some one will go off

Rino better shut up! He's lucky not to get sent off at this point!

What did Campagnaro do!He doesn't deserve a card...

I can sense that 2nd goal coming from a mile away!

I think he was the one that squared up to Boateng in the beginning

Seedorf looks tired already hahahaha

there will be around 5 mins addeed as well

Aaaand there's Flamini.

Flamini coming on

flamini coming on rino

Flamini close!!

Why doesn't anyone fake the shot,then go for the goal

one of these corners

YESS!! FT!!

finaaly a win since 1998

OOOO Thank god.

full marks to napoli they were 10 men they really are a force at home

Man of the match: Oddo.

How d'you like 'em, fellas.

Not a good 2nd half, we almost managed to lose the 2 goal lead. Well done to the players for hanging on and it was a good 3 points to get away from home.
Hopefully allegri can wake up now and realise that we must now be a team without seedorf and have 11 players working hard for each other.

Peixinho pula pula e +1 a Oddo.

Oddo and KPB played really well feel sorry for bonera playing full back and to add to his woes playing LB

Well result or not, we were having big problems. Let's take a minute to thank our lucky stars that Napoli were pretty horrible in front of goal and the ref helped us along with that red, which was very soft.

That's when Zeddie opens the thread seriously, I should be starting match threads from now on

You should! Open that Juve thread!

Boateng and Gattuso worked the hardest. Pato was a little dissapoiting... and Oddo

where were you for the last 12 years

We just had to make it as hard as possible again. These last league games are not good for my health (I'll take the poinys though).

I think bringing Seedorf on at that point was a good call. I think taking off either Pato or Robinho would have been the better decision since Ibra holds the ball better then those 2. Would have liked to see Flamini coming on earlier, but all in all a much better game from Allegri.

We still have big problems to correct though. We lacked that final ball, and while Robinho was trying he's no trequartista, which is why Pato was pushed to the wings so much. Also, I would have liked to see Pirlo the one further up the pitch. I still can't understand why Rino was the one who I always saw involved in our attacking moves, which was pretty ridiculous!

I'm not sure what needs to be done for the Juve games to correct all the problems we saw today. The midfield wasn't keeping the ball very well, which is where the Seedorf/Dinho issue comes in. I'd still like to see this midfield against Juve



But Robinho seems to be getting in his stride so I don't really want to see him on the bench at this point. While Dinho always usually puts in a top notch performance against Juve, big dilemma for Allegri there.

Man i thought we were down to 10 men way things were going


/big sigh of relief

Good result. The ball boy had a great game!!

I'll take the points. We're second with 17 points, an important game against Juventus next at San Siro.

all i could keep thinking about is how we threw away 2 goals in san paolo last season, that was a thrilling and exciting game to watch would have preffered it to be 2-0 lol almost passed out in them latter stages

FORZA MILAN

and a big shout out to ODDOOOOOOOO

Well I'm hoping we have Thiago back for Juve that will be a big boost for us. Sokratis was good today, but still Thaigo is a big step up is quality. Also hopefully one of Zambro or Antonini recover to play on the left. Imo one of our biggest problems was Bonera on that left side, he was leaving Sokratis exposed every time against Lavezzi, pulling him out of the center and leaving us exposed.

As for the midfield, we'll see, if Rino starts he can't play more then a half, he played great in the first half but faded a lot in the second. Also if we do go for the same attacking trident I want to see Pirlo higher up the pitch, nbo more Rino trying to build the attacks

Also Oddo MUST play Great performance!! Hopefully it isn't just a one off

I don't think their red was soft - two blatant handballs! What was he thinking?

Tough game, which we kind of knew it would be. I thought first half was the best we'd played in quite a while - second half we made too many mistakes. Still - a great win all things considered.

Any word on Antonini?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qoSXxWHV7Q

Well more often then not you don't see players sent off for that, even if both were blatant. Refs usually turn a blind eye to that sort of thing.

No word. Looked serious though, he had a neck brace on. Hopefully just for precaution

Poor Antonini, a few weeks ago he broke his nose, now he is suffering a head injury.

