There's a friendly tomorrow between Milan and Lugano. The game will be shown on Mediaset Premium and then later in the evening on Milan Channel.

Per acmilan.com's italian page, here are the callups and the lineup:

Abbiati;
Bonera, Senderos, Maldini, Antonini;
Cardacio, Emerson, Ambrosini;
Seedorf;
Inzaghi, Pato.

A disposizione: Kalac, Favalli, Kakà, Strasser (51), Gianola (52), Pasini (53), Romagnoli (54), Ruggeri (55), Angelilli (57).

Interesting. We'll be able to see how Senderos will do... albeit against a low ranking team in the second division Swiss Division... that ought to be interesting for Senderos...

oh i was hoping to see borrilleo in the linup seems he is still unfit this would have been gud oppertunit for him and pato to play togather

(originals on acmilan.com's italian page. my translations)

Carletto gave his prematch press conference.

TOWARD LUGANO-MILAN: "Tomorrow's game will be an important friendly, it'll be Kaka's first game back from injury. We'll evaluate his condition even though I don't think he'll start; he'll probably come off the bench at the beginning of the second half. The attention won't only be on him, it'll also be Senderos' first game for Milan. This week there weren't a lot of us at Milanello, but we did some very good work".

KAKA' AND MILAN: "Ricky is one of those players who represents a lot for a club, not only for what he does on the pitch but also for his influence on the atmosphere. Maldini and Gattuso are like this, important players for this Milan. We're unhappy about Rino's injury, but between us and the Azzurri there are certainly no problems. And Rino's strong, he's already feeling better. I think he'll be on the pitch soon".

OK FOR BORRIELLO: "Marco is doign well, his improvement is in line with projections. He's arleady doing some work and Thursday will have a visit with Professor Martens who operated on him. The visit will serve to give the okay for him to return to training with the group".

THE SEARCH FOR EQUILIBRIUM: "At this moment, we need results above everything. With Bologna we started poorly, alternating good things with less good things. The equilibrium of a team is a fundamental concept because it gives substance to an entire season. I'm convinced that we'll find this equilibrium when we're able to work with all the players. We've missed the chance to work with, varyingly, Ronaldinho, Shevchenko, and Pato and when we do it, I repeat that I'm convinced we'll find a good solution. With what formation? The one I like at the moment is one with 4 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 attackers, whether it's 2 trequartistas and 1 prima punta or a trequartista and two strikers. The 4-2-3-1? The only comment is that we tried it with Bologna without having practiced it much in training, but in future it could certainly be a good solution".

SOLIDARITY FOR STEFANO BORGONOVO: "I think it's right to educate the public about this grave illness and afterwords not to forget about it, he was our teammate and we're all close to him".

----

Today's training took place.

After warmup, the team was divided into groups.

The primavera players Pasini, Gianola, Strasser, Ruggeri, Romagnoli, Angelilli worked on technique with Filippo Galli.

Inzaghi, Kakà and Viudez worked on agility and speed exercizes.

Favalli, Ambrosini, Emerson, Cardacio, Senderos, Pato and Maldini did 20 meter sprints while Antonini, Borriello and Bonera worked on mini-sprints with a focus on speed.

Gattuso, Nesta and Dida worked in the gym.

After this, the team worked on tactical drills for about half an hour. Following this was a brief practice game with Abbiati and Kalac in goal.

Should be nice to see the out come of this game... An interesting team I must say!
Thanks to Tennie for the info as usual!

Why isn't Darmian in the squad?

Was he with the Italian U21s? Because I know there were some U21 international matches, but not sure if Italy played...

Darmian (and Albertazzi and Paloschi) is with the U20s.

Time ?

19:00, Milan time.

God... why should Seedorf play in EVERY SINGLE GAME?

Knowing this is a friendly, he'll probably score 2 goals and assist one...

Because there is no one else available for attacking midfielder role, and Kaka is still not fully match fit (so will not start).

Even if there were, Seedorf would've still started. Carlo ALWAYS plays him, unless he's injured or suspended, which happens probably only 1 game in every season

Not this season as we have many more players, including Ronaldinho... who was seen as direct competition to Seedorf...

And I'm sure management will pressure Carlo to play Ronaldinho over Seedorf... they didn't pay 21 million for nothing.

