MATCH INFO:


WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
20:45 CET
STADIO OLIMPICO

They are a tough team. I'd play this if we have no robinho or Pato.



4-4-2



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

Zambrotta-Sokratis-Silva-Antonini

-Abate-Gattuso-Pirlo-Boateng

-------Ibra-----Ronaldinho----------


or:


4-3-1-2


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

Zambrotta--Sokratis--Silva--Antonini--

-----Gattuso---Pirlo---Boateng---

--------------Ibra--------

--------Inzaghi---------Ronaldinho



No point sticking to the 4-3-3 if we have no pato or robinho. Its not going to work, especially against a team like lazio.

why are these games so close together

We play champions league and Coppa italia so some of the games are rescheduled.

What happened to Nesta?

I want to give him a rest. He can't play every game otherwise he's going to get injured again and our season's done.


It would be nice too if we had someone like VDV or Honda or even poli so we could rest pirlo too. But its a shame we don't. Seedorf doesn't do a good enough job in pirlo's position imo to be his back up.

sucks for the team we have enough depth though now

I'd go with this :

No way we can play Merkel and Strasser against Lazio. If Robinho and Flamini are still out then I'd go for this



Also resting Nesta against Lazio and playing him against Catania doesn't make any sense. Nesta needs to play, especially when we're so exposed at the back

I would agree with you but this is a mid week game. Its too much for him and seedorf as well. Against lazio i'm sure yepes or sokratis can do the job.

They are not going to sit back and counter. Lazio are going to come at us.

Strasser is very good. He is young but is good enough to replace Rino. He is better than Rino nowdays. With him and Boateng in midfield we will be quite strong.

Robinho, Pato and Flamini are not fit and are expected to be out also against Lazio. Seedorf is old and is tired. We saw it against Catania. Oduamandi plays only in the wings so I'd chose Merkel first.

I'm not resting Nesta. I'm sending him out for not leading the defence very good. I was skeptical about him but it looks like Yepes is quite good so why not.

I think Lazio will watch our last 2 Serie A matches and have their plan down to a T. Still a defense with Nesta is our strongest option, he can play more then once a week as long as it's not a continuos occurance. Plus Sokratis was having trouble against Cesena, I'd rather not risk it against Lazio who have better forwards.

I'd rather a half legged Seedorf then Abate running without cause in midfield. I'm sure Allegri would agree with me. yes we're currently pushing players to their limits but our schedule doesn't permit anything less atm, especially now that we're struck with a lot of injuries in midfield and attack. We really have no other options atm


Throwing Strasser to the lions like that is not a good idea, same thing with Merkel, if they have bad game, they'll struggle to find their feet again.

I don't know if Flamini and Robinho will still be out, Gazzetta said that Flamini should return on week 4, which is the Lazio game. Robinho's knock was minor so I think he should be ok. We'll see, either way, I wouldn't risk any of those kids in such a game.

And if the medical staff think Nesta is ok to play then he will play.

I wouldn't go that far han. Allegri strikes me as a type of person that will change something if it doesnt work. He's not carlo or leo.



He already tried a midfield w/o DM, which is something we've never seen before.


I don't think he's an idiot and he knows that he has no links with milan so he's just another manager fighting for his job. He might do some crazy s*** if things don't work out.


If we lose against lazio, I have a feeling he'll change the system a little bit.


I'd personally love it if we played something like this.



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

Zambrotta-Nesta--Silva--Antonini---

------Flamini------Pirlo------

-Robinho-----Ibra-----Ronaldinho--

-----------Pato--------------

Even it was a friendly match they played against Arsenal and Lyon. They were good. I don't think they're going to "breake down" if they don't impress. Maybe Merkel can be replaced latter in the game. Strasser is part of first team and he played some games for the first team in the past. It's not like has never played with the team and it's new.

Last year medical staff said that Pato can play against Napoli. We know what happened.

EDIT: I must say I agree with Blue

Everyone can put out their crazy lineups, but at the end of the day, I think I chose the likeliest one. I can't really see either Merkel or Strasser getting on the pitch and Seedorf and Nesta will start imo 95% sure of this

wanna bet

Like I said in my post:



I know it's not likely,but...

I never back down from a bet!!!

I bet you that Seedorf and Nesta will both start against Lazio.

Any ideas for what will happen to the winner and loser of the bet?

you make up the rules i'm too lazy

I bet 5$ that han will win , lol

How about the loser sporting this for a week or 2



That way the entire forum suffers with us

thats way too much for a mini bet like this!!

Oh come on!!! Be a man and take it!!

haha it's just a week

How about our bet on Boateng last night?

