Crucial match in many ways:

1. If we loose or draw, we are bound to loose our first spot.

2. Allegri has to integrate the recuperated players in a rational system that can launch Milan into another series of wins.

Alessandro Nesta is close to his Milan comeback after he returned to regular training with his teammates.

The defender has been out of action for just under a month, having dislocated his left shoulder during the 2-0 win over Cesena on January 23.

As he already had a serious injury to that same shoulder, there were fears Nesta could be out for six weeks or more.

However, a statement released by the official Milan website today confirmed “Nesta completed the entire training session with the squad.”

It is hoped he can make his comeback either against Parma this weekend or the trip to Chievo.

Andrea Pirlo only managed light running during today’s session, while Ignazio Abate and Kevin-Prince Boateng took part in the athletic training, but split off from the group after that.

Football-italia

Some good news.We should win this one,or Inter are in the driving seat.I hope their won't be a 3 DM system.

It's safe to say that we'll have both Nesta and Pirlo against Tottenham. And who knows, maybe Boateng as well.

Tottenham? Who cares for Tottenham, we gotta keep them for the league, or we'll loose everything we hoped for in one month.

Provided they don't get injured again!

Well, I think there are A LOT of people who care about the Champions League, including the players themselves.

Our defense hasn't been bad the last two games.

Our attack has been failing to find the back of the net.

We've lost the control of the game on the midfield.

We don't need to rush Nesta. I'd rather have him rest for the Champions League clash instead of risking him in this game.

We need to make changes on the midfield.

I insist we need to play Merkel behind Ibra and Pato or Robinho.

On the midfield Van Bommel should go with Pirlo and Emanuelson.

Forget Gattuso!

Seedorf, Strasser and Flamini can come later in the game from the bench.

Cassano can replace Pato or Ibra.......... NOT ROBINHO!

PATO is a very selfish player right now and is not earning his position.

I'd rather start Ibra - Robinho.

If we need offense then we can replace Emanuelson for Seedorf and Merkel for Cassano.

Flamini can go in for Pirlo if he's too tired.

Just an idea.

Pato a very selfish player?No,you didn't watch the Genoa match...
He tried always his best to pass the ball to Ibra and Robinho,he played good then,but our midfield doesn't give our attack any kind of support...Pato's performance against Genoa was really good,but he didn't get to see the ball enough and that has been the major problem.Anyway,it isn't his fault,he's an attacker not a midfielder...

I agree with most you've said, but not about the midfield. I wouldn't play Emanuelson and Van Bommel as starters when Pirlo and Boateng get back. Plus, Flamini should always be a starter. He's the most all-around DM we have.

Ambrosini, then Gattuso, then Flamini. We should really play one of our captains as starters IMO.

Flamini, Pirlo and Boateng should always be starters. Gattuso and Ambrosini can fight for one spot, but playing them together would be a huge mistake IMO.

Why?I don't understand Fillipo,it isn't like they offer anything to our team these days.Or is it an obligation,I don't get it.

Ambrosini can't pass the ball to save his life,his defending has been meh,and now he's injured for two month.

Gattuso is frustrating to watch,the only thing he knows how to do is follow players,and that doesn't take much skill,does it?

Although,Flamini disappointed me a bit against Genoa.Still,he's coming back from injury,and still not 100 percent sharp.He's the best midfielder we have for now,Strasser isn't miles far way from him though,but he's still injured.


Also,Thiago Silva for Captain IMO!

X-off: Flamini-Pirlo-Boateng is our ideal midfield really.Flamini being the modern Dm midfeild,Pirlo being our playmaker and Boateng being our box to box player.If we can have that combo for Tottenham,it would be amazing to see.With Robinho,Pato,Ibra in the attack.Well,I will start to consider Robinho a deep lying midfielder from now on,why not?

Well, Fillippo is a bit one-sided when it comes to (Italian) players that have given a lot to this club in the past.

I agree with you William. Flamini-Pirlo-Boateng would be the ideal midfield.

