He does? His dribbling is poor and his finishing skills questionable. He has this explosive character and tenacity, but I don't see anything special in him.

His strength and movement show that he has potential, aside from that I'm in your camp.

The dribbling problem is glaringly obvious because of the position he's been played in.

He shows a lot of determination which opens the door to improvement but certainly not as winger

We should consider bringing Pato back after the 2014 World Cup if he makes full recovery. I don't think Niangs of this world can go a long way at Milan to be honest.

I'm with you on this, hear you loud and clear

If Pato is doing well and recovered his fitness by then, he'll be out of our price range

Nice to see that we can agree on some things sometimes.



Who knows what will happen. but I can't see him going back to Europe playing for a club other than Milan. maybe it's the fanboy in me!

Guys guys, just chill it with Niang. Seriously the player is being played out of position. It's just incredibly harsh the way you guys are coming down on the kid. I don't see ANYBODY who plays well for Milan these days. Just a couple instances here and there, even then very inconsistent. It's hard to judge any of our players at this point. I watched most of the game, I couldn't even decide what happened.. The whole game looked like a training drill. Why are you guys coming down on Niang? It just doesn't make sense. A lot of us are wishfully pushing for him to be our future star and there is not much to take away right now, I'll give you that. But who is good right now? I refuse to believe we have an entire roster of $hit players. Nobody looks motivated or hungry. Nobody seems to be following any specific set of overall team tactics. The team simply gets on the pitch, runs around and passes around. There is absolutely nothing else in our gameplan that I can see. Please aim your frustration elsewhere. Niang is being played out of position, but it's nice to see him try very hard. There is not much else to say.

Woah man! Who appointed you as his attorney?

And if you read my post above, I said he looks like he has potential to be a good CF in the future, but I seriously cannot stand watching him play out wide anymore. When it's something that's holding us back then I prefer a young player not being pushed in just for the sake of it, or because he simply runs around a lot, thus by Allegri standards that means he's world class

We could be playing so much better if we moved back to 2 upfront and had a proper midfield composition.

But once again, it's all on Allegri.

I'm not too happy with El Shaarawy either at this point, he's been almost as bad as Niang. But while El Shaa has a goal in him, Niang simply doesn't even have that. Watching him run with his head down and shooting in aimless crosses all game is not my idea of decent enough to keep on playing him there

There is a lot to complain about, because even when we win we still play shitty football. This team is capable of much better, yet our rookie coach tries his hardest to mess things up in every game. Today he messed up big time. Even a noob could predict our atrocious performance with that midfield Allegri played from the start. The fact that we had Boateng and Nocerino on the bench makes it even more cringeworthy. The guy is an idiot, he doesn't deserve any praise whatsoever, and I pity those who take his side.

And yours was a witty remark.



I think we've clearly stated that our problem with Niang is him being played out of position.

This season, Boateng and Nocerino have been very bad too. I've watched games in which Boateng was simply woeful. But I don't think it mean much about him as a player because our whole team has been massively under-performing. When we play games like we did today, only a player of Ibra's caliber can stand out and perform. The rest of the team looks hopeless in these situations. Even El Shaa, in my opinion, has been under-performing all season. The only thing he has done well is scoring. Which counts for a lot, but it's not everything. How can I judge a such players like Boateng, Nocerino, El Shaa in such a climate? The only players I DO judge are the likes of Traore or Antonini who are just on another level bad all by themselves and it really doesn't have much to do with our current situation. Even Emanuelson was CONSTANTLY being played out of position and ALL KINDS of positions. I'm sure if Allegri played him as a LB and stuck to it, he would have been one of our decent players by now. So again, go easy on Niang because your harsh criticism is unjustified when the overall picture is analyzed.

No. A lot is being said about how he is nothing special, a poor player and so on. If I were to go with this, I'd say our whole team is crap, which I don't agree with.

I can still smell with my eyes closed.


Oh good God, that mentality is pathetic.


Did he really say that? If so, is this after the game or an older quote?


Niang was pretty mediocre but you can't really rate Bojan either, he came in when Cagliari started falling back.

Apparently it was said after the game in a political rally he was attending.

