Oddo's long balls waste time for us more then anything

Oddo's vertical crosses are costing us the match.

^^^

Why doesn't Allegri just tell him to give it a rest FFS??

pato si gone after the goal, but gone 4 all, he is nowhere

We've been playing like crap most of the season, it's about time it catches up to us..

Another 2 points lost, and we're letting this title slip through our hands

We can't expect to win games with long balls.

Oddo should have just stayed out, he's wasted more time then a Genoa player would

Oddo should die

FT

Napoli breathing down our necks and Inter will probably take it away from us at this rate

Oddo omy

No Playmaker no party....

When you have a midfield that can't pass to save their lives the only solution is to bypass it with a long ball. Sadly Oddo only provide flat balls that go straight to the opposition. We needed someone who could deliver a decent pass in that midfield, someone who could help create some semblance of tempo for us and someone who could get the attackers involved, that was Seedorf, who stayed on the bench all game

OOOOOOOOOOOh, believe it or not, Im more pissed then Ibrahimovic right now !
We're just letting the rest of the Serie A catch up.

Massimo Oddo - mediocrity at its best.

Off to Chelsea Liverpool then,then it's Inter Roma lel.

True, but it's not just quality we lack. We also lack movement. Midfield and attack are too static.

What do you really expect though when you have 3 DMs running around with no one who could be a point of focus for them? Gatuso was acting as the playmaker, which is laughable in and of itself. Robinho ran a lot and had his chances, but his misses just p!ss me off that much more. While Ibra and Pato are isolated most of the time since the only service they had was Oddo's verticle ball along the wing.

Thanx to Allegri's subs... taking Robi and Flamini off was a mistake imo... awful subs

That was ugly. Our attack needs some kind of support. Flamini >vB>Gattso just dont got it. Oddo's run of miracle form is over, get him out of there.

Praying for a Roma win tonight. or better yet, a draw.

Flamini off was the mistake, as wll as bringing Urby on who adds nothing aside from running, which Flamini already does.

Robinho on the other hand needed to get pulled out of there. Another big miss from him and he should have been b!tch slapped by Ibra. It's getting to a point where he misses 2 clear cut chances each match. Hard work alone is not enough, he needs to start scoring if he wants to keep his place. And to rub salt even further into the wound, he usually chooses to take the selfish route and try to shoot when there is a wide open Ibra available to him

We need Pirlo and Boateng back. Quality + movement.

All you can see are Robi's misses. You don't realize how important his play is (movement, linking up, etc etc etc etc). Just like Zlatan, Robi showed he should be a starter every game for Milan.

Yeah well his misses are just as costly to us as Oddo, Bonera and all the other mistakes players and coach are making.

Sure he moves a lot but when his movement pays off and he's in a good position he always makes the wrong decision, so what does that movement really count for??

No Robinho needs to sit his @ss down, and pracice his finishing.

Oddo is still with the team? I admit I've been out of the loop this season but I figured he'd be long gone by now.

He even got a 1 year extension on his previous deal

FFS man now if inter win today and against juve then they will take serie A. These are the asy games where we are dropping points.

I think now, more than ever, Allegri should step up and do something about this precarious condition. We can't continue playing with long balls, that is something only provincial clubs do. We must formalize, implement and solidify a way of playing that requires movement, quality and pressing. Allegri had the excuse of the many injuries until now. But with the majority of the team at his disposal from next week onwards, he has the duty to get our act together and start playing football again.

Cesare Maldini (before I forget) said a couple of interesting things post-match analysis:

Maldini explains what went wrong:
"Allegri was absent minded during this game, his substitution of Cassano-Robinho complicated things."

"..Robinho played as a link for midfield and attack, he is an agile player who moves a lot and applies pressure on the Genoa defense and midfield alike. He always steals two defenders with him to the side to open up the play infront of goal, and his objective is clearly to provide for his team mates.."

"..Cassano is a different type of attacker, he doesn't track back, he doesn't have the agility of Robinho, though he is a very strong striker, inside the 18-yard box he can do wonders. So his inclusion meant for Milan to go from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3, and thus having an exposed 3 in the middle. Out of which both Gattuso and Flamini still weren't 100% fit. The pressure that Milan sustained and contained with luck was due to the weakness in the link between the midfield's hard work and the attack, and when did this happen? Only when Cassano came in and Milan played with three attackers. Robinho was fine, but Allegri clearly did not read the match, it is clear to me he was absent minded.."

Anchor vs. Maldini:
Anchor asks him whether Robinho was to be sacrificed in order not to stir controversy on the Ibra v Pato?

Maldini ".. Cassano was favored to play and he could have provided freshness in the final third, but he should have come on instead of Ibra or Pato, what good will it do when you add a third striker .. You lack a playmaker to bring them to life.."

Anchor asks so Seedorf instead of Robinho?

Maldini ".. Yes, Seedorf would have handled the transition well, then Allegri could have substituted either Pato or Ibra for Cassano.. "

Anchor asks do you think Allegri is feeling the pressure of handling all of Pato, Ibra, and Cassano?

Maldini "Look, Allegri is a young but intelligent coach .. He has not been able to reserve a consistent line-up for a while now .. With so many players injured. But those will be back within two weeks he should have a healthy midfield."

