2 penalties not given. Stupid ref

we need pirlo back asap

Not the end of the world, but we should've won.

More injuries.

Lazio played a negatve game. their main intent was to injure players and get in their faces as much as they could. Kozak should have been off before half time.

The ref was ridiculous all game

My short analysis on the match: we have no game! We had a fantastic spark around November and December, but that's disappeared. Tonight's performance was horrific. We kept sending those high balls hoping something would happen up front. No ball circulation, no short passes, no combinations, nothing! And this has been occurring since the first game of January. If we want to win the Scudetto by playing such a shitty football, we better re-think our strategies. Allegri, do something!!!

Allegri is a tool imo. But with all the injuries we have to players that make all the things you mention actually happen, you cannot really blame Allegri. We just need Pirlo and Boateng back ASAP.

The absence of Pirlo and Boateng are hurting more than we thought

We go from Saturday being world-beaters, winning games we shouldn't to some real negative thoughts. Got to love Milanfan. It was only 0-0, it's not suddenly all over.

It's true, we have too many injuries. But then again, the only players who are injured that could change something are Pirlo and Boateng. Gattuso and Seedorf would only make things worse.

Maybe Allegri should have tried Dídac Vilà in the end. Our fullbacks have absolutely no connection to crossing.

we should have bought Ivan Rakitić he was going for 1.5mil this january.....we need a play maker badly !!!!!!

Not really. We've been playing like crap for a month now. Catania was no different. The only difference was that there we won, tonight we drew. I'm not judging the final result, I'm judging the way we play, which has no beginning and no end.

Yet we're still top of the league, with all these injuries. I wouldn't say Napoli have exactly got a bye tomorrow either.

After years of disappointment I'd take us playing badly and winning the Scudetto, than playing amazingly but coming short - again.

Let's see how it ends first. The league doesn't end tomorrow. If we keep playing like this, we can forget about winning.

Well done, Lazio, on sending two Milan players to the hospital.

Overstatement. I tell you this: playing like crap and winning still ending up without a defeat (4 W, 2 D) is scudetto-winning material.


Pirlo misses mostly, he's the brain of our team, he gives us the rythm.
I don't think Boateng is that important, at least not to your own standards; you obviously think Ambro and Rino are not, so I'll add up Boateng. Milan also lacks Seedorf, the one who used to play, integrate and work for Milan - the one that's sadly (for the most part) gone.



Where's the cool head you usually have. You are really turning into a drama queen
Tonight's performance wasn't horrific at all, Milan was dominant but couldn't capitalize their advantage. Lazio played dirty. Milan needed just a bit more luck. The two posts by Ibrahimovic, the referee, the blatant chance missing by Emanuelson and Flamini. And the fact that Milan, like I always thought, lacks a proper striker backup. Nevermind Robinho or Cassano, Milan needs a classic striker, a Lucarelli type, who could have been dragged in the game and maybe make a difference.


What does that mean? I don't have such a low opinion on him, I think we're being way too harsh on him tbh.

You know what annoys me? People being overprotective of this team simply because we're first. Well, I've got some news for you gentlemen. You cannot maintain leadership if you don't add continuity to your game. And we're not doing that. We had a magic spark around November and December that allowed us to play some really good football, dominate the opponents and win games easily. We've lost that spark. The leitmotif of our game lately has been long balls and counterattacks. We can't organize our ideas. We lack quality and movement in midfield and attack. We don't show the proper resolve and motivation to win games. This has led to sterile and ugly performances.

It's owing to enjoy yourself when your team is first in the standings, but it's also owing to be critical when it's necessary.

Yes, I do agree with you. But this really is due to our injury-crisis. Look, it's not only the "crucial" players that are missing. Milan needs a break from rotation, we need to catch up 2 or 3 matches in a row with the same line-up. When did that last happen? You speak of continuity - how can there be any continuity when week after week Milan fields a different line-up? I'm not overprotective, and the first place now means pretty much nothing with Inter coming and Napoli and Roma still holding on. But we gotta try hold on as long as we can till Andrea is back, and till we turn Milan back into a well-balanced team and not a E.R.

Kozak = dirt bag.

Yes, you're right about that. Maybe it's just a bad moment that will eventually fade away when Pirlo and co. get back. Let's hope so.

That comment about what annoys you is a bit weird because I could easily say "Ok, you know what annoys me? People with short-memories, because we're first, then jumping at people for protecting the team a little".

The reason I'm not getting frustrated at the club or the team is because we are top at the moment, and have been for a long period of time. Now this isn't a Milan team that's used to that (in recent times), we haven't won the league since 03/04. That's a lengthy time for any major club, let alone one as historically and recently successful as AC Milan. It's not like we were majorly challenging for the title in reality the last few years, it's more of a shock that we are #1 in the standings than it would have been if we weren't.

