AC Milan - AEK Athens 13/09/2006 Champions League [Archive] - Page 2

Milan_Mad

13-09-2006, 17:08

I have plenty of positive things to say and i'll say them when the time calls for it.

Just as i won't castrate the team if they play badly after 2 games in the season, i also won't be jumping from the rooftops because we beat a poor team 3-0. They did well, they were professional and there were encouraging signs, i recognised all of this. So just because i'm not singing and dancing about our win it means i'm being negative?

If the reviews are talking crap then you best contact the people that wrote them, i'm only saying what i read.Ok Jim calm down :musk:
Its not that poor of a group i remember Man Utd having a weak group last year but not getting through. It will be alot harder game in Athens as there strong over there and a draw my be a good result.

Bring on Lille next in the CL :p283:

Milan_Mad

13-09-2006, 17:10

I agree with jim... mostly i would like to tighten the defence. Attack is looking very good this year.Kaladze has not stated a game yet and Dida looks back to his best, Maldini is playing like a 24 year old its just Cafu gets caught out alot dont get me wrong he had a good game tonight

kastriot

13-09-2006, 17:14

The thing is that we are not predictable anymore which was the case the last years, we didnt change a lot of players but we are changing the way of playing which is good.
I really dont remember the last a game we played without having Pirlos deep crosses( our at least somebody trying to replace him). today we played short passes till the box than we crossed wich turned out to be good. With Oliveira, Gourcuff and better Kaka(playing all over the pitch) we have more options in the attack. The thing that worries me is the defense, Cafu is doing great, And Sergio,Janku and Favalli can cover the left flank, but the central defenders need to start playing more together, couse we are changing them every game. Defenders need to play more together so they could understand themselves better.

kris

13-09-2006, 17:31

short ratings:

Dida 6. Did what he should do. No worries.
Cafu 6.5. Had many runs and keeps possession in the team.
Simic 6.5. Very solid, you didn't see him, but he was there.
Maldini 7. Missed his mark once, otherwise very good and a very good assist.
Favalli 5.5. Our worst performer IMO. Did nothing in offense and they had most of their danger on his side.
Gattuso 6. Did his work, his usual hard work.
Brocchi 6.5. Did good work and played around the ball calmly if not spectacular.
Gourcuff 7.5. Was involved in many of our best moves, his passes is accurate and usually good decisions. Good goal also.
Kaka 6.5. Did some nice things and moved around with the ball well. But he blew a couple of counters with bad decisions. He should have score at least one goal (beside the penalty)
Oliveira 6. Had problems setting his mark on the game, but didn't waste the ball when he got it, except the header.
Inzaghi 7. Did really well overall and scored.

arcy

13-09-2006, 17:44

Milan_Mad

13-09-2006, 18:06

kastriot

13-09-2006, 18:10

arcy

13-09-2006, 18:13

Arcy by which username you are signed in the Prediction league in Uefa Cl. sorry for getting out of the topic
I am forever named as Ultima in leagues :5schal: Cmon kastriot, we all know each other's real names now :) :) :)

Warro Bantan

13-09-2006, 18:15

Wonderful team performance today, solid, professional and classy. Quite frankly, we don't say too much with words, we talk on the pitch. I saw a concentrated Milan that looks determined this season. Experience, solidity, youth, excitement and teamwork have typified this team so far this season. Its early, but its a start I didn't imagine us to make.

Finally, just to add to the joy, Inter and Real we're enjoyable to watch! :D

FORZA MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agree with all that you said above, but the above quote needed to be repeated....well said Dev!! Well said.

Donde esta el clube de doom & gloom? :sagrin:

nefremo

13-09-2006, 18:27

Good game. Great movement by our players. Simic and Maldini did well as did Cafu. He sometimes looked like a winger because he was pushing up so much. Favalli did nothing special but I wouldn't criticize him for it. I think Jakulovski looked confident. Even though he was on there for a short ammount of time, I liked a couple of passes that he made. Looked confident, and I think we should see him more in the future.

The midfield was exceptional. What a dog work by both Brocchi and Gattuso while Gourcuff was getting in there as well. I don't know why a lot of people are surprized by Brocchi's performance. He is a good player and he proved that last year for Fiorentina. He is a good player that can always give us a solid back up in every midfield position. Gourcuff was great. I had never seen him play before......but I really wouldn't mind seeing him more often. What a talent.

