Does the dozer thing start again?

So I guess we will probable either see a 4-3-1-2 with Seedorf behind Pato-Pippo/Sheva or a 4-3-3 sort of setup with Sheva and Pato Supporting Pippo.

I doubt the 4-3-3. Putting all our fit strikers on at once to play 90 minutes? I think the 4-3-1-2.

Or 4-4-2 with Janku in mid.

Never gonna happen

He used it against Braga in the San Siro a couple months ago...

yea he did at that time 4-3-3 floped but then so many time s mas tree has floped as well

you are wrong we are third in serie A with players that i believe are past their prime. Milan's christmas tree is the reason we are cited as having one of the best counter-attacks in europe.
Suggesting a complete experiment in a cup tournament, is welll................oh nvm i just read your profile name ...

After watching CL games for two nights, here we are again, the UEFA Cup what pissed me off is that this was our best chance to win the league while we were away from the CL and we couldn't do it for whatever reason. god knows how many years will pass till we see the tricolori on our shirts again.

still that against lecce isnt exactly effective.

2-1 for Milan with a classic pippo finishing

A MATCH WORTHY OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

2/25/2009 5:41:00 PM

'It's a Uefa Cup match, but we consider it a Champions League': that's what Carlo Ancelotti said about tomorrow's match against Werder Bremen, in which courage and personality will be needed.



(on the photo, the Rossoneri's celebrations after Inzaghi's goal in Werder Bremen-Milan of last Wednesday)

MILANELLO - Here are the main declarations of coach Carlo Ancelotti, who talked during a press conference ahead of the second leg of the sixteenth finals of the Uefa Cup against Werder Bremen (San Siro, tomorrow 26 February 20.45).

ON THE FORMATION - 'Tomorrow there will not be a preordained turnover, we will try to use the best players available. The goalscorers emergency continues but we will evaluate the situation better after today's training. The doubts are mainly for Kaká and Ronaldinho, while as far as Pato and Shevchenko are concerned there are good possibilities. Also in defence we will try to use the most correct pairing, to counter the difficulties they will create in aerial play. Flamini is in a good moment, now he's playing with continuity and he's improved a lot. He can be used, also tomorrow. Beckham can play independently of whether or not Mathieu will play. As for Inzaghi, he has the objective of maintaining the title of European top scorer. He feels these games very strongly, and when that's the case, he rarely makes mistakes.'

ON KAKÁ - 'I don't think he can play against Werder, but on Sunday he will. Ricky had to stay out for 15 days for a distorsion; now we are in the 18th day, it makes no difference for me; we are we are in line with the recovery that had been programmed.'

ON THE MATCH - 'Werder are a team with excellent offensive qualities and they are used to these types of games. We know that the biggest problem in this match for us will be their physical power and their quality especially in attack. Werder play the same way both at home and away. We will find some difficulties on dead balls, and on aerial play: there will be some dangerous situations of this kind. We know it is a delicate match in a very important part of the season. We want to play an excellent match and we won't make any calculations even though on paper the first leg result gives us an advantage. We will play to win. Our primary objective at the moment is finishing in the top three in the league and we have not lost hope to reach the top of the table. Of course there's also the desire to play another final. Let's hope that getting past Werder Bremen can clear the road towards the final for us. We were talking about it yesterday with captain Maldini: it would be nice if he could lift another Cup. And we also have to get through for Nesta: we want to go forward and give also him the possibility of playing in the Uefa Cup. In any case, to go through we have to play well, control the match. We have to play in a courageous way, with personality and without fear. In these matches in Europe you don't make calculations, it's much more important to have courage and to want to impose yourself. From this point of view it will be a more open match than the one between Inter and Manchester, also because this one decisive, and that one was just the first half."

ON MILAN'S MOMENT - 'We had difficulties due to some points lost along the road and the recovery of the injured players. What we have done so far is all due to us. The pressure that surrounds us doesn't scare me, on the contrary, the more there is, the more possibilities we have of controlling it and drawing energy from it."

ON THE WHISTLES AT SAN SIRO - "They don't weigh on me, I accept them as criticisms. But I think that tomorrow these whistles will transform into applause for the team. Seedorf has the affection of the crowd, the fans have good memory and they know what Clarence has always given to this team. I think tomorrow we will find a different ambience; if it isn't, then we will have to change that. The Milan fans have always given their support in this type of match. It's not a Champions League match, but it's as if it were. We consider it a Champions League match because of the teams on the pitch and their experience."

And we also have to get through for Nesta: we want to go forward and give also him the possibility of playing in the Uefa Cup.

Edit: misunderstood previous post.

2-1 for Milan with a classic pippo finishing

FIFA plan to limit foreign players ''not illegal''

Controversial plans by football's world governing body to limit the number of foreign players do not breach EU rules, an independent report declared on Thursday.

FIFA's so-called ''6+5'' rule has been overwhelmingly approved by 155 of the organisation's member nations, but dismissed as illegal by the European Commission and most EU governments because they say it amounts to discrimination at work and a restriction on the free movement of workers.

Now the Institute for European Affairs (INEA) - commissioned by FIFA itself to study the issue - claims the idea of restricting foreign players in league games does not fall foul of EU rules on free movement of workers.

''There is no conflict with European law,'' INEA chairman Professor Jurgen Gramke told a press conference in Brussels. He insisted the report, although commissioned by FIFA, was entirely independent.

''We took no instructions from FIFA,'' he added. ''INEA accepted this commission on condition that our requirements of complete independence were met.''

The report says that, under EU law, the ''regulatory autonomy'' of sporting associations is recognised and supported.

''The key aim of the 6+5 rule in the view of the experts is the creation and assurance of sporting competition.

''The 6+5 rule does not impinge on the core area of the right to freedom of movement. The rule is merely a rule of the game declared in the general interest of sport in order to improve the sporting balance between clubs and associations''.

FIFA endorsed the rule in May last year, but six months later EU ministers said it clearly broke EU rules.

The 6+5 rule established that at the start of each match, a club must field at least six players who would be eligible for the national team of the country of the club.

But there would be no limit on substitutes and no limit on the number of non-national players that clubs can sign.

Thursday's report says that, at worst, the 6+5 rule could constitute ''indirect discrimination'' because ''it is not directly based on the nationality of professional players''.

Instead it ''merely considers entitlement to play for the national team concerned, and any possible indirect discrimination can be defended on the basis of compelling reasons of general interest''.

At the moment, quota systems in football are outlawed, thanks to a European Court ruling in 1995 known as the Bosman Case.

It declared illegal the system, then in operation in many national leagues and in UEFA club competitions, which allowed only three ''foreign'' players in a team.

The Bosman judgment had a dramatic effect on football, said today's report, opening up the use of foreign players to such a degree that up to 56% of national league players are now not eligible to play for the national team of the league in which they play. In addition, up to half of the ''foreign'' players are ''non-European''.

This development discourages young indigenous footballing talent, because clubs can recruit fully trained players from elsewhere, often cheaper, the report points out.

It says the central aim of the 6+5 rule is to generate and safeguard sporting competition, and its goal is best summed up as ''sport should remain sport''.

Professor Gramke said the report's conclusions justifying the compatibility of the 6+5 rule with EU law also applied to other team sports such as handball, basketball and ice hockey.

''It has an important protective function for the whole of international sport, so that sport can remain sport,'' he said.

The findings add fresh ammunition to FIFA's challenge to the European Commission and governments to recognise the 6+5 rule.

A FIFA spokesman said the report would form the basis of fresh talks with Commission officials, including Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is determined to see the 6+5 rule in place by the start of the 2012-13 season and the Commission is currently equally determined to block him.

What a racist rule imo. What does it matter where you get your players from, its a game about talent and skill. If their worried about talent in the country diminishing then they should help out the smaller clubs in the country who mostly play players from the nt eligiblity not shackle the top clubs because its not fair.

MILAN-WERDER BREMA: LE FORMAZIONI UFFICIALI
26/02/2009
MILAN: Dida; Zambrotta, Senderos, Maldini, Favalli; Beckham, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf; Inzaghi, Pato.

WERDER BREMA: Vander; Fritz, Mertesacker, Naldo, Pasanen; Tziolis, Frings, Ozil; Diego, H. Almeida, Pizarro.

i'm a genius. Good thing you didn't bet tennie

i'm a genius. Good thing you didn't bet tennie

I think everyone knew that Pato would play today...

Well I'm not completely happy about it, but at least we have 2 strikers on the field and just 1 DM

Would have prefered Bonera in the middle instead of Senderos and Antonini on the left instead of Favalli

Don't understand why Carlo chose to risk Maldini in this one, he's our best defender atm and we really should't take any chances with him, Favalli and Bonera in the middle of defence would have been imo enough

PS: my new word now is special one instead of dozer hahahah

PS: my new word now is special one instead of dozer hahahah