No, I just don't wish Abbiati being our captain for the rest of the season.

But you know what, I'll tell you what I think:


Totally disagree. Why do we always tend to label players as - 'this one is old, he's past it' and repeat it again and again and again? Why? When Milan proved a hundred times this shouldn't be done. Ambrosini had his injuries again, but when on top, like the few last seasons, he's a starter and his contribution to the team is unquestionable. While I understand that someone can past his peak and deteriorate, I don't think Ambrosini is that kind of an example yet.


Again disagree. He's been a shadow of the Gattuso that once killed off half of the Man.Utd. team, but he's still not bad. I consider him to be a rotational player.


Because he's Brazilian, I get it. Yes, and Zvone Boban should be coach and Dario Simic president. Sure

-----

But here is what I wanna say in general:
I really think we're being so fast in labeling players - we see Ambrosini play, what twice or three times and label him as past his prime and useless. We see Strasser play a couple of times - wow now he is our next best midfielder. Boateng! When did he become that indispensible? While really, we shouldn't cross of players that soon. Milan isn't such a club anyway, why force it? If you wanna sack people and release players like a madman, why don't chear for Real Madrid, they are the pure personification of it!

I agree on Gattuso being a Rotational player,I won't mind if his job is to be a defensive midfielder.

As with Ambrosini he hasn't given any performance to make me think otherwise,he had one good match,when he came back from injury and that was it.You know,we don't need players that will play a great match,then stink for the rest of the season.No,we need consistent players,who can work as a complete unit.


Also,I don't think Thiago Silva should be captain because he's brazilian.Every time he plays,he is the leader of our defense,he gives his best everytime.

Spot on.

Though after seeing KPB in the Prem & in particular the WC did get the feeling he was going to be a good player for us, much more than expected.

LOL, are you serious? If one player shows to be future Milan captain it's T.Silva easy peasy.

And if one player deserves to be,... (it's Nesta...)

Thank God we don't live in a meritocracy yet. Milan captains are decided by a strict rule and there's no should be or could be.

Of course Nesta should be captain if it didn't make that promise, but how's that relevant to my post? I don't know what meritocracy means, and I also don't understand the last sentence.

Whilst I agree with you about Ambrosini, I can't do the same regarding Gattuso. In my opinion, Gattuso is a mediocre player nowadays. He never used to be that good actually, but he relied on his grit and temper to be a world class ball-winner. Today, he can barely run for the sake of it. The opponents dribble him with a laughable easiness, and he doesn't add anything to our game. He's a liability.

Meritocracy means being promoted due to your merits. So, in other words, Milan's captain must be the best performing player.

To become Milans captain one must have the most appearances for the club. It's a simple rule that we follow for decades. That said, Thiago can't be our captain, for good or for worse.

Personally I don't really think we should be thanking god for that. Ambrosini has been bad all season, same for Gattuso. Why should these 2 players be captains of the team, thus getting automatic starts just because they've been at Milan for long? No, they're just holding the team back, simply because they cannot keep up anymore. I'm not ungrateful, far from it. Because their physical limitations only came about due to all they've given this team. But I just cannot accept them getting captaincy and automatic spots on this team based on seniority.

Nesta? Fair enough, I wouldn't have any problem with that, but he himself doesn't want it. He was Lazio's captain and has chosen to stay true to his first team, his home club really. And we should respect that.

Personally I don't agree with Thiago getting it either, sure he's outstanding for us, but he's too new imo to be captian. Maybe in a couple years time he should be considered but not until then.

At this point my first pick without a doubt is Pirlo, he's a starter, and imo the most important player on our team, also he has that quiete strength about him that makes him leader material in my eyes. After Pirlo, I'd go with Abbiati as vice captian.

I'm not sure it is that way. I just see it differently.


Well, sorry, but you will have to because Milan operates that way for decades.