The forwards did well. Moved around well and Oliveira did good even though he didn't score. He never waisted a ball. Looks so confident on it......just like every other Brazilian :grinser: . Kaka was great. Terrorized the AEK midfield and defenders with his runs and controll. I still don't like how much he loses the ball sometimes and a couple of times he should have passed it rather then dribble.(One time Cafu was wide open on the right in a counter attack)

All in all a great game even though there was no Pirlo, Seedorf, Nesta, Serginho or Gilardino in there. I think this shows that we might see a lot of rotation this year because all the players out there today showed that even when we play without some stars...the level of play does not drop.

Xudong

13-09-2006, 18:44

Pippo is so hot, it would be impossible to rest him, eh? :D otherwise, I am really curious to see if we play Oliveira and Gilardino together, maybe Gilardino will also get a scoring spree? Pippo is old fox so he doesn't need any help, but Gilardino is a young gun, he can use some push. :)

midori

13-09-2006, 19:00

Saw the highlights on Sky, really nice. Looked like Gourcuff practically tackled Kaka after scoring. :) I think we have many positives to take from this match. It's reassuring to know we can rest some starters and still come away with a result like this (regardless of whom we're playing). Fantastic that Anderlecht & Lille drew, could make a diff down the road.

Bonnie

13-09-2006, 19:20

Looked like Gourcuff practically tackled Kaka after scoring. :)

This, and then when Pippo fell when he tried to jump on the fence after scoring had me laughing loudly.

arcy

13-09-2006, 19:56

Looked like Gourcuff practically tackled Kaka after scoring. :)
This, and then when Pippo fell when he tried to jump on the fence after scoring had me laughing loudly.
:haha: lol I found some highlights and it does look funny :haha:
Must have been a thrilling feeling for young Gourcuff to score in CL.
AC Milan - AEK highlights (http://www.milanmania.com/forums/showpost.php?p=386739&postcount=4)
(Individual goals)

rt9

13-09-2006, 22:08

Great game, overall. But I agree with Jim. There is no need to get carried away. We were EXPECTED to dominate and beat AEK Athens at home. Now we need to keep improving and cant afford to get complacent as there is still a lot of work to be done before we qualify to the next stage. A few points about the game:

1) Finally, finally, finally. Finally, Ancelotti makes full use of his squad and ROTATES the players. He should have done this years ago. Either way, Im really glad he made some changes. The squad looked fresh, full of energy, and the new players did very well. A far cry from previous years when we had essentially the same starting 11 for every CL or serie a game barring injury.

2) Change in tactics. This was also very pleasing to see. Our midfield looks much more solid with two TRUE defensive midfielders covering the back four. Brocchi and Gattuso closed everything up in midfield thus allowing Gourcuff and Kaka freedom to move up. Oliveira also did very well by tracking back and collecting the ball. I dont think we were playing a classic 4-4-2, but we werent very far from it---we basically had Brocchi and Gattuso in the center, Gourcuff on the left, Kaka behind the front two and sometimes drifting to the right (providing that great cross for our second goal) and Cafu essentially filling in on the right. Great to see a change every once in a while. Will keep us from being predictable and allow us to be more versatile.

3) Brocchi. People have been raving about Gourcuff. Yes, he had a great game, no doubt about it. But in my eyes, the true hero was Brocchi. He commanded the midfield, rarely made mistakes, made some great passes, and played his heart out. Outstanding performance. He looks a few classes above the player who sat on our bench a couple of years back. If he can play like this consistently, then he would be a fantastic acquisition

King tiger

14-09-2006, 00:35

I noticed that the numbers on shirts are white, not gold version.

savage_mau

14-09-2006, 01:12

well .. a nice match as i watch 4 match in a time. lyon vs Madrid , Humberg Vs Arsenal , Mu vs Celtic n Milan Vs AEK. This first time in years in my country have live match for 4 different match...

Inzaghi and the midfield player well but...the defender is till not the best. dont u think that maybe because it AEK that played badly n defend badly... If vs team like barcelona or lyon will we still win?? hope they will improve and if not we will stil struggle when meet better team..

hwmook

14-09-2006, 01:18

humanTORCH

14-09-2006, 03:34

2) Change in tactics. This was also very pleasing to see. Our midfield looks much more solid with two TRUE defensive midfielders covering the back four. Brocchi and Gattuso closed everything up in midfield thus allowing Gourcuff and Kaka freedom to move up. Oliveira also did very well by tracking back and collecting the ball. I dont think we were playing a classic 4-4-2, but we werent very far from it---we basically had Brocchi and Gattuso in the center, Gourcuff on the left, Kaka behind the front two and sometimes drifting to the right (providing that great cross for our second goal) and Cafu essentially filling in on the right. Great to see a change every once in a while. Will keep us from being predictable and allow us to be more versatile.