Personally I agree with you about the players and such, I just don't understand what you guys see in Niang that's so special that you think it's ok for him to keep playing there when clearly it's just not working out.

I understand that he's being played out of position through no fault of his own, and maybe we are coming down harshly on him, but imo that comes through the sheer frustration of watching him stumbling around on that right side when even the former player that is Robinho would do a better job out there. Having him played out there is just another problem being added to this team's performance, a problem that in this current state we seriously do not need.

I guess that's my point and my main frustration with Niang. Just like you've mentioned Urby. I thought he was a fine utility player to have. Certainly a lot better than having the likes of Traore to come off the bench, but Allegri seriously made me hate the absolute sight of him in that line-up because we all knew where he would be placed for some reason that only Allegri's pea sized brain could comprehend.

Boateng is another victim to this. He was great for those few weeks where he was actually played in midfield. Now we're back to lumping Boateng in every area of the attack possible to see what he can do.


I admit, I said that I saw nothing special in him, and I still stand by that, he is yet to impress me in the slightest. At least with El Shaarawy even though he is confined to the wing and playing badly he has impressed me on multiple occasions and shown me that he is worth it, that there is more than just something special in him. I just don't see that in Niang, and even if he is playing out of position, sometimes you can just tell with players.


It's a LEGIT saying!

God no. Forget playing 2 up front without a real #10 and the crappy narrow formation. I would much prefer to play Niang out of position on the wing than have someone like Boateng play as our #10, never again.

Its appalling the amount of criticism a boy who just turned 18 gets.

He's gonna flop, he's gonna have bad days, he's gonna have days wheres hes ineffective. Its part of the process. You want to develop players, thats the price to be paid. Don't want to pay that price? Splash 30m and bring tevez instead of 2m on a kid.


This kid is going to be good. He wouldn't be playing A) for Milan if he wasn't and B ) starting for Milan if he wasn't.

I'm pretty certain I saw the quote yesterday morning before the game even kicked off.

FWIW, it looks like Prando is playing ElSha in a similar role in the NT.

Agree with the fact that the entire team is underperforming. Once again it comes down to the coach, who IMHO is the one person who is responsible for motivating and inspiring the players. (Not to mention making the right tactical choices.)

Indeed. However, I have a feeling that it will not happen until the season is over. So we are going to see more performances like this one. Pity, because CL is within reach despite our horrible start.

He's done at the end of the season. Its obvious, berlu saying those things is pretty much clear and then theres also the heavy contact with pep earlier.

No one is taking sides, this isn't about I win you loose

More like, the guy gets the job done this sorry excuse of a starting XI. If you compare this squad to the 'old' one we had last season, you would clearly see the difference. A better measure would be when we face Barcelona, compare our performance with our old team against them to this young 'new' team. You get the point I'm making? This team can't win and wont win anything noteworthy, maybe a CL spot but that is stretching it to the limits. And guess what, that is where we are now.

You guys talk about our midfield as if Seedorf and Pirlo are on the bench ... You don't need to praise the coach, I'm not praising him, just stating the obvious in that he has done a remarkable job considering what we started with and where we are now.

The argument that this team can do better is relatively subjective, considering this is the best the team has reached all season. Hence, one could argue that we could do better, yet this is the best we have done so far. Without any hype that is.

Days when he's gonna be ineffective you say? The guy played 8 Serie A matches and made a total of 0 goals and 1 assist. I don't deny as well what han said - he has potential - but nothing more. At this moment we have a better player more suited for the position Niang occupies sitting on the bench.


If this logic would work, Grimi, Mattioni, Albertazzi, Palibrk and a tons of other youngsters would now be our stars.

Your forgot Kuff-Kuff. he had talent and he was given the chance to make it at a big club but failed miserably. Niang could go on to become the next Henry, or he could simply become another Gourcuff. no one knows...

tbh I knew we'd draw when I saw the team. 3 DMs? I must admit Max, you fubared RIGHT up there.

I know Monto wasn't available, but having 3 turgid DMs next to each other there? Not an iota of PASSING among all 3, never mind genuine creativity.

Max made the fundamental error of sticking to the same system yesterday when he didn't have the players for it.