Look, I'm not telling we should keep both players till they're 44 and count on them a our captains. But this season we started with them as our leaders, and I think it woul affect our team psychologically if this would be changed now, in middle of the season, and at a crucial moment, when Milan is on the verge of breaking or coming out stronger then ever.

I'm sorry Fillippo, but I think you're perhaps the only one who thinks Gattuso and Ambrosini add something to this team. Even Ambro, whom I defended wholeheartedly against han's "accusations" last season, has been rather crap so far. It's useless to deny that players like Flamini, Boateng and even Emanuelson can bring much more to our game in terms of quality, pace and stamina. You just have to focus your attention away from the fact that Rino and Ambro have made the recent history of this club, and concentrate more on the team's needs.

I have to say that I agree with X-Offender.

Boateng-Pirlo-Flamini are excellent.

However, once everyone is recovered, I´d still try Van Bommel instead of Flamini.... just to try.

I feel Van Bommel is even more complete.

Ambrosini hasn´t been playing well.

Gattuso is really making me hate him. I hate it so much when he´s starts pointing at the players he wants his teammates to pass the ball to... who is he now??? our new offensive coordinator inside the field .... he gives us nooooooo attack.... he´s a -1 player when we attack.

Gattuso has always been bad offensively but he was a defensive force. Now days he´s not making up for his offensive disabilities....... we lose a lot playing him.

There are other players in the team that can do a lot better than him.

PLAY MERKEL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

it was me and Han against the world for the past seasons when it came to Ambro and Rino being "too old" 4 years ago. This is just disrespectful. It seams clear to me they are playing selfishly as they can't keep up with Anyone(!) in a relatively slow league. For all you flamini haters, can i simply ask you how many starts the man has had since coming. It is unrelated to his talent, as the old guard have guaranteed starts. It's a shame because we have sooo much pulp : Bonnera (are you f*k*n* kidding me, he lost us the genoa match too) Seedorf, Ambro and rino. we could actually survive cutting this waste and get a young LB prospect (antonini can play another year IMO) and a creative mid to make us less Pirlo dependent. it's sad to think we spend probably over 10M a year on the aforementioned lottery winners.

All I have to say is if Ambro played the way Flamini played the last match, he'd be getting skewered.

@Filippo: Chill bro. He's 31+ and Italian and past it. Who the f@ck gives a damn that our CAPTAIN has been playing through pain for the past 3 matches coz there was no one else to step up.That's what Captains do....set examples.

I don't personally give a damn. What matters is that for the 30 odd players in our squad Ambro and Rino are leaders. I don't think for a moment Ibra or Pato are gonna listen when T.Silva yells at them to cover a flank. But try doing that to Max/Rino or even Zee. I'd say only less than 30% of a team's life is on the pitch. The rest of it is in training and off it. So being a leader of a football team has far more to it than being the most talented player on the pitch. Maldini made R99 do pushups when he came late to training. Imagine T.Silva doing that to Ibra.

It's not like I have any authority over it. But I'm just saying it's the wrong method. And clearly it's showing on the field. Rino? He's been hopeless for 2 years straight now, the team is practically carrying dead weight when he's playing. He's slow, he loses the ball more then he recovers it. Mediocre players nutmeg him like there's no tomorrow. This coming from a huge Rino fan, this current Rino is a disgrace to the old Rino who imo was the best distructive DM in europe a couple of years ago. Now he's just making a fool of himself.

Ambo? He's been just as aweful imo, he seems to get away with more then Rino on here, butr it's plain to see. He can't tackle without taking his opponents legs, he's slow, uncoordinated, tries to build attacking moves when he doesn't have an ounce of passing ability in him.

We just cannot continue to keep both players on the pitch anymore simply on the fact that they've been at Milan for such a long time. They've become a liability, the both of them. Your arguments are backed by the club so you feel you are vindicated for your arguments, but let's look at all the bad decisions the club had been making over the years, this imo is another one that should be added to the list.


Agreed


Once again Jack you over simplify things.

