Here we go back to the beginning again.

Anyone know when well see Pirlo and Nesta back?

Nesta should be back for this game, along with Flamini. Pirlo at the end of the month.

What do you think will the midfield look like now? Is Cassano in for 90 minutes this time? And do you belive Allegri will keep Strasser and bench Seedorf for Ambrosini, or will it be Strasser due to the fact that we'd start with 3 DM's.

I really hope strasser gets another chance. Has looked solid both times hes played.

I think we'll play:

no robinho?

Where do you wanna stick Robinho in there? Besides, Robinho was a starter as long as Pato was out injured.

My guess, altho if Flamini is 100% fit he should play for Gattuso (Allegri won't do this though)

Abate Nesta Thiago Silva Antonini
Strasser Gattuso Ambrosini
Robinho
Pato Ibra

i dont think allegri sees it that way. he's probably gonna bench seedorf.

I really hate the idea of having 3 DMs in that midfield. We'll go back to punting the ball to Ibra.

Anyways, I checked Gazzetta's line-up, they had Pirlo on the bench...

Well thats one way to look at it but i see it this way , Gattuso is going to be the ball winning midfielder , Ambrosini a central Mid with a support role and the same with Flamini each aloud to go further up the pitch then gattuso , not a ideal mid field , i would take either Ambrosini or Flamini out and put Pirlo for the deep lying play maker role but hes not playing this game so maybe put Seedorf , i think Allegri is just playing it safe after the goals we let in last week he wants a safe mid field a defensive one.

I can't see Flamini starting. It's either Seedorf in his position and Robinho as AM or Strasser and Seedorf as AM.

i just hope he does't lose the ball in mid field i'd rather him play behind the strikers then in deep lying postion

Against weak sides like Lecce it's a good system.

How is it a good system? It's not like our DMs have any finesse on the ball, Rino and Ambro are both appaling and when they try to make an even remotely adventurous pass they end up losing it, Flamini is slightly better, but he's still in the destroyer range of DMs, certainly not in the same category as Khedira, Mikel, Essien, etc.

We played with 2 DMs against Udine and still ended up leaking in a lot of goals. Mostly down to the defense. I think we need 1 decent ball player in that midfield or it's going to be a game of the ball going to the DMs, they try to make some through pass and we lose it or it goes back to Thiago who punts it up in the hope that Ibra will do something with it

No, 3 DMs put a lot of pressure on the opponent and weak sides like Lecce cannot withstand such pressure, thus they'll crumble apart.

You're thinking DM's that can actually pass the ball... ours just win it and then give it away... they'll only crumble apart if they get bored watching them being unable to complete a pass!

against the attacking prowess of Lecce one can never be to safe...

As dst said. Also against teams that will most likely park the bus in front of their goal, 3 DMs that can't pass to save their lives will only make the clock tick faster not Lecce crumble apart


Agreed


Good one

You won't be saying that after we win 3-0.

I'd still say that, because If we do manage a 3-0, it will all be down to some individual brilliance from Ibra and Pato, and maybe Cassano if he's on.

Relax han, this is only temporary. When Pirlo and Boateng get back, everything will be fine.

Nesta trained regularly with the rest of the team today, thus he should be available for Lecce.

Link

oh i will miss bonera

We can play with 2 Dms:Ambrosini,and Strasser.Strasser can attack more,he has pace and his passing is good.
And,Seedorf would play in the middle of the field.

Robinho can play for the 45 behind the attackers,then we'll bring Cassano in ^^ .

If Flamini will be back from injury,the 3Dm system might work much better.

i think the reasoning behind the 3DM system, is a compliment to our attacking, with pato, Ibra, Cassano we can expect to generate a lot of offense. The 3 dms is just to cover and commit to the Defense.

Hopefully not for long

I just hate to see us playing like some sunday league team.

I'm sure Di Natale and Sanchez will miss him more...

WTF? That's basically the same line-up that got r@ped by Udinese. The fact you put Ambrosini instead of Gattuso makes little difference.

In fact, it worsens the whole scenario.

But anyway, we're a bit to harsh on our DM's.

Hm,the thing that got us r@ped against Udinese is Bonera.Seedorf may have been partially responsible for a goal,but now Nesta is back,we're going to be much solid in defense.Don't WTF me

The man's got a point. Bonera and Seedorf shared most of the blame, followed by the three As (Anotnini, Abate and Amelia) for the barrage of goals, and in the meantime ruining our defensive record. There should be no reason and excuse for a team like Milan to let in four goals, anywhere, anytime, and against any team.

So if we can get Nesta back in, and probably get Seedorf's behind to warm the bench, we could do alright if our attack fires again. Everyone remembers the 4-0 opening to the season. And frankly a repeat is very much possible if the team in general, and the attacking force in particular can bring their best game for this match.

You honestly think that Nesta instead of Bonera will make the difference? What didn't work against Udinese was the entire system, not just a player or two.

Wait,sorry I don't think we did something new against Udinese,the match was full of events,and changes.You can't really judge the system on it...Furthermore,we we're using the system that was winning us many games before,their we're just different players.

