Important match. I hope Pastore performs just like the last few matches.

Cannot lose points here....

Must win.

it looks like pato and cassano are playing upfront. I've been waiting for this

For peeps that have not seen it yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keHfUuz1DhA...be_gdata_player

Ordinarily i would be afraid to face Delio Rossi's Palermo but NonSense Cosmi has them running a 3-4-1-2 which plays to the strengh of...us.

Still don't understand why this was done...

My only guess is its for a charity.

Considering it was Milan's first game at 12:30 at San Siro, prices were halved and many families and children were expected to be at the stadium. So it was done as a sort of entertainment spot, sponsored by La Gazzetta.

Nesta needs to be super careful. A yellow card in this game would make him miss the derby.

Maybe he can be rested... Palermo aren't so hot, we can do without just Nesta for this one.

That's what I said last week about the game with Bari, and look what happened there. So, no.

You said more then that last week

Along the lines of: We can rest up to 4 players and still brush aside Bari. They are just that bad. I told you that I worried about it because I could see the players taking that attitude etc, etc

Just Nesta imo won't make such a big difference, as long as Thiago is still there Yepes should be more then ok. Nesta needs some rest, he's not 20 anymore and he's been playing a lot, and I've notice him making mistakes with his passing and tackling lately, so it would be good to give him some time before the derby and not risk losing him for that one.

Personally I'd like to see us going out like this



I know Rino will most likely play but I'd prefer Flamini over him for this one, we need legs in there

I absolutely love your Setup with one exception. I would not risk starting an zambro that hasn't played in forever agaisnt an offensive team like palermo. Stick with antonini/janku and start Zambro in the next coppa game after a few league bench starts IMO.

Zambrotta is still alive? And no Boateng, han???

I forgot he was fit for this one!!! THE SHAME!!!!!

Well I want both Urby and Flamini to start, VB is a must. But Boateng is an obvious choice for me so...



As for Zambro, he has to start playing sometime, also we're not talking about Antonini here, Zambro has the experience to come in and deliver a professional performance, even if he's had a long lay off. Plus he has to be ready at some point, and I'd want him to get some game time under his belt, because frankly he's the one that I'd trust the most against Inter

34 is not a cool age for a fullback.

Life isn't cool

He's still our best FB, and strictly speaking, when looking at the defensive qualities he brings to the table, you'll find it hard to come by a FB who matches Zambrotta in that respect, sure he's not fast anymore, can't make the overlapping runs he used to, or cross like he used to. But defensively, he's still one of the best around (excluding the obvious choices that we could never really dream about bringing in at this point ie the likes of Maicon, Alves, Cole, Evra, etc)

I think Yepes has been good and with grinta so far.

If I were Allegri I'd play like this :

Yeah, Allegri would most likely pull out something like that

There are so many flaws with that though. The 3 DMs thing is just an issue that has held us back all season, something that Allegri can't seem to get past his little stubborn head! 2 is more then enough, 3 is major overkill and ends up killing our game entirely. Imo the long ball tactic is not Ibra's fault but the midfield's fault. Our midfield is so bad with the ball that we end up trying to bypass it with the long ball to Ibra, hoping that he'll finish something off or manage to bring in Pato and Robinho (both attackers who like the ball played to feet) into the game. Blaming it on Ibra imo is ridiculous, since it's obviously Allegri's fault for playing such a negative, uncreative midfield.

Boateng is not an AM, yes his runs into the box are priceless, but he can still do that by playing the box-to-box position from further back in midfield. Playing him there makes us lose another good player in the midfield, where atm we don't really have any quality aside from distructive players.

Urby imo is a much better mid then he is a LB, and I can't really see Allegri playing him there

The reason why Allegri plays 3 DM's is becouse wingers are more advanced, so technically he's playing quite offensive formation, but I agree with you about Boateng's position.

If we play 3 DM's there should be Pirlo playing so we have more creativity and vision in midfield.

What wingers?

Pato and Robinho don't really play as wingers, also saying that it's attacking because we have 3 strikers means nothing if out team looks like this one the pitch

Defence
Midfield


Other team's 10 players


Attack

What do the attackers matter if the midfield cannot transition the ball from defense to attack and cannot bring the attackers into the game?

