Yeah Kurt, it's time for you to let it go.

Seriously, you can twist around a fact to make him sound like he's doing good for us. It might work for people who don't watch the games but not..us ;P

I am just not having it with Bojan, thus I could understand when a very young Niang is getting the chance instead.

Robinho is obvously better, that is when he was motivated. His time seems over here.

Niang is 18 and Bojan 22. Why would a player like Niang get the chance over Bojan? Because he's younger? That does not make sense to me.

What are you not having with Bojan? The fact that everytime he was given over a meager 20 minutes on the pitch he impressed? While Niang has been given ample amount of time this season and underwhelmed for the majority of minutes on the pitch. Your fascination with young players really makes no sense. So what if a players is young or old, what matters is what they bring to the pitch, and I'm sorry but Niang is just plain bad and does not deserve half the time he's been awarded.

Out of those 3 Bojan is the obviously better player in all senses of the word, Robinho can barely be considered a player anymore.

And you seriously want to talk motivation and selfishness in the context of Niang??

the majority is decided on in training actually.

This forum is great. The best players are the ones on the bench. It was the same with Niang when he wasn't playing, people actually wanted him starting over Pazzini. Now they're slamming the coach for picking him. Nice job arm chair coaches.

I seriously wonder who these people were that wanted Niang to start over Pazzini...

Not in all senses. Bojan is a huge liability defensively. He's too small and lacks any physical presence. He also has a frustrating habit of dribbling into a dead end and losing the ball. I wouldn't mind seeing him get more chances to see if his form improves but it's not as if he is a superstar being left on the bench.

Compared to Niang he's Messi. Nuff said.

But training can only get you so far!If you're not performing well in the team then the coach would be a fool to put you in that starting line-up. I really can't see what utility Muntari is for us..yes he does some decent defensive work sometimes and gets a good shot..but other than that?nothing nothing!he loses the ball in his own half..can't make a pass to save his life..blabla.

Actually, Pazzini earned his place by playing like a champion. Niang has done nothing of that sort and add to that he isn't ready. Sometimes we are fooled by young talent when for example Pazzini was doing badly.

Defensive liability?

He's not a DM, he's a striker/winger. Muntari for example could be labelled a defensive liability as him losing the ball means the opposition recovering it in a dangerous area. Looking at a striker in a defensive capacity is an attitude instilled in us by a coach who has a small Club mentality.

What top side actually looks a their forwards in a defensive capacity? Making use of a box-to-box mid as an AM/winger because he runs a lot as the sole reason for putting him in those areas? Or playing Niang as some sort of defensive winger because he's strong physically.

I'm sorry but that's Cagliari style coaching. This is Milan, and if we want to do better next season then we need to have a coach who is able to not only integrate players of Bojan's quality (with their lack of defensive mindset), but also creative midfielders who are not only about the hustle and bustle but are more on the creative/technically gifted side of the spectum. And this has been an issue with Allegri from day one. How he could not manage to integrate players who are mostly creative but lack that physical edge. I repeat this is not Cagliari, every top club needs to have those luxury players, who might not sweat blood but they make those magic moments happen that set you apart from the rest of the average-to-good sides

Ah, han and X-O said all what I had in mind. Thanks for the spared time

Exactly.

It's often a case with young players/bench players. I'm sure I read recently someone wanted our young CB (I forget his name) to get some minutes... why!? So when he plays and isn't ready it's another stick to beat Allegri with?

@han. Wide players have to be able to defend in modern football. Nowadays full backs don't really exist, they're all wing backs who're better in attack than they are defending. So if you have a winger who's not going to track their runs, your full backs are going to get ripped apart.

First Bojan had his chances, and now Niang.

Really? Again, you seriously think it's fair?

Let's see: Bojan played 18 matches in the league, most of them as a 10-15 minute sub, yet managed to score 2 goals and get 3 assists. Niang on the other hand played 14 matches, almost half of them as a starter, yet managed a staggering 1 assist and zero goals in Serie A. How can Niang still start over Bojan? How did Bojan miss his chance and Niang proven as better?

Personally I cannot even think of one moment where I even thought to MYSELF that I wanted Niang ahead of Pazzo, let alone wrote it on here...

I personally don't get where you got that Niang thing from, maybe from someone like chu who gets easily dazzled by a player's birth year, but personally I have not been impressed by Niang for a single second, and even when you posted that first choice XI thread I picked Pazzini as the starting striker back before we had Balo and Pazzini wasn't doing particularly great either.