Yet it seems as we are now at the top of the Italian game there are a few who seem to have forgotten where we were, now I'm not talking 4/5 years ago, I'm talking last year. A club fading, looking drastically like it was about to go and turn into the Italian equivalent of Liverpool. Just look at the shambles at OT, compared to what we did there on a number of occasions a few seasons back (when United arguably had a far superior team). Thankfully due to a few good signings we have made an impression in the league and in Europe.

Now lets be frank here, we aren't Barca, we might be astonishingly good going forward, as good as anyone. Though the balance of our team isn't there, not even when everyone is fully-fit. I'm sorry but our defence is not upto scratch and we don't have a #1 who we can rely on like nearly all of the major clubs out there. The midfield is nowhere near the level it should be, certainly in the centre, we don't have Xavi or Alonso, Pirlo is not upto the standard of these guys anymore. We constantly struggle against pace and width, a reason why I'm not sure we will completely walk over Spurs in the CL.

I personally think we are overachieving, and think it's more of a case of teams having done badly this season, in particular Inter than us doing exceptionally well. I'm not a Mourinho lover, but I genuinely believe if he was still in charge we would not be the top of the pile now. Should we really expect to be, with our squad? I don't think so.

Lets look at recent clubs winning, the World Cup was won by a Spanish side who never played that great. Sure they did enough, but did they set the world alight like Germany did in a couple of game? No, of course they didn't but Spain did enough during the course of the tournament and ultimately it was them who went away with the winners medals. The CL last year? Inter didn't always play great especially away from home, but again they did enough.

That's the point, I just want Milan to do enough to win. The main thing is to win the Scudetto in my mind, playing rubbish or not. It's been way too long without one and I think it's more important to win it badly than to lose it well. Once we have another Scudetto back under our belts then we can think about playing attractive, brilliant football every week.

Therefore, jumping at throats of players and the team, especially in a time of so many injuries, sitting top of the pile and after a 0-0 seems a bit premature to me given our recent history.

My respects to Yepes...

Brilliant display!!!

Totally agreed, Acid, bro! Gee, my long post routine is finally catching up. Jokes aside, well said, mate.

While I completely agree, I hope in the end it's us who wins the Scudetto. X-Off has a point, if we keep playing like this we will soon be overtaken by Inter again. I don't want to be witnessing the day Leonardo's Inter steals the title from right under our noses. it'd be too much to take.

This. Lazio came to play dirty, and I'm mostly p!ssed off that we couldn't punish them for it, especially when we had all those chances in the 2nd half


Great post. But like x-off said if we keep playing like this then we won't be at the top of the pile for long. Sure it's just a draw, ut with teams so close to us and Inter back in the mix a draw is just plain worrying, simply because atm, we cannot afford to draw.

Yup, particularly when we have had more than our fair share of draws in the last couple of months. I can say at least two of these could/should/would have resulted in wins with the right approach or amount of luck. A draw for a team that is first in the league is literally a defeat - in the sense that it is an open invitation for other teams that we are open, come get our place.

Fingers crossed we get Pirlo back, and very soon at that. There is a disturbing lack of creativity in the team!

Let's get back to one detail: Emanuelson had two great chances, and not that he only missed the target, his shot technique resembled the technique of a 80's defender. Was it just pressure that got to him, or?

can somebody give me any ratings or a short review because I did not see the game. I watched the highlights and it looked like we dominated.

PS For once Robinho shot on target and there was someone there to block it...



or what, is he an 80's defender?

Haha...or what's up with Emanuelson?

Anyway, here are my short ratings:

Abbiati (6.5) - almost nothing to do all match long

Yepes (7) - very good performance, even if he made some unneccesary fouls that could have costed us
Bonera (6.5) - not as bad as usually, pretty solid in fact
Antonini (6.5) - a good first half with many offensive incursions, but went out of strenght and pace in the end
Oddo (6.5) - solid in defense as well as in offesne; if only his crossing was a bit more precise

Flamini (6.5) - very good first half, with one chance that should have been scored. Went MIA afterwards.
Emanuelson (6) - much work and some good passes, but the two chances he missed by some distance costed us
Thiago Silva (7) - turning into Desailly; it would be a pleasure to watch him along with Pirlo and the Real Seedorf
Robinho (7) - worked much and wanted to create which in the end was better then his usual miss-parade

Pato (6) - only a few glimpses tell you he's a special player, but other then that, totally MIA
Ibrahimovc (7) - as usual he was the one to score, but luck turned this time
-------------------
Legrottaglie (6.5) - looked very solid against the defensive-oriented halfhearted Lazio attacks
Cassano (6) - did little to change the outcome in the end
Sokratis (-)