That's a refreshing thing I saw yesterday and i was surprised with the line up. ancelotti is finally coming out of his shell and playing with two defensive mid and two brightest young star. Instead of seeing pirlo's guided long passes, what i saw yesterday was alot of short passes with lots of triangular play. Now Milan have more than one way of playing :devil:

ACMILAN1983

14-09-2006, 04:02

I've read a few reviews of the game and they seem to suggest that we misplaced alot of passes and alot of moves broke down. I don't know if this is true or not, but it makes me think that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. This was only AEK after all, widely recognised as one of the weakest teams in the competition, so i don't see this being a yardstick for the rest of our season. All it can be is an exercise into getting fitness and fluency.

A professional performance considering the circumstances i think.

hmm, tbh, those reviews seem pretty dodgy. I honestly saw a good Milan out there, fluid movement and playing at a decent pace, never losing control of the match. Honestly, there were few misplaced passes and I think these were no more than you'd get in any match.

The only real weakness I could see were AEK were at times almost being invited to cross from their right wing, but that was usually dealt with comfortably.

I think Kris' ratings were pretty fair (few disagreements from me), with the exception of Kaka, who I thought was tremendous (7.5 with Gourcuff for me). For me he played like a leader, and in the end, scoring and assisting a goal is enough for me ;)

Agree with all that you said above, but the above quote needed to be repeated....well said Dev!! Well said.

Donde esta el clube de doom & gloom? :sagrin:

lol, thanks, seems I've not been leaving you much to say lately :D

mrki

14-09-2006, 04:08

Im a biut late but I was studying for exams so...you'll forgive me :)

summary:
DIDA- as always, he is a great keeper. Had one clumsy knock with Favalli.
CAFU- visibly better than last year's Cafu, not as explsive as 2 or 3 years ago, but moves wery well and has great crosses in the box. good game!
SIMIC-as always, does his job.
MALDINI- our captain needs more time for his fitness, aldough he showed some class play (cross and some tackles), he lost many air duels, but im sure in few weeks he will be 100%. He is not there yet.
FAVALLI-had defansive duties, but its clear Jankulovski is our BEST LB, he just needs chance of few games. He can go forward,cross,pass and defend well. Better solution than Sergio and Favalli. Aldough we can use them also.
BROCCHI-great game, anothe one! he run more than Gattuso and tackled well! he is better after that Fiorentina season. Demanded me as Im always saying he cant play for Milan. But he proved he is truly usefull squad player.
GATTUSO-runs,makes fouls,screams and so on...good old Gennaro
KAKa'-Kaka is our magic boy, nothing more to say.
GOURCUFF- this man is perfect replacement for Seedorf's position. Next year, if things go ok, im sure he will be in starting lineup. His passes and vision are superb. He can move really well and defend as well. The best thing is that he follows the play untill the end, and after providing the pass to flank,he goes for the cross. Something we dont have with Seedorf. So he is one man more in or the box, like kaka'. Seedorf is now better, but wait... Gourcuff needs more strenght, more speed( he is not that fast as KAka' is, that is why I think we will use him in seedorfs position in the future) and tactical knowledge. he will get all of this in Milanello, and we have a great prospect in our hands. Good job mr. Cesare Maldini!
PIPPO= superpippo does it again,and again,and again....!!!
OLIVEIRA-im not soooo impressed. He did ok. He needs more time to adopt. His passes are good, his touch also. He will be a very good forward with kaka' and pippo, maybe even great. What I dont like is that he can be selfish, but im sure that will be solved soon. ( we are not Inter )

CARLo - well...bravo Carlo, I have to say. Apart from missing Janku becouse we needed third man in line with simic and Maldini, tactical linup was great. We rested Pirlo,Seedorf, Serginho, Nesta, Gila. And played with routine and calmness. Good game! NOW PARMA with the same stile and concentration.

Jim_UK

14-09-2006, 06:35

I think Warro that you need not worry about the so called 'Doom & Gloom' brigade as you put it, but the ...

'Wow, we're going to win everything based on 2 games of the season and against poor European opposition we were expected to beat' brigade!

You might have your hands full bringing these people down to earth again :rotfl:

marcovb

14-09-2006, 07:26

This was a normal result. A good win
Gourcuff has played very well. It was the first time that i've seen him play in MILANs shirt and he was very impressive
All that he does is perfect. He can replace either Pirlo ,Seedorf or Kaka
I am happy to see that Il Capitano still makes those croses perfectly as he used to do more often until few years ago

And another result that i did like very much lyon-real 2-0

arcy

14-09-2006, 07:46

You might have your hands full bringing these people down to earth again :rotfl:
But the pole doesn't move absolutely left (doom) or right (ideal) :smileani: . It will always swing on both ends that goes at varying degrees. I don't think we reached a state of total bliss that needs checking. So I don't think Warro will be busy much. Let it be! :tong:

Jim_UK

14-09-2006, 08:19

I don't think we reached a state of total bliss that needs checking. So I don't think Warro will be busy much. Let it be!