As for wingers you are correct in the fact that they have to track back some but most of the wingers in top teams simply don't; Hazard, Ronaldo, Ribery, Robben, the list goes on. They're the difference makers in their teams and unless they're playing really big games where they know they have to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team, they rarely ever track back.

A winger first and foremost needs to be technically superior to most of the other players on the pitch because that - aside from speed - is what makes them good playing in their respective positions, and playing someone like Niang, Urby or Prince really kills the whole point of playing a 4-3-3 with wingers so wide because they usually get stuck, especially someone like Niang who is soooo f@cking poor on the ball it's painful to watch. The only time our system really works and we see hints of fluency in our game is when Prince drops in behind Balo and then puts either him or SES through, aside from that it's one chunk of messed up play going back and forth from one wing to the other with little success.

Fact is you need those technical players upfront, putting on a lamp post like Niang on the wing is seriously messed up, as messed up as it was when Leo did it with Huntelaar and he was given so much cr@p for it it bordered on the insanely abusive. And anyways, our FBs are good defensively on both sides as well as having the pace to track back and cover the spaces, so playing someone like Niang there just because he has physical presence is pointless and only weakens our attacking game, while if we played the far more technically superior player in Bojan we'd still be as secure at the back while also having that extra something in attack to make it more fluent


Give me one instance during this season where Bojan was even afforded the luxury of playing 2 consecutive games from the start where as Niang was given something like 5 consecutive starts and not only did he not impress, but managed to change my opinion of him from hopeful to downright appalled

Can't remember saying Niang has proven anything. Maybe a thought missing is that Niang is ours, and that Bojan is not really. Also, there's more hope for an 18 year old than there is for a 22 year old to improve.

I was one of them, and it wouldn't really hurt if Salamon played a few minutes if the match is already secure.



Have you really seen Niang play? Just wondering.

Han I think you vastly overestimate Bojan's technical ability and creative prowess. He isn't in the same universe as Ribery or Hazard. If you can have that impact then the lack of defensive effort or ability can be ignored but that is simply not the case with Bojan.

I don't think I overestimate his technical and creative abilities, and I acknowledge that he needs to work on his physical presence if he wants to succeed in Serie A. But that cannot happen unless he's at least given a chance to have some regular starting berths. If starts can be afforded to the terrible Niang and Muntari then Bojan should also be gven at least 2 to 3 games, and then we can see how he can really contribute to our attack, in much better ways then the current options Allegri keeps picking.

I never said he was as good as Ribery or Hazard, I was just pointing out that wingers don't really provide defensive cover in their teams unless it's a do or die game against a top team such as Barca where eveyone has to sacrifice themselves. I know Bojan is not good as them, he's not even a natural winger but he'd certainly do better in that position then the others.

The problem here is that people are talking about the likes of Niang as if they were f@cking Ribery or Hazard and that's why Bojan can't play ahead of him. Which is just ridiculous. We would benefit a lot more with having Prince in the midfield 3 instead of that nitwit Muntari and having Bojan in the attacking trio would also be a lot better than having either the box-to-box guy or the immature brat who's a terrible player. That's my entire point

Barely.

Agreed. Problem is that Allegri values muscle over creativity (we have seen it enough times). The unfortunate result is that we are building up a team of players that fit Allegri's style (especially in the midfield), so even assuming someone else would take over the coaching job next year that person would struggle. But, sadly, I believe we are going to be stuck with Allegri for at least one more year. And, as pointed out by Han, Allegri still thinks he is coaching Cagliari :-(

Then I don't see how you can defend his spot on the pitch. If you watch him carefully then you'd understand why he's not good enough to be starting ANY games, ESPECIALLY in the right wing position


I don't know about the stuck with him for another year part. There are new rumours practically each day saying that he'll be out or that he's going to various different clubs next season. I don't think that they're coming from nowhere, there has to be a basis for these constant rumours. And Galliani denying them means nothing really.

Personally I think that if we want to make another positive step forward next season then we need to change coach, and that should be the first order of business. Secondly we need to remove a lot of the deadweight that's weighing us down, and that includes most of the deadbrained muscle players in that midfield such as Muntari and Traore. If Galliani persists with Allegri we'll stay where we currently are or worse take a step back.

I defend the decision Bojan being benched.

Are you serious with this???

So you want Bojan bench just for sh!ts and giggles, when he's always contributed when given decent playing time, even if benching him means playing the awful Niang!! Top class reasoning there

I believe Bojan played not good enough to be in the first team, and I can't judge Niang at the moment.

Probably both should be benched. I think the El Shaarawy, Balotelli and Boateng on top thingy may be the way to go, but I haven't seen enough lately to be absolutely sure.