Flamini was just as injured as Rino was just 2 weeks ago. So you're using double standards when defending Rino for it but not Flamini. And he wasn't that bad imo, certainly not as bad as Rino.

Also you think Ibra listens to anyone? LOL yeah right, and I'm th king of Egypt Seedorf? He can be as petulant as the previously mentioned Swede on a bad day, plus the fact that he's barely a player anymore. Seedorf, Rino and Ambro have a legacy at Milan for what they did in the past, but nowadays non of them should be anything more then squad players. Their best years are so far behind them it's ridiculous. Also I said Thiago shouldn't be captain. We have others capable of taking the spot. Players who are starters which are important to the team. Not players who are way past it and hold the team back more then anything else

Exactly. I didn't criticise Flamini. Just said that youth it seems (even if it's not really young in Flamini's case) is allowed to get away with anything...injuries included.

Oh...I think Ibra listens. Just to some people.

T.Silva is definitely not Captain material (yet). And trust me Andy P, while inspirational on the field, couldn't possibly do much off it. It's a problem with players who have talent, but no real gritty persona. Pirlo is way to inward to be a Captain. A role model certainly, not captain.

100%

You guys realize that Ibra is not allowed to play against Parma due to 5 yellow cards????
So it could be interesting maybe that for once see binho behind cassano and pato

only if he takes a blood pact not to shoot...

Totally agree.


I think it's a good news all things considered. Ibra didn't perform as good as usual for the last couple of matches, he'll be rested, while Pato will once more get the chance playing a CF.

Pato has to impress in this one!

QFT.



So, I'm not the only one who thinks Jack oversimplifies things way too often. Good.



LOL, you just made that up. It's three yellow cards for every suspension. Zlatan will be regularly on the pitch against Parma.

So Fillipo was saying I mentioned Silva because of him being (one of the) best preformer? If that's what he thought, he couldn't be more wrong. Thiago Silva shows as in captain skills he should be our future captain. Just look at him... it makes me sad several people here don't think he's captain material. I'm stunned.


I believe it's not the right way to make one the captain because he is longest at the club. The one most qualified for it should be captain (of course he should be around here for a while, but not necessary longer than anyone). I'm not sure we really followed that rule for decades like you're saying, I think it's more coincidence that it seems that way lately.

As it stands now, when players like Ambrosini and Gattuso are no longer Milan players, Thiago Silva is the most logical choice to be the next one (as it looks now). In my opinion he is the most qualified, not because he's an awesome player, maybe also, but that's not the main reason. If we folling that rule of yours, we might get someone as captain who isn't really made for that. How does that makes sense?

Well, what's the reason then that makes Thiago the most logical choice?

He shows a lot of captaincy characteristics in my opinion.

Which exactly are...?

huh?

Quoted for truth.

Always gets other people who don't know what the words QFT stands for.

As stated on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QFT):

"Quoted For Truth" ("qft"), a label originally used on Internet forums when someone quotes a debated statement, thereby ensuring that the original statement cannot be edited or deleted by the person being quoted. Later, used merely as a indication of agreement or support with another message.

Could you or someone please clarify the rules....I first thought it was 5 yellow cards like in the rest of the big european leagues. You said 3 so i googled but couldn't find any kind of confirmation but at a forum someone stated this:

Because?

Because it's only his second year in the club for one. He's never been Captain for another. He's considered a good player, not a leader within the squad. There's a third.

If only the good in-form players deserved to become Captains, then Ricky and not Maldini would have been lifting the 2007 Champions League.

It's 5 cards for the first league suspension; the rules shift a bit after that. The rules are also different in the CL.

I think it's laughable and shows a shocking lack of understanding of the club that people are suggesting Thiago Silva should be made captain. People should learn a little about the club before making silly suggestions.

I think there's another issue here... how do you even know that any one player wants to be a captain anyway? If you think that everybody does you're terribly mistaken.

Oh ****...I forgot to add that point Pana. Thanks.