QUOTE

Serie A 2006/2007 - Day 18

Udinese v Milan

Saturday, 23rd of December 2006

Time: 14:00 (UK), 15:00 (IT)

After the win against Catania, it's Udinese in Friuli's stadium.

The last fixture of 2006.

Forza Milan!

It's gonna be a tough match, but if the guys play like tonight they surely are gonna get the 3 points. FORZA MILAN!

It will be Iaquinta vs Gilardino .. I hope he continous this .. this .. form or whatever drugs he's on .. Give him more !!!


Let's goooo !!! ... 4th place here we come !

Gila scored once and gave 2 other wonderful assist last season in Friuli. I think it was his best match since his arrival at Milan.

again I won't make any predictions. I don't want to junx us.

Hopefully this was the turn around for us. Still not entirely convined there where some moments in the match that where suspect from us against Catania. But we've finally won a game with more then a 1 goal lead which is great.

Gila and Kaka are in great form and they are amazing when playing together.

I think we should stick with the formation we played in today, but with Seedorf or Brocchi in the middle and Gourcuff on the left. Pirlo is just hoorible at the moment

You know where I can find those highlights?

No, sorry.

we absolutely thrashed them last season both home and away, gila scored and assisted 3 over the 2 ties.

i had the goals and highlights in my collection

home game:
Highlights
2 Gila goals

away game:
Gila Assist 1
Gila Assist 2
Gila Assist 3
Gila Goal
3 assists and a goal in 1 match..

^^What a show. This year almost the same players but the magic is missing

you never know i mean christmas is only 4 days away..

Ok my predictions, 2-0 to Udinese.

You know why.... (hush...the magic works only if u don't talk about it)

Thanks



I'm just not predicting anything. It worked against Catania, so I'm hoping it will work again again Udinese.

Udinese - Milan - Football Italia

This Saturday it is 13th place Milan who travel to the Friuli in Udine, hoping to give their fans the Christmas present of what would be an excellent away win. Udinese will be trying to continue their steady ascent back up the table. They find themselves in the area of the table their opponents are used to, but alas this year is a different story for the Rossoneri and the home side are not going to complain as they charge onwards and upwards

Udinese completed an impressive victory over tough Atalanta in the 96th minute last time out. Bergamo is never an easy place to pick up points, especially when you are reduced to 10 men after 72 minutes, but the Bianconeri had the will and the character to get the job done and put themselves back in the hunt for a spot in Europe’s premier competition. Fifth place will suit them and they will want to do all they can to stay there over the Christmas holidays.

The home side’s boss Giovanni Galeone will want to see the same will to win this time against a Milan side that seems on the up after a rather undistinguished period. In order to get the most out the match, Andrea Coda is likely to be replaced by Cristian Zapata alongside Cesare Natali at centre back. Antonio Di Natale is almost sure to start alongside Vincenzo Iaquinta after he netted the last minute winner last time out.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan have got two good results in a row now and may finally have turned a corner. After the draw against Fiorentina, another strike from a rediscovered Alberto Gilardino and two from an inspired Kaka gave the team from Italy’s business capital a big lift against Catania and some self confidence back. Almost more important than all of this however, was the fact that the Milan defence kept a clean sheet, which is something they normally excel at but have had trouble doing this term.

A ban for Daniele Bonera after a booking last time means Dario Simic will probably come into the centre of defence, Marek Jankulovski will also almost certainly play at left-back against his old club. Cristian Brocchi will probably retain his starting jersey ahead of Clarence Seedorf in midfield. In attack Gilardino seems to finally be assuming the responsibly of replacing Andriy Shevchenko. He will be looking for his sixth goal of the season and his fourth in three games. All this with the help of Ricardo Oliveira and the ever inspirational Kaka.

Man on fire: Kaka (Milan) – The Brazilian was sensational last time out. His double strike secured the points and showed he is back to his amazing best.

Last season: Udinese 0-4 Milan

Form guide: Udinese (L D L W W) Milan (W D D D W)

Udinese (probable): De Sanctis; Zenoni, Natali, Zapata, Dossena; Eremenko, Obodo, Pinzi, Barreto, Iaquinta; Di Natale

Milan (probable): Kalac; Cafu, Simic, Kaladze, Jankulovski; Brocchi, Pirlo, Gattuso, Kaka; Gilardino, Oliveira


Channel4

Iaquinta will give everything he has in this match I believe.

So he will keep falling on his face for the whole of the match?

You never know, with Kalac around "impossible is nothing"

Let's just pray to god that someone at Milanello has some sense in his mind to put Kalac on the bench and play Fiori instead

I somehow have the feeling, that we play better with Kalac haha...
Maybe the squad thinks, with Kalac as goalie we have to do better LOL

well that's true, it'll challenge them to get on their toes..

Yeah well my heart doesn't feel better when Kalac is in goal. I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack when someone shoots at him cause sure enough butter fingers will flap and flail at it

don't worry there's only one more game for him, hopefully dida will return in january.

well I also read somewhere that Dida could come back to the team as late as March so don't let go of your breath just yet. It's still a log way to go with 'Il cocodrillo' in the goal

.... it still could be his last game if our board open their pocket and get a decent keeper

Never going to happen

Nah, as far as I know Dida should get back around 9-10 January.

Let's hope so

That defence is looking thin

Hey guys, in my FM, Pirlo just score a brace in 4 minutes!!! lol
Take this as a good sign =)

Yep, that's what I was about to say.