Hopefully. I still can't see Seedorf benched.

If Ronaldinho turned out what we're expecting, then maybe it'll be Seedorf's last season with us. he's not one of those players who accept the bench role IMO. he wants to play regularly and if he falls out of favor he may leave.

Seedorf is not 20 anymore, he's 31, it's easy saying he'll leave but where would he go at his age? No question he would want to go to another top club and play regularly. It's not that simple. This season we might see Seedorf more in his old position in the midfield 3 which I personally hope for since he plays better then the he does further forward.

And with the ammount of strikers and attacking mids we have everyone will have to sit games out, Seedorf will just have to learn to accept that.

At the end of this season Seedorf will be 32, right? I think it's the best time to sell him to a Ajax-like team for a reasonable price. I wouldn't mind if he stayed, but to be honest I have seen many graceless reactions upon substitution from him. he can easily cause problems in the dressing room if Carlo drops him. if he doesn't drop him, other players in that position will be unhappy. especially when they see he can't even give 100% to this team anymore (except for those 10 games a season). one of Carlo's biggest tasks this season will be handling the Seedorf case!

Good lord, zd, why the hate for Seedorf?

I don't hate Seedorf.

He's to me like what Brazilians are to you, for example.

Sorry if I exaggerated about his reactions upon substitution. he clearly hangs his head down and comes off the pitch like a good boy (and above all doesn't kick bottles or come out from the wrong side of the pitch).

Gee

Are there any streams for this game?

Ouch, zd. Sarcasm. It's probably best if we agree to disagree on dressing room problems and the like, as it would seem our views are...pretty far apart.

----

No news on streams, Max.

If you don't think what he did in Fiorentina game, for example, doesn't have a negative and bad impression AT ALL, then I agree; let's agree to disagree. because the biggest impression I got from that one was what Billy once mentioned: the players don't respect the coach anymore after a certain time.

Well, yes. That was not a nice scene. But thing is, I also think Kaka repeatedly saying he wants to be captain is also not nice and think it clearly did not sit well with some players ahead of him in club seniority (notably Gattuso and Pirlo). So it's a matter of perspective.

Will you please cite a reliable source for that? I want to show you something. (please not Italian. I don't understand Italian)

Look back through the news stuff, zd. Gattuso wanting to be sold, for example. Pirlo's interview which I believe is in his thread commenting pointedly about having spotkicks taken away and stating for the first time quite clearly that he wants to be captain eventually. (I'm at work and don't have time to go hunting through old news. And Italian sources are far more reliable than stuff in English, for what it's worth).

Look, we're not going to agree on this issue so there's little point in continuing the debate. I don't think there's any evidence that Seedorf is disruptive in the dressing room. I do think there's evidence that Kaka may have been. You don't seem to agree. That's fine. If we all agreed then this would be a dull place.

I don't think Kaka has been disruptive at all. He suggested he wants to stay a long time leaving the possibility of being team captain... one day.

Already searching acmilan.com
I think it was a few weeks ago when Kaka talked about captaincy...


I didn't say Seedorf 'is' disruptive. I said if Carlo drops him he can cause problems in the dressing room. I'm basing my judgment on his reactions when he gets substituted (which rarely happens since he usually plays full matches). that evidence is enough for me to think so, but I'm not forcing anyone to agree with me.

Your evidence about Kaka is not enough for me. Kaka has always been praised by coach/management/teammates/etc. it was just a day ago when Carlo said these about him:



And there are more quotations...

AFTER ALL, I disagree that "Kaka repeatedly says he wants to be captain". I'm looking for my reason right now...

Your reasons for Seedorf maybe being disruptive in the dressing room are equally unconvincing to me, zd. Walking off the pitch in a huff does not equate with disrupting the dressing room.

I'm not going to respond to this argument after this because I see no point in doing so. We just disagree on the issues at hand - there's no right or wrong involved in my opinion. We just see things differently.

@ Tennie

OK, I accept my reasons for Seedorf do not convince you. not problem.

I just would like to know what you think about this:


(If you consider fifa.com reliable, this is what Kaka said on Feburary 2008)




Honestly, how possibly could that upset those who are ahead of him for captaincy and disrupt the dressing room? how is showing such commitment 'not nice'?

Are my reasons for this one unconvincing?

