Form Guide: Milan (D L D W - -) Pilsen(W W D W D - -)

Side notes: Not much to say - I don't think Milan played against Pilsen before.

Any reason behind the choice of logo?

If Ibra is fit, we win no problem.

No, just a rotational thing. I like the old one also

That should be more than fine. I'd rest Zambrotta, Van Bommel and Seedorf for Juventus.

Agreed, maybe even let Nesta or Thiago get a rest. Isn't Mexes ready? He was on the bench yesterday right? This could be a good game to ease him in...

Also, didn't they say Ibra would only start from the bench in this? That would mean no rest for Seedorf since Cassano is our only other striker

Why we excluded both pippo and el sharraway out of UCL is beyond me

Me thinks no one really expected this injury crises to hit us. I agree that at least one of them should have been listed instead of Rino, we have a lot of mids who would cover for him, even worse is that he's still suspended for the majority of the group stages. While we only have 4 strikers with one of them being Pato who is almost always certain to get an injury at one point or another

No, he wasn't even called up. I think we'll see Mexes after the break.

I think Allegri will play Ibra from the start, simply because we have no options available.



Now it becomes clear what an asinine thing was calling Rino instead of Inzaghi and El Shaarawy. Well done, Allegri.

I thought Juve were next...

The toughest obstacle on our way to finishing top is already behind us, so it'd be ridiculous if we dropped points against Pilsen of all teams. but I'm not saying it's impossible - not at all. we tend to **** up our easier games more than the tough ones and with the injury ridden team we have at the moment I'm a bit worried about this game.

Fingers crossed for Ibra. he's the man of these games!

It was clear to me from minute 1. This match would be ideal for Pippo - he'd be more motivated then any other player at our disposal. But, the almighty Allegri wanted to play Mourinho.

Come again?

Like I said before the no call up for Pippo is beyond me, but the El Sharraway is just 18 and U-21 players don't need to be registered for UCL to my knowledge. It's just up to Allegri to call him up to the squad.


Rino's ban would not be effective unless he's in the squad, right?

If so, it's not an entirely ridiculous decision. Just the Pippo one. El Shar is available to the squad as far as I know.


I believe he was referring to the Raul situation at Real?

That's not true, I explained it to you in the other thread few weeks ago: http://www.milanfan.com/forums/index.php?s...=7756&st=15

What Trini said

Ohh crap for real.

Sorry man I forgot.

But If my memory serves correctly, the same issue was brought up a few years back when we got Pato, but he was eligible for the team, so is it that this was a recently revised over the past couple years?

Yes, it used to be different. Few years ago players under certain age got a free pass even if they just transfered to the team.

According to Football Italia, Ibra probably won't make it.

We don't know yet. This article suggests he'll be available. I guess Allegri will decide in the last minute.

Ohh I see.

How lame!

Corriere: Ibra will play against Viktoria! [Today, Ibra will make a decisive test]

Fingers crossed.

I don't want Ibra rushed in, I'd rather not start him in this one and hav him fit for Juve then rush him and lose him for a longer period.

At this point, I really don't trust our medical team to make such sound deicisions, let's not forget the Kaka and Pato incidents in recent history

Indeed. I think Galliani has to make a change in the medical team. No one trusts them anymore, and that just isn't the point.

I think having Ibra is very important in this game. Plzen might be a weak side, but you can't win without strikers. Right now we only have Cassano available, and even he is not a proper striker.

I hope he makes the bench at least. his presence is enough to boost the whole team's confidence, knowing he could come on any time and change the game.

Bench. I think we can win even with only Cassano. How hard can it be? Why not play a primavera? Is Ganz eligible?

yea he should be.. BTW the little King boateng is injured he is also a stiker

Ibra finally trained today regularly with everyone: http://www.milannews.it/?action=read&idnotizia=62332

You're taking this way too easily. Remember the Zurich debacle?

How could I forget - but I don't want us being without Ibra against Juve - that's the priority. Even if we loose against Pilsen, it won't hurt us as much as a lost match against Juventus would.

I would give him 30-35 minutes here. With all due respect, we should beat them anyway. We'll need Ibra more vs Juve.

Horvath is the only player on their team I've ever heard of. We have to win, especially since we got ourselves in a good position to have a shot at winning the group in week 1.

Again Seedorf played, Aquilani on AM, Antonini...oh, for god sake!

Must win ... Simple as and it ll be a joy to see Ibrahimovic on the pitch and scoring a goal at least

Ridiculous line-up if Allegri really goes with it!!

Where's Taiwo?? I know he struggled against Cesena, but he needs to regain match fitness and this is the kind of game to do it in.

Seedorf, Van Bommel and Ibra should be rested/not be risked.

And playing Aqui behind the strikers is pointless at this point, at least let him get used to his team mates and the system before forcing him into a position he's clearl uncomfortable in

^ We're forced to play Van Bommel and Ibrahimovic. As you can see, there are no alternatives on the bench. Ambrosini was supposed to recover for tonight, but it looks like our medical staff did their magic again.