I was talking about Wing Backs, Abate and Emanuelson in this case.

Allegri said that most probably we'll see a


from the start.

Stange, but if it were Flamini, Boateng and VB behind him it would be a really well balanced midfield imo. Seedorf should be able to handle it, and I guess Allegri does not want to play all his cards from the start, thus leaving Robinho as an option to come off the bench.

I'd really love to see something like this if Seedorf does in fact start



Classic midfield setup without players playing out of position, or trying to do something they cannot actually do. But I'm sure we'll see Gattuso starting

It was between Boateng and Seedorf for an AM role so there's like zero chance that they both start. My guess is that Allegri don't won't to risk Boateng with 90 minutes ahead of derby. Expect him to replace Seedorf around 55-60 minute.

If Boateng doesn't start in that midfield 3, then Urby should get the nod. PLEASE Allegri, DO NOT subject us to another horror show of Rino, Flamini and VB in the midfield!!!!

Well said comrade. Allegri is the anti-football. His mentality is that of a mid-table club. Nowadays, in modern football, big clubs play with a very offensive midfield. Just look at Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter, Arsenal and so on. We are the only team that plays with three destructive midfielders, who have zero creativity, which leads us to rely on long balls and play a very ugly football. And if anyone should throw the "we're top table" argument, let me just say this to you: Zlatan Ibrahimovic! Without his contribution, we'd be 4th-5th spot max.

Oh, and regarding the derby, Allegri said today that Pirlo won't be able to recover in time. That's a blow!!!

AC Milan squad for the game against Palermo

Goalkeepers: Christian Abbiati, Marco Amelia, Flavio Roma;

Defenders: Ignazio Abate, Luca Antonini, Daniele Bonera, Didac Vila, Marek Jankulovski, Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva, Mario Yepes;

Midfielders: Kevin-Prince Boateng, Urby Emanuelson, Mathieu Flamini, Gennaro Gattuso, Alexander Merkel, Clarence Seedorf, Mark van Bommel;

Forwards: Antonio Cassano, Alexandre Pato, Robinho.

source: rossoneriblog.com

Welcome aboard!

-



It'd be almost embarrassing if we, league leaders, didn't walk away from this game with a win.

BS. have you forgotten that Pirlo is out and we don't have anyone better to play in midfield? with these players I'd do the same too. next season with a good AM and Pirlo back to full fitness we'll see if we'll still play with 3 destructive midfielders.

All in all I think the "I know football better than a real coach out there" attitude is going a little overboard here. I'm not saying Max is flawless, but no matter what players/formation he plays, you guys still find something to complain about. EVERY SINGLE GAME. yet we have won more than any other team in the league. he couldn't have been as wrong as you guys have made him out to be the whole friggin season!

To true +100

@X-Offender listen dude if you don't have anything to say don't make **** up to satisfy your hate for Max. Be logical not reactionary and judge him at the end of the season. We play the midfield we have now because we have injuries.....or did you join the season half way through?

Palermo-Milan: The probable formations

PALERMO (4-3-1-2): 46 Sirigu, 36 Darmian, 6 Munoz, 3 Goian, 42 Balzaretti, 8 Migliaccio, 21 Bacinovic, 23 Nocerino, 27 Pastore, 10 Miccoli, 51 Pinilla Ferrera. (99 Benussi, 29 Garcia, 66 Andelkovic, 4 Kasami, 11 Liverani, 72 Ilicic, 9 Hernandez).
Coach.: Cosmi.
[b]Suspended:[/b] Bovo, Carrozzieri.
Risked for suspension: Goian, Migliaccio, Munoz, Pastore, Sirigu
Out: Cassani.

MILAN (4-3-1-2): 32 Abbiati, 20 Abate, 13 Nesta, 33 Thiago Silva, 77 Antonini, 8 Gattuso, 4 Van Bommel, 16 Flamini, 10 Seedorf, 7 Pato, 99 Cassano. (1 Amelia, 76 Yepes, 18 Jankulovski, 28 Emanuelson, 52 Merkel, 27 Boateng, 90 Robinho).
Coach.: Allegri.
Suspended: Ibrahimovic.
Risked for suspension: Pirlo, Bonera, Gattuso e Nesta.
Out: Ambrosini, Pirlo, Inzaghi.

source: milannews.it

Sorry mate, it's a spammer!