Ratings and comments as usual:

Abbiati - 7 - would have been more if he didn't remind me that his week spot still are high balls. Other then that and the almost slip-up in first half, he made some exemptional saves and once more showed who the No.1 is.

Antonini - / - get better soon!
Sokratis - 6 - made some important challenges, but still also a few unforced errors that almost costed us.
Nesta - 7 - great in challenges and positioning, but had some minor passing blackouts.
Bonera - 5.5 - he had a hard time, playing not even on the right but on the left, but sometimes he left you asking yourself: where the hell is Bonera?

Pirlo - 6.5 - some very good passes and great vision, lacked just a bit more space in the second half.
Gattuso - 7 - brilliant first half, good second half. Flamini should have been put in ealier.
Boateng - 6.5 - dynamic, flamboyant and strong in defense but as usual too hot-headed.

Robinho - 7 - did very well with the goal, made a few important runs and was very usefull all in all.
Pato- 5.5 - sloppy finishing, not good movement; partly it is not his fault, he just can't play so far on the side.
Ibrahimovic - 7 - worked hard, but was played to far from the Napoli box. Still, scored that important goal.
--------------
Oddo- 7.5 - MOM; a reformed Oddo, steady when defending, brilliant with the offensive runs. Earned himself the derby against Juve and possibly a big comeback.

Seedorf - /
Flamini - /


comments:

-Boateng has to be tamed. He's just to wild and agressive and this will backfire soon. We must de-activate him. Also, his offensive actions are a bit undefined. Not sure how to judge him by now.

-Sokratis is the second question mark. He's surely better then Bonera, but Lavezzi outrunned him too many times. His positioning is also not on spot, as that nasty habit of using his arms in the box that could have easily costed us a penalty. Still undecided judgment, but he has to be fielded more often to get that level Thiago and Nesta achieved.

-Milan can create without Ronaldinho and plays faster. Same goes to Seedorf. But I think Seedorf is more usefull. While Dinho did major things for Milan last year, this year he's practically useless.

- Pato in the presented formation is a big problem. He seems dissoriented and lost from times to times; it's like his brilliance goes replaced by hard work, but effortless hard work.

Great and exciting game, kept my breath till the very end. I must say Napoli deserve an applause, they pushed and and pushed even though they were one man down.

I liked our squad tonight, Robinho did really good as trequartista, Allegri should always start him in the big games. Boateng didn't push that much upfront, but he was winning balls on a constant basis. Gattuso played good as well, but I still want Flamini as starter. Our best player, though, was Pirlo. Great game by his majesty. And of course, Abbiati did some super-saves!

Whom I didn't like was Pato. Awful, I mean awful performance. He looked so demotivated, slow, unwilling to serve his peers, and wasted a couple of great opportunities. Every time he received ball on the wing, I was certain he was gonna lose it. Get your head out of your butt, duck!

Defense was scrappy as well. Bonera and Sokratis were quite poor, Oddo was great when going up forward (SAY WHAT?!), but was easily dribbled by Napoli's players. Thumbs up though, the assists were great (again, SAY WHAT?! ).

I think this is the line-up we should always use against the big sides. Robinho and Boateng really speed up our game. If our strikers were a bit more rough, we should have closed the game much sooner. With Thiago, Zambro and Antonini making their way back, we should be covered in defense.

FORZA MILAN!!!

Grande partita

Hah, very good point. Milan did fight, which is very good after what we've seen against Real. Just keep that spirit for the Juve game too!

Remember what I said about Oddo. He was probably just going through withdrawal symptoms post 2007. Attaboy Massimo!!

Still can't believe we won.

Some funny comments I read from the offside:

So busy times at work kept me out of this one. Let me get this straight.

1) We won at Napoli.
2) Oddo played a good game and had the two assists.

My calendar doesn't say April 1, is this a dream?

I don't know. I mean Oddo's always been a good RB. I told you all that in 2007 he was the second best Italian RB in operation.