Basic rule of management; you shape your system around the players you have, you don't fit square pegs in round holes and stick to your formation when you don't have the available players.

A 3 in midfield always needs your gritty DM (Flamini), your CM (Noce) and your creative playmaker (Monto). If you don't have any one of those three you can't do a 3.

He should have worked on a different system for this match, one which used the wingplay like against Udi. Dare I say a basic 4-2-1-3? 2 in the middle: Noce and Flamini. The gap between them and the 3 up top - Boateng or Bojan.

Err, no, that's a lame justification. The only difference were Thiago Silva and Ibrahimovic, which we managed to substantially eliminate by signing Balotelli. We have all the important players from last season: Abbiati, Abate, Mexes, Nocerino, Boateng, El Shaarawy, Robinho etc. and a few nice additions in Zapata, Constant, De Jong (who's injured, yes, but Flamini was also injured last season, so you could swap the two) Montolivo, Bojan, Balotelli, Pazzini etc. At the end of the day, there isn't that great of a difference in quality between this team and the one of last season, especially now that we signed Balo. We don't have all the unnecessary senators that slowed us down, and we don't even have that many injuries either. Of course, we don't have Thiago and Nesta in defense, but still Allegri has all the possibilities to field a quality line-up every Sunday, yet, like yesterday, he always finds way to mess things up.

So when maldini was playing for milan at age 18, I wonder what was said about him?

Or say someone like lampard. Did you see the press conference where a fan was b*tching at redknapp for giving lampard so much time when most people thought he was going to be an average player at best.


There are things these coaches see that we don't. If niang is playing there is a reason. Its not a joke, its a serious job.

and again going on about those other youngsters, did they really play for milan? No they didn't. So there you go they had promise but in the end weren't good enough. Niang right now is clearly good enough to be a starter.

Dude, it's Allegri. Even my grandma knows more of football than this idiot.

If you honestly think that then i'm sorry to say but your an idiot.


Getting a uefa pro liscence in its self is harder than completing a PhD at a top level university. Then lets not forget he's worked his way up from Serie C2 to where he is now. Again football isn't a charity, if your garbage your gone simple as that.

Not only has been successful with all of his teams, hes also won stuff what a surprise



Serie C1 (1): 2007–08
Serie A (1): 2010–11
Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2011


Albo Panchina d'Oro (1): 2008–09 (Won when mourinho was at inter btw)
Serie A Coach of the Year (1): 2010–11


Someone "who your grandma knows more about football than" wouldn't have won coach of the year twice or are you saying that the italian league has a bunch of mediocre clueless coach that allegri is able to win it twice?

So what you saw yesterday was okay? Is that what you're saying?

I just don't get your constant support of this BS from Allegri.

In reality we've been playing like this ALL season long. We've won a couple recently through sheer luck at times and even a couple of gifts from the refs. We haven't played ONE single game throughout this season where we've shown any semblence of even cohesion in our play. Max said it best yesterday that our only strategy under this coach is to go out there and pass the ball about with the hope that it will find itslef at the back of the net through some freak accident. And now that we have Balo we're seeing what we used to see with Ibra, direct long balls and hoping

I didn't say play Boateng as the number 10. Boateng needs to be in that midfield 3, even if Allegri prefers the likes of Muntari or Ambro instead When we're desperate Allegri still resorts to putting Bojan in the centre as a 10, I'm saying we should start like that, not wait until the 70th minute and we already have an uphill battle ahead of us before actually playing in a way that we actually work well in attack. Once Bojan and Prince came on yesterday we actually started to make inroads into the Cagliari box and Balo started to get chances in good areas because Abate was freed up to run into good areas to cross instead of running into Niang.

And what width do we have? Just because the formation looks wide on paper it does not mean we actually play with GOOD width. All we do is play the ball up from FB to L/RCM to L/RW and then try to put in a useless cross. SES is completely AWOL during the game, Balo is stranded and barely sees the ball, and Niang thinks that by crossing you should take off the recipient's head. What good is that "width" you speak of doing us. We play like absolute sh!t for 70 minutes, we change things when we're desperate, introduce Prince, Robinho and Boateng and suddenly we're playing well.

If we want to get technical, SS shouldn't be on the pitch as much as Niang in that 4-3-3. He's basically useless right now, teams have easily figured him out. He's not cutting in like he was at the start of the season and he's finding it hard to find open spaces in the center to run into and score like he was before


Just like Filippo said blue, there are waaaaay too many "talented" kids who were at Milan that turned out into huge flops. Just because we're wasting time on him because Allegri likes his huffing and puffing up and down the wing des not mean anything.

He's yet to show anything special, ESPECIALLY on that wing where he's hindering us instead of cotributing.

I'm all for giving kids a chance and seeing them make it. But not like this. Not when CL football is on the line and by extension the club's future because we simply cannot afford to miss out on that money. Certainly NOT when there are better options on the bench FFS!!!

No one said buy Tevez, but when you have 2 options on the bench who can play on the wing (since this is the formation that Allegri has frced us into playing), then f@cking play them!


I know, and look how well it worked out for Italy in midweek. I don't get why Prandelli suddenly thinks a 4-3-3 is a good idea when Italy have played their best stuff with a 4-3-1-2, especially in the big games during the Euros. SES and Balo should be a 2 upfront, if he persists with this then I can't see the point of playing SES when you have a talented winger like Insigne for example who could be played there instead


I'm sorry R7 but you're painting a picture which is just not how things actually are.

He DOES have better options on the bench, he had Prince and Nocerino who at the end of the day he still had to sub in because ONCE AGAIN his decisions put us in a situation where things were do or die.

The reason why we were in the mess we were at the start of the season? Losing 2 players? Or Allegri? Just ridiculous that you would try to insinuate that he had nothing to do with us languishing in the relegation zone for I don't know how many weeks and try to pin that on him losing 2 players.

And why doesn't he have the services of the likes of Pirlo FFS?? He DID NOT want him! He told the management that he had no plans for a player like Pirlo! Who in turn was thrown away like garbage as if we did not need him.

REMARKABLE???!!

Remarkable is the sheer level of stupidity Allegri displays on a weekly basis. Who COULDN'T see before the match even kicked off that we would struggle badly today? It's just f@cking unbelievable that you would even try to stick up for him


Exactly


Next Henry?

He doesn't even show an ounce of that kind of talent. If he turns out to be a half decent CF then I'd be happy because so far he doesn't show much more than that


Agreed


Exactly!

What makes you so certain he can't play the wing? A winger isn't necessarily someone who is fast can cross the ball. It all depends on the formation and the role.

For allegri's formation to work a lazy clown like robinho can't be played, because alot of the wingers have to track back to almost a fullback position. So in that essence niang is the perfect player for the formation and thats just one example.


Allegri's 433 isn't the standard 433 ur used to so stop thinking along that context. He's got his own style and is using it. So far its worked otherwise we wouldn't be sitting so close to third.

I'm not reading that!

What style is this?

"The kick about style"

For once I agree with Silvio "Allegri doesn't know SH!T!"

Not your standard 4-3-3? I know what a winger is and what types of wingers there are, Niang does NOT fit in any category that could be called a winger. Just because he's being pushed to play there does not make him one!

The wingers have to track back so much because of our completely inept midfield setup, where even with THREE f@cking DMs we are still cut apart like no tomorrow by the likes of Cagliari. The thought of playing Barca actually makes me weep!

Perfect player for that position? YOU don't even know what type of 4-3-3 we're playing! I've seen a 4-3-3 being played by 3 out-and-out strikers in the past to GOOD effect. THIS is not the case. How can you not comprehend that?

I understand wanting to see Niang play because you think he's "special" but come on. Just watch us play a single game and you can see what mess we're in.

And how haave we gotten to nearly 3rd? The easiest run of fixtures out of all of our direct rivals, help from the refs and the luck we were missing at the start of the season. In reality nothing has changed from then, we're still basically playing like crap in each game.

And actually Allegri's 4-3-3 is the most standard one in the book! He plays a completely flat 4 at the back, a flat 3 in the center and a copletely flat 3 upfront which are spread wide. A flat wide 3 that does not contain a single player who has the necissary craft and/or vision to cut in and creat chances for himself and his CF. Simple as that!

Didn't see yesterdays game.


Where did I mention Allegri? You need to stop this obsession.


We've played a crappy 4-2-3-1 with no wide players and 4-3-1-2 earlier in the season. Since we switched to basically a straight 4-3-3 and Niang playing wide we've been in good form.

So long as we keep winning and stop losing I don't care. We're in good form - amongst the best in all of Europe. Quit whining for the sake of it. Even when we won the league you complained, so why should I even take your opinion into consideration? Nothing Allegri does will be good enough, so whatever.

Don't bother replying.

+1 fully agreed Kurt.

Even if Allegri win the league this year there will still be critiscm. its never good enough.

Then how can YOU even comment when you didn't see the game? It's just laughable. And since you're defending the system then you're defending the man behind it. Allegri is the problem so of course he's my main point of contention

We played more formations then that as well as the 4-3-3 during that time which did not work either. It's not the formation that changed us from losing to scraping wins against bottom league sides. Niang has started what? 3 games? How can that even justify your reasoning??

When did I complain when we won the league? Please make up a fake post to support THAT theory

Don't bother reading if you don't want to hear an oppinion that's opposed to yours




Too funny

So, all the screw-ups we see from Allegri on a weekly basis don't really count because of those accomplishments? That's just ridiculous. I don't care if he's won the Panchina d'Oro, I don't care if he's a UEFA licensed coach. We've been putting up with this guy for almost 3 years now, and even a child can see what a mediocre piece of trash he really is. I mean, do you even watch our games?

I tell you man, some people are just too stubborn and narrow-minded. They defend what they believe in, not what what they see with their own eyes.

Yes I do but your ignoring so many fundantal variables its not even funny. You don't even know what goes on behind the scenes. Why decisions are made etc.

You dont' know if someone isn't mentally ready or has an injured the club aren't sharing or is just showing a lack of concentration.


Don't think Allegri makes decisions out of blindness. This is milan ffs not your amature beer league. You really think he sends in the line up before checking with tassotti and others and getting feedback? Don't be foolish.

The calibre of a UEFA Pro coach is unlike anything most people have witnessed. If you have a conversation with one of them you'll understand that they are not only knowledgable about the game they are the masters of teh game.

Furthermore,

You can't single out a coach and say its fault, if your going to attack someone you have attack the organization as a whole. Tassotti and others play a major role in how our squad does not just allegri.

You can't be serious. What happens behind the scenes? He's the coach, he takes the responsibility. What reason did he have yesterday for playing Flamini-Ambro-Muntari in midfield and benching Boateng and Nocerino? What reason does he have for playing Niang on the wing? Why does Bojan always get the cold treatment? Why was Zapata completely ignored in the first half of the season? And these are just a few things on top of my head. The guy has messed up tactics and line-ups on so many occasions it's laughable at this point. Don't try to tell me that Allegri doesn't have the main saying in what formation he plays and what players he fields, cause it's ridiculous.

And one more thing: he can go and shove his UEFA license up his @ss for all I care. Master of the game? Huauhuauhuau...

I'm sorry blue, but you're seeing things in a way that is just not realistic.

I have a BSc in Computer Networking, does that mean that I'm fit to run the servers at Google for example? Because essentially this is what the situation is. Schooling can only take you so far. and if you cannot understand that then I don't know why we're even argueing this point here. You can hang all of Allegri's certifications in front of my face, but at the end of the day, he is just not fit to run a club of Milan's calibre. End of! This has been evident from day one at the club. His small minded mentality has even drifted onto our players, and the ones who did not see to his narrow minded vision were shipped out simply because Galliani has backed him because he was the one who appointed him while Silvio has had his mind wrapped up around corruption, jail sentences, elections, Italian government and most importantly underaged girls.

The man is just not good enough for the job, simple as. Tasso is the assistant but at the end of the day whatever Allegri decides is final, because HE is the head coach. You really think that Tasso would contradict his final decisions on line-up, training drills, etc? The head coach is the final say, and you before anyone else should know this. The staff around you is there for cunsultancy purposes, not to make decisions.