You better tell that to all those people who think we're going to dominate the world after playing 1 CL game :ilol:

arcy

14-09-2006, 08:52

You better tell that to all those people who think we're going to dominate the world after playing 1 CL game :ilol:
Then I guess it’s all a matter of perception :hug: and expressiveness of elation from our win from yesterday. The feeling should settle down. :u56:

Oldman

14-09-2006, 09:22

Terrible terrible ... when will I see Gourcuff play? :irritate:

Thanks everyone for the recap. Inzaghi has scored for every major game of Milan. And good to see Kaka get a share of goals. Good win and we've rested some of our players.

lol Real Madrid loses to Lyon again. Even last year they couldn't get a win against them. :grinser:

Pippo is no doubt one of our important player and the way he celebrates his goal is an energetic show that he loves to help Milan winning the game.

Kaka has just announced that he would like to be the next Milan leader (or captain maybe) and thus make Ramon Calderon and Pedrag Mijatovic, those 2 bastardo of Real Madrid closed their big mouth for bringing Kaka to Madrid :5130:

This make me feel so happy with the above not to mention that all Milan players have given their shares to Milan's glories....the 2 new signings were also shine with Milan, Oliveira and Gourcuff...and even the old boy Brocchi....

Il Capitano Paolo Maldini...he's not 38 but 28 when he's on the pitch..who could deny his contribution and important role for more than 20 years with Milan..the next Grand Legend of Milan.

hitmannq8

14-09-2006, 09:38

Il Grande Capitano! Stay for another 10 years at Milan! Retire at 58!

Warro Bantan

14-09-2006, 10:37

3) Brocchi. People have been raving about Gourcuff. Yes, he had a great game, no doubt about it. But in my eyes, the true hero was Brocchi. He commanded the midfield, rarely made mistakes, made some great passes, and played his heart out. Outstanding performance. He looks a few classes above the player who sat on our bench a couple of years back. If he can play like this consistently, then he would be a fantastic acquisition

He has been my MOM for a couple of games now...I think Pirlo may have pipped him for the Lazio game(?)...but I do agree with rt9, that if he maintains this level with consistency, then, he will be invaluable to the team.

Unlike a lot of so-called European giants, we are showing that we have quality in depth.

Important when u r trying to win trophies in 3 competitions.

Attention: The :moan: Doom and Gloom :moan: club have officialy left the building! :delol:

zlatanov

14-09-2006, 10:40

Important when u r trying to win trophies in 3 competitions.

well, make that 2 ... see, we don't stand a chance for the Coppa vs Inter :diablo: ... plus we already robbed them from the TIM Cup :devf:

Jim_UK

14-09-2006, 10:52

Unlike a lot of so-called European giants, we are showing that we have quality in depth.

Don't you think though that we had the easiest match out of whoever you class as the 'so-called European giants'? :devf:

GavinMilan

14-09-2006, 11:31

Honestly, it is good that we won with style and convincingly. B/c against AEK, we better beat teams like that hands down. Lets just hope Milan will always beat small teams for the rest of the season

ukrainian_CA

14-09-2006, 11:58

Il Grande Capitano! Stay for another 10 years at Milan! Retire at 58!

)))

Did you mean at 68?

hwmook

14-09-2006, 12:48

Don't you think though that we had the easiest match out of whoever you class as the 'so-called European giants'? :devf:

that's why we send in the reserves. :ilol:

Warro Bantan

14-09-2006, 13:15

Don't you think though that we had the easiest match out of whoever you class as the 'so-called European giants'? :devf:

Dunno...I thought Lyon romped over a non-entity...eh? Oh. :sagrin:

But seriously...maybe we did, but that doesnt detract from the quality of the victory, especially when we played our "B" defense...and rested several key players in other areas of the pitch.

Now, one can argue that we should be able to beat teams such as AEK with our youth team, but based on where we are in our respective seasons, the fact that we won so convincingly with the selection as aformentioned, I dont think we did so badly after all, and I would suggest that, if what was essentially our second team on the pitch, we have shown a dominance that augers well for us in the future....a possible MOM is 20 yrs old for petes sake!

Does that imply that our depth is better than other so called European giants? Well, if that doesnt, then what does? Do we need to beat Roma or Inter with our "B" team to prove that point? :dontkn:

mrki

14-09-2006, 16:46

now Seedorf will get crazy becouse gourcuff is doing good and score hat trick against Parma...hehehe. :) seriousely, we did ok. did what we had to do. Still, Nesta-Kaladze are our best options as CB. Im waiting to see that again...