Agreed about Seedorf, Taiwo and Aquilani.

I didn't notice Ambro was still out, had it in my head that he'd be fit for it.

I don't agree about Ibra, he's just recovered, pushing him in and risking him in this type of game where Cassano should be enough is not smart. If we still can't break them down by HT, then yes, get Ibra warming up and intriduce him in the 50 - 60th minute. Otherwise he's not a neccassity. It's just asking for trouble

Everyone is underestimating this match. We're not Barcelona. We usually struggle against small sides, and considering all the injuries we have, we need all the help we can get. Playing Ibra is very important. Personally, I care about this game more than the Juventus game.

It's not that I'm underestimating anything, I don't know how the others feel, but I'm with you when you say that this could be hard for us because this is just the type of opponent we struggle against.

But, I'm on the complete opposite side of it to you, I care more abou the Juve match, we absolutely have to win that. This one I don't really care that much about, we're still probably not going to win the group, we'll mess it up in one of the easy games or at the San Siro against Barca, I'm sure of it, it's our usual MO in these types of situations. So I'd sacrifice a draw in this one for the Juve game. But that's just me...

Having said that, this would be my line-up from those listed as available by Gazzetta.



I know, Urby as a striker doesn't make much sense, but I don't see anywhere else to put him in our system, his speed and technique could be useful, all he has to do is provide support and an option for Cassano when he holding up the ball

Seedorf should be rested as well, but we're going to be too short in this, so not playing him isn't really an option, if we're winning by HT, take him off, put in one of the kids or Ibra

As for Antonini, Gazzetta are sometimes wrong when it comes to the call ups and usually leave players out for some reason on another, if Taiwo is really called up then I would like to see Seedorf on the bench, Antonini on the left f midfield and Aqui behind the strikers (I know, not the best option, but this shouldn't be too hard on Aqui considering the opponent). I'd sacrific Aqui a bit in order to rest Seedorf for Juve. So if it were up to me, we'd end up like this



It doesn't look that bad, and we've all said that Antonini should be tried out in a midfield position.

Like I said, I'd gladly lose 2 points in this to win the Juve game. But that's just me...

That's a very naive thought.

It's not about naivety, it's about prioritising, and I prioritise the Juve game above this, so I don't want us to risk Ibra in such a match. As I said, if it's not enough then bring in Ibra during the 2nd half. But not a full game

I noticed your priority part. It's hard to disagree (if I have to choose 1 victory, it would be against Juventus), but both games should be taken fully seriously. After we drew 2-2 in Camp Nou, we have a good start to finish first in the group (which has an obvious benefit, and prestige) since we should be able to avoid a loss at San Siro, so then it would be a shame to waste that nice draw by drawing against Plzen. Obviously Ibrahimovic shouldn't start if it's really riskful, but if he and the whatever staff feels like he should be ready to start, please do so. Without him I expect we will struggle tomorrow (that's all what I was saying with thinking it's naive to expect a win with such a f'd up attack).

I still don't think it's worth risking another long term injury to Ibra since he's still just recovering. I think we can all see how much we're currently missing him in the league especially.

And who's to say that we won't mess this up in another game? You can't really say, nothing is assured

I don't get this argument at all. Even if we loose against Pilsen almost nothing will change and Milan will still qualify through. If we however loose against Juventus it will be on more setback against a direct opponent. To me, it's as clear as a day which match should be prioritized.

Even if we lose against both, it won't be the end of the world. That's the reality of football, we may still top the group after losing against both Plzeň and Juventus. And we can win both and still end up humilating ourselves when push comes to shove - coming months in the CL, and a streth of hard matches in Serie A.

Point being, no matter what you guys say/believe here, come the reality of football, little of it matters.

Well, I wouldn't go as far as you go acid, because such relativism would easily mean 95% of our discussions here are pointless, which from a pragmatic point of view may seem indeed the case, but still - isn't the whole truth.

I just say - loosing against Juventus would hurt me and us much more then loosing to Pilsen.

Yeah, well that was the plan. 95% of speculative discussions are just that, a bit useless (lots of fun, though). But really in as big a thing such as a 38-match league, or the highest-profile European tournament, things don't always are what they seem. I mean, we already are on a backfoot domestically, we have scattered a bunch of points, that can come back and haunt us towards the end. If anything, this means we have little room for error there.

Same goes in the CL, I mean, look what we did manage to do. Take 2 points away from Barcelona in their backyard (at least that's what I think, instead of us scoring a point). But we stil are on a tight rope, as far as securing first position in the group is concerned. So yeah, what you guys are on about is still fun, and yes, what I'm saying is philosophical. But like I said, that's the beauty of the game in particular, and sports in particular.

It still doesn't change the fact that anything goes, though. We can win both, and still end up as red face a couple of months down the road. We can lose both, and still live long enough to tell the tale in the CL and Serie A. What matters is how we make use of these two matches, despite the result. It's still early days in both our adventures!

I want first spot of CL group!!!