Thanks Portugal. I hope for a better game and a better ref...

Prediction: 0-1

Lucky I'm free on Wednesday at that time and SportTV broadcasts it. 

No porn job on Wednesday!??

R9 might sit this one out, he was getting knowcked about a lot against Samp.

This will be a tough match, no doubt but if we manage to win it, we will be only 5 points away from the third spot with a game in hand

Nice! I had forgotten about that... 3rd place is now a reality.

My formation against Palermo would be:

-------------Dida--------------------
-Cafu Bonera Maldini Jankulovski-
-------------Pirlo--------------------
-------Gattuso Gourcuff------------
--------------Kaka-------------------
---------Oliveira Gilardino----------

That's what I would go for also. But I think Carlo will put Seedorf in Yoann's place. And we might see Pippo startin, hopefully we won't have to see the Gila Pippo duo, we haven't seen that one for a while and I'm dreading the day when we'll be subjected to that again.

@dst, I think R9 might come on as a sub, I'm pretty sure he won't start since the Samp match really took a lot out of him

i agree with the pippo/gila theory hopefully he will go with pippo and oli.
felt abit sorry for oli being taken off after 10 mins so he deserves a go
Can't believe it's a 3pm k.o

i feel like i may be alittle bit hyper critical here as he was only on the pitch for a few minutes but in them moments twice he was easily brushed off the ball by samp defenders and i was wondering if he will be physically strong enough to cope with 1st team football?
Maybe i'm being abit harsh!!

No you're right. I think it's about the fact that he is used to Spanish football and it will take him time to adjust to how much more physical Serie A is.

It's hard to think that's his 1st season as the season seems so long with all the trouble thats happened!!
i would like to see him with us next season just a little bit stronger

Simic (Milan)

Yeah Oli definately needs to start, no matter who he is partnering, unless maybe R9 when he gets back to 100%.

And yeah the k.o time is too strange, I will barely be able to make it in time for the start of the match since my last lecture ends at 2:30

Simic (Milan): His performance was quite a surprise, and for the Rossoneri this is good news as they know they can count on another player for this final rush of the season.
(Goal.com)

this is squade for palermo game :
I CONVOCATI PER PALERMO
27/02/2007
Questi i convocati del Milan per domani: PORTIERI: Dida, Kalac, Storari; DIFENSORI: Bonera, Bruscagin, Darmian,Favalli, Grimi, Simic CENTROCAMPISTI: Ambrosini,Bottini,  Brocchi, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf; ATTACCANTI: Gilardino, Ricardo Oliveira, Ronaldo.

  |    |

what?? why? where is Jankulovski? 

and where is Di Gennaro?? Him and Willy are supposed to be our best Primavera players.

I guess this will be our line up:

Brocchi-Bonera-Simic-Favalli
--------------Pirlo--------------
----Gattuso-------Seedorf----
-------------Kaka--------------
---Gilardino-------Oliveira---

Oh my the defeders called up are worrying to say the least. Just what we needed more problems in an important much sich as this one.

MILANELLO - Carlo Ancelotti spoke in a pre-game press conference today before the team’s departure for Sampdoria. He first talked about the emergency in defence: ‘Cafu’s back hurts. This started even before the game against Samp and it increased during the game. Marek Jankulovski took a hit to his ankle and it is still really painful. Alessandro Costacurta suffered a sprain in yesterday’s training. Paolo Maldini has a problem with his knee. Kakha Kaladze has the same problem with his tendon. Massimo Oddo is disqualified. Alessandro Nesta has returned and is doing pretty well. The same goes for Serginho. Pippo Inzaghi has an old scar in his thigh. It’s old stuff. He is going to be ok in the next couple of days.’

Ancelotti spoke about tomorrow afternoon’s game: ‘We have more solutions. We can move Brocchi to the right full-back position or Massimo Ambrosini to the central defender position, seeing that he has Caracciolo’s characteristics. As for Ronaldo, it is unlikely he will start. But, if he does, it will be him and Gilardino. Otherwise we will only play with one striker. We are experiencing an emergency in defence, but it’s not anyone’s fault. Unfortunately, this is just how fate has it planned out and we must not get down about it. We will be going there to win all the same because this is a really important game. We will be playing against a side that have resolved their problems. We will be playing on a difficult pitch. However, I think that Milan are going through a good moment. The morale, conviction and confidence are all there. Paradoxically, these problems could just be an extra stimulus.’