Mystik

14-09-2006, 17:12

Still disappointed (as I'm sure everybody is).. that Janku coldn't get a start over Favalli. wtf..?

Warro Bantan

14-09-2006, 18:27

It may be that Janku will start vs Parma...in fact, I would bet a small sum that he does. Showed some fine touches for the little time he took the field.

Mystik

14-09-2006, 18:34

Well he'll definitely either start next game.. or the next because I think we have ANOTHER midweek game next week ? You might even see Borriello get some action :D

Xudong

14-09-2006, 22:34

I bet Janku will start against Parma too. Knowing Ancelotti, he does rotate at the beginning of each season. :D

ACMILAN1983

15-09-2006, 02:47

Still disappointed (as I'm sure everybody is).. that Janku coldn't get a start over Favalli. wtf..?

I think it made sense to start Favalli. Cafu was playing at RWB and Janku is similar in he likes to run forward. Defensively, we would have been left open if they both played, much like what happened against Lazio.

Favalli may not be fantastic, but he's a solid LB, he doesn't attack too much and defends more, so the left side wouldn't be as open.

Plus, you have to consider that Gourcuff played on the left, who isn't the type of player we should really want to offload too many defensive duties to, so playing a more defensive minded LB gave Gourcuff a little more freedom to express himself.

mrki

15-09-2006, 08:01

I bet Janku will start against Parma too. Knowing Ancelotti, he does rotate at the beginning of each season. :D

hahaha, yes. and then after 6 rounds it all goes away :)

Jim_UK

15-09-2006, 11:22

Mystik

15-09-2006, 12:18

And since we'll be able to attack from both flanks AND through the middle.. it makes us less predictable.

ACMILAN1983

15-09-2006, 16:23

I don't see why we can't play 2 attacking full-backs in a match. If i'm a left-back and i see Cafu charging forward i'll think to myself

"hang on, as much as i want to go forward i'll wait a bit and stay back so not to expose both flanks at once"

Is that such a hard thing to do? It's not rocket science and it's not like you need to be a member of mensa to work it out. It just requires a bit of discipline.

I'm sure Jankulovski is smart enough to realise when to go forward and when to stay back.

Yes, they can stay back but remember that they won't provide the defensive stability another more defensive minded full back will provide, which is critical when numbers will be lacking in the back. Even against smaller sides, though its possible to play 2 attacking full backs, if the opposition counters, we should really have some assurance in defence at that point.

SANT

15-09-2006, 16:29

Maybe Janku has more talent and speed than Favalli, but he's still to show that in Milan...

someone may say: When is he gonna show that, if Carlo doesn't play him?

Well, Favalli, when given chances to play has done well... Janku has not...

and remember Carlo watches them in training every day... we don't... and training, although not the same as actual matches, does count...

Favalli is more of a defender than Janku... in other words, Favalli is first of all, a defender... who finds a way to become midfielder...
Janku is a midfielder, who was learned to play in LB both in his club (Udinese first, then Milan) and in the Czech NT...

so having Cafu on the other side, it's not surprising that Carlo wants at least 3 solid defenders (not that Cafu isn't)

I think that, if for some reason he didn't have Simic, or Bonera available to sub Cafu, and he had to put Billy as RB, with Nesta and Maldini in the middle, Carlo wouldn't think too much to put either Serginho or Janku on the left, over Favalli or Kaladze...

midori

17-09-2006, 18:59

FYI - for those that get Fox Sports Channel in the US they are airing this match on Monday @ 7pm est.

Rick

18-09-2006, 06:34

FYI - for those that get Fox Sports Channel in the US they are airing this match on Monday @ 7pm est.

And again on Tuesday at 3 p.m. for those who can't watch tonight. Last year they were airing the matches the very next day (usually at 5 p.m., just after UEFA's 24-hour waiting period expired), so I don't know know what's up with waiting until tonight. I hope they go back to the next day replays. :d33:

arcy

18-09-2006, 07:45

And again on Tuesday at 3 p.m. for those who can't watch tonight. Last year they were airing the matches the very next day (usually at 5 p.m., just after UEFA's 24-hour waiting period expired), so I don't know know what's up with waiting until tonight. I hope they go back to the next day replays. :d33:
ESPNC covered Lyon-Real Madrid CL game live (quite fun to watch the chaotic RM midfield beaten by Lyon :nana: ). Anyway, I hope they'll have Milan at some point. They also did a 1 hr review for all CL games also. :bri: