AC Milan vs. Siena Saturday, 17th December 2011. 19:45 GMT

[fLame]

Guys what the hell are you talking about? I think our performance was great!
Siena kept 10 men behind the ball at all times. Even Barca and Real sometimes fail to break down defenses like that.

Also, I think we passed and attacked quiet well and definitely created enough to win vs such a stubborn side.

Positives:
+ very satisfied with Binho / Ibra up front, this is the core of our attacking threat
+ very satisfied with a Noce - MVB - Boa midfield. MVB was extremely solid tonight, probably thanks to the hard workers around him. Also, with Noce and Boa our team springs back to life.
+ very satisfied with Silva and Mexes. There's no excuse for Bonera to start.
+ Amelia got the job done.
+ Aquilani showed agression and nice passing.
+ Pato showed the will and aggression but couldn't score unfortunately.

Negatives:
- Taiwo isn't good enough.
- Bonera left Siena onside.
- Seedorf can't play full matches and sometimes he is just sooo damn slooow.

[will4li]

Not an very inspired game by us but we get the job done at the end.I'm glad we showed some grit last night,we need it in a long season.

Solid performance from our new backline purchase this summer.siena didn't give a tough test though.

[Warro Bantan]

Thought we played well enough, and controlled the game for long stretches...Taiwo wasnt bad, just wasnt exceptional....figured he was acting under strict orders from Allegri.

Bonera as a RB is just a grand waste of time...but is better than him being CB I guess.

Liked what I saw generally, and even if Boateng may have dived for the PK, another goal was in the offing.

[ElMago99]

Pretty good Analysis from Flame.

I agree on all points. I thought we dominated in the first half and showed glimpses of brilliance in the second half. Although Siena looked to be quite technical on the ball, they offered very little going forward and decided to fully defend for the entirety of the game.

Sometimes we can be quite creative, moving the ball quickly, but with Boateng as our Attacking Midfielder, we should always expect a more direct approach rather than pretty, creative passes a la Pirlo.

Regarding Taiwo, he doesn't deserve too much criticism in this game as our FB's were not tested at all, and were stricly told to play quite cautiously, however, you can see how he's so hesitant in his decisions, and his positioning is amateurish at best. I don't see him lasting unless we can't get anyone in January. I think it's known Nini is not good enough either, so we may see some action in that department.

Great job from Mexes, and I'm glad to see Nocerino and Boateng playing, offering so much energy, which always creates positive things. Not the most spectacular display, but 3 points, and atop the table we are. Let's try to finish Xmas Champions

[Ryo]

Taiwo was just solid in the first half. In the second half he actually put in a couple of crosses. Not the high ones, but the low, tricky ones. One particular one would have been a clear chance on goal had the defender not got in the way of it and Ibra. I'd like to see more of him crossing before I say whether he's good enough or not. He did well enough defensively (Boneheadra being the Calamity in the back), but seemed to be in strick orders to stay back instead of bombing forward. I saw him see much of the ball in the second half, and if he can manage to time his runs and overlaps better, then I say he might just work out for us. That said, I would love to have Didac back for us, as his crossing is quite good, IMHO, and we desperately need crosses from the left side to allow us more of an attacking option to couple with Abate's runs on the right.

Wherever Seedorf plays is wherever the opposition attacks, Allegri must see this by now. We were so much better when Aquilani came onto the field. Much faster, more fluid on the ball and passing.

Mexes and Thiago have to be our best pairing at the moment, since Nesta is out. Bonheadra can go sit in the stands for all I care. As Warro said, Bonehead at RB is way better then him at CB, but he still managed to nearly kill us with lousy positioning which kept their striker onside on 23 minutes. I bet De Sciglio would have been better than him. Lets try playing him there, seriously.

Nocerino, my god, he continues to amaze me. 500K paid for him, and already he's given us 6 goals. Thats like less than 100K per goal. We totally got the bargain of the year.

As for arguements about the PK. I say it was a spot kick. The goalkeeper rushed off his line and clipped Boateng with his knee. He didn't touch the ball, and yes Prince made a meal out of it, but there was contact, because not even the Goalkeeper denied it after it was awarded. It was a soft penalty, but a penalty nonetheless, similar to Aquilani's shoulder barge against Xavi in the CL I would say. Soft, but fair.

[Hitman]

I was the most impressed by Mexes, very solid game and his long-range passing is even better than Silva's and Nesta's - thats for sure. I have no idea why Allegri wasn't going to play him?

I have never once criticized Bonera before, cause despite the mistakes I always thought maybe he was unlucky or something...but if you are a defender, and your team dominates the game's possession, at home, with world class defenders and strikers on your team, and you play as bad as Bonera played yesterday then questions must be raised. He was truly abysmal in almost everything he did. He had no proper ball control, his dribbles failed, his passes failed, he got dribbled past in a couple of counter attacks, and he kept them onside on a dangerous occasion. Very bad performance by Bonera.

Ideally - when Nesta comes back - I'd like to start Nesta + Silva at the back, and maybe Mexes on the left. His class, calmness on the ball can be very very important for us. He'll just play as a CB that doesn't need to go up much, while Abate should go up on every occasion. It's kinda reminiscent of 2005 when we had Maldini, Nesta, Stam and Cafu playing. We had Serginho also available to come in for il capitano if we needed more of an attacking threat.

