style of play. This 4-3-3 is very like his favourite Brazil team of the 80s.
And BRazil has never really depended on a CM. Not CAM but CM. No genuine greats there, just good squad players. I don't think Leo would miss Pirlo too much, if say, they got in a Hernanes and a D'Agostino.

As for Rino, well he is captain and he should stay. But he is fast running out of legs, and for how long can he demand a place based on exemplary service. Even Maldini played coz he could perform.

[Protagonist]

What is all this I am reading about Gattuso? sure he is not getting any younger, but if there is anyone who would give his legs for us (after Paolo ofcourse) it would be him. He is a protagonist and would bleed for us, I don't want to hear anything of it! Galliani should hand him confirmation and Leo should reassess his priorities, rumors or not, Gattuso has to play (ofcourse when 100% fit)!

[ganney]

I'm glad you brought up the Xavi example. That's exactly what I'm talking about. That position is fine tuned for Xavi. He doesn't bother about the dirty work, except the occasional interception. In fact Xavi's game is mostly designed towards making those great passes amd runs into the box. This is pretty much exactly Pirlo's ideal game, but in the new formation, he's forced to run back to cut space.

nope, the pirlo i see out there neither wants to run forward nor backwards... infact he doesn't want to run at all, he's been very spoilt with the deep lying role and wants two DMs by his side, he just wants to make those pretty&sexy passes, have you noticed he even suffers way more fouls than he did under carlo.....
now under leo, in addition to winning the ball, he is expected not to give it away needlessly/at all(that's xavi's game)

i am although very very impressed with pirlo for doing all he can to make things work with the formation

as for gattuso, i believe every disgruntled player(especially one of rino's calibre) could easily make a case for himself to the manager(especially leo, a rookie) which makes me see to think gattuso's meeting with galliani is more about the tactics not a starting role. if he know he can't fit into the system he needs to chill on the bench cos we still need his fighting soldier *ss out there, leo could easily use the 2dm stuff for one-off games like in the ECL knock-out phase

[han2503]

interesting isn't it. I mean this is certainly something we are not used to... seeing the senior players benched.

Its scary yet rewarding at the same time. I think Leo is trying to get this message across:

"If you don't perform your on the bench, it doesn't matter who you are"

Completely agree with you blue. So much of the problems we had under Carlo was the fact that if you were a senior player and playing p!ss poor you still got to play. It's what was hated the most during Carlo's reign.

And I don't think Pirlo is wasted, he's still as vital, if we try playing with Ambro and Flamini in midfield instead of Pirlo you will see how important Pirlo is, we'd be stale, Pirlo is the mind of the team and it will always be that way imo

And I don't understand all this talk about Pirlo, he's been playing some of his best games since the WC these past few months, it's only logical that he can't keep up his performance levels playing every 3 days, it obviously has worn him down and to top it off he had to play in the NT matches during the break while all the other players rested.

[Jack Sparrow]

Shut up! Sell Pirlo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I'm bored I wanna see this...

-----Lampard-------
---Deco----Pirlo----
------Essien---------

or

-Cole--Lampard---
---Pirlo---Essien---


All of these players and he's got Anelka and Drogba. He can play the ball to feet or to heads. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cry.gif) He'll be happy again! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

Let Leo get his Hernanes. We can still play 4-3-3 and win 4-3. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/king.gif)

[Bluesummers]

spoken like a true rossoneri (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[han2503]

Shut up! Sell Pirlo. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I'm bored I wanna see this...

-----Lampard-------
---Deco----Pirlo----
------Essien---------

or

-Cole--Lampard---
---Pirlo---Essien---


All of these players and he's got Anelka and Drogba. He can play the ball to feet or to heads. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cry.gif) He'll be happy again! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cry.gif)

Let Leo get his Hernanes. We can still play 4-3-3 and win 4-3. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/king.gif)

Pirlo would get killed in the EPL!

Imagine him needing all that time on the ball and has basically no pace trying to fit into that blood bath of a league.

Pirlo was misused under Carlo not now. He's been having some of his best games in years under Leo, he just needs some rest. Even worse, under Carlo we played with 2 DMs and Pirlo was the one left to defend while the DMs were trying to fly down the wing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) It couldn't get any stupider then that, but I'm sure had Carlo stayed he would have managed it somehow (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Try to imagine Carlo with this second hand team with no Kaka! We'd be in the relegation zone at this point, not 3rd breathing down Juve's necks

[Bluesummers]

Pirlo would get killed in the EPL!

