Week 8 Preview: Torino – Milan

The international break was a welcome (or not?) time off for Milan after the comprehensive loss against Napoli. The growing pressure on the team was highlighted against a team in a far more advanced state and one that outplayed Milan with relative ease. The loss made it two in a row and four of seven to start the season, in the meanwhile the 48% take over or sale to Mr.Bee remains in limbo putting into question not only the quality of the summer spending but also the sustainability of the 90 million or so spent.

Inevitably the question marks also fall on the coach. Several half hearted rumours claim Mihajlovic’s job may be in jeopardy, big names such Ancelotti are mentioned but are almost certainly wishful thinking. The greater urgency other than getting back to winning ways is fixing the management of the team and if anybody needs to be fired it should start with Galliani.

Back to the game at hand, a formation change seems to be in the cards. Several sources claim Milan will switch to a 4-3-3 and use Cerci in the right wing position. It is disappointing to see or hear a coach thinking Cerci offers a path to winning, not to mention thinking a 4-3-3 is right for a team that features a weak midfield. There has also been talk of Milan lacking character and the same voices offering Mexes as an example of restoring that. The same player that has accumulated a good history of mistakes and cards at Milan would be an incredible choice for a positive character player. It is unlikely that Mexes gets a start but his place is not even on the bench and he should have been sold in the summer when teams like Fiorentina came calling.

Elsewhere, Zapata looks to be benched in favour of Alex and Abate is ready to return. Kucka, Montolivo and Bertolacci provide the middle three and need to be very good two way players to help cover and provide for the front three that is likely to be Bonaventura, Bacca or Luiz Adriano and Cerci. Balotelli misses out again with a muscular problem.

For Torino, one of their early season stars Daniele Baselli was a doubt for this match but has recovered. Sitting six places above Milan in 5th position is a testament to the good work of the former Atalanta player and others like Fabio Quagliarella. They are likely to line up in a 3-5-2 formation and pressure Milan in midfield often.

Follow the match on the forum.