Empoli - Milan

Originally Posted by mzk57

As I said before that Dida and Olivera are symbols of bad luck and...................Now if a said what i am feeling I would certainlt get a permanent ban .
Anyway we won without them in Coppa Italia match despite conciding 2 goals so why the hell they are in the team????? They are the 2 worst Brazilians playing in Europe and unfortunately they both are AC Milan player which makes me sick . Simply kick both of them out of the great AC Mialn side withoout paying them a single peny . Also let me say this "That Gutless forward (Olivera) wont socre a single goal till next year"

mzk, you're supposed to open the garage door BEFORE you start your car every morning.

I see what you are saying guys about putting Pirlo further forward. I would love to see it for both Milan and Italy. I have noticed though that he is at his best when he is supported by attacking fullbacks who track back. ie cafu, sergio, Zambrotta and Grosso.

When we get the two fullbacks we need then I wouldnt mind seeing him ahead of Rino and Brocchi. But then again, I also want to see more of young Yohan.

Well, if anything positive can be taken from Saturday's match, it's that we already reached our sixth Serie A clean sheet. Last season, we didn't get it until January. But there's no excuse to keep hitting the woodwork time and time and time again.

Not a bad thought, Warro and Nefremo. Only thing though is that Pirlo is not the most mobile player in the world. If we move him up front to play alongside Kaka, he has to be pretty mobile and cover most of the pitch (the attacking third at least). Somehow, I dont think he is dynamic, fast enough to be very effective. The second problem is if we have Brocchi/Gattuso in central mid, we are going to seriously lack creativity down the middle of the field. All our play will go through the flanks (36 y/o Cafu and an unpredictable Janku) or else Kaka or Pirlo will have to keep dropping back to collect the ball. We may risk being too predictable.

I honestly like the formation as it is. It makes us very variable and gives us plenty of options in attack. Pirlo is quality in his DM role. He provides great passes---long and short and has got excellent vision. Then we have Seedorf, who at the moment in underperfoming, but either he or Gourcuff provides necessary link up play and additional creativity. Then we have the flanks. On top of that, we've got Kaka and RO dropping back. I think our formation is awesome as it is. The problem is certain personnel are not performing and we dont have proper replacements. At present, Pirlo, Seedorf, RO, Cafu, and Janku are not performing consistently. But that is not necessarily why we are underperfoming. IMO, the problem is that we never went out and bought quality players in the transfer market to replace them or at least provide competition for them. So we end up playing them regardless---and the team suffers. Imagine having, I dont know, a young player like Gago playing instead of Pirlo when he is off form. Gourcuff on for Seedorf CONSISTENTLY. A top striker like Etoo playing instead of RO and some quality wingbacks---Marcelo or Oddo at left and right backs. I think our quality is greatly enhanced and we would win games like these regardless of formation.

Originally Posted by rt9

I saw the game. All in all, here are my thoughts:

1) Not a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination. I thought the whole team functioned well as a unit. Empoli barely had any chances. We were solid defensively, solid in midfield.

2) It is obvious that we are lacking a cutting edge in attack. This is why we lose games like these. How many goals have our strikers scored in serie a? ONE. A grand total of one and that too COMBINED. I think this is the problem. If we still had Sheva or better yet, got a proper replacement for him, we wouldnt be in this predicament.

3) Kaka had a great game. How much do you expect him to do? I thought he carried the team for large parts of the game. The question, though is that if we can only manage draws with him on the field, what are we going to do if he gets injured?

4) Seedorf wasnt so bad. Although, his work ethic has dropped. Our left side was far more penetrable than our right side. If he's not willing to put in the effort defensively, I too agree that he should be dropped. Imagine having a complete midfield player in that position. Someone like Gerrard, who can tackle, run, pass, cross, shoot. This is what we need, not an attacking midfielder converted to a left sided MF.

5) So all in all, it comes down to our transfer campaign this summer. If we had bought better, if we had actually spent money on quality signings, we ought to be able to get three points in games like these.

That's actually not true. Gila, Inzaghi and Oliveira have each scored one goal.

Oliveira vs Lazio
Inzaghi vs Lazio
Gila vs Inter

Thanks, Hasan---my bad. I think the statistic I was referring to was over the last four games only...