You're being too general in your arguments. True, being first for so many weeks after such a long time has been a pleasure, but why I'm criticizing our moment is because I'm afraid to lose that said leadership. We've been playing badly lately, or rather, we've lost an identity we had achieved a couple of months ago. Like Fillippo said, it could be due to the many injuries which hasn't permitted Allegri to field a stable starting-11 for more than a game. But we also haven't showed a certain determination that could have helped us win games like Lecce and Lazio. We can't afford to drop points against beatable opponents, otherwise next thing we know, Inter and Napoli will have surpassed us.

Guys, guys, relax. We actually won the match!



That was after Ibra hit the post twice.

He's Interista (according to milan news he said that himself in an article from 2002 when he was Serie C).

Honestly, I don't think the referee had any influence on the final result. Maybe he could have booked Kozak a bit earlier, but other than that...

That's the only complain I have. He let that moron injure two of our players. Kozak had like 4 elbows in this game without booking or anything.

What does MIA stand for?

Missing In Action


Kozak could have been sent off by the 30th minute with 2 blatant elbows. The ref was right in front of the action both times and saw him clearly, especially with the Bonera incident. That right there would have altered how Lazio played and could have changed the game.

Not to mention all the 50/50 calls he kept giving to Lazio. I've never really complained about a ref this season, but yesterday was just plain ridiculous

Even if Kozak was sent off, nothing would have changed. Lazio didn't create a single scoring opportunity in the second half. They were just mass defending, like a provincial club.

I don't know where to put this, so I'll post it here. Sportmediaset reports that Pirlo should be back for the match against Parma, which is the next weekend. Also, no forecasting about Boateng's recovery, but he's getting better.

Actually Kozak sent two rossoneri players to the hospital.

Well, you never actually know what a red card can diffuse. I remember the Euro 2000, when Yugoslavia went down a man against Slovenia (it was Mihajlovic I think) which in the end resulted the Yugos coming back from a 0-3 deficit.
You have also other examples in which you see a defensive strategy collapse after such a thing. So you really cannot say.

But without a man Milan at least would have had more space and maybe Cassano would have more influence on the game-flow.

You can neve be sure with these things. Like Filippo said, losing a man would have forced them to change strategy.

Well thankfully we will be gtting more players back this weekend so great news on that front and all the results today went our way. Inter will win tomorrow no doubt, Bari are just horrible and with their game in hand they're proving to be our only competition. And tbh, I'm starting to worry especially if we lose anymore points in the next couple of weeks

Anyway...

We should get Gattuso, Van Bommel and Seedorf back for Genoa. I'm thinking of a Gattuso-Van Bommel-Flamini-Seedorf midfield, with Thiago back to defensive duties and Robinho-Ibrahimovic up front. I know, you'll say something like "Seedorf instead of Pato??? Are you crazy???". But the truth is, we need someone to organize our game, and Seedorf is the only option available until Pirlo gets back. So, yeah, I'd try that line-up.

I'm with you, I'd give Seedorf this shot. Better now then later when the stakes will be higher.

Seedorf needs some match practise before the CL. Time to show VdV what a real Dutch maestro plays like.

It is the CL night coming up soon. Pippo and Seedorf would already be starting to shapeshift into wolves. Except well..Pippo would a lame, sad, lonely wolf coz he can't play.

We play against Tottenham on February 15. Inzaghi, Zambrotta and Ambrosini are the certain ones that won't make it. They all should recover around March. Let's remain hopeful about Nesta and Boateng. The rest should be available, unless they get injured again until then.

Spurs have quite a few injury concerns themselves, mainly in their central defence. Could be one high-scoring tie.

What worries me is their wingers against our FBs....

@ x-off, I'd like to see Seedorf in the CM position instead of one of the DMs. Rino, Flamini and VB all in the same midfield, now that's ugly...

I'd give Pato and Ibra another run out, they need to learn how to play together. Cassano playing behind them for me. Robinho has been playing non stop for weeks now, he could use a rest, while Cassano would be better at supporting them imo, even if you say otherwise

Cassano can't play in CL

I think he was referring to the match against Genoa. As for our midfield, Van Bommel in front of the defense would be ideal. Unlike our other DMs, he has vision and good passing skills. Gattuso on the right, Flamini on the left and Seedorf behind the strikers.

Yeah, that's one of the biggest mysteries of this season. Half the people say he can, half say he can't. The pathetic organization that is UEFA should have issued an official statement on the status of Cassano and his eligibility in the Champions League.