Must win match.

For me Allegri's future will be decided in the next three matches. The objective was top 3 and CL second round I believe.

tbh we have done a lot better in the CL than I expected.

We got a win in St Petersburg, a couple of points against Malaga and Anderlecht. And a very unfortunate defeat in Spain.

It's not the Milan of old, of course, but with what we have, I honestly expected zero wins and awful display after awful display. It's just not been as dire as that.

Our point tally is of course feeble by our historic standards but we nevertheless are second.

I'm hoping for a win tomorrow, if the starting selection is right.

I'd play:

-------------Abbiati (yes he had a stinker in Naples but he's had, imo, a very good season otherwise)

De Scligio--Mexes---Zapata----Constant (despite my reservations he's doing well there)

----------De Jong

----Montolivo---Noce

------------Bojan

----------SES

-----------------Robinho

4-1-2-1-1-1

ithankyou.

Better then expected? Seriously?

How can 1 point against Malaga be considered "a couple of points"? How can a meager draw against Anderlecht be good?

Agreed. We've been abysmal in Europe, but that is to be expected considering our current form.

Anyway, if we don't win tomorrow, and Zenit beat Malaga, then we're 99% out.

Allegri's predicted formation (gazetta):


$h!tlegri

Mixing again Allegri? I don't know, it's like he's insane and picks randomly. But I'll wait for the official lineup to judge.

Not insane... desperate and pathetic.

that formation is actually good if he puts Pato up top and lets Constant continue to grow at LB.....but of course Constant didn't shine vs Napoli and Pato & Zapata still need punishment for the Fiorentina penalty and red card respectively

Hence he'll adopt the tested and true Prince who is not only a #10 but a #9 as well.

OH. MY. GOD.

Boateng as center forward? Now I've seen it all. And why on earth doesn't he play Zapata?

I did sort of toy with the idea of using Boateng as a target man false-9. Hasn't he played like that for Ghana, or was we playing behind the striker?

No, I don't think so. I don't think Boateng ever played in an advanced position until he signed for us.

And it would have been 100% deserved if it came down to this. Not a pixel less.

I don't know. This is seriously wrong. Last match convinced me (us) that Boateng should be played far from the opposite goal, yet Allegri makes the diametrically opposite thing.

I'm surprised that you're surprised
While he's at it, he might want to partner Christian with Kevin. Few players can assist the attack like Abbiati

Exactly. Everything so far has proved that Prince has no business in an advanced position, yet Allegri plays him as attacking winger and, god forbid, centre forward. And this reverting back to 4-2-3-1 again? Gazza's formation looks a total mess. Hopefully it won't be our starting one tomorrow.

If we don't make the last 16 then I can't see how Galliani could excuse Allegri's decisions

Yes. None of us expected a single f*cking point.



It can't. I said a couple of points against Malaga and Anderlecht.



Who said it was?

I expected nothing from this CL campaign, and that's not what we've ended up with.

With the dire squad, terrible manager and woeful tactics - what we've managed thus far is better than expected.

At this point I think it's pointless to shout our heads off about the ridiculous decisions Allegri makes.

He wants to play Boateng upfront. Fine, have at it big guy. I'll just wait for every one of these stupid decisions to blow up in his face and keep waiting for that sacking to come. And if that means having to watch Milan lose a couple of games in the process then I'm all for it as long as we get rid of this festering, oozing infection we call a coach to finally be out of this club. Because the day we see the back of him will be a day for celebrations

Carlo Ancelotti era nostalgia?

Carlo was no saint when it came to being stubborn about certain things. I've always liked Carlo and been a fan of his but he had a tendency to persist on certain things that were clearly not working and one has to admit that he was a bit of an underachiever when it comes to what he should have accomplished with the squad he had at his disposal during the first half of his tenure at Milan.

That being said, Allegri makes me weep and long for Carlo like a teenage girl...

He said it !!!

But aren't you a teenage girl?!

Anyway, almost everything's been said about that awful predicted lineup.The defensive line is being messed with again, and Boateng as a forward does not sound good indeed.But, I'll admit that finding a position for Boateng is not an easy job(not to imply that Allegri's decision is right!).I mean..yeah you can say give him a few run in the center of midfield.But, his defensive game isn't all that good, and he fouls way too much.Although he could play a box-to-box role kind of like Ramires did in Chelsea.I would have preferred that kind of experiments to be done in pre-season.But, well since we're f@ucking up..it wouldn't hurt as much.Though, people need to understand that it would take him a while to get into that mindset etc...

Allegri:“Pato is a player who is important on a European level. This could be his game."

luv ya 2 baby

And experimenting with him now as a CF is a good idea as opposed to playing him in his natural position?

Boateng should either be played as a box-to-box player or not played at all. And playing him up front when you have Pato on the bench is even more ridiculous.

And if Allegri is punishing Pato for that missed penalty then he's even more of a pathetic low-life then I initially thought

Say what? We were all saying how we should finish first after the groups were drawn. Maybe you were the only one who didn't expect a single f*cking point.

I'd appreciate you quoting me two folk saying they expected us to finish first. Other than yourself.

OK, they don't exactly say we'll finish first, but the impression clearly was that we would have passed the group no problem. Instead, you saying we didn't expect a single point is pretty much the biggest understatement of the year.

The group was easy. And after the terrible draws we had for the past 3 years running (Real, Real, Barca) everyone was optimistic we'd get first, and hence the easy last 16 draw.

Not making it to the last 16 would be a massive underachievment on our parts and heads would have to roll (Allegri get on the chopping block please)

Will this finally be the turning point in our season? I wonder...

How many time have we said that already?

You mean 'overstatement'. But yes, some delusive posts there clearly underestimating not only our opponents but overestimating how good we are.