Imagine him needing all that time on the ball and has basically no pace trying to fit into that blood bath of a league.

Pirlo was misused under Carlo not now. He's been having some of his best games in years under Leo, he just needs some rest. Even worse, under Carlo we played with 2 DMs and Pirlo was the one left to defend while the DMs were trying to fly down the wing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) It couldn't get any stupider then that, but I'm sure had Carlo stayed he would have managed it somehow (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Try to imagine Carlo with this second hand team with no Kaka! We'd be in the relegation zone at this point, not 3rd breathing down Juve's necks

oh yeah carlo's system was stupid! I don't know how he goes to england and rips everyone apart but he couldn't here. I highly doubt he's a good tactian as many say he is. I think his success depends on how good his squad is.

Overall he plays very boring and depends on 1 or 2 players to win him games, which is a losing tactic from the start. We'll see once Anelka and Drogba leave for African cup of nations what chelsea will do.

[ganney]

We'll see once Anelka and Drogba leave for African cup of nations what chelsea will do.

blue....... anelka's french (IMG:style_emoticons/default/reading.gif) anelka's french

[Bluesummers]

blue....... anelka's french (IMG:style_emoticons/default/reading.gif) anelka's french

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif) !!! your right (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)



my apologies!!! I meant to say essien not anelka.

[han2503]

oh yeah carlo's system was stupid! I don't know how he goes to england and rips everyone apart but he couldn't here. I highly doubt he's a good tactian as many say he is. I think his success depends on how good his squad is.

Overall he plays very boring and depends on 1 or 2 players to win him games, which is a losing tactic from the start. We'll see once Anelka and Drogba leave for African cup of nations what chelsea will do.

Without any doubt Chelsea will lose top spot. Drogba, Kalou, Mikel and Essien will leave, those are 4 players and Carlo's system depends heavily on 3 of those.

Carlo was successful at Milan while we had arguably the strongest squad in Europe, the moment the squad lost its strength (Sheva, Stam, Nesta injuries, Pirlo's loss of form, etc) Milan started to go downhill. The reason he's doing so well in England is because he has the strong squad while Man Us has been weakened a lot with the loss of Ronaldo (Liverpool being so pathetic and Arsenal insconsistant leaves him to fight it out with Man U only)

[Jack Sparrow]

Bah....Pirlo will flop in EPL. You said Carlo will bottle it in EPL with his cowardly tactics. We'll see.

I don't think the EPL is as dependent on pace as you suggest - Xabi Alonso , Ryan Giggs(now), Modric etc. Pirlo is not lightning, but he's no slowpoke, and he's got enough technique to keep possession.

[ganney]

CLEAR BUT DIFFICULT CHOICES
“I hope that everyone is angry with me and want to play. Then I decide.” This was coach Leonardo ahead of the Catania clash. The game plan is clear now, the consequences are choices, not failures.


