The derby, 34th week. MILAN vs. INTER

Originally Posted by rahul.acm

seedorf...he is gr8 ! like a father figure! always calm and composed! manages our fiery players like gattu! unlucly for him that he does not score! but a vital part of our attack and midfield!

go seedorf!

so true, he is having a very good season. The one bad thing about Seedorf is that he is just too good and finding a capable replacement for him would be really, really hard.

seedorf is a legend, he acheived so much, and he is capable of alot aswell... u dont find many players like him

Originally Posted by mk18

seedorf is a legend, he acheived so much, and he is capable of alot aswell... u dont find many players like him

Don`t worry mk18, some of those players always wait for us across town Some of them simply `flourish` when they change colour of their jerseys. It must be love at first sight
Forza Milan!

And now....the spectacle......

nice win, great kaladze goal... Dida was scary, bring back abbiati! And Materazzi should have been sent off!

Originally Posted by ariel

Don`t worry mk18, some of those players always wait for us across town Some of them simply `flourish` when they change colour of their jerseys. It must be love at first sight
Forza Milan!

And now....the spectacle......

lol .. thats very true...


wome for LB anyone?!

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

going to go watch that game now! our opponents next game vs our potential opponents in champs league final

What channel r u watching?

1-0 already Etoo?

Originally Posted by Graeme C

nice win, great kaladze goal... Dida was scary, bring back abbiati! And Materazzi should have been sent off!

those fukers at the inter forum say that he played well! assoul had only one thing in his mind today - to injure some 1! the way he was dodging gila was awefull!

thers hasn't been a good ref in serie a since colina!

etoo yeah, but larsson is out injured

Originally Posted by mk18

etoo yeah, but larsson is out injured

larsson out , thats fukin gr8 news!!!

so is messi

Ezquerro, the player who substituted Larson is also out 'cause of an injury.

A very important victory and a huge step towards securing the second spot. Most importantly I couldn't have imagined that a season will end without beating Inter after our shock first round defeat. We showed enough grit and determination to win even though we didn't produce a prolific match largely down to Inter defensive tactics and our mid-week showdown against Barca. I believe Carlo dealt with the match in a great way and once we went ahead he went went for securing our lead rather than continuing to push forward in chase of more goals. Inter deployed an unusual 4-3-3 format with three defensive minded midfielders and two wingers in support of a lone forward. I believ that tactic hindered our attacking approach as we hardly found any spaces in midfield despite controlling ball possession. Kaka struggled much to spark our attacking moves as he was always shut down by their midfielders. I am largely impressed by the legendary Maldini performance at the left-back. He had a superb match and his pushing up down the left offered us a good width. On the opposite side he excellently closed down Figo down the right forcing him to move to the opposite side in a number of occassions. Nesta did a tremendous job in marking Adriano and that was definitely a master class defending from Nesta. Cafu in his first start in a long time tried hard to produce something from the right but his form was affected by his long spell on the sidelines. Seedorf and Gattusso were excellent and helped stamp our authority over the midfield recovering the ball in numerous occassions. Our biggest problem was some terrible goalkeeping from Dida particularly in timing his come-off to handle crosses. Actually I think we should consider bringing in a new keeper for next season as Dida has been in a terrible form committing a large number of mistakes this season. We managed to create only two opportunities during the first half the first a free header from Gilardino from point-blank range that went awfully over the bar and the second in stoppage time when a fine move saw Gilardino turning with the ball inside the box but an on-rushing Seedorf blasted the ball high under pressure from a defender. The second half was slightly better as we went close with a Sheva header that was half-cleared by Cordoba but Kaka's strike on the follow-up was parried and shortly before a Kaka cross from the right found Seedorf unmarked inside the left side of the box but his effort was blocked by their keeper. Inter had a good opportunity after some good work from Stankovic down the left and his cross found Figo connecting with a free header that went wide. Our goal came from the most unlikely of scorers twenty minutes from time. A Pirlo cross from the left found centre-back Kaladze springing the offside trap inside the box to chest down and fire straight into the roof of the net. What a tremendeous finishing from the Georgian. The goal was a reward for Milan's dominance and attacking flair even though we didn't create much. Mancini throw everything forward for the final twenty minutes bringing on Martinz on for Christiano Zanetti switching to his usual 4-4-2 before pushing in Solari on for the Chilean Pizzaro. Carlo brought in veteran Billy Costacurta on for Cafu trying to limit the influence of their wingers. Vogel took over from Pirlo at central midfield and finally Rui Costa came in on for Sheva leaving Gilardino as a lone forward. A sub aimed at holding up the ball in the closing minutes to slow down the tempo and deny them the chance to push forward more. We were only under threats on crosses thanks to Dida's repeated mistakes and survived two minutes from time a Budrisso header in front of an open goal. To sum up we won in a very tough situation without showing the aggression usually assocciated with that encounters and a goal was enough to grant us victory. Our players were fearing injuries ahead of Barca game. Forza Milan.