Players are not concentrated/injured/whatever excuse you want to make for him? Then how come when he has his back to the wall he's always forced to go back on his initial decison and is forced to put on the better players that he initially left out?

How can you explain the total lack of tactical discipline this team shows in every game we've played this season if you think he's such a genius tactician? How can you even look at a simple line-up before the start of a game anf think that those choices are correct simply because of a certification he holds?

Ok this is where I stop. You don't get how it works so i'm not gonna continue arguing with you further. If you want to continue believing that all decisions are made because allegri is a simple idiot and doesn't understand anything than go ahead and believe that.


Go attend a coaching course and maybe you'll get enlightened a bit.

This is a Kurt inspired post you are about to read @X-Off @han;

We played 24 out of 38 games in this championship.
( LWLLWDLLWDWLDWWWWLWDWWWD )

ie ( L 24% D 21% W 50% ).

24 games, if we divide them into two halves and , as follows:
- 1st 12 games this season: L (6) D (2) W (4).
- 2nd 12 games this season: L (1) D (3) W (8).

Factual.


I am not pro Allegri, nor against him, if after loosing a wealth of experience and balance from our trusty senators and two very strong players ... I'd say Allegri did a fine job if we split his assessment in two halves, as depicted above, with only 1 loss and 3 draws and 8 wins. That is an improvement to the first 12 games. Hence, my point, an observation.

I didn't say that. I said whatever Allegri does wil not be good enough for you. You always come up with stuff that has zero factual basis whatsoever.

I think Allegri winning the title means Allegri wins the title. It's a fact, no disputing that. For you, it gets replies of this, I'll even point out where the post is to dismiss any making up claims.

Champions League 10/11 thread, post #1274

1 season with Milan. 1 Scudetto. Not enough for han!


Juventus-Milan 11/12 season, post #134

Wins title in his first season after the club hasn't won the title for nearly a decade - nothing to do with him though.


Winter transfer thread 20120, post #1177

Again, another post within a few months after we're Champions where you completely dismiss any contribution he made.

Now on one hand you have me who says Allegri deserves some credit for the title win. On the other we have you who says he deserves none at all. Yeah, I wonder which one is closer to reality.

You're the stat master, show me how much points Ibra was DIRECTLY responsible for in that season

And none of those posts show me complaining about a Scudetto win which I was over the moon about. It's complaining about Allegri, which as I have always maintained has never had the vision to coach a club like Milan. Zaccheroni has a Scudetto, does that make him even a half decent coach?

The club finally won that title because we got players in who could do the job, had Allegri not been handed Ibra at the end of that summer then the Scudetto wouldn't have even been an option, simply because he relied on Ibra for the points on a LOT of occasions

Oh yes, I don't get how it works. We have the answer.



+∞



Yet in these last 12 games can you recall any match where we played well? How exactly did we make those 8 wins? Fake penalty against Juve, fake penalty against Udinese; offside goal against Catania; tight and risky wins against the likes Siena, Bologna and Atalanta; horrid performances against Pescara and Torino despite what the results might tell. That's your 8 wins in a nutshell. They were a right old mess. We won either because the referee gave us a hand, we were lucky or our opponents were too weak. It's no miracle, and it's certainly not the genius of Allegri that got us so close to 3rd place.

But besides that, what about our first 12 games? Are we simply gonna close an eye on them? No man, with the team we have at disposal such poor performances are unjustifiable. And it's no different from last season, only that then we had Thiago and Ibra that used to save our @sses on a daily basis.

Well according to you guys Allegri benches all of the good players so should he get credit for playing Ibra?

Oh please. Allegri was sh!t scared of Ibra

He's one of the very few players that Allegri hasn't had problems with. Either reported or confirmed.

Also, I never said he benched the good players as if that's his criteria for picking a team. Just look at his record from JUST this season. Starting Bonera and Yepes in central defence while Mexes and Zapata warm the bench, starting Urby in every position of the attack while Bojan and Robinho are on the bench. Then following that up with Prince. Just yesterday he started a midfield 3 of Muntari, Ambro and Flamini FFS!! How can you even be ok with just this?

There are players you can get away with benching and others that you simply cannot, benching Ibra? Unheard of when he's single handedly winning you games week in week out