MILAN – These are the declarations of coach Leonardo, this afternoon during the press conference on the eve of the clash: ON THE MATCH AGAINST CATANIA: “First of all we must understand how they will play, I don’t know if it will happen against Catania too, but many other teams have changed to play against us. Sincerely I don’t know how they will be fielded on the pitch. However, they are a quick and aggressive team, with dynamic players who press a lot. It’s a team with whom we must be very careful: their league position does not reflect a lot the way they play.” ON THE DECLARATIONS OF GATTUSO AND HIS NEED TO MAKE CHOICES: “I always speak with Gattuso: yesterday, today, in the past, always. Between us we always try to be very clear on all of our sensations. The first thing I hope is that he heals soon, only then we will be able to have other discussions. The fundamental thing is to be fine. First let’s think about his recovery, then at the matches. I ask for full availability and absolute condition. Gattuso is little by little growing in his physical work, but he still feels a bit of pain and this thing is blocking him. He has been here for the past 11 years, it’s true, and it’s normal to have moments of reflection, even I had them as a player. We just need to speak clearly like we do. Gattuso was a starter not because he was asking for it, but because he deserved it. If all are fine, I must choose: everyone understands the situation and respect the choices. It’s not a failure, but a choice. The same thing happened to Inzaghi, Ambrosini, Seedorf, etc... The most important criticism that was being made to Milan, was that the team did not have identity, that there was too much turnover. Today that there is an identity, there are those who say that we are not doing any turnover, and they criticize this situation too. The truth is that everyone played, both before as well as now. I’m calm about my choices, then it’s natural that an important player complains, but I think that in everyone there’s a conscious of what we are doing. I hope to have everyone in the right condition. Therefore, Gattuso, I tell you: ‘my request is that you return as soon as possible and you will see that things will be different then.’ What Gattuso said, I knew it from before. But I think that now there is something more important, that he recovers, because it is the only thing that matters: playing. Then, if what he has in his head, like you are saying, is of leaving, I will try to convince him not to do it because like he said, he’s Rino Gattuso. However, whatever will be decided, it will be done in a very calm way. I was not surprised by his declarations, which arrived right at the moment of his injury, because I know him well: the same grit that allows him to be Gattuso, is the one that makes him speak in the difficult moments.” ON INZAGHI, HUNTELAAR AND THE COMPETITION IN ATTACK: “Today we play with a lonely striker and therefore in attack there is more competition. But even Huntelaar in this tactical setup would fit well, on the contrary, it can favour his characteristics. Huntelaar and Inzaghi are part of our project, in any moment. Klaas is recovering very well, Pippo is fine and Borriello is doing very well: these are difficult choices. This is the more complicated part of a coach’s job: seeing how the players are and make choices.” ON THE PRESUMED LACK OF MOTIVATION FOR THOSE WHO DON’T PLAY MUCH: “We started off from a situation in which we had to find back the players and help them grow. Today Abate, Antonini and Kaladze are stronger than when the season started out. Today Pippo is better than last year. Unfortunately the competition today is bigger, but this is a thing which pleases a coach. I hope that they are all angry with me and that they want to play. Then I choose. I smell a desire to play, not the bad mood. Then it’s natural to complain to the outside, even I did so as a player. The anger of those who don’t play is very similar.” ON THE SUBSTITUTIONS NOT MADE DURING MARSEILLE-MILAN: “It’s not true that I don’t make substitutions, it happened in all most all the games that I made the three changes, except in the last one, because on the pitch there was a certain balance. We suffered in very clear occasions, we needed a our balance. When you suffer, what do you do, attack or defend more? I don’t know, they are very subjective thing. Flamini was not at 100%. We could have changed Pippo for Borriello, but at that moment we couldn’t for the type of game which we were expressing. Other changes would have changed the balance and everything would have been more complicated. Changing just to change does not help, you must maintain a certain balance. The revolutions are not needed. I think that the players understand this and I think that there are many games left, therefore we will have to use everyone of them.” ON THE ABSENCE OF PIRLO AND ON THE TACTICAL SETUP: “Pirlo is an important point of reference also for the way in which we play now, but I also think that the way to play is part of everyone now, therefore it will not be a problem to find an alternative. When the actors change, even the characteristics, but the idea remains our way of playing. We have absorved the system, I don’t think that there will be any problem. Playing with Gattuso-Ambrosini (or Flamini) in the future, or maybe Pirlo more forward instead of Seedorf? Not from the start, but it has already happened. We can do many things, we have not used all the possibilities, which will be used in the moment in which they will be needed.” ON THE ALTERNATIVES TO MASSIMO ODDO: “We can play with Abate in that role, but there are also other solutions. Him and Zambrotta can play both on the right and left hand side. However, I think that tomorrow we will use the most automatic solution.” ON THE INJURIES: “Bonera is improving, he has already trained twice with the team. We will see next week if we play him with the Primavera or something similar to a game. Even Jankulovski has been added to this program.” ON RONALDINHO: “He found his way of playing, now I ask him to maintain it.” ON PATO: “It happens to everyone to be less decisive in a game. I have no worry.” ON ADYIAH: “He’s a quick player, good on the short runs. He must grow, he must adapt to a new football and slowly he must gel with the group. He’s an investment for the future.” ON BECKHAM: “From December 28 he will be with us. I spoke to him the day before the MLS final. He’s calm and happy to return.”

yeah yeaa.... long story huh....i got this piece from acmilan.com.... its good to hear from leo himself as i'd already read a summarized version on goal.com (they only just wanna quote the part of the story that suits them)

[han2503]

Bah....Pirlo will flop in EPL. You said Carlo will bottle it in EPL with his cowardly tactics. We'll see.

I don't think the EPL is as dependent on pace as you suggest - Xabi Alonso , Ryan Giggs(now), Modric etc. Pirlo is not lightning, but he's no slowpoke, and he's got enough technique to keep possession.

Ryan Giggs has spent all his life in the EPL, he's not going there when he's over the age of 30.

And we'll see what Carlo does when his key players go to the ACN...