Probable line-up: Diego Lopez; De Sciglio, Rami, Bonera, Armero; Poli, De Jong, Bonaventura; Honda, Menez, El Shaarawy.

Muntari, Alex and Abate unavailable. Yay for Bonera!

That's more or less the same formation that lost to Palermo. Why won't Pippo consider something different than this 4-3-3 which just doesn't seem to work for us?

I hate even looking at lineups these days. It's sad.

That defence will concede several goals. That midfield is as creative as I am. The attack is pathetic.

We suck.

When he won't consider Mexes even if it means playing Bonera you know there are some serious issues there

What's wrong with Zapata?

I think the midfield looks good, although I'd prefer VG over Poli at this point. And I don't know how many times we have to see that front trio fail before he's illuminated and changes something, Menez in the false 9 is ridiculous, and just gives him even more liberties to be selfish

And why is Muntari not available? Isn't his suspension over?

Injured.

Hallelujah!!!!

I don't wish anything bad upon him, but seriously, not having him in the squad is a relief

Update: Diego Lopez; Bonera, Rami, Mexes, De Sciglio; Bonaventura, De Jong, Essien; Honda, Menez, El Shaarawy

Better defense, worse midfield. It's like a step forward should always be accompanied by a step backwards. Inzaghi's spell so far in a nutshell.

Another chance to push back up the table. Depending on if we can control the midfield, we could very well have this game wrapped up.

Best defence we have in Alex's absence is...me and Han tbh.

Zapata, Mexes, Bonera and Rami all blunder in different ways and need Alex to cover them.

So no matter who starts v Samp we'll concede.

Yeah because Essien's been the picture of composure in the middle since he signed...

I'm losing patience with him. Mexes will have a disaster, I guarantee it. He, Rami and Bonera is the football defence equivalent of spontaneous combustion.

But yes, he makes one change we like, but has to accompany it with some c*ck up elsewhere.

I cannot agree with you about Mexes or Rami.

Yet you conveniently leave out Zapata who made 2 crucial errors just last week to cost us 2 goals.

Rami is an okay defender, I've always said this about him, nothing spectacular but isn't prone to making the kind of errors that either Zapata or Bonera make on occasion. He's stable enough, he won't pull off any miracles, but he's decent enough to do the job.

Zapata on the other hand has that more spectacular edge to him because he can pull off the great recovering tackle every now and then and his speed does help him a lot, but he is very prone to having that one blackout game where everything he does goes wrong. Add to that his suspect passing and I'd prefer the more stable if less spectacular player to him any day of the week.

But my main issue with both these 2 is that they need to be next to someone strong who can lead the line, otherwise they crumble.

You cannot say the same about Mexes. He is capable of leading the line, and like it or not, our best defensive runs throughout the last 2 seasons came when he was the first pick for the CB pairing. He did this both with Rami last season and the previous one with Zapata (when we had the best defensive record along with Juve from January through May). Mexes is a leader in defence, and no, I've never seen him once have a nightmare night ala Bonera or Zapata, not once in a Milan shirt has he fallen into those diabolical levels.

Am I saying he's perfect or World Class? Absolutely not, he has his faults and has made minor errors throughout his time with us because he does at times let his concentration slip, especially when we're comfortable. But if we're looking at our defenders, I'd say he's still our most naturally talented defender. Positioning, awareness, comfort on the ball, anticipation, he's still our best player in that area, and to leave him out when we're having so many problems in that position is criminal imo

Of course, you wh*re them off at every chance you get, so why should this time be any different?



I didn't conveniently 'leave out Zapata', I was reflecting on the 3 defenders selected - Bonera, Mexes and Rami.



Except when he isn't.



And here you are wanting stable while equally lobbying for the football defender equivalent of TNT, Philip Mexes.



Han, please stop repeating your gushing praise of Mexes to me, I'm just not listening. If he has a great game (if selected) I'll praise him. If he has a stinker I'll criticise him.

But neither one will change my opinion overall so stop going on about it!

Wh@ring Mexes and Rami?

Again, when did Mexes ever have a game where he was the single reason that we lost? I urge you to find that one game and point it out to me so I can re-watch, maybe then I'll open my eyes to what you see.

I responded to this because you're constantly saying this about Mexes when he's brought up but I've never once seen him have the types of games that Bonera or Zapata have had in our shirt, yet you call him spontaneous combustion and TNT? Sorry but I just cannot understand where you got this picture of Mexes in your head from.

Same goes for Rami really, he's nothing special (again how is me saying this wh@ring him out?) but he usually gets the job done and never has he so far made the type of mistakes that Bonera and Zapata have made.

Btw, why is Zapata not included?

Dunno, ask Pippo.

(get it now?)

Is he not called up?

If he decided to go with Essien it's probably because Bonaventura still has injury issues. Don't see any other reason to be honest.

No that's Muntari, Essian is his back-up.

Of course you can go ahead and bang your head on all four walls around you, see if Inzaghi gives a f2ck

Just looking at that starting line-up I'm actually really baffled now as to why we even bothered with Armero as well. DS on the right because abate is unavailable and what does Pippo do? Leave Armero on the bench and start with f@cking Bonera!

Quoting this here x-off since you seemingly got turned around

Bonera is playing on the left. Might as well have given a chance to Armero.

STEPHANN!!!!!

Great goal!!!!!

That was an amazing goal.

THAT'S why I never gave up on him! He has the talent

622 days without a Serie A goal.

Scores past Sampdoria.

BETTER THAN RONALDO AND MESSI COMBINED!

Who the f@ck said that??!!

Come on now!! Can't we be happy for him even if some of you can't stand him?

De Sciglio's passing has been abysmal.

Your reaction of "I always believed in him!" seemed a bit much, given he's been **** for 2 years.

As for being happy for him. I seem to remember me saying similar when strikers you dislike have scored, and you've mocked them for scoring.

lol Mexes

Even Essien has more vision than Honda.

Are you seriously talking about Matri here?

And yes, I've always believed that SES had the talent to make it even while you guys trashed him and stopped believing in him on the basis of a ridiculous haircut

What happened? My stream cut off

He made a rather harsh foul.

1-1

Nice marking Bonera...

Another poor first half. We can't create jackshit. A team completely incapable of using the ball and building play. Just long balls and counter attacks.

Before that brain fart I was just about to say that we looked relatively okay in defence so far

Yes, we looked OK defensively. That was such a stupid goal to concede though...

Well Bonera had the pleasure of taking a piggy back ride on Okaka...

I'm talking about you mocking any player that scored, then complaining when someone does the same.

Haircut? Him not scoring for over 600 days is what stopped me believing in him. Nothing to do with his hair.

So terrible on these set-pieces

Bonera is getting creamed any time Okaka runs at him on the left side

I really cannot understand why Pippo would once again rely on him to start after the f@ck ups he's made this season

I don't care. We beat San Lorenzo, that's all that matters.

Completely lost the plot

Get Essien the f@ck out of there!!!

Menez is really starting to p!ss me the f@ckk off big time!!!

Torres in, the ghost of Honda out.

Cannot hold onto the ball for longer than a few second, Menez and Essien keep losing it when they touch it

Everyone keeps losing it when they touch it.

Penalty!!