The system you're suggesting may work against Lecce,but I don't see it working on any other team,specially with the DMs we have.

And,Benitez was criticized for playing 2 Dms in midfeild,lol.

I agree that it was the system in general. But 2 of the goals should have been avoided, simply by a decent defender who can head the ball away when he's first to it, not let the attacker ghost in front of him and score, or another, if the keeper could make a simple save at this near post.

Yes the system was at fault for some of the goals, but individual mistakes were as well. Abate and Antonini were no where to be found on any of the counters, not to mention the crosses Udinese kept bombarding us with.

Nesta will do a lot in helping us in terms of the defense. Also yes Seedorf lost the ball, but he lost it near the opposition's box, I don't understand how the defenders and the DMs that were supposed to be covering should have let Di Natale practically dance through the entire half of the pitch and the bamboozle Bonera on the way. Also if we want to blame it on Seedorf for losing the bal, let's all remember that our DMs lose the ball as much as they recover it, especially Rino and Ambro who both can't seem to pass a decent ball to save their lives these days

Yes, we did. We played Seedorf as deep lying playmaker and Robinho as trequartista. From a tactical point of view, we were playing a 4-3-1-2, but as the game progressed, it was more of a 4-2-4, with two defensive midfielders (Strasser, Gattuso) and four attacking players (Seedorf, Robinho, Pato, Ibrahimovic). Hence why Udinese r@ped our asses on major ground. We need more balance in midfield, and the system we were playing prior to Christmas was leading us in the right path.

The system we used before christmas contained 2 DMs as well.

Problem here is centered around Pirlo. No matter how many DMs we stack in that midfield, if we cannot retain the ball and move it quicker then the snails pace we have adapted these last2 games then we're going to be put under pressure, no matter who the opposition is and how many DMs we have.

Pirlo needs to be there, he knows how to distributed the ball, keep it moving and make the smart pass that does not put his team mate under pressure like our other mids tend to do.

I've always said that 3 DMs is overkill, and using it to try to counter the defensive gaffs that happened against Udine won't solve any problems. We need Pirlo back ASAP. But until he returns a midfielder that can distribute the ball still needs to play or we won't get anywhere, at this point in time that it Seedorf. Problem with Seedorf is that Allegri is playing him as a DM, then when we got desperate he was pushed up a lot leaving the midfield exposed. Seedorf needs to play his old position, ie. left of the central midfield, let one of the DMs play the actual DM position, it's not rocket science FFS!!!

This is what I personally would like to see for the Lecce game

seedorf out, flamini in. Seedorf should not be rewarded for the past 3 games. besides flamini might not be creative but he cycles the ball well and wins it back. not to mention his shots are accurate and powerful.

So, according to you, if Nesta, Ambrosini and Cassano would have played instead of Bonera, Gattuso and Robinho against Udinese, we wouldn't have conceded 3-4 goals? The problem is not the individual players, but the playing system. We simply cannot afford to play with only two DMs. Before Christmas, we were playing with Pirlo, Gattuso, Ambrosini and Boateng. If you think carefully, that's nearly like playing with 4 DMs, considering none of them are proper offensive midfielders. Against Udinese, the only DMs who know how to defend were Gattuso and Strasser, hence the major @ss-whooping.

We conceeded because everyone was pushing high up to attack leaving only Bonera and Thiago back. Even the DMs were being pushed to far up, so had there been 3 instead of 2 we would have still seen the same result. Also, I said that some of the goals were down to the system, others were down to individual mistakes.

And a big lol at the 4 DM bit, Pirlo is not a DM, neither is Boateng, we were playing with Rino and Ambro in front of the defense Pirlo and Boateng were playing very high up the pitch. Boateng was practically part of the attack most of the time.

Packing the midfield with DMs is not the answer, it will just cause congestion without having any foward movement which is actually decent to move the ball to the atack. Again, we'll end up punting the ball straight from defense to attack in the hopes that Ibra pulls something out his @ss.

We'll most likely play with 3 DMs this weekend, and we'll probably win because Lecce are just that bad, but it won't be pretty and it will most likely come from a hopeful long ball to Ibra. Personally can't wait for Pirlo to get back. We'll drop this stupid 3 DM system that only works if Ibra is up to it and the opposition have defenders that can't cope with him, and go back to a system that actually works, which is a balanced one.

I hope he will be back

According to Mediasets line-up, Milan will be fielding Bonera as LB. That must be a joke.

no, LB is short for liability in Bonera's case.

Why he's still starting games after the nightmare against Udine is nothing short of a mystery. How Allegri can close his eyes to this but punish a player like Sokratis for a single mistake is ridiculous

I don't get it. Bonera made so many horrible performances in the last 2 years, I simply cannot understand why he's been constantly picked over the likes of Yepes and Papa?? This is a real mistery to me. Just remember the helpless Bonera against Mancherster and Udinese and everything should be clear. Yet, coaches put him still ahead.

not only in Bonera's case

That was genius!

http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=42842

As if Milan needed another off-pitch distraction courtesy of Berlusconi.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../i025052S22.DTL