Anchor asks again, Pato v Ibra, do you think Allegri is influenced by the controversy?

Maldini ".. Allegri could have been influenced, but since one already provided for the other (assist & goal) .. He clearly wanted this bond to strengthen at the same time."

Anchor smiles and moves on to discuss the other game on Serie A.

------------------------------------------------

Maldini on Acid

Thank you Cesare, you explained everything perfectly. And to strengthen his point, I was talking to a friend on the phone some minutes ago (he's a merda fan), and the first thing he told me about the match was: "You guys have no midfield. It's like your game transitions from defense to attack, without passing through midfield, which means no organization and ideas".

The problem was always with the midfield. imo Seedorf should have been on from minute one. And imo we were struggling before Robinho was off as well, second half robinho was completely absent, he wasn't really doing the work he was in the first half. So imo he had to be pulled out. Seedorf or Cassano? Debatable. Imo Seedorf should have started ahead of Rino. Gattuso and Oddo absolutely killed us on that right side, and imo are the culprits for us having absolutely no game. Had there been soomeone who could distribute and organize play on the pitch then we would have won this easily, and that person is Seedorf, certainly not the irratic Gattuso, who for some reason Allegri trusts too much.

Allegri's biggest mistake imo was taking off Flamini, leaving Gattuso on and bringing on Urby who really doesn't add anything to our play.

Why does our game transition from defence to attack? Because our midfield is incompent when it comes to passing and providing sufficient support to the attack (like what Boateng and Pirlo do). Why has it been that under Allegri that our only few decent games were when we had those 2 playing? Simply because he does not know how to make up a team without them. He goes for the safe route of the 3 DMs, who all crowd around the box doing nothing but passing backwards and sidewise.

The decision to put Bonera on the left didn't help at all, since what the already very inept midfield needed was support from capable fullbacks and Bonera is just not that, he doesn't even know how to make an overlapping run to support his forward FFS

Agreed. One of the biggest questions I pose to myself is why Allegri has so much faith in Rino. The guy adds absolutely nothing to our game. Not only that, but he's not the fierce midfielder who used to scare opponents away and constantly win balls he once used to be. He's a major liability, whom I'm sure most coaches would never play as a starter.

When Pirlo and Boateng get back, this is how I'd like to see us play:



You'll see how much our game will improve then. It's time Allegri realized what's best for the team and not what suits more his deranged strategies.

Oh, and please, no more Oddo and Bonera as RB and LB. If Antonini is injured, play Jankulovski on the left and Abate/Bonera on the right.

I do agree with you guys, just that I think it's irrelevant wether it should have been Flamini or Rino. Flamini has been pretty dissapointing so far, just like Rino.

To be honest, I hate that midfield. I would never choose to play Seedorf when both Pirlo and Boateng can play. In my opinion it should be Boateng in front of Pirlo, Van Bommel and Flamini.

Whats wrong with Antonini??

Agreed on that, Seedorf unless needed, shouldn't be a starter. We all saw how terrible he was before his injury, that I'm sure has not changed. I wanted him playing today because he was the lesser of 2 evils between him and Rino.

Seedorf should be a squad player. Also Pato imo should be a starter, simply because he is our best finisher and we saw today that he working his @ss off as well, while him and Ibra are building some form of a rapport with each other

Some of you (maybe most of you) might disagree with me.

BUT...

We have a guy in our bench that can provide attack and fresh legs.

MERKEL

I know... he's young. But this guy can change a lot of things of our attack ... we need to play him more.

MERKEL is our future and we need to play him more.

I´d rather see

Boateng - Pirlo - Van Bommel

...............Merkel

............Ibra - Robinho

Seedorf, Gattuso & Pato are not looking well to be startes in our squad....

It was always going to be a difficult game, but having taken the lead and being so on top first half, then resorting to long balls was pathetic.

Still with so many injured not easy to call starting line-ups and subs. Oddo was poor today, but had been ok previously. Bonera tried hard but shouldnt play on left. Gattuso is just so lacking in pace nowadays opposition are just waltzing past him. Van Bommel was ok today, had some decent, simple distribution. But not great. Flamini started well then faded. Ibra had his head down from 1st minute but tried hard, Pato more or less the same. We need a Central Attacking Midfielder (Trequarista) so bad i can taste it. We get a good one then Pato can come in from outwide and play as a two with Ibra/whoever.

Seedorf should have come on for Robbie, we desperately needed someone to put their foot on the ball and "try" to dictate play in second half.

But credit to genoa they made it very hard and if not for a very unlucky bounce they would not have scored.

PS Cesare's qoutes are spot on! Good post.

PPS also agree, Merkel should have been on or came on, he is progressing well, needs more game time, but i love his energy and endeavour. Star for the future that boy!

PPPS: forgot to add, its ma wee boys fault that we didnt win, he sat on my knee and watched up until Pato scored, then got bored and buggered off to play with Iggle Piggle and Upsee Daisy, must have been the long ball football we were playing!!!


In the night Garden.... we actually won

Next time give him red bull

Yup heard his comments after the match. Good thoughts as always, and agreed on what he said about Cassano, and the Pato/Ibra relationship.