Week 35: Roma - Milan (April 25, 2014 - 20:45 CET)
#71
He causes controversy everywhere he goes. He acts like a dumbass towards opponents, the game, and what's worse HIS OWN teammates. Nobody is blowing anything out of proportion. There is a reason why people say what they say. If it happened once, in one team, in one country, by one reporter, by one fan...fine. But it's not. It's everyone, everywhere. So clearly he needs to change something.

He's got nothing. His talent has given him money and fame. But if he is to become a world class player and a dominant force in the sport it takes much more then just that. Something that he just doesn't have!

Perfoances (and other shit on the field) like yesterday happen far too often for him. I don't understand how can anyone be "understanding and accepting" this type of behavior anymore.

The reason why others not get torn apart by people is beause they actually have some decency on the field. The whole team sucked yesterday but nobody apart from him got involved in shit like e did. Nobody was arguing with everyone else.
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#72
Gawd, I love Balo but I just can't talk about this guy anymore. We bought a jack in the box. Sounds great until the clown pops out.

As for Seedorf, I understand he is trying to bring the modern game to the players. However, it has to be said the coach's job is to get his group to perform at their best (or even over perform). The fact that we are seeing players under perform their potential by being played out of position (Honda and arguable Monti as when he was played as a sole DM he did well that one season), being played for too long (Kaka never taking a break and clearly being worn down) or being played at all (Emmanuelson initially, Essien and Balo when he starts acting up) is really a Seedorf failure. I'll give him growing pains and being new at this/any job yet we are still taking a big chance by keeping him on next season if we do. To this point in his managerial career, he has not shown the ability to form a cohesive unit that plays to their appropriate level.

I still don't buy we are this bad of a side because our individual talent. I think the blame is purely on not being able to make the talented individuals play cohesively and at least to their potential. To me this is still a product of the system to not be in the Top 4.
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#73
Depending on perspective I think Seedorf is getting the best out of the group. In terms of results in the second half of the season only Juve and Roma have done better than us. We've had some slip ups and a poor period, but we're just not that good to win all the time and he's turned the poor run around by getting 5 wins on the trot.

We don't necessarily get the most out of some players, but at the same time the sacrifice he's asked for to make the system work is getting results. At the same time, he has managed to get the team to outplay Juve and Atletico, two teams better than us. Although it's fair to say Atletico and Roma have also dominated us.

In the end though, I think the best to expect from this team is maybe a top 3 position. Seedorf's results stats are on par with this.
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#74
Right now the priority is not even coaching, that kind of doesn't make sense but it is true in my opinion. To clarify, I mean if someone is in charge of fixing the club he/she can let Seedorf do the best he can while players, youth, stadium and other areas are fixed and/or addressed.
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#75
(04-26-2014, 05:40 PM)ACMILAN1983 Wrote: I disagree there Mystik, because his immediate response when the initial question about his movement came was saying the guy knows nothing about football. That response alone is likely to spark an argument and Mario still acts like a child in the way he deals with the media...or teammates or coaches or the ref or anyone with the misfortune with having to deal with him. Truth is, there are a thousand ways to respond to such a question without coming off as an idiot, yet he lands himself in hot water every time by acting out. The question itself was totally legitimate and phrased in a relatively inoffensive way. Maybe Balotelli heard criticism levelled at him before the interview began, but part of being a responsible professional is to not to let this stuff get to you and to respond in a manner that is likely to stir up least controversy.

Truth is, and I've said this lots of times, he brings the criticism on himself with his attitude and inability to control himself under pressure (match situation or not). Even when he's not under discussion, he does, says or tweets something moronic which makes headlines. You say that in Italy everything is always blown out of proportion, but this is the same BS that he apparently left England for. In England, he said the media was always on his back and in Italy they don't do that. Now, apparently Italy is the same. He's a high profile name who has made a living surrounding himself in controversy, whether it was at Inter, Man City or Milan and he's never taken responsibility for anything he does. He can blame everyone he wants, but the problem isn't everyone else, it's him and his damn moronic behaviour and irresponsibility, otherwise we'd see so many other players in the media for this sort of BS.

Like I said, I agree that his first comment was uncalled for but he handled the rest of the interview as I would expect from someone who is simply trying to defend himself. I think if you asked any player "do you actually consider yourself a top player", he or she would likely immediately be riled up. In my opinion, besides his opening statement which was definitely uncalled for, there was nothing wrong with the way he handled the rest of the interview. In the grand scheme of things, I agree that perhaps Balo isn't worth all the trouble he brings. However, looking at this incident in isolation, barring his opening statement and given the minimal Italian that I understood, the interview was not as bad as I originally expected.
Siamo a posto cosi.
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#76
But that initial statement set the tone for the rest of the interview. I guarantee that had Balotelli responded to the first question correctly, he wouldn't have been questioned as he was. Even then, the tone of the pundits felt more like they were trying to explain to Balotelli, but everyone time they tried to speak he kept disrupting them.

I understand no one likes criticism, but there are ways to react and times to just listen to what's said. This was the time to respond quietly and keep a low profile. If I'm honest, it was probably a time to listen, because these guys have experienced success at the level Balo claims to aspire to.
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#77
Why are we even talking about the interview??? Who cares about it!!!! Who cares what he says! It was rude, disrespectful and full of contrevercy....but in the end, it's not what really matters. It created a bad image for himself, but if he perorms on the field then people will look past that (just like Ibra for example).

