a bit early but with this addition of the scudetto all but settled who do you think can win it. will inter win it for the fifth succesive time? will milan finally get it after all these years? will roma straighten there act out and give everyone a run for there money? will juve replace ranieri and build a formidable scudetto winning team. or will it be an upset from another team?

I think Inter have got all the necessary means to win it again. not only I would love to, I need to say it'll be Milan's turn, but I just can't.

In 2006-07 Inter were already the winner before the season even started. we never stood a chance with that 8-point penalty while Juve were in Serie B.

In 2007-08, many thought Juve and especially Milan would challenge Inter. they said that Inter had won their Scudetto thanks to Milan and Juve's problems, but except the last few weeks and the threat of Roma, they won it rather comfortably, again.

Then came the 2008-09 season and everyone said this time really a team other than Inter would win it. again, Inter won it (well, they haven't yet but they will).

I think it's time people realized Inter have a superior squad compared to other teams and unless something's done about it, we'll be watching them winning their 5th consecutive Scudetto in less than 12 months, again.

Inter by at least 5 points.

I can't say till the transfer window is done.

If I recall correctly you predicted that Milan would win the Scudetto this season, after the transfer window was done there are many factors IMO that decide which team wins the title, not just transfer windows. I for one think Carlo is not the Serie A winning type coach and the stats back this up (1 title in a nearly 13 year old career at top level). then there are injuries that can be blamed for a bad season, bad luck, bad refereeing, etc etc etc.

I'm blaming injuries actually. I wasn't counting on losing Nesta, Borriello, Rino, Kaka etc. And Carlo's gaffes haven't been so huge to lose us much. Yes, the bad start was a big issue. But after that, there's not been a lot of huge mistakes that having a consistent roster couldn't have solved.

Bad start while we had everyone available, 6 points. I guess that's about the difference between us and Inter.

But as I said, IMO not just one factor affects a season...

I just looked back. We didn't actually have everyone available for the Bologna game.

Here are the call ups:


And here's the starting lineup:



So, we can see that Nesta was out at the start, Gattuso was out, Borriello was out.
I'll also note that of the starting lineup, 4 were new players to Milan this season. It may not be much of an excuse but some of these guys were not - at that point - used to playing with each other.

kaka was out

I agree that injuries have influenced our season but maybe not as much as the club make it look like (like they're the one and only reason we're not winning the title). I mean, come on, we're talking about Bologna... they're being relegated, even without Kaka, Borriello, Gattuso, etc. Milan had more quality than them and we lost, at home. and there were some games where we lost points with a rather complete squad. but those are the past. maybe I have to stop crying out over them. what worries me is that whether we learn from our mistakes or not. for instance, whether we rely on a highly injury prone Nesta again or we bring 2 quality defenders and use Nesta's presence as a great bonus. whether we gamble on bringing players such as Dinho and Sheva (who we had to revive) or atually go for players who can contribute a good deal, and instantly, etc.

I'm blaming Carlo for using Seedorf. In my opinion Seedorf's "killed" us in many games.

You may find this silly but the way I see it for the machine that a team is to function properly every cog must work. Sometimes, especially in defense, a small cog's malfunction might be draped by a bigger cog's force (Kaladze and Nesta). Such faults can be covered. However, in midfield, where the more important cogs of the machine lie (and they are the more important ones because they connect the rear cogs with the front ones thus they control the unreserved function of the machine), such complications cannot be overcome.

Seedorf is a faulty cog in midfield and in my opinion he kills our game whenever he is asked to connect the rear and front ends. That certain connection through his legs is used a lot in Milan's game.

^^

I agree with you. But the difference, while I believe Seedorf is overworked, you believe Seedorf doesn't have it in him. Hence for you he is a lazy turtle, while for me he is sexual chocolate. He's been the engine of our mid-field along with Rino and Pirlo for 7 years now and I can't hate him, no matter what.

Could Yoann have helped out? Maybe. I don't know. It's an instinct thing. Some of us feel he could have made a difference. I feel he couldn't have. Not at the mental state he was in. Now he might be stronger, he's got that whiff of winning-attitude the way his team is performing, and he might be ready to walk into Milan.

