Yeah listen to the pirate, that's a stable man's advice right there...

I may be crazy, hence I recognize crazy. Don't stick your d!ck in it Max. I'm warning you brother. She ain't worth it this girl.

I love you dst... Nothing can get in between us. I know you are not a girl, neither am I! But let's get married and move to Russia!

Shut your rotten mouth pirate!


I love you forever!!

Cristante will be out for a month after injuring his left calf bone in today's training.

Oh phew! Thank god Muntari will get a chance to further play and develop now.

Robinho out injured for Bologna and probably Atletico as well.

Link

Good or bad? Hmm...., can't decide atm

More good, then bad, I guess. A bit of both really, never the one to laugh up a player injury, even if the player is a bona fide dud like Robinho. We really should have dumped him in the summer, any and all ways possible.

Of course it's good.

Kaká suffered an ankle distortion against Bologna, whereas Zapata suffered a muscular problem during warm-up. They're both in serious doubt for Atletico.

Other players unavailable for this game are Bonera, Silvestre, Birsa, Robinho, Saponara, El Shaarawy and Honda.

Link

Well now, if Kaká doesn't make it we're left to only Taarabt, Balotelli and Pazzini in attack. And if Zapata doesn't make it, will Seedorf prefer Zaccardo over Mexes again? Just thinking about sends shivers down my spine.

Taarabt-Balo-Poli behind Pazzini perhaps?

How about just Taarabt behind Balo and Pazzini? I'm curious to see if Seedorf will make the same mistake Leonardo used to make, that is not letting go of your system even if you don't have players available for it, to an extent where choosing Huntelaar, Abate, Poli etc. to play as wingers. That's messed up.

Seriously, if those three names I mentioned earlier will be our only available attackers, then it's a no-brainer we should switch formation to a 4-3-1-2/4-3-2-1. Especially since we're playing against Atletico Madrid.

What we need against Atletico is to pack in bodies in and around the area.

Personally I think using 2 strikers here is asking for it. Just one man up top and 5 players in the middle

I'd personally go for 2 DMs and 2 CMs, with only one "creative/flair" player behind Balo or Pazzo

Basically, it could be a more conservative spin on the 4-2-3-1 Seedorf likes but without all the attacking players who are unwilling to work hard to recover the ball

Hmm, after writing that I just realised that Monto is suspended

Maybe we can go for


Basically



If this was some regular old Serie A team I'd play Balo instead of Urby and Pazzo up top. But I think going out there with both, especially given Balo's propensity to sulk and not track back, would be suicide

This way all the players behind Balo are capable of working hard and forming that second and third line of defence in front of the actual defence, but are also capable of breaking at speed when we manage to get the ball

Kaká reassured fans outside Milanello that he'll be available for Wednesday.

Link

In defense of Poli, I think he can offer a great deal wherever he plays in Midfield. Be it DM,CM,AM. We've seen him play inspired and i think it's unfair to him that Essien was signed. I'd SOOOO much rather see a Poli - De Jong double pivot then essien anywhere....

+1

I don't think it's unfair to Poli that Essien was signed.

Essien is a completely different player to Poli.

Imo Poli should always be the direct alternative to Monto and Essien the direct alternative to De Jong.

So far when Monto's been out/not picked Seedorf has decided to go with another muscle player in that midfield next to De Jong (Muntari/Essien) and that's what's unfair to Poli imo

Essien was needed, we simply can't have a situation where should De Jong be injured we're stuck with Muntari as his direct alternative. He played around 15 minutes against Bologna on Friday and made atrocious error after error, not to mention the lazy @ss walking around

I'd agree that they are different players;one sucks, cant speak the language, is SOOO out of form, and barely knows anyone, and Poli will be seen as a second fiddle to the aforementioned.

Poli is the most versatile mid we got...

For me, Essien and Poli are probably our best options as double pivot. If Zee insists on it that is. I seem to remember Poli even playing as a defensive mid for Sampdoria.

Muntari and Essien out for a while.

Montolivo and Abate should be recovered.

For Genoa: Abbiati; Abate, Rami, Mexes, Emanuelson; De Jong, Montolivo; Honda, Kakà, Taarabt; Balotelli.

Minus DS & SES, I think this is our best possible lineup.

That's not to say Muntari & Essien's injuries won't affect us down the line!

Why would they affect us? 1) They suck, 2) we only need two DMs (we have Monto, De Jong and Poli available), 3) we now play only once a week, 4) there's only seven games left.

For all we care, they could stay out till September.

I think he meant that it will affect us positively.

Did he? I can't tell.

Nah, William's just kidding.

They definitely do 'suck'... but they're two of more defence minded MF players used as rotational subs

'Only' seven games remaining at one game a week or not, we are AC Milan, and we will find or make a way to get our players injured!

Maybe Cristante can recover by then, at least then we'd have numbers to rotate with, defensive or not!

I actually think Muntari has been a good player for us as part of a double pivot. And Essien is I believe used to that role as well.

So a bit disappointed to see both out.

Monto out for 6 months. That's what his surgeon said today after the surgery.

That basically means he's out for the entire half of next season, if not more.

We seriously need to look into a replacement for him

We already have Muntari.

I'm just continually wishing and hoping he'll be one of the ones sold in the mass exodus that's been reported

In all honesty, I think he can stay. The way Seedorf made use of him was rational and not hurtful.

El Shaa sprains ankle.

Seems minor. For a moment my heart stopped.

What I fear the most is De Jonj injury. If he's out for a long time, we'll be really fucked (hard).

What injury???

I meant hypothetical injury.

Hopefully he'll be ready for our game Conte shouldn't risk him for any of the matches with the NT

Damn you, Jack! Stop giving me such scares.

Diego Lopez's flexor of his right leg injury is more serious than expected. He is in risk to face Juventus. [Sky]

Well, since he made a clown out of him today, I won't miss him badly. But I doubt he's seriously injured. He'll come around.

People on FB joking with his "acting" apparently, that he was pretending to be injured in order to justify his mistake. Dida reference there, too.

I don't think it was really HIS mistake. DS just passed him the ball in a totally awkward bounce.

And I've noticed that the ENTIRE defence has been doing this a lot. Constantly going for the back pass when under pressure which could lead to very awkward situations for the keeper like we saw today. Yes he's also at fault for probably having zoned out and getting caught out by DS's pass but just because he's not Abbiati and won't make the usual soft kick out straight to the opposition when under pressure, it does not mean that they should continuously do it. If they're under pressure and in a dangerous situation just clear it FFS, don't put yourselves under even MORE pressure by sending it back awkwardly to the keeper

I do hope it's a fake out injury though. We need to have a fully fit squad for that Juve game.

Yep. Dida popped momentarily in my mind. I do think he faked this one, and however you turn it, he's the one to blame. Curious bounce or no bounce, I think he made a mistake in thinking (taking the ball back with his hands or not) and not reacting. This is one of the worst mistakes a keeper can make (and hopefully it doesn't occur again, because if so, he's in decline).

Did anyone say "hypothetical injury".

Nope

Hmm, guess I was imagining things then!