Anyway this is my team for tomorrows match hopefully we'll come out with a win

Cafu'--Simic--Kaladze--Janku
-Gattuso--Seedorf--Gourcuff-
--------------Kaka--------------
-------Gilardino--Oliveira------


Just pls no Pirlo, he is one that when he is out of form and keeps losing the ball in that position we get into a lot of trouble

This is probably going to be tomorrow's line up:

-----------------Kalac------------------
Cafu--Simic--Kaladze--Jankulovski
-----Gattuso--Seedorf---Brocchi----
-----------------Kakà-------------------
---------------Gilardino----------------

I like it, but I wonder why Carlo doesn't utilize Gourcuff that much.

We aren't that good to play with 10 players

Ooops, I think I forgot to put Pirlo in there.

That's my line up as well. Oli is a question though... The man is depressed over his sister...

From what I saw from today's training, he was smiling and talking with Kakà all the time. But of course that doesn't mean he's already put his sister's problem aside. Man that must feel really bad.

I think Carletto is desperate to play Pirlo into some kind of form. He showed a little bit of touch towards the end of the last game. In any case, Yoann alone can't take the club much farther. You could see the inexperience last match with that flare up.

Andy is unique both in the role he plays and his style. He looks to be a touch+confidence player. So the sooner he gets it back the better. Gila played every match before hitting(fingers crossed) his stride.

I guess Carlo is hoping the same with Andy.

Oh and he said 3 forwards...I was beginning to like the 4-4-1-1.

Well, if he's going to put 3 forwards then they'll have to be Kakà, Gila and Oliveira. But I doubt he's going to field Oli. Oh well....

I think it's more the confidence infront of goal that he is missing rather then the situation with his sister. Everything he does leading up to when it comes time to shoot is almost always perfect and in those moments he shows a great player that has great technique and skill. But when he comes up infront of goal he is either not confident enough or he is unlucky enough to hit the post.

Giving him playing time means that the coach has faith in him and that will hopefully be enough to get his confidence levels back. Hopefully Carlo will not give up on him and just let him play a full match.



Gila and Pirlo are totally defferent scenarios. If Gila loses a ball in his third of the field then it's no problem when Pirlo keeps losing the ball in his third it becomes a BIG problem. Plus the bad setpieces and passes. I think it's better to show him the bench at least for a couple of matches.

Seedorf can still do the job in his position.

And about Gourcuff, ok so he took it out on the Catania player a bit after he kept kicking at him, but that's to be expected, he has little experiance, nothing that should be a huge problem.

Just came back from the offical Milan site and read the press conference, and since lately I have been quite good at guessing what formation Carlo will use from what he says during a conference, this is what I think he will use.

Cafu--Simic--Kaladze--Janku
---Gattuso--Pirlo--Seedorf---
--Oliveira--Gilardino--Kaka--

It's the last game before the break .. Carlo needs these three points ..

Yeah, I guess that will be the formation .. But, I have a feeling, it's Broochi that will be starting ahead of either, Seedorf or Pirlo.

In anycase .. Forza Milan, hope we win

Galeone respects Rossoneri

Milan may be a staggering 28 points off the leaders, but Udinese boss Giovanni Galeone warns they’re second only to Inter.

“The only team stronger than them this season are Inter. Their strikers have rediscovered their form, as Alberto Gilardino and Kaka can score at any moment.”

The Rossoneri haven’t lost at the Stadio Friuli since 2002-03, notching up two draws and last season’s crushing 4-0 victory.

Following their comfortable 3-0 win over Catania and a six-match unbeaten run, Galeone warns they are once again a major threat.

“We also have to watch out for Andrea Pirlo’s set-pieces. Despite their position in the table, for me Milan remain the strongest side in Serie A apart from Inter. Although Roma are in better shape at the moment, they’re certainly not a better team, so even a draw would be an important result for us today.”

Udinese will be without the suspended Sulley Ali Muntari and Raffaele De Martino, whose goal contributed to the 2-1 win away to Atalanta on Wednesday evening.

“We played on a very bad pitch and many of our men haven’t quite recovered physically yet. I hope they’ll feel better by the time kick-off arrives,” added the veteran.

It will be an intriguing tie for Vincenzo Iaquinta and Antonio Di Natale, both heavily linked with January moves to San Siro.

“I hope that the transfer talk further stimulates them to impress,” added Galeone. “The whole team must play its part, though. We’ll play the attacking system we’ve always adopted, as to go defensive against Milan would be suicide.”

The tactician confirmed the 4-3-3 formation with Roman Eremenko in midfield and Cristian Zapata returning at the back.

Gourcuff MUST play tomorrow. He must start! Everytime he plays our passing improves dramatically. If Carlo wants to field an attacking team, then he should field Gourcuff, Kaka and Seedorf together.

Here is my new line up:

-----------------Fiori----------------------
Cafu-----Simic--Kaladze---Jankulovski
---------Brocchi---Gattuso---------------
---------------Seedorf--------------------
----------------------Gourcuff------------
----------Kaka----------------------------
----------------Gilardino------------------


I LOVE IT!

i like that line-up and maybe seedorf could come off for Oli early in to the second half

I like it but I think it's too narrow. If we had great fullbacks then I think it will work incredibly well, but I just can't see it be very effective without any wing play and that is the area we are lacking in the most

Game is about to start in 20 mins




FORZA MILAN

Can't wait!!!

Let's all hope for a win.

FORZA MILAN!!!!!

It seems this time I was the one who predicted well.

Damn you!!!!

Yes ..



That isn't an attacking line-up !

I'm starting to grow grey hair from Carlo !