Congratulations to Leo! hopefully he will be with us for many, many more years! be it as a coach or as a director.

He's got balls, lets see if we can sign him. I have no doubt that dzeko was his choice. The management probably would prefer 32 year old toni


Thats the one thing I like about Leo over carlo. He knows how to pick his players.

yep his scouting got us Pato and ofc Kaka'

Agreed with Blue and Ry4n!

Yep, especially after the transfer market (for Milan) didn't even start. But hey, let's jump to the conclusions.

Pato, Kaka ring a bell? Oh wait nvm... Those were recommended by the almighty carlo

Be serious. We're talking about his transfers now. Kaka and Pato, yes, partly Leonardo's success. But "picking his players" means something else.

He asked for Cissokho and Dzeko. If he gets them and they succeed doesn't that prove he knows how to pick his players? Galliani and co. obviously want Toni here instead of Dzeko and that would have been the typical carlo choice. Thats why i'm saying if were signing players who have been recommended by leo, than he is picking his players where as carlo would just say sign me a striker who is good instead of I want this player and putting his foot down until he got him.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

I think its expected that he will be nervous at first.

And with the team the management are preparing for him I cannot blame him one bit

You are one right ray of sunshine. Keep up the optimism and I'm gonna need shades when I'm around you.



You need rum, you're wound up too tight.

sounds like someone going back to college or school

Beginning to wonder if the players we are linked with are Leo's choices or is he suffering the Don Silvio effect.....Adebayor..no thanks...Fabiano...hmmmm not another brazilian please...Hunterlaar....now that would be great.

I'm starting to worry a bit about Leo first that whole 'messed up thing' now him coming out and saying that coaching isn't really something that he's wanted to do or saw himself doing.

Personally I think he was pushed into it more then anything else. As the next season could well likely be a transitional one and we won't have a competitive team. Only someone from the inside would accept this sort of deal.

I think i said in another thread about the balancing of the books for the next couple of seasons...this smacks to me of just employing someone who is already on the books...top class coach would require top money and insist on top players...it all costs and we all know a major rebuilding job is required.

So i guess they thought cheap option play down our chances of winning anything and hope we make the top 4...how long Serie A keeps its 4 C.L places is another thing but thats a different conversation for another thread

Agreed

And hopefully all the Italian teams do well. And sadly Italy has been relying on Milan for the co-efficient point these past few years, and now Milan is not strong enough to compete.

And Inter... No matter how well they do in Italy or who their coach is, they'll still stumble when it comes to the big stage. Let's hope they'll at least make it past the last 16 this time and not get beaten out by another brit team.

Same goes for Juve who haven't been a force in the CL since their Lippi days.

Personally I would have prefered Roma to get one of the places, Fiorentina are still new to the game and like last season they'll find it hard to cope, maybe even more this time around as they'll lose some of their best players...

Maybe he is too young, but I believe Pato can do wonderful things for us next season. He has done very well for a kid in a league a tough league so far, and he does have the speed that compensates for Kaka. Then if Ronaldinho regains his form, then there could be a possibility of Milan challenging to some extent. Adding one more striker, and hoping that these three click, you never know.

Ideally I would think it would take a miracle for Milan to win within the coming three seasons, but football is crazy in every sense of the term

We'd still need to look at the defence which is not great same goes for the midfield. We need a player that can replace Seedorf and play in that position.

It's not just about the attack, we have problems in all areas of the pitch

Even the goal keeping position is shaky, as we don't know if Abbiati will come into next season playing like cr@p or not and Dida is not good enough anymore

Yeah .. It doesn't seem like we will be challenging for top honors anytime soon. Maybe three years from now, maybe longer.

not just on the pitch...i think the club off the pitch is at its lowest for many years....i firmly believe we have lost of sense of morals with the way Kaka was pushed from the club which he stated time and again he didn't want to leave.
Balancing the books s all well and good but there are still huge wage earners at the club so whats next?? Pato sold next season...it's not a understatment to say this club is in turmoil and 3 years to challenge for anything only if things work out if not....5 years plus i think

THANKYOU!!!

Exactly what I've been trying to say for weeks now!!

What was the point of selling Kaka when we still have players who lets face it are only doing damage to the club by staying earning over 4m a season? These wages will render the Kaka sale null in 2 years time...