A bet about Kaladze as signature or what? I will be a week or how long it takes away if so...

So Robinho and Flamini might be ready for this match? I surely hope Robinho can start. With Pato out we need him. We have enough DM's so Flamini is less important, but still, surely if Ambrosini still is out it would be nice to see Flamini start. Also hopefully Zambrotta can start. Let's see if he can do it better than Bonera who IMO wasn't that bad, but I hope Zambrotta will do better. Also I kinda want Amelia to be given a chance. Anywho, I hope we play with a DM behind Pirlo and Boateng.

Say what? We only have Gattuso at the moment. Ambrosini will be out for 3 weeks, and Boateng is not a DM. I don't count Strasser cause Allegri will never field him as a starter.

I don't count Boateng as DM either... but we still got Gattuso like you said, and also Strasser I would count. But what got as Pato replacement if Robinho cannot play either? Odu??????? (oh, or Pippo as RW or so)

Also, Papastathopoulos seems to be a DM option too?

Only Gattuso is not enough. Like I said, Allegri will never play Strasser as starter. Counting Sokratis as DM is being desperate. We really need Flamini back.

I'd love to see Flamini back I fully agree. Just saying Robinho is even more important.

If we can play:

...it would be very nice, but Gattuso instead of Flamini is not as bad than Odu or Pippo instead of Robinho, just saying...

Robinho will probably play, he just had a minor injury, though I can't assure you that 100%. Flamini has been out for a long time and now I'm starting to get worried.

When was the last time he played? Arsenal in preseason?

Yeah, I think so.

Gazzetta just added this, does it mean that both players are back training with the rest of the team?

Yep, they did the whole training with the rest of the squad. Hopefully they'll both start on Wednesday. *fingers crossed*

Same

I rejected your offer 'cos I knew Allegri is stupid enough to play with no DM.

So if they're ready we can finally try for this one.



I've got to say, that gives me a lot more confidence

This is the best combination we have with available players (If Robinho and Flamini are fit).

Btw even yesterday (aftergame) I said that Boateng deserves a first team place. But not without a DM in midfield

I agree with that as well, same as most on here.

But Allegri really had his hands strapped against Catania. I don't beleive that Rino would have made that much of a difference he's just way out of his depth these days

It's not about depth. It's about balance.

I agree. Having someone defending, despite how shite he may be, is better than having no-one at all.

How about Amelia?I'm not liking this Abbiati,I'd rather have Roma play ^^

Yes, I think it'd be fair giving Amelia a chance as well.

Agreed. From now I hope to see a DM + Pirlo + Boateng, and I really like to see Amelia playing. Before pre-season I was all for Abbiati but during and after pre-season I ended up with more confidence in Amelia, and also he has got a future and we need to decide end of season if we wanna keep him and use cash for him. But mostly Abbiati still doesn't convince me that he should be a starter so first I want to see Amelia giving a true chance to compare them fairly.

Man, I really hope Allegri doesn't start Seedorf against Lazio again. I mean, what does every coach see in him really? Surely he's good at positioning and moving the ball forward, and he's got a lot of experience on his shoulders too, but the guy has been a burnt cake for about 2-3 years now. He doesn't defend, he's sluggish in his movements, he makes stupid mistakes and whatnot else. I guess his royal ego must be the reason we still rely on him. And I thought Allegri had the balls to finally make some changes in this team.

I agree. It's simple, you can't play Seedorf and Pirlo in the same formation, not without a very good DM.

I think we should go back to the 4-3-1-2 formation i really don't like this having a winger nonsense, it seems like ever since we did this our play becomes weak and pirlo and seedorf feel uncomfortable this way as we either focus on one side as we never manage to switch sides and when we do its very slow and by then the defender gets there, at the first half its dinho's end the other and pato does nothing then its pato's or whoevers end and dinho fades away...i think we should play through the middle and put pato back to the position he knows best..we can change back to the 4-3-3 formation when we are wining to showboat and stuff.. it should be like this:
GK
Zambrotta-Nesta-T.Silva-Antonini
Pirlo
Boateng/seedorf - Flamini
Ronaldinho
Pato- Ibra
i think its the best way to play, last time we played this way we actually won something

I couldn't agree more

Allegri said in his last press conference that Ronaldinho will never be used as a trequartista, so you can forget about playing him there. The fact is that as long as we have Dinho, we'll be forced to play this system, even if it's in the disfavor of the team. Hence my continuous claims to get rid of him. It's true, he can solve a game in a second with his vision and passing abilities, but our game will never take a turn and evolve as long as we keep relying on him match after match after match. Say all you like, but this is way too evident for any sort of denial.