You don't just 'shut down' Cristiano Ronaldo and Evra while being cr@p. And man..he had a screamer of a right foot.

You gotta believe. Ex-Lazio captains are always good for Milan. Sandro, Beppe, Junkie...it's all good.

Extended Highlights from Maestr021

Look at Zlatan's face at the end. He's like 'Come over here and try that sh!t with me!'. I actually like this Milan mean streak.

And KPB's expression. OMG! I think I like him more now. Some cojones! Those mean tattoos are not for show then.

I'm sure he was good at one point, but as a new supporter I haven't seen that side. It must be true then, that even an aging veteran can sometimes dig back into the well and pull out the old form once in awhile.

While it's important to keep composure in tense situations, it's good to see that the new guys and the old guys quickly came to defense of each other in the skirimish, from what I see in your highlight link. That tells me that the newcomers have bought into the squad and everyone is unified. And I certainly wouldn't want to get on Boateng's bad side. I know Flamini has often got the short end of things and I wouldn't mind seeing what he could do with consistent playing time, but if Gattuso continues to play decent, KPB and Rino on either side of Pirlo would be an intimidating midfield to challenge.

You know... I don't think Pato is untouchable anymore these days. either play him as a pure finisher, a CF, or bench him. what's the use of playing him in the right wing when it's not working?! I don't get it. that's like playing with 10 men (well, almost). it's exactly like insisting on playing Seedorf when he plays badly week in week out - or whoever else. there shouldn't by any difference between how players are treated.

I think Pato's problem is not his form but the position he plays in. unless he proves otherwise in other positions like CF or even LW.

I didn't see this match, but he's got 4 goals in just 5 or 6 appearances this season...is it really that bad?

Even if it is, it's still a lot different than Seedorf, since Pato is so young still he has lots of room to grow and perhaps get better at different forward positions, no?

His goalscoring record is fine so far, it's his overall performances over the games that have been a little disappointing. the fact that despite this he can still find the back of the net rather easily should be more than enough reason to not waste any more time in moving him to a position where he can concentrate on his only strength of these days - scoring goals. some say it's a waste of talent for him to be only a finisher. I don't agree. some of the biggest names in the history of the game have been like that - Ronaldo, Mvb, so on. it's better to be amazing at one thing than just good at many things. Pato can be really good as a CF. he's gotten quite big physically and has a natural gift for finishing off chances. he's perfect for this role.

About Oddo and Pato:

1) Oddo really was good. Other then that, we really missed a offensive fullback. This situation shows it; by we I mean Milan on the field and us here, we all went mad after 2 assists but - that's in fact a bit more then normal, that's the way it should be. It shows how we really miss a attack-wise LB/RB ever since Marcos and Sergio.

2) Pato is now a problem. If we bench him like you suggest Zeddie, who should fill in?
I don't honestly understand why Pato does not work on the far right - he has the speed, the agility, in a year or so even the stamina. But his movement is erratic, like he's completely lost. I haven't seen a striker of the young generation so lost when dispositioned.

I don't mean to knock on Pato...but when I see him play...I don't think the problem is his positioning in the lineup so much as two qualities he seems to just regress on in the past seasons: Decision Making and Passing.

When he plays as a CF these get hidden. All he needs to do is worry about the net and shoot. But if he needs to become a genuinely good SS he needs to improve on these two qualities.

As a RF, he does have the legs to get into good positions and attack. The problem is, he shoots when he should pass, passes when he should dribble etc.

Now do we just plug him in as a CF and once and for all end what chances he has of gaining these qualities or do we force him to work on improving these two. Because these are very important.

If he continues to play as CF, once he hits his late 20s and early 30s and that blistering pace no longer is a strength, he's going to be become a sad has-been. Or even earlier than that..when the mid-field is no longer giving him proper service.

He/Mgmnt needs to decide. If he just doesn't have it in him to be come a crafty, skilled SS- maybe he should focus on becoming the Tevez type- the kind of person who harries the living daylights out of everyone.