Arsenal-Milan CL Round of 16 Leg 1

while i have confidence milan will play better at home and go through, i find some of our confidence misplaced. Arsenal owned us last night. our passing was horrible! they pressured the ball and forced bad passes and long kicks all night. we turned the ball over countless times, and never really threatend lehman. i think if the tide was turned we would be saying how arsenal got lucky.

luckily, we have a stoudt defence, and are tacktily strong and were able to get the draw. arsenal played with a lot of emotion and momentum, and we weathered the storm...also, we have a few "dr. jeckle/mr. hyde's" on our team that will hopefully show up ready play the next leg....seedorf and pirlo, who i thought were completely uneffective last night.

"luckily, we have a stoudt defence, and are tacktily strong and were able to get the draw"

its not luck, Milan bases its whole history on that. We are not Barcelona circus or Madrid lunapark.

We only need better Seedprf and Pippo upfront are are fine. but Arsenal are the team that playes with best momentum right now, the draw was actually horrible for us.

i guess what i am saying is "luckily milan has based its history in a stoudt and tackful defence" or we could of been easily slaughtered.

obviously the away draw is not the best outcome in the 2-legger...however, i was extremely relieved when the final whistle blew and the scoreboard read - 0-0.

i would also point out that the arsenal boys were not intimidated by the experience of milan, they attacked the ball vigourously, and played with high intensity, rarely did a milan player posess the ball without pressure. this should change somewhat at SS and carlo should be able to counter by march....

i dont think it would of mattered who was upfront last night...pato, gila, pippo, r99... the link between midfield and the final 3rd was almost non-existant. actually i think pato did quite well with the balls he played

My few cents:

I thought that the Arsenal midfield, had a better game by far than ours did...a lot of people tend to think that Kaka = Milan, but when Pirlo has a bad day, Milan have a bad day, and I think this was the real difference in yesterdays game.

Seedorf was also below his best, was waaay to non-chalant, and lost too many balls...through sheer overconfidence, and lack of speed (and concentration maybe?).

Carlo must have instructed them (ie Pirlo, the defense, etc) just to hoof the ball downfield to Pato, in the hope that the Arsenal defense would make a mistake, and allow the youngster to capitalise...but the clearances were too hasty for any level of accuracy, and kudos to Arsenal for not giving any of our players any time on the ball...

Wenger, and Arsenal for me, in not allowing us to threaten overmuch, "won" this tie, and will come to the San Siro full of confidence, loooking to score, in the same way they played in the first half of this past game, long searching balls for Adebayor to claim...to then relay to an advancing midfield...the only weakness in that strategy is the African´s poor passing..he could have set up Fabregas(? or Eduardo?) but misplaced his pass terribly, with the supposed recipient of his pass in acres of space in the 18yd box.

This season we have tended to score in bunches, or score one or two, and I am sure Arsenal and Arsene are aware that for every one goal they score, we have to score two...so, they will look to adopt the same tactics they used at the Emirates, (I think), but moreso hitting us on the counter...if our midfield is able to establish some possession, in light of their swarming defense.

Again, spirits not exactly "soaring" for this game, but I think we stand a good chance, especially after not conceding in London.

My prediction of "goals to be scored" in the first leg, was off by the width of the crossbar, and I doubt we will be as lucky at home, if we are not able to establish our patient passing game, and get an early goal.

Wont go into individual player comments, except to say that both Nesta and Maldini had excellent games, Kalazde wasnt too bad, and Max and Ambro, while not shining offensively, shackled Fabregas and co for much of the game...forcing a "stalemate of sorts"...

So, basically...not feeling overly confident re the return leg, and hoping that the intense atmosphere that I am sure the tifosi will create, will go aways to putting the young gunners off their game.

hello together, i am new here and i am also not a so long milan fan
but i am sure that now i have found my team!
as a german guy i haven't had such a strong felling of supporting a team since i realised what a phantastic club milan is!

but i have a question: i want to become a real member of ac milan. i checked out the official ac milan website but i could not find something like a registration link. the english big teams like arsenal or manchester provide this.
maybe you can help me
greetings
tobias

Hi I am an Arsenal fan, just popping in to see the reactions from you Milanistas. I am a poster on the Arsenal forum, www.arsenal-mania.com. It would be pleasure to have some of you posting your thoughts on the game on our forum.

My first and most important question is, how is the quality of the Milan pitch? As you saw yesterday that we move the ball around at a high tempo and the quality of the pitch is a vital factor to enable us to do this.

I have heard from many fan's of football, that Arsenal are in a weaker position after 1st leg, but I don't see why. The fact that we can go through without actually winning surely means we are in a very strong position. I have read through the pages in this thread, and most people are confident that you will win at the San Siro due to the home support. I don't think it is as straightforward as that. I am sure that most of your poor performances in the league came at the San Siro. I am fully aware that league games have absoluteley no relevence on CL games but I thought I should still point that out.

What do you guys think is formation for the home leg? If it is 4-5-1, I honestly cannot see you trouble us too much. I say this because Pato alone upfront will not be able to do anything, however good he is. 4-4-2 may cause us more problems but than it will suit us more as you will leave us more space to attack. Also people seem to forget that Arsenal have kept the most cleansheets consequtively in CL history, obviously that is absolutely nothing compared to what your great club has achiveved. However my point is that for some reason our defence is a machine when it comes up against big name players. Players like Kaka and Pato have great pace and skill but Arsenal have the FASTEST backline in the world. Our defenders are so fast bar Senderos so the likelihood of Kaka or Pato beating players is very unlikely and even if they do there pace will help them catch up. Personally Gilardino will cause us more problems, he may not be playing that good but he has different qualities which the Arsenal defence can struggle against. The key to the next leg is if your defence can keep us out again, as we were extremely unlucky yesterday. My only worry is that Arsenal could dominate 160 minutes of the tie only to lose to a Milan goal in the last 20 mins. If we can dominate the game and stop you from controlling the tempo like yesterday, Arsenal have a great chance to go through.