I enjoyed seeing Pato's movements at the beginning when he came on and the last move. In-between those two chances though, he was lost on the field and wasn't even participating in the game play. True - he didn't need to, but he needs to show more character - coming up asking for the ball, being dominant in his play - we need some cockiness from him.

Boateng did dive I agree. I think he was very solid defensively for the first time this season, I really enjoyed his role. I wish we can drop him back in midfield and bring a trequartista like Ganso.


Nocerino - 6 goals. Most consistent midfielder for us, probably in years. He is amazing. He doesn't stop running and he is getting in more chances than our strikers in the last few games. I know Allegri finds him indispensable - I hope Flamini can provide could cover when he's back, I know Gattuso can't.

The Seedorf-Aquilani switch changed everything. Seedorf really shouldn't start anymore, he should just come on at the end. His presence on the pitch and movement off the ball is so different than Aquilani's that it slows us down and makes us more predictable. It's hard to explain.

Well done to Robinho for creating both goals - I did think he had a bad game though. I need him to have the confidence he had last year, I miss him dribbling, changing the play, using his backheel etc.

[sylrus]

the only good thing from taiwo is his crosses

[ACMILAN1983]

A good performance overall with positive results and another clean sheet. I don't there's a great deal to complain about in this match, nor is there a great deal to really be enamoured about either, it was a game that panned out the way it was expected to, with us dominating the ball and Siena really looking to try and hit on the break, but really looking like a team that's struggling.

Our first half wasn't too impressive. We started well enough with plenty of the ball and we tried to stretch the game as Siena defended deep. Slackness on a few occasions at the back, mostly thanks to the 2 fullbacks almost cost us a goal, but overall Siena had little influence in the game. As for us, after the opening exchanges our play slowed to become ineffective and we created very little of note.

The second half was a much better performance, as we immediately raised the tempo of the game and started pressing Siena all over the pitch. Unsurprisingly, our more aggressive and quicker approach soon resulted in a goal, as a great crossfield pass from Taiwo to Boateng resulted in Siena conceding a corner, which we scored from. From there we maintained our high pressure game and soon got a penalty on a good counter attack, again with Boateng winning the crucial set piece. Ibra scored and the game was all but finished, as we searched for a third for a short period, before playing the rest of the match out.

Players...

Amelia - Solid performance although only one real save was made
Bonera - Offers too little going forward due to poor timing of runs and ineffective technical ability. Also at the back he seemed to be caught out a few times and didn't really add much to the side when compared to Abate
Mexes - A pleasing performance, as he was solid at the back other than a couple of times being caught out of position (nothing major). His passing out from the back was excellent.
Thiago - An excellent player who is superbly well rounded. Bologna last week was a poor game, but in this match he was never caught out, covering for Mexes and especially Taiwo at the back and playing the offside to perfection.
Taiwo - A nervous performance and not one that had a great deal of positives (other than the brilliant pass to Boateng leading to the first goal). At the back, his positioning was at times poor and on the ball he was slack on a couple of occasions that could have been costly.
Nocerino - What a buy!! This guy deserves a hell of a lot of credit for his performances this season, as he's been nothing short of brilliant for us. Tactically disciplined, extremely hardworking, technically sound, scores goals and defensively solid. What more could we ask for?
MvB - Solid if unspectacular game. I still feel he's not as good as last season.
Seedorf - For me this match was a confirmation he's not really a player that fits into our system now. Last season we played deeper and played at a slower pace overall, which suited him as he was allowed to take time on the ball and always had plenty of cover behind (both Rino and MvB). Now we're playing faster and need more energy in midfield.
Boateng - A good game, his pressing, running/energy and physicality are vital to our game. It's no surprise he was an important factor in both goals, winning the corner for the first and then winning a penalty.
Robinho - He made an assist but overall a disappointing game. He started really brightly in the match and I thought he'd build from there. Unfortunately, his influence diminished and other than doing well to assist the first goal, not much can be said about his performance.
Ibra - At times he was simply sublime, and overall his influence is astounding. Technically and physically, he was very dominant and he remains a joy to watch.
Aquilani - I think being cut from the first team this match was really good, because his reaction was excellent after coming on, as he was excellent on the ball and looked really determined to get his first team shirt back.
Pato - Much like Aquilani, despite not scoring his performance was really positive, as his movement was excellent and he looked lively. There was a phase that he wasn't too involved, where we slowed the game down completely and conceded possession more, but overall I was pleased to see him finally moving with more purpose than the last couple of matches and he must show that same enthusiasm and hunger every time.
Urby - replaced a tired Boateng to see out the game

[ACM2023]

Mexes-Silva due seems solid and reliable. We just need to test them against a stronger side before putting them to use in big CL games.

Nocerino is simply amazing. I bet that Allegri regrets playing him against Ajax and having him injured. With him against Bologna, we might have been on top now.

[ACMILAN1983]

In all honesty, the biggest game I think we missed Nocerino this season was against Barca (at San Siro). I'd be interested to see how we'd compete with him instead of Seedorf.