------------------Abbiati----------------

-----Bonera--Nesta--Kaladze---Zambrotta---

-----Gattusso------Pirlo------Flamini

--------------Kaka-------Ronaldinho------

--------------------Pato/Borriello--------

I really haven't made up my mind about the striker yet...Let the coach be the judge

(moved to appropriate area).

---------------------Dida----------------------
Zambrotta----Nesta--Kaladze--Jankulovski
----------Gattuso---Pirlo----Seedorf---------
--------------Kaka'---Ronaldinho-------------
---------------------Pato-----------------------

I'm not looking at their nowadays form. I dunno if Dida is "back" or Seedorf decides to run, or Gattuso shows his World Cup shape.

Flamini, Ambrosini and Emerson would fit in the midfield if one of the other 3 are not in-form, and take out Seedorf in top-matches and away matches, putting Ambro/Flamini in his place.

Pato will rotate with Borriello and Inzaghi. Same with Kaka', Dinho and Seedorf.

I'd love to see Bonera instead of Kaladze but I dunno. Nesta-Kaladze usually works fine.

About the keeper... Dida in-form or Abbiati in.

----------------------Abbiati----------------------------
---Bonera-----Nesta-----Maldini(Health?)----Zambro
------------------Gattuso---Pirlo--------------------
------------R10-----------------------Kaka--------------------
------------------------------Pato-------------------------
--------------------Borriello------------------------------

i prefer 4-3-2-1..

---------------------Dida-----------------------
----Oddo----Nesta--Kaladze--Zambrotta----
-----Gattuso/Flamini---Pirlo----Seedorf---------
--------------Kaka'---Ronaldinho-------------
----------------Pato/Boriello-----------------------

hope that dida is back to his form.. another defender who is better than kaladze would complete my squad..

________________________________Kalac
____________________________(Abbiati/Dida)

____________Zambrotta_____Bonera_____Nesta_____Jankulovski
_______(Oddo)_____(Maldini/Darmian)_____(Kaladze/Digao)_____(Antonini/Favalli)

____________________Gattuso_____Flamini_____Pirlo
__________________(Brocchi)_____(Ambrosini)_____(Emerson)

________________________Ronaldinho_____Kakà
_______________________________(Seedorf)

_________________________________Pato
___________________________(Inzaghi/Borriello)

Kalac was our no.1 'keeper last season so Abbiati shouldn't just waltz in & take his place, not sure what sort of form Dida will be in but he too needs to earn a place. Bonera isn't prone to mistakes like Kaladze but for some reason didn't play as much as him - that needs to change. He can alternate his place with Maldini (if and when he's fit enough). Don't know much about Flamini but from what I've heard he's quite versatile and Pirlo played a game or 2 on the left side and we looked relentless going forward as he had more space. I put Ambro & Emerson where they are because they have more similar characteristics as the players above them but they could swap round. Obviously everyone's gonna want to see the new PaKaRo from the start but Pato isn't used to playing as a centre forward yet so I think more turnover is called for here too.

Completely agree with the formation and all your points. Hopefully we'll get to see more of Bonera and less of Kaladze but I don't think Carlo would agree with that for some strange reason...

i think we will see one new player and that will be a center back that will be able to play as a rb too
so it will be something like this
abiati
new guy-nesta-maldini-zambrotta
gattuso-falmini
pirlo
kaka
ronaldinho
pato

When Ronaldo comes back:

---------------------Dida----------------------
Oddo------Nesta-------Paolo------Zambro
----------Gattuso---------Pirlo---------------
------------Kaka'---Ronaldinho-------------
-------------Pato-----Ronaldo----------------

We'll concede 3-4 goals a game but we'll score 5-6

Do you really think Ronaldo will come back?

That one right there looks like a go. I would trust it more than the others. Now let's see if Ancelotti will actually make the desicion to bench Seedorf.

Of course he won't

Oh probably a 4-3-2-1 to start with. Seedorf plays deep.

But I have a feeling, that after a long time in his Milan career, Carletto now has the option to rotate players, but also rotate formations. Wouldn't be surprise to see Antonini and Zamborghini as wingers, in a 4-4-2. I don't think Oddo is going to be bench material. I'm still unsure what he sees in Brocchi though. With Emerson and Flamini both being better.

I'm grateful to Brocchi, but in the end he's Rino's mini-me. He needs to go, for his own good if not Milan's.

Hasn't Ronaldo signed for Flamengo yet? In any case, he's not coming back.


Exactly that!


No you would not be surprised... but you certainly would be dreaming...

Seriously, if we see that this season, I'll pack Fay and send her to you!

^^^

You're on! And I'm counting friendlies and Coppa Italia. Though probably not training ground games.

We're on!

If Abate doesn't go on loan then he'll probably take Zambrotta's place as a winger..He's faster, skillful, and more dangerous..Zam has more experience but Abate would be better in that position imo

Abate is good, but there's little likelihood he'd knock Zambrotta out of the lineup. The only question for Zambrotta is which side he'll start on (he has stated that he prefers to play on the right, for what that's worth). Abate, if he stays, will be in the midfield - and there, he /could/ play as a winger.

He's not coming back.

Time will tell.

He won't. He'll play for Flamengo next season and even Miland won't buy him back at 33 next year. Tbh I think his spell was disaster. 3/4 of the time he played for us he was injured. He pulled out some nice games but all in all he was never the player he was 4 or 5 years ago. It's sad, but he done.

My formation:


---------------------------Kalac------------------------------

---Zambro------Nesta-----------Paolo/Kala------Janku---


------------Flamini-------------------Ambro-----------------


----------------------------Pirlo------------------------------


----------------------------Kaká-----------------------------


------------------R20----------------------------------------

--------------------------Inzaghi----------------------------


Of course Pato can jump in for Ronnie and Pippo at any time. I'm not convinced of Pippo..first weeks of the season will show whether he's on fire or not. I prefered him to Pato because he's much better in the air. Something we need. Seedorf can jump in for Ricky and Pirlo who should play as CM rather than as DM. Gattuso is out for me. Ambro was much better than him last season and Flamini is the future.
Ronnie and Ricky as AM won't work IMO. Ronnie should move upfront...

Ronaldo is gone.

The man knows what he's talking about, he even has Ambro over Rino, exactly the same for me.

I'll keep Ambro out initially and play Rino and Flamini together for sometime. I just want to gauge Rino's capacity initially. Probably even rotate Rino and Ambro. I really want to see our 3 genuine number 10s play together. Seedorf, Ronaldinho and Kaka. The striker...I'm a little lost. Pato is not much of an aerial threat, but Borriello is not much of anything. Pippo might blow hot or cold. Wow...I hate to be Carlo now. I've kinda gotten used to when it was easy to pick a playing 11.

Pato will be first choice. No doubt about that. He's by far the most complete striker we have

Looks like it. Tough really...he's not even 6 feet. So now we have a team where none of our attackers can head.

I don't agree. If it wasn't for his goals and general contribution we probably would have failed to qualify for last season's CL.

He has a good head game for his height and body build. Of course he's not an aerial threat like Drogba or whatever but he's more than compensates about that in other areas

And his big contribution to securing the CL spot in the early stage, allowed us to concentrate on winning the CL.

God's words!

With the options that Milan currently has, it is really difficult to predict how Ancelotti will play, but one this is certain, there will be a triad up front.

Ka-Pa-Ro ... I think Italy has yet to see what this devastating combination on paper can do on the pitch.

I mean, with a so & so fit Ronaldo and Pato's first season, Milan showed it had grave potential and was a threat to any defense. But now with Ronaldinho; IMO Milan has the capabilities to unlock any defense in Serie A!


As for the midfield, Milan has proven yet again to not change something that is running pretty well. Pirlo, Seedorf, Gennaro and Ambrosini would be considered First team quality for any side ... You would just have to see their pedigree, world champions and two times CL winners. Add to that Flamini, whom all of the coach, the Milan technical staff and Capello have applauded.


The defense, I find it to be sound. You have Nesta and Maldini .. The later will be playing his final season and I am sure he will let the curtains drop on yet again one of his best performances in recent years!

Maybe the 2nd line of defense on the bench isn't of the quality of Nesta and Maldini, but then again who is ?



Gkeeping ... I still have faith in Dida! He has shown signs of decline, YES! But, it is my belief and that of the Milan technical staff, that he still is one of the best. Anyways, a lot consider him finished, so there is nothing I can say except what he will be proving on the pitch!





All in all, Milan have a very strong squad at the moment. No team is 100% complete. Milan on the other hand is one or two signings from being such. If I was to choose a line up, I would leave the team as it is; with Zambrotta on the left, the triad up front and a midfield 3 of Pirlo, Seedorf and Ringo OR Ringo Pirlo and Ambro

Gotta disagree with this bit. I'm not sure how Milan 'proved' that they didn't need to change it. Our midfield was very weak last season, only Ambro showed that he was deserving to be in the Milan team. Definitly the weakest part of the squad and the biggest culprits as to why we finished 5th - even more so than Dida.

Last season was a dull season in terms of quality. Milan simply didn't show up, until the season was all but over.

Ambrosini is a very good player, I rate him highly as a DM. His PLUS, was he remained injury free and that gave him continuity.

But to say that the rest of the midfield was very weak, is not stating a fact per say. I mean, YES they had a one off season, but that doesn't mean that all of Pirlo, Gennaro and Seedorf are the reason behind Milan's 5th place finish.


Milan finished 5th place because of several factors. Fatigue, injury, and a lack of depth. For this midfield has won so much, you would just need to look at their records to grasp what kind of caliber you are talking about.

If you want to wipe them out, just because of one season .. then that is your opinion. But mine remains that they are world class.

Very true and as misha said, because of him we managed to concentrate more on the CL because he was assuring us goals in the league. Had we bought Ronaldo from the beginning of the season I think we would have had a much better shot at Seria A, but instead we got a more expensive Oliveira

As for the formation, I'm not quite sure yet. I would personally still prefer Seedorf in the midfield 3 especially in the league where we struggle to un-block defences with the 2 defensive mids, both are not needed for those types of games, and still don't understand why Carlo kept insisting on it last season and the one before that despite it proving to be a failure in practically every game we played against the mid table and bottom of the table teams. But Flamini should be a starter imo, he's not a pure defensive mid he's more box to box, he can win the ball back but still do something like make a great pass or even moving forward and shooting, he showed that yesterday in the friendly and countless times last season at the Arsenal

Y'know, I really am rather enjoying this thread. For the first time in a while, there are actually options for the starting lineup.

It'll be interesting to see who really does end up starting this season.

It should be very interesting.

I still don't believe this is the 'complete squad', even if I do believe we will not sign anymore players this summer. For the start of the 2009/10 season I'm sure we'll have even more players that can cope in the first team, and that's when we'll push for the leage title in my opinion. I'm not sure we're quite ready yet, making the CL should be our priority.

for how much money we have we made some good signings. Flamini is sick, boriello we can judge in 4 days, zambrotta needs no intro and ronaldinho we'll see in august. For what a 30 million transfer fund that was pretty good.

+99 Like you mentioned, Paolo said it in his last interview that if it weren't for R99 and his contribution to the team, things could very well have been different. I'm not saying we wouldn't have won the CL, but at the very least we had someone leading the attack and had a peace of mind in the league (unlike this season). Every player contributes in his way; can't discount Ronaldo's contribution, just like we can't do the same for anyone else who wears the Red&Black jersey.