Zenit: who just spent God knows how many Euros on Hulk et al, and Malaga who beat the imperious Atletico Madrid to the fourth CL spot. Anderlecht - champions of Belgium which is currently enjoying a wave of maybe its most golden generation of football in a long time.

Did we actually expect to coast this? That's crazy talk.

5 points given the mire we're in in ANY group in the CL is not all that bad. The fact we're second is even more uplifting.

I think the negativity about us seems to be forgetting how rank we actually are. It's Milan, of COURSE we'll coast a group with 3 'meh' sides. Sadly we're a mediocre Serie A team who will struggle to be in Europe at all next season. And if you put any mid-table Italian side in the CL, 5 points would be a predictable haul after 4 matches.

In itself the group was easy. Malaga are no Madrid, Zenit are hardly Man Utd. But we're WAY worse than we normally would be so the group, in relation to US, right now, is hard.

That is what I am saying.

I hope Allegri watched Chelsea today. Playing without an actual striker in the Champions League is madness.

We're seriously discussing that we saw no options for Milan in CL this time?

X-O posted two short posts, but let me say that we opened a poll right here which clearly says that approximately 86% of the voters expected us to go though to the next round(s).

Malaga and Zenith ain't that hard opposition (domestic leagues show their face) if you ask me, it's just that we're unbearably bad.

I understand what you're saying. But imo it's a bit like not studying for a test, failing and then saying the test was too hard.

It's not the teams that make the group tough, it's ourselves that are too bad. And I don't think we ought to be satisfied with passing a test that we are fully capable of acing.

If $h!tlegri is really playing Pato and Constant in that fantasy formation then I'm happy and excited about tonight for a change.

Bingo. You're the one who gets it.

And your example is perfect. It is a test. One we have not studied for. So of course it's too hard.

Perfect Jack. I hope others get what you've said here.

Apart from the acing part. We're too rubbish to ace anything right now.

Maybe you're getting it too.

I do get what both you and x-off are saying

But you're looking at it in hindsight, while we're talking about what everyone expected at the start of the season before we all knew what mess Allegri would plunge us into.

Sure now you can say that the 5 points is a very clear indication of how truely terrible we're playing, but before that when everyone was looking at things on paper, people RIGHTLY expected more


Yep what was DM thinking

But seeing as they sacked him shows how an ambitious club should react as opposed to what we're doing. And Di Matteo came in and saved Cheslea's @asses last season not to mention won the one trophy that Abramovic truely wanted, we're not talking about a mediocre coach like Allegri here

Why? We'd lost Pirlo, Nesta, Silva and Ibra. We'd lost about 8 or 9 other top players. We had only brought in 2 or 3 good quality players. We were now a shadow of the side we once were.

When I saw the draw I was delighted, because it was our best chance to progress. I never thought for a second we'd win the group, but it had been very kind to us. But I didn't think progression was a given - anything but.

If you look back to my post at the time:



Guess I was the only one with a clue

Another post which saw reality. Not everyone was assuming a coast to the next round guys

Not matter how crap we are playing, not passing through a group comprised of the 4th ranked Spanish team from last season, a Russian club which is facing a crises of results, and the Belgian champions, it would be a massive underachievement. Just like it was for United last season when they didn't qualify in an easy-peasy group.

Anyway, about tonight's game (which Galliani called ulta-decisive), this is how we should play:

Abbiati; De Sciglio, Mexes, Yepes, Constant; Montolivo, De Jong, Nocerino; Boateng, Pato, El Shaarawy.

Link

Would it be too much asking to play Bojan instead of the failure Boateng?

Why oh why drop one of our best performers next to Monto and El Shaa! Allegri is so stupid it's gone beyond comprehension. And why he insists on constantly changing around the back line I'll never understand

Gazzetta's update says that Bojan will play instead of Pato.

Even more ridiculous!!

Playing Bojan as the CF while letting Prince on the wing is more stupid than what you posted above because at least you have the best finisher up front

Anything short of a front 3 of SES, Pato and Bojan is a bad decision and it will only mean that he'll waste a sub or 2 trying to correct that mistake after HT which is always the case with Allegri

At least he's not playing Emanuelson.

That's what I thought, but even then, saying that makes me even more furious because how can this guy - earning millions to this job btw - not even manage to pick the right players for the formation he's selecting!!!

Does he need someone to write CB, RB, ST, LW, etc, etc on each player's forehead as if he were playing FIFA so he isn't confused about the players' positions?? Is he really that dense and stupid or is he trying to get fired FFS!!? Because sometimes his decisions are so terrible that they really make you question his motives!

I hear ya, but we're quite used to it at this point. Just have to bear with it.

Yep, like I said yesterday, the day we see the door hit his @ss on the way out will be a day of celebrations for us all.

Galliani should jump on Di Matteo now that he's available

Why?

Difference is Utd last season were in excellent health. They hadn't lost all their best players! Same as City - they hadn't lost their top performers. These teams had a crisis because their personnel were strong yet they were utterly humbled in Europe. City have been even WORSE this season, albeit in a really tough group.

We, on the other hand, have not only NOT got a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson, we also lack a squad the depth and quality of Utd or City. We're in the mire.

Hence my comments. And sadly, they've been proven accurate and you lot were wildly optimistic in the extreme.



Dropping Bojan is absurd, I'm with you there. He's been terrific the last month or so and if he does not start it would show Allegri to be a twonk.

But pre-match lineups are invariably inaccurate so I'll wait till the official one before hanging Max.

(tbh the rest of the team is good! Robinho might have started but while (IMO!!!) he's been excellent with his cameos he's nowhere match fitness - Pato is closer although has had little impact recently)