AC Milan vs Napoli (5-02-2012) 19:45 GMT, switched to 14:00GMT

[ZvonimirBoban]

good to see that butthole banned for long, we can play more like a team without him.

[Best-Pundit]

Ibra cant keep cool and hes 30 years old , Cassano has a stroke , Pato is made out of glass and the only reason we didn't sell him because hes F****** barbara this is why we needed Tevez

I really respect you opinion, but can we really blame him for this?

[Gabriel426]

Not going to defend Ibra for that stupid punch. But it is unfair to say Binho played better when Ibra was off. Didn't he got a great chance created by Ibra and missed. Then there were the other times where Ibra almost scored. Napoli pretty much played attacking football instead of sitting outside their box when Ibra got sent off.
You can keep saying that Ibra is holding Robinho and Pato back....he is dictating plays too much....the team is playing off him too much......but remember that this Milan is not the Sacchi's Milan or even the Carlo's Milan where there always have 3-4 weapons to create goal scoring chances. I doubt it is Ibra's problems that Robinho can't finish his chances, or Pato is injured all the time, or that even at full strength none of Milan's midfielders are creative or can beat opponents off dribble.
Some of you can suggest that Milan can play a quick counter attack game with Pato and Robinho upfront....but Pato is injured all the time and Robinho still can't finish, on top of that, with the current Milan mid, there is no passer with great vision, or someone who can drive the team forward with his dribbling.

[fLame]

Not going to defend Ibra for that stupid punch. But it is unfair to say Binho played better when Ibra was off. Didn't he got a great chance created by Ibra and missed. Then there were the other times where Ibra almost scored. Napoli pretty much played attacking football instead of sitting outside their box when Ibra got sent off.
You can keep saying that Ibra is holding Robinho and Pato back....he is dictating plays too much....the team is playing off him too much......but remember that this Milan is not the Sacchi's Milan or even the Carlo's Milan where there always have 3-4 weapons to create goal scoring chances. I doubt it is Ibra's problems that Robinho can't finish his chances, or Pato is injured all the time, or that even at full strength none of Milan's midfielders are creative or can beat opponents off dribble.
Some of you can suggest that Milan can play a quick counter attack game with Pato and Robinho upfront....but Pato is injured all the time and Robinho still can't finish, on top of that, with the current Milan mid, there is no passer with great vision, or someone who can drive the team forward with his dribbling.

Pato's injuries are Milan fault. Period.
Every season we have half a squad injured. Even the players that aren't injury prone can easily be out for a month+ due to stupid injuries.
How many timed has Boateng been injured since he came? FFS, even Abbiati got injured 3-4 times this season already! HE IS A GOAL KEEPER.

Regarding Ibrahimovic, I truly believe he is a curse for the team play. We do have attackers good enough for "3-4 weapons to create goal scoring chances".
Robinho can create, Cassano can create, SES can create (judging by his marvelous assist to Seedorf). Aqua and Boa can help create. Tevez, if he comes, can definitely create.
All we need is a midfielder, and we will finally start looking like a team.

I am sick and tired of results depending on how Ibra plays. Ibra plays like crap - and we draw or lose.
Also note how we can't beat any of the big teams. Ibra's mentality affecting the whole team?
And the guy is 30 for crying out loud. SES and Pato are ridiculously promising to have them wasted so Ibra can feed his ego.

I want a new attacking line up.

[Nalx]

In a way, I agree with Gabriel. Surely Ibra has his own failings/weaknesses (tendency to fade in big game, years of nosedive of performance in winter, etc), just like every other player. The question is how do we judge them when balanced out with his strengths?


I recall when SAF sold van Nistelrooy. He was a proven goal-scoring machine. But MU's over-reliance on him (they often played 4-5-1 then) made them always came up short in important stages. Fergie had two exciting young prospects at his disposal, Rooney and C. Ronaldo and decided to gamble on them. And it paid off.

And look at the players that we got now. How are we gonna build a new attack when the corner stones one we're putting our hopes on are perma-crocked or continue to misfire? Talking about building something new, look at our aging, uncreative midfielders. That's far more urgent but B&G continue to overlook that problem.


The reason why we keep doing this (the acquisitions and relying on Ibra the last two years), I believe, is that because getting the 20th scudetto is the short and medium term objective of our management.