I personally agree with zd on this one, not about the whole captaincy issue, but about Seedorf. He's supposed to be one of the senior players on this squad that sets the example for the rest, but yet he acts like a child if gets subbed off when he knows he's not playing well. He doesn't want the club to buy players if that means his position is in jeopardy. For a player who's supposed to be a mature and to set an example for the rest he doesn't really do any of that instead he acts like a pre madonna

LUGANO-MILAN: LE DUE FORMAZIONI
10/09/2008
MILAN - Ecco le formazioni ufficiali di Lugano e Milan che si affrontaranno alle 19.00 allo stadio Cornaredo di Lugano:

LUGANO: Proietti; Rota, Montandon, Denicola, Preisig; Carlos Da Silva, Baldo, Maggetti, Fabiano Da Silva, Rennella; Renfer. A disposizione: Aldebrando, Sulmoni, Valente, Rocca, Gomiero, Fernandinho, Dorsa, Moresi, Alexis.

MILAN: Abbiati; Bonera, Senderos, Maldini, Antonini; Cardacio, Emerson, Ambrosini; Seedorf; Inzaghi, Pato. A disposizione: Kalac, Favalli, Kakà, Strasser (51), Gianola (52), Pasini (53), Romagnoli (54), Ruggeri (55), Angelilli (57).

Oo. Pippo-Pato. Anyone recall how these two did together last year? I'm blanking if they were both healthy at the same time.

(Fishdoll fears Senderos in defense).

Hopefully Kaka will come on and do well in the second half. And I'd like to see some of the kids get a run out.

Tennie i have great hopes for Senderos

Gee whiz, Tennie, your post count meter rolls fast. I quite remember congratulating you on your 5,000th post and asking you to make it a special one. And look at it now, my my! Unless it was for all the great info you post about everything Milan, Pola and I would be very suspicious of some foul play going on under the table. Maybe mods have a secret forum where only they are allowed to post? Ash, help me with this one!

About the Seedorf thingy, here's a little disclaimer, I'm a bit of a fan of the guy when he decides to show up. Plus, he's vital for this team, he's the link between our army of DMs/Pirlo and attackers like Kaka/strikers. He sure needs to grow up though. How many times have we seen other players of similar stature behave like spoiled kids when they were substituted? Being a senior member and all. If he has guts to show this to the camera, I only fear what goes on behind. Though as Tennie said there is no concrete proof of it.

Changing topics, my head is spinning a bit at the moment. So from what I gather the match is today. Any idea how much time is left, plus it would be great if I can catch a stream of this one anywhere.

Armiss, I hope you're right about Senderos. I really, really do.

Game's due to start in...3 minutes. No info on streams, but Gazzetta is doing text commentary (they're usually pretty good but, well, it's in Italian).

Thank you. Right then, my mind is still with me. I've been looking for a steam but no luck so far. Then again this isn't that high profile a match, but maybe we'll find a way to watch it after the game starts. Otherwise it's going to be the Gazzetta text commentary with occasional visits to some online translation service!

Here's the link to the Gazzetta commentary:

http://www.gazzetta.it/tr_xml_sics/2008/HT...amp;id_p=500980

Milan got the first corner. No score as of yet.

no online links for this match i suppose

It would be highly unlikely that there is any, not for a friendly against a poor team anyhow.

oh gr8 piipo injured

^^ What cmf said. He has apparently pulled something and has been subbed off.

And this friendly has quickly turned into a terrible decision..

what i have understood uptill now is that cardaccio is playing quite gud

Damn it. There goes my suggestion for him starting against Genoa. Looks like you guys who want Sheva to start got your wish... if Sheva is back in time from Kazakhstan.

At the age of 34, they should know better there is risk in playing him.



I know there is a private room for mods in most forums. don't know about milanfan though.

sheva should be back but i think we will see a last year team with seedorf-kaka-pato upfront bcoz all other have been on duty while marco is still not match fit atleast

Maybe they were playing him for the same reason other people are being played: it's early in the season and not everyone is match fit.

As for my post count, I blame it all on the fish doll. He's got to be secretly posting stuff somewhere.....

And yep, CMF you're translating correctly. Cardacio is doing well according to the text.

Who replaced Pippo? Kaka?

Pippo was replaced by Angelilli from the Primavera.

he had some chance from a seedorf cross