Dida,Kaladze,Favalli,Kalac,Sheva all these players on vast sums of money then the players that have left since the end of the season like Emerson,Senderos major earners apart from Favalli all pretty useless.

Also the acquisition of Flamini in a already packed midfield also on big money when a position was already filled 3 times over in the midfield.

Major major bad running of this club for the last several years...and the lessons haven't been learnt from several key areas such as

1. Calciopoli...Galliani was involved and should have been shown the door when the club was found guilty, the man is incompetent and a liar.

2. The non qualification of last season C.L in which everyone could see in the last game of the previous seasons tournament how slow we were against Arsenal and how little we created and compare this against the absolute hammering we gave Man.Utd a couple of seasons previous.

3. The buying of "toy" players by Berlisconi players such as Ronaldo,Ronaldinho and latest Beckham...turning the club into a worldwide circus more interested in selling shirts than winning games.

4. Related to number 3 is the constant interference by Silvio in formation choice and player selection.

5. The vast amount of €'s invested in the academy and the refusual to play these players even in Coppa games.

All these thing have contributed to a slow decline which ends up in the unthinkable....we have to sell our best players to compensate for the overspending on bad decisions which unless something serious happens will just continue season after season until the fans become like fans from Naples....living on past glories and hoping one day maybe one day it will happen again!

Great post.

But I do think the Flamini deal was a good one.

Ambro and Rino have next season, but the one after that will probably be their last as starters. We need to start thinking about replacing these players.

And you forgot to mention mistakes like the co-ownership deals Galliani seems so fond of. I think we're losing around 10-15m a season on these sorts of deals. Look at what happened with Boriello.

Plus the Gourcuff mistake. Not only did they loan him with an option to buy, but they also couldn't gaurantee him playing time when they tried to convince him to come back!!! I mean what the hell??!!! They knew they were going to sell Kaka, so why in God's name would they tell him that he's not gauranteed a spot in the first 11???!!! Oh right so Seedorf can come on the field every Sunday and jog around for 90 minutes. This thing just leaves me baffled...

I see your point but what about the young Mathías Cardacio isn't he a player being groomed for that position..and yes i forgot about the countless €'s lost in co-ownership deals to

Personally I don't understand why he was bought in the first place. Personally I see real potential in both him and Viudez. They knew that Carlo would not give them a lot of playing time. Hopefully though they won't get sent out on loan, because if they do they'll get lost with all the other players we loaned out...

I think given the chance by Leo they could both shine next season, since we're going down the Arsenal route that is. Viudez is really skillful, and he's lightning quick with the ball at his feet. I think it was Tennie who commented about his performances in some U-21 competition, and he was really impressive.

Cardacio, I personally like a lot, he's great on the ball, he's always calm and collected, has a good passing range. He sometimes reminds me of Real's Gago, the way he moves around on the pitch.

My point exactly...to many times these players have been over looked...said this hundreds of times about the youth..Darmain another i hope will get game time to

Agreed

Personally I think having this squad will be enough for next season

GK
Abbiati
Kalac
Dida

DEF
Zambrotta
Oddo
Nesta
Bonera
Thiago Silva <----- That's 2/3 LBs, 2 RBs and 5 CBs
Favalli
Darmian
Jankulovski
Albertazzi
Maybe a new LB...

MID
Gattuso
Ambrosini
Flamini
Cardacio <----- That's 4 DMs, 2/3 CMs, 3 attacking mids and 1 winger
Pirlo
Seedorf
:praying:Sneijder:praying:
Viudez
Abate
Di Gennaro
Ronaldinho

ATT
Pato
Fabiano
Inzaghi <----- 1 SS and 2/3 Pure out and out strikers and Pippo tap in master
Hunterlaar
Maybe Boriello (hopefully not)

I think this would be a great start heading into the new season of transition.

So he won't be after all without any coaching badges at the start of the season.

They said he passed with flying colors. He got top marks on his assessments so thats a good thing. I think he was getting lessons from tasotti and galli, who are part of the elite 30 or so in the world of coaches/assistants.

Once again if what you say is true, why is Tassotti still an assistant coach?? I think if anything, he must take the next step forward.

Its not tassotti's decision to make. Berlu wanted leo as a coach so he pretty much forced the job on him. I personally dont' think Leo really wanted to coach, but hey I won't complain. I love the guy and I think hes got the right ideas to make milan excell. But yes, in response to what you said, if we really wanted a great coach we should have put Galli as head and Tassotti as assistant or vice versa.