Regarding the emergency in defence: ‘We have a temporary problem because, for example, Alessandro Nesta has returned and is doing very well. After the doctor’s examine him today he could return to training with the team. He only needs to find a bit a rhythm with the ball and then he is ready. The same goes for Serginho. From what I saw from Nesta today, he could be easily ready to play in fifteen to twenty days. The doctor that operated on him, Taverna, could give him the green light today. Today he played in a training game with the team. He has the desire to play. As for the rest, various players that weren’t here today could recover in time for Saturday like Kaladze and Jankulovski. Nesta and Serginho will return after the break in March. We must pass this round of the Champions League and remain in the fight for fourth place.’

The coach continued: ‘We are trying to find the right balance, this is something that we have lacked many times this season. In recent games the defence has done really well, while in attack we did well in Glasgow and a bit less well against Sampdoria. As for third place, just a little while ago we couldn’t have even talked about it and today we can. Palermo are still far away, but tomorrow’s game is really important in this sense. Our opponents for fourth place? Fiorentina are a very talented side. Lazio are playing really well and they have the advantage of only having to focus on the league.’

Ancelotti then commented on some individual players and Wednesday’s away game: ‘Only some of the fans booed Seedorf and I think that’s just a passing problem. Seedorf has a great personality and he always goes for the ball even if he makes some extra mistakes when he does. Palermo are a team to fear because they are dynamic and quick. They have a midfield that does well controlling the play and they have strikers that are good one-on-one. I saw the game that Palermo played on Saturday against Atalanta and I saw anything but a team that are in trouble. However, I am not settling for a goalless draw. This is not in our nature. We must try to win with all the weapons at our disposal. I think that we will play with only one striker and all in all Ronaldo shouldn’t start. As for the defenders that aren’t available, we would have brought them to Palermo if there was a chance they would recover in time but this just isn’t the case. The solution for defence will be one of emergency, whether it’s with Brocchi on the right or Ambro in the centre. We tried various solutions in today’s training game. Grimi is also a possibility, he is ready and he is very determined and doesn’t have any problems. He is learning quickly. Alberto Gilardino is doing well. Yoann Gourcuff was sick with the flu up until yesterday.’

Simic--Bonera--Ambro--Favalli
---Rino--Pirlo--Brocchi/Yoann---
---------Kaka--Seedorf----------
-------------Gila------------------

Yep , I think it will be it. Ambro as a CB is a good idea since he is tall, great in the air and overall bvery good defensively. And it's much better to let Simic play as a RB than Brocchi.

From the looks of things and what Carlo said, it looks like we will be playing like this

Brocchi--Bonera--Simic--Favalli  (slight possibility of Grimi but highly unlikely)
---Rino--Pirlo--Ambro/Yoann---
---------Kaka--Seedorf----------
-------------Gila------------------

I really don't like this at all, we should be playing with 2 strikers if we really want to win since whenever we've played the xmas tree this season we've always struggled to score. Plus Oli deserves to be on the starting 11, especially after being taken off after 10 minutes at the weekend

Against Palermo .. I would predict a win for Milan .. It isn't that bad .. I mean, ur line up looks great to me. Though, like u, I too would like 2 strikers. But I guess Carlo is just playing it safe Gennaro - Pirlo - Ambro ... I think these three can defuse any attack on our defence.

I wish for a 2 - 0 in favor of Milan

Do you remeber the last time Simic played as RB?? It was a complete catastrophy! Brocchi is far better playing as RB imo, he is good defensively, can run for and endless ammount of time and is a great crosser of the ball.

Maybe, but Simic is much more used to the RB position than Brocchi who maybe played only one game there. With so many players missing I would rather see players who feel comfortable where they are playing

I like your confidence but sadly it won't be that easy. we've got 8! I repeat 8 of our starting defenders missing, we've got most our midfielders retruning from injury or flu and whoever will be the striker isn't in such good form and R9 will surely not start.

I personally see this one headding for a 0-0, especially with a xmas tree that contains to DMFs

I didn't see ANY comfort AT ALL from Simic the last time he played as RB, he wasn't even comfortable playing as CB against Samp, and if it wasn't for Bonera covering his @ss he would have cost us a goal.

He played bad his last game as a RB. So what? He had there good games also (Maybe not many. He is Simic after all ) But at least he know how to play there