I don't think Bojan is bad, rather not good enough for Serie A. I weight this on his showing for Roma and us. The kid has tricks and is good on the ball, but never grabbed a chance at Roma or Milan. Yeah must be Allegri's short-sightedness.

Niang on the other hand is no Shevchenko, but an 18 yearold who has impressed enough to play ahead of Bojan. Not much room to debate, unless your not giving Allegri a break for stearing Milan's ship back to the top spots.

Impressed enough to play ahead of Bojan? are you serious with this man?? What has Niang done aside for contributing with 1 assist in I don't know how many starts? And it's not like his overall play overshadows his lack of statistical luster as he does nothing but get in Abate's way and holds the ball aimlessy. It's just a ridiculous thing to say at this point when the stats posted by Filippo clearly show who is the better choice.

And yeah Bojan does not have the physical presence but he makes up for it with technical ability and pace, something we seriously lack in this team. But getting used toa more physical league then the one he's used to is something that takes a bit of time and that means actually getting to play games

@ chu

Like I said above, how can you say that you think Bojan didn't play good enough when his stats show otherwise and then insisting that dud like Niang take the spot instead

And imo Prince is absolutely wasted up there, we only see glimpses of what he can really do when he drops into deeper areas.

He can do that from that position. El Shaarawy and Balotelli are natural forwards. Boateng will be needed in midfield.

The problem is Allegri plays a rigid 4-3-3 s Prince is pretty ristricted, which is why I said we only see glimpses

The kid is in his first season of Serie A. He plays the way the coach asks of him. If the coach says 'hey Niang, hold onto the ball more' that is exactly what he will do, otherwise he is asking to be subed. Common sense.

Problem is though, you can't please everybody. Allegri has many haters, which is understandable, as he is the man overseeing a 'complete' overhall of the squad. Don't let them naive people tell you otherwise, Milan is used to playing with a full fledged young/youth team as opposed to the experienced one, so no excuses for the first six months! Had it been MVB, Scolari, Capello, Alien we would be in the quarter final of the CL! And ofcoures 1st place with a difference of 10 points.

It is as if you pick a hate figure on the team and beat up on him. Gilardino for example, you claim lacked support from a team with Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaka, Shevchenko, cafu, Serginho, etc but Niang is not good enough because his teammates are along the lines of Montolivo, Nocerino, KPB, SES ... Double standards? Or Niang is just not good enough? Yeah he is shite, what do these people at Milan know .. They all went mad, jes?

Sorry R7, but I'm having a hard time trying to decipher your post. We diss Niang because we hate Allegri? Niang plays bad because Allegri asks him to play in a certain way?

Really, is it that difficult for you to accept the fact that many people around these parts have a very poor consideration for Niang? I mean, do you have to stick up for Allegri this much as to defend every single action, every single decision he makes? Can't you just for once admit that Allegri has been wrong in giving so much play-time to Niang whilst completely ignoring Bojan? Or is it simply that we're winning so screw every criticism! I just don't get it.

I seriously feel like scratching my head after reading this...

First off what does Gila have to do with anything? I defended Gila because I had high hopes for him. He'd proven himself in Serie A with Parma the season prior to the one we bought him and not to mention we spent some serious cash to get him, so forgive me for trying to give him a chance and hoping to see him succeed in our shirt. Add to that Gila was always an examplary figure both on and off the pitch.

So now Allegri is to blame because Niang is absolutely clueless on the ball FFS?? Makes no sense. Why would Allegri ask a WINGER to hold up the ball? I criticise him a lot but even I don't believe he's that stupid Maybe it's just the simple fact of Niang not being a good enough player/talent whatever you want to call him. Can't it be just that straightforward? We have to come up with reasons as to why he's so inept now??

And anyway, Allegri has benched him 3 games ago, obviously he's not shown him the usual cold shoulder he's shown to other players in the past as he's giving him the 5 minute sub he likes to make but he's obviously finally got it in his thick head that Niang is not good enough to play for us, especially in a position that requires certain abilities that Niang wouldn't posses even if he played football for the next 100 or so years

Oh and I don't hate Allegri just for the simple reason of having someone to hate on so he's the easy target I don't like Allegri simply because he's an average coach, an average tactician and a highly mediocre man manager. He treats his job at Milan as if he's still coaching Cagliari and no matter what rebuilding process we're going through that will never be acceptable for a Milan fan and it shouldn't be to you either, especially you in fact who's all about the glory/classy/old gaurd etc etc etc


Exactly

Nah, to me it's simple like one, two, three: Niang is an average player at best and he has nothing to do with Milan.