Great post Hesham, you really broke the game down well.

Some people (mostly neutral observers) may say we didn't play well or that it was an ugly match, well I say WHO CARES? It wasn't pretty, but we got the 3 points and are now a step closer to clinching 2nd place and the Scudetto is still not lost. No one was injured, and we split Inter this year. Can you imagine what would've happened if Inter won both times this season? Inter fans would've had the best moment of their pathetic lives! This is a great victory for our pride.

Now, for the actual match. Defense played superb. Maldini and Cafu did extremely well, considering how long they haven't played 90 minutes. Figo only managed to get by San Paolo once, I think. Nesta was very solid at center back, as was Kaladze. Inter had no real chances, only on desperation crosses. Figo heading wide was a real scare.

Dida... What can I say? He will give some Milan fans heart attacks before the season is over. This whole season he has been very inconsistent. He can not continue to drop crosses and shots and hope that the ball gets cleared by our defense. I think that we need to look for good young keepers after the season, as Dida seems to lost concentration, or whatever it is that is wrong with him.

In the midfield Seedorf and Gattuso were doing a great job controlling the tempo, but I have to say I think we need Serginho's runs down the flank and his crossing vs. Barca, I just don't know how Carlo will put him back into the mix with Maldini back. Pirlo was very mediocre. That's all I can say about him, nothing really in particural about his game. Kaka looked to be resting for Barca at times and was mostly shut down by Inter's defense.

Up front, I think Gila did a great job. He fought for every ball and was a menace to Inter's defense, unlike usual where he just stays up front and waits for the ball to come to him. Today it was different, I think it was this kind of tenacity in high-stakes games that will propel him into the ranks of the best strikers in the world. Sheva, like Kaka was resting for the Barca game IMO, otherwise he would never have been taken out for Rui Costa.

This was a great coaching performance by Carlo. We didn't put too much effort into this match but still got the 3 points. Great decision to put Paolo and Cafu back into the starting 11 to give them some match-time before Barca. I'm not sure whether both of them will play or not but great decision nonetheless.

Anyways, great game, we got the 3 points and that's all that matters. FORZA MILAN! Oh, and we beat Inter

Good posts guys. After watching the highlights (I thought the game was at 6 pm GMT, and went out to watch Man Utd vs SAFC at 6:30!), I can see how Dida was quite disappointing, the ref didn't seem to have a very good game (a blatant penalty for Gila in the first half), and our defence seemed a little bit shakey at times. Even after this very good result, I still fear for Milan when they play Barca next week, as the problems mentioned above will be exposed even more.
Either way, FoRzA MiLaN!

Few things I like to point out....

Firts of all, I need to say: BRAVO GILA! Gila di d a great job holding up ball and turning it round the defenders. When you play against Cordoba and MAterazzi its not so easy. He was fighting really hard, shame he didnt score or got the penalty he deserved. He showed he is most dangerous when he is IN THE BOX. That iswhere he can turn defenders around and get something out of it.

Now, NESTA - the best CB in the world. No Terry,Rio,CAnnavaro or anyone can compare to him. Who ever denies this has no iea about defending in football. Brilliant display.

Dida - im worried....lets hope he gets it all together. Forza Dida!

Sheva - completely unfit, not ready for this game. LEts just rest him for Barca, we need his explosion and dribbling skills. Sheva needs to be freshed up! he'll be as deadly as usual.

Seedorf,Gattuso.Pirlo - im afraid they could get a bit tired, but milanlab will have to work on that. Kaka is ok.

Inter? as usual.....