But they will be there and will help leo out so It wont be that big of a deal.

Why do you think Leonardo didn't want to coach?

I don't think the job was forced on Leonardo, more like it was offered to him and he decided to accept the challenge. And what a challenge that will be!

hes said it in his second press conference.

If Leonardo had topped Ancelotti on anything thus far, then it must be this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYQDTgxp3yc

Very clear english indeed!

His English has been very good for a while, he works for the BBC fduring World Cups.

Wow! His English is impressive! Thanks for posting that.

Ah yeah, I do remember him doing a bit of media work over here now.

I remember the two Swede babes kissing, and Leo saying all they're missing is a Brazilian.

Haha - Our Leo said that?!
I like him even more now!

Leonardo: Milan - Chelsea Will Be Special
Ancelotti's successor cannot wait to get one over his former tutor...

Milan coach Leonardo is relishing the chance to have a shoot-out against former mentor Carlo Ancelotti when his side clash with Chelsea on Friday.

Both teams meet in Baltimore in what is expected to be a sold-out match and the Brazilian, who took over from Ancelotti at the San Siro, cannot wait to face the Blues.

"The Chelsea match will be very special for me and it will be unexpected to find Ancelotti on the opposite team," Leonardo told Sky Sport Italia following Milan's 2-1 loss to Club America.

"Chelsea have been doing well and they are working hard. They have a big squad with plenty of great players who can dictate the match. They are a great team and play with speed and intensity."

Leonardo wanted to see Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano arrive, but he has conceded defeat in the race to land him after the Spanish side rejected the club's €14million bid.

"There was a moment to decide whether it was yes or no, but we are closer to a no and it doesn't seem like he will arrive," added the coach.

"We have a good side already and we can play really well if we continue to work hard together. If someone arrives then it will be good."

Earlier reports suggested the Rossoneri were aiming to take a shot at AZ Alkmaar striker Moussa Dembele.

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com

Nice pic.

So. there have been two international breaks so far this season for World Cup qualifiers - one in September and this one currently going on.

The curious thing is that the erstwhile coach of AC Milan, Leonardo, has taken 3 day trips to Brazil with his girlfriend during both breaks. The players not called up were given the time off (no training) and this past weekend, Leo skipped out on the last training before the break to catch his flight.

Now there may be some serious family thing going on but...

...Fishdoll thinks that jetting off on holiday during international breaks and letting a team that's ALREADY visibly out of shape just sit around for 3 days (when other teams do not do this during breaks) shows a shocking lack of professionalism on the part of the coach. Also shows that - unless something comes out to prove otherwise - he's not taking the job very seriously at all.

(link to big ranty article on telelombardia about Leo and his vacations).

It's not a shocking lack of professionalism, it's an accurate level of the ability of the amateur we have in charge.

Leonardo does not know how to manage or coach in football. Putting the club in his hands has turned out to be an appallingly misguided decision.

Fishdoll thinks he, dst's dogs, and LaPalma's pet rabbit could do a better job at this point.

Diavolino is sad that Fishdoll didn't think about him.

And Leo how am I supposed to keep defending you if you keep doing stuff like this?!

Fishdoll apologizes to Diavolino and asks if he wants to be the motivator during training - he can chase after the guys when they're doing runs and bite the slowpokes (he has the teeth for it!).

take it easy, he needs some time off; everyone does.

There is no point working when the entire squad is under immense pressure and the morale is zero. Let them all get some rest and resume working this week. We don't have a young squad, so its not like they need training. They need to get their head in the game and concentrate and maybe some time off can do them some good.

I'm beginning to think tactics are not where our problems are rather we are lacking motivation and discpline.

Tactics have never won games alone, the players need to perform. We should be able to beat atalanta with no coach at all given the calibre of our squad.

Hah. Knew it wouldn't last, the two of us agreeing! (If it did, Fishdoll would start to twitch).

Gonna respectfully disagree that two extended breaks within the space of 6 weeks is really necessary or wise especially for a brand new coach of a squad that's not in shape anyway. And if the coach skips out on practice so he can catch his flight, how on earth can he then expect ANY of his players to show up on time for training?

I do agree that it's motivation and discipline but that isn't going to get better when the coach goes off on holiday once a month during the middle of the season. Leadership comes from the top and Leo just isn't showing any, nor is he showing discipline.