The bigger problem is that he doesn't respect his own teammates. He simply creates tension on the field by arguing with teammates and simply not doing the workload. On top of that.....he is seen as somewhat of an immovable figure in the squad, yet he walks all over the field in the offensive and defensive phases. This is the biggest mistake. If I was Seedorf, I would have taken him off after 20 mins. You either do what you are told and follow the team tactics or you get the fuk out! Simple! Just like Mancini did. This is how you gain respect from your squad. Just look at Guardiola! Prime example!

We end up playing with a man down for the most part because of this clown....I hope everyone realizes this! Fuk his name and all his fame! He is disrespecting the crest and the colors!

I've been a Milan fan for more then 20 years! I've seen good and bad times! I've seen good and bad players! I've been happy and mad! But I've never felt this way about a player before. This is just simply unbearable! And if you don't believe me, then look at my Milanmania recod. I've been a member since 2000 and I've never EVER made comments like this before. But this guy brings the rage out of me!and he has the fuking courage to call himself a Milan fan!
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#78
Milan's results post Allegri look impressive until you really scrutinize them. Yes we have done well on points and we had two pretty good games against Juve and Atletico. I argue that the 'anyone but Allegri' manager could have managed this team to those points. The teams were Fiorentina (4th), Chievo (17th), Genoa (15th), Catania (20th) and Livorno (19th). Sure we can say it is great we won 5 in a row but even a top 10 team could win these games. Not to mention the wins were not through consistent great player. Also, both those good games resulted in losses.

Nefremo, I feel your pain. The less said about Balo the better. All we can do is pray he has a golden world cup and is transferred for maximum profits.
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#79
(04-27-2014, 02:35 AM)honsano Wrote: Milan's results post Allegri look impressive until you really scrutinize them. Yes we have done well on points and we had two pretty good games against Juve and Atletico. I argue that the 'anyone but Allegri' manager could have managed this team to those points. The teams were Fiorentina (4th), Chievo (17th), Genoa (15th), Catania (20th) and Livorno (19th). Sure we can say it is great we won 5 in a row but even a top 10 team could win these games. Not to mention the wins were not through consistent great player. Also, both those good games resulted in losses.

Nefremo, I feel your pain. The less said about Balo the better. All we can do is pray he has a golden world cup and is transferred for maximum profits.

Agree with your statement to nefremo totally.

About results, again it comes down to perspective. Had we done more than beat the smaller sides with the odd exception (i.e. beating Fiorentina), we'd be playing on par with Juve and Roma in terms of results (both of which have achieved outstanding levels of consistency this season indicated by their respective points totals).

Now I'm sure we agree in terms of quality and development of their teams and squads, both of them are ahead of us so for us to be playing with the consistency they're playing at is to be playing above our ability and expectations.

Fact is, we've done what you might expect if we look at individual games and results, but the overall consistency is where we should be judging too, as we've done better than Napoli, Inter, Fiorentina, Lazio, Verona, Parma and whoever else we've been competing with. Many of these teams are of the same sort of quality if not better than us, with the exceptions of Parma and Verona (both of which have had particularly standout seasons far exceeding expectations).

As for quality of play, there's only so much Seedorf can achieve coming in halfway through a season with no prior experience, especially given the situation the club has found itself in this season (from top to bottom). Therefore, I think it's extremely harsh and unfair if we're to expect more from him in terms of results than what he's done, because let's face it not even Benitez (a high calibre coach) has brought the same level of results with a superior squad.

In terms of play, again I think Seedorf should be judged as much on our overall play as much as his use of individuals. In terms of how he's dealt with individual players, he's been a mixed bag at best, but there's no question that compared to where we were 4 months ago under Allegri, our play is much improved, showing more adventure going forward and particularly being much more disciplined defensively, working as a tight unit.

He's also shown an adaptive nature to tactics, in that when he started he wanted to press much higher, but has acknowledged this group and their fitness levels can't do that and so now we defend deeper. Kaka initially was asked to be a playmaker, but knowing at his age he doesn't have the stamina for a physically demanding role, Seedorf has adapted him to be a second forward. Our players don't have the discipline and concentration to play a flexible system pressing depending where the ball is, so again Seedorf has adapted and focused on having a disciplined and basic 4-4-2. In this respect, I think he's adapted to the limitations of the group and while we can say he's not using some players to their best, I think we also have to acknowledge he's changed things to reduce our vulnerabilities.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally unsure whether Seedorf's definitely the right guy to lead us and this is most evident when I had major issues with the lineups he put out against Napoli and Lazio. I also take issue with his use of Honda, insistence on Essien and desire to force DS and Abate to compete for one role, knowing the opposite flank hasn't got adequate players.

That said, I think we have to judge him fairly and to me that means as well as looking at what he's done wrong, it's also looking at how he's improved our overall results and consistency to meet be at the level we would hope (imo he's surpassed expectations), improved the general game of the team and introduced an ethic focused on teamwork rather than individual quality, which directly impacts the improved defensive performances.

Overall, I still have lots of questions on him, but I think he's done enough (at least on the pitch) to warrant being shown some faith.
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