And we shouldn't forget he was Pato's idol. Ronaldo - along with Kaka and Leonardo - is the reason we're able to say Quack Quack. Brazilians absolutely adore Real Madrid, and I have reasons to believe Pato may (or may not) have headed to Spain if he had a larger array of choice. Scouts for clubs like Chelsea, Madrid were of course interested in him. So in a way he passively contributed in netting us Pato, even if a small amount. For the same reason, I'd very much welcome Benzama (as he has wanted to play alongside R99), only if our management was interested in him. The Frenchman too is about a complete a forward as they come.

If no other strikers arrives, and Ronaldo wants another try at the Milan challenge, I'd take him in a heartbeat. Provided he is ready and wants to play top flight football. We don't have to play him in every match, use him like Inzaghi. Time will tell.

Milan Choose First Choice Keeper

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has appointed Zeljko Kalac as the first choice goalkeeper for next season.
Christian Abbiati, Nelson Dida, Zeljko Kalac: those are the three goalkeepers currently under contract at Milan, and all three, for better or worse, could potentially be the first choice for next season. But it seems coach Carlo Ancelotti has picked his starting goalkeeper now.

"The hierarchy of the goalkeepers has been decided by Carlo Ancelotti," announced vice-president Adriano Galliani. "I think that at this point we can say that we start with Kalac, then comes Abbiati, and we are waiting to verify the conditions of Dida, who is following a recovery program."

Galliani then talked about Alessandro Nesta's conditions: "It's nothing serious. He does have this problem to his back. We had him checked by some specialists and they said an operation isn't necessary. He should recover soon enough."

Last season Dida started in goal for Milan, but a series of blunders saw him drop out of the team and replaced by Kalac, who become the new first choice, after Christmas.

Now i guess there is no question about what goal keeper we'll start with considering our formation...

So i guess it'll be something like this

------------------Kalac----------------

-----Bonera--Nesta--Kaladze---Zambrotta---

-----Gattusso------Pirlo------Flamini

--------------Kaka-------Ronaldinho------

--------------------Pato/Borriello--------
www.goal.com

Yeah, there is a thread about this in the News section. Anyway, Kalac should start. And deservedly so. The only thing that bugs me is that I remember a player mentioning that Dida is training hard, and is getting back into form. And now Galliani comes back to say that Dida is on a recovery program.

I don't remember him being injured that serious, honestly.

I really don't trust Dida anymore...He needs to prove to milan once again that he's still as good as he used to...Ma bad Acid 911, i felt that the Kalac article would match in the thread considering milan's formation for next season...

No worries at all mate! I appreciate you taking time out to post it here. And oh, feel free to call me Acid. Hehe.

Agree with the Kalac thing, but no Ambrosini in the predicted line-up. Why does he even bother?

lol..Aight....Acid it is..

Hehe.

Milan Left Rocked And Crocked By Further Injuries Up Front
Milan have suffered yet another injury blow up front and this time it’s Marco Borriello’s turn to visit the treatment room.

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The hit-man, who scored 19 goals last season in Serie A, went down awkwardly in training on Saurday afternoon and the club have now confirmed their worst fears.

“Borriello has suffered a distortion in his right knee,” reads a report from the Milan medical team on the club’s official website.

The Italian intenational is now set to undergo further tests at Milan lab on Sunday to verify the extent of the damage but initial reports seem to suggest he will be out for at least 60 days.

This latest set-back is likely to leave Carlo Ancelotti with severe head aches up front as Alexandre Pato is on international duty and Filippo Inzaghi is also injured.

Therefore, in theory, Milan have no-one up front as teenager, Alberto Paloschi, is in the middle of negotiating a move to Torino but it seems like he will be prevented from joining the Granata.

It’s not what Milan wanted at such a crucial stage of pre-season.

http://www.goal.com/en-US/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=792916

what's new?

60 days!?

So who have we got to backup Pato, when he's back? Nobody!?

Palsochi must stay, this may be his opportunity. Plus hopefully Inzaghi will be in good form at the start of the season instead of injured like he usually is.

Paloschi may get his opportunity. After all, when Paolo first came out, it was a similar situation