The truth is even Seedorf is not a genuine junction player, but he's the best we've got. I don't think Ronnie or Kaka can fill that role. Yes, it's a huge hole in our mid-field and I wish it had been remedied too.

As for Nesta- This is the first season that's really marked him out as injury prone to the extent of unreliability. Ambro's been out. Then Pippo. And now Nesta. We can never really predict these kind of season-long injuries, but now we know.

We're going to finish our season with our 3rd GK. While we've played 40% of it with often our 3rd or even 4th choice CB-pairing.

Take a look at Roma's position and where they are, when this season they've been deprived of the Mexes-Juan partnership.

I don't really think the board and players are making excuses when they say Nesta was a huge miss. We'd be even lower if it weren't for Maldini playing like..(for lack of a better adjective)...Maldini.

As for our season:

I still think there's a bit of overreaction here. We've got the best offense, and the second best defence in Serie A. This was done, without either a primary striker, our main treqqie/SS or the best defender in Serie A ,often all three for long periods of time. I just don't get why this doesn't seem to count for anything among us.

Yes, the first two losses were crucial, but this happens in a season. Barca lost to Numancia when they started. After that they've gone from strength to strength true. But most importantly, their key strength which revolves around their offense was not too seriously deprived. Messi, Henry and Eto'o have been largely fit. While Toure and Keita gave the muscle to protect Xavi and Iniesta.

I'm not saying we'd have had a Barca-esque season, coz that happens very rarely and not with those kind of victory margins in Serie-A, where most teams can and will play like Chelsea did.

But as much as we can say we lost 6 points due to losing the first two matches, I will argue that we lost more, being deprived of Rino, Borriello, Kaka and Nesta at crucial points of the season.

I don't hate Seedorf. Why would I? He's not saying he will do more than he does. I blame Carlo and Carlo only for using him!! I'll say it again, Seedorf has won 4 CL titles with 3 different clubs IT'S NORMAL that he does not feel like giving his all against low table teams... heck, I did not feel like playing against a low quality 5-a-side team the other night and the only thing I've won in football is a penalty! Moreover, Ancelotti should also check Seedorf's age, he's fielding him in every single game since ever and he's now 33 he can't work on that level.

You're right he can't. But there's no else who can. And this bloke puts his hand up every week, fit or not, tired or fresh and says 'I'll do it!'. This is my perspective at least.

We've tried putting Flamini there, we've tried having Rino there (which actually worked a fair bit, till he got injured), and then we've tried even Ambro. There isn't anyone in the team who can fill that position. Poor Kaka does his bit, but we know and it's obvious, that's not his cup of tea.

Or because we didn't have enough quality depth?

Also, it's not about those two games only. do you remember the Lecce game? except Nesta we had everyone available but I remember how Carlo's golden sub Emerson deprived us of 3 points. I'm sure there are other games where we had a complete squad in lost points. (obviously except Nesta who IINM was injured before the season started)

Injuries can be blamed once, injuries can be blamed twice, but injuries cannot be blamed thrice for a disappointing season. all we've been hearing in the past couple of years is the famous 'injuries penalized us/had it not been for injuries we would've ended the season better, etc.' maybe having depth in case injuries happened would not be a bad idea? in today's football you can't have 11-12 quality players if you want to compete for something. because a Nesta or Borriello type injury is enough to guarantee you win nothing.

And now when I hear Galliani saying he's waiting on Nesta's recovery situation to decide what to do in the summer, I want to kick myself! I know he lies but not always, he's proved he rarely lies when it comes to our players. we cannot afford to risk another season and rely on Nesta's contribution when he's so unbelievably injury prone (and it's not just his back). I think anything less than 2 quality defenders and 1 quality striker in the summer would be a huge mistake and will come back and bite us in the **** in less than 12 months.

I have no idea what you're talking about. We have never tried to replace Seedorf and in the few games that he has not played it was obvious that not only we do not rely on him, we don't even need him.