Thus spoke the angel of death.

Not sure I agree with the reasoning here. Titus Bramble and Marco Materazzi would probably walk into any pickup game we'd be playing on the weekend and look like Messi while playing striker. It doesn't mean they're crapf at the top level nor does it preclude us fans from criticising them. Do you think half the pundits criticising the top level pros ever achieved half of what even the mediocre pros and pro coaches did?

in other news what time does the game start?

Leave alone Pirlo, I know he's injured. What about Boateng? How many times has he played in his natural position, as box-to-box midfielder? Why does Allegri prefer him as trequartista? This annoys the hell out of me. We need some quality in that midfield. Playing Van Bommel, Gattuso/Flamini and Boateng with Robinho as trequarista would improve our game substantially. But not for Max. He insists with the three medianacci, because he's more concerned with not conceding first, then scoring. Like I said, small club mentality.

It sounds alot like how Mourinho plays. Its called Defensive mentality damn man do you watch Serie A nearly every club plays catenaccio it's Italian Football !! , of course we don't play catenaccio per say we play a more offensive brand.

Was just about to say, thanks for relieving me of having to write a long post.

Also we have Urby and Seedorf as well. I know I know, Seedorf is finished bla bla bla, but at least he'd provide an inch of creativity in there, and what's really the difference when you have Rino in there running around getting beaten by mediocre players either way?

well said

Don't be ridiculous. If you see how Mourinho played Inter last season and how he plays Madrid now, you'll realize he plays a very offensive 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders in front of the defense, one of which has the duty to organize the game (Thiago Motta, Xabi Alonso), and one to act as a sort of "water carrier" for the other (Cambiasso, Khedira). The rest of the line-up is purely offensive. Two wingers, one trequartista and one striker. Compare it to how're playing now, and you'll notice a huge difference. It's true that Mourinho's teams also a have a very good defensive mentality, but that's because he manages to incite his players to play a very coral game i.e. defending in 11 players and attacking in 11 players. That's not how we play. We defend with 3 players and attack with 3 players, leaving a huge gap in midfield, which accompanied by the scarce quality of our midfielders, leads us to play a very ugly and catenaccario football.

well said

Exactly!!

Also notice that Khedira+Alonso, Motta+Cambiasso are nothing like our DMs, yes esentially they are called that, but while we have DMs that are just destroyers and lack any footballing quality, those 2 pairs of DMs are very modern DMs, they can acually play football, they win the ball, make a great pass, move forward. We play with essentially 3 destroyers who don't know how to make a pass long then a meter without messing it up. Cambiasso for example aside from all his defensive qualities, has attacking qualites that enable him to move the ball forward smartly and accurately, same goes for Khedira. While Alonso imo is not even a DM, he's like Pirlo, plays in the position but is not that, he's a passer, he's a creative player. You can't really compare our DMs to those.

Fact here is that Allegri has had options and he still plays the terrible midfield because it makes him feel secure, even though we're left with practically no rythem to our game, just punt it up and hope for the best. That's Allegri's tactic.

Well, I think Van Bommel is closer to the Cambiasso type of player than to, say, the Gattuso type of player. He can make runs, accurate passes and shoot from distance. That said, he's not a creative midfielder ala Pirlo or Xabi Alonso. He's not the problem. The problem are the two defensive midfielders alongside him (Flamini and Gattuso) that mess our game big time. That's why we need Boateng instead of one of them, to add more quality.

any streams?!?!

MILAN: Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovsi,Gattuso, Van Bommel, Flamini, Seedorf, Pato e Cassano.
PALERMO: Sirigu, Munoz, Goian, Migliaccio, Darmian, Bacinovic, Nocerino, Balzaretti, Pastore, Pinilla e Illic.

Only objection is Urby instead of Gattuso/Flamini,but we all knew that wasn't going to happen.Or maybe even Seedorf in midfield,and Robinho behind the strikers.