[Mathias]

Not going to defend Ibra for that stupid punch. But it is unfair to say Binho played better when Ibra was off. Didn't he got a great chance created by Ibra and missed. Then there were the other times where Ibra almost scored. Napoli pretty much played attacking football instead of sitting outside their box when Ibra got sent off.
You can keep saying that Ibra is holding Robinho and Pato back....he is dictating plays too much....the team is playing off him too much......but remember that this Milan is not the Sacchi's Milan or even the Carlo's Milan where there always have 3-4 weapons to create goal scoring chances. I doubt it is Ibra's problems that Robinho can't finish his chances, or Pato is injured all the time, or that even at full strength none of Milan's midfielders are creative or can beat opponents off dribble.
Some of you can suggest that Milan can play a quick counter attack game with Pato and Robinho upfront....but Pato is injured all the time and Robinho still can't finish, on top of that, with the current Milan mid, there is no passer with great vision, or someone who can drive the team forward with his dribbling.

Pato's injuries are Milan fault. Period.
Every season we have half a squad injured. Even the players that aren't injury prone can easily be out for a month+ due to stupid injuries.
How many timed has Boateng been injured since he came? FFS, even Abbiati got injured 3-4 times this season already! HE IS A GOAL KEEPER.

Regarding Ibrahimovic, I truly believe he is a curse for the team play. We do have attackers good enough for "3-4 weapons to create goal scoring chances".
Robinho can create, Cassano can create, SES can create (judging by his marvelous assist to Seedorf). Aqua and Boa can help create. Tevez, if he comes, can definitely create.
All we need is a midfielder, and we will finally start looking like a team.

I am sick and tired of results depending on how Ibra plays. Ibra plays like crap - and we draw or lose.
Also note how we can't beat any of the big teams. Ibra's mentality affecting the whole team?
And the guy is 30 for crying out loud. SES and Pato are ridiculously promising to have them wasted so Ibra can feed his ego.

I want a new attacking line up.

Now I'm going to make a bold statement and I know this might backfire on me;

but what if Ibra is such a bully - and we've all heard training ground reports of him snatching and punching team mates - that players like Robinho and Pato are just not motivated anymore to play?
Urby was scolded fo making a wrong pass, the type Ibra was delivering all game, or not delivering at all.

In other words; isn't he destroying team spirit ?

[fLame]

No idea mathiask.

But if we judge by facts solely, there are many things going against Ibra.

1. People say he has won us the Scudetto last year. WHAT A LOAD OF BS!
Yes, he has made a big contribution. BUT, last year we had the best defense is Serie A. Ibra's contribution? No.
Last year we played a string of matches without Ibra and played great and got the results.

It's such a shame that we have the whole midfield out injured now, as it would have been a perfect occasion to test how our team does in Serie A without Ibra.
Having said that, we did play Barca without Ibra, and the world didn't collapse.

2. Ibra screwes up tons and tons of fancy passes when he tries to play as a playmaker, yet he yells at everyone who does a mistake on the field.
To make things worse, I often see how he loses the ball up front and just stands there, while other Milan players are trying to put pressure on the opposing team 2 meters from where Ibra is standing.
I don't expect him to run back to our goal and win back the balls, but he could at least put pressure on the opponents when he loses the ball. His workrate and attitude are definitely questionable.

[Dha Brain]

LOLOL ROFLAMAO ! are you going to say pato won us the scudetto ? , there's alotta 1 - 0 games we won face it flame , pato is the brasilian arjen robben

[ZvonimirBoban]

LOLOL ROFLAMAO ! are you going to say pato won us the scudetto ? , there's alotta 1 - 0 games we won face it flame , pato is the brasilian arjen robben

I have no idea what's in your brain, flame did not say pato won us scudetto. Instead he criticizes Ibra's role last season, which I agree to some extent..

[Gabriel426]

Getting only a point from a possible six cannot be consider good result, even if the team is Barca.

I am not saying Ibra won Milan the League last season but he certainly played a huge part.

Is Ibra close to Van Basten or Sheva, hell no. But he is certainly the best striker Milan has post Sheva. Robinho can create no doubt but he can't finish. Cassano might never come back and SES is still unproven in my book.

It is really funny how some of you kept pointing finger at Ibra whenever Milan struggles while that is not fair at all. For starter, Milan struggles bc they lack quality players. Nocerino is a great workhorse but he is not Paul Scholes or Gerrard or Sneidjer or Ballack, who can move in from mid and score or dribble pass defenders or make a split pass. Aqua is solid but far from being WC. Slowdorf should only be brought in as an impact sub. Although Boateng is great for the side, and I love the way he plays, but is he really a top ACM? Urby is someone who should not even be on the bench.

Secondly, can you blame Allegri for relying on Ibra? As I said before, he is the best attacker Milan have at the moment or when they are at full strength.

Having said all that, I won't be piss if Ibra leaves this summer as long as proper replacements are made.

At the mean time, stop blaming player or players for Milan poor form unless it was their error, like Kaladze and Bonera.
He does yell at his teammates but I look at that as leadership more than anything.