Also remember we are not Man Utd, they are a team who play great in flashes, with lot's of wing play. Arsenal are different, we look to control the game as well as keeping it a high tempo. I personally don't think you saw the proper Arsenal yesterday, we put in too many crosses and high balls which we don't do usually. I think the players were slightly overawed and if we can keep the ball slightly longer than I am fully confident that we can eventually wear you down. Don't forget we have an exceptional record against Italians.

Last but not least I am going to buy the black Milan shirt with Weah 14 at the back. Not only is it a great kit, it's the kit of a great team.

Also, its nice to see Kaka' and Calro and Galliani saying we didnt play as we wanted and that we need to be sharper.

Now everything is fair: if we want to go through, we have to win. We need a better Seedorf and Ricky, as Im sure our defence and Rino+Max will be good as usual.

Pielo had an "off" day becouse he was pressed extremly, due to poor display by Seedorf who pas outRUNNED by Flamini and Fabregas ( and Eboue, Sagna, Clichy ).

Pato did well, his speed is really extreme!

Originally Posted by outlaw_member

I personally don't think you saw the proper Arsenal yesterday, we put in too many crosses and high balls which we don't do usually. I think the players were slightly overawed and if we can keep the ball slightly longer than I am fully confident that we can eventually wear you down. Don't forget we have an exceptional record against Italians.

.

It was due to Rino and Max playing in the middle for Milan, plus Pirlo. Milan will again play 4-5-1 with Inzaghi up front, you can put your house on that formation, it will be like that. And Milan will not attack, we will play same game as we did at Emirates but only win higher tempo then we did yesterday.

I cant wait, it will be a great match. 1:0 is my preidction, Superpippo can solve it

What a intelligent and respectful fan it;s always a pleaseure to have opponents like you visit us here...making the beautiful game more beautiful

Welcome outlaw member...nice post, glad to have you join us.

One thing I forgot to mention in my "few cents" was the fact that our players, especially Pirlo were more fatigued than their Arsenal counterparts, as we have had a lot of "making up matches" to deal with, due to our exploits in Japan.

Hopefully we will (as Galliani pointed out) regain some fitness in the weeks to come, so the tired legs will be fresh, and ready to run rampant over the gunners.

FORZA MIIIIIIIIIIIILAN!!

Milan siempre!!

Originally Posted by Nalx

I did watch the match and I can say it's a very balanced one. Arsenal had slightly more posession but apart from Adebayor's hitting the woodwork, they didn't really cause much danger.

Football is similar to boxing, 50% of it is the art of defense, and the other half is the art of attacking. Last night our defenders played brilliantly. I agree that we barely create any clear chances, Kaka only managed to have 1 shot and it went wide. Both Pirlo and Seedorf weren't convincing.

We still have 2 weeks to deal with the problem, but I believe at SS, just like last year, we're going to show them how to kill-off the match with goals.

Let me just add that Arsenal has been surprisingly weak in finsihing. I think all of the shots are at Kalac, with just power but not angle whatsoever.

Adeayor's hitting the woodwork is the only REAL chance of the game.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

With this in mind i wonder why so many people are so overly confident that we will progress? Most of the people in here (Arsenal fans aside obviously) think we'll win, yet most reports say Arsenal had all the chances and ran the show in the 2nd half. I don't get how people come to this conclusion

I wonder too; I think Arnseal is very strong, and it's still 50-50.

I think one of the reasons why people (including me) are over confident is the fact that:

1) When did Milan play well these days away?
2) It's Arsenal, and they didn't score (albeit hit the woodwork). The rest of the game they are just playing at high tempo trying to so-called run Milan over but at the end, they didn't do as well.
3) I wtched the game last night (replay); and I have never see Kaka coming back to Midfield to help defending. Our AMC (Rui, Kaka etc.) usually do not come back defending (e.g., against Deportivo (WOW!) and PSV (WOWOWOW!) and you knew what happened. I think MIlan is really playing not for a win yesterday, and thus not the true quality.

And finally

4) Four years ago if Milan played like this people are going to complain like crazy; but this time round a lot of use have seen Milan playing together for a long time and we knew how big the difference can be.

Of course, as i said, Arsenal is stlil more than capable of beating Milan, as in any of the other 14 teams in CL.

Originally Posted by outlaw_member

My first and most important question is, how is the quality of the Milan pitch? As you saw yesterday that we move the ball around at a high tempo and the quality of the pitch is a vital factor to enable us to do this.

I have heard from many fan's of football, that Arsenal are in a weaker position after 1st leg, but I don't see why. The fact that we can go through without actually winning surely means we are in a very strong position. I have read through the pages in this thread, and most people are confident that you will win at the San Siro due to the home support. I don't think it is as straightforward as that. I am sure that most of your poor performances in the league came at the San Siro. I am fully aware that league games have absoluteley no relevence on CL games but I thought I should still point that out.

What do you guys think is formation for the home leg? If it is 4-5-1, I honestly cannot see you trouble us too much. I say this because Pato alone upfront will not be able to do anything, however good he is. 4-4-2 may cause us more problems but than it will suit us more as you will leave us more space to attack. Also people seem to forget that Arsenal have kept the most cleansheets consequtively in CL history, obviously that is absolutely nothing compared to what your great club has achiveved. However my point is that for some reason our defence is a machine when it comes up against big name players. Players like Kaka and Pato have great pace and skill but Arsenal have the FASTEST backline in the world. Our defenders are so fast bar Senderos so the likelihood of Kaka or Pato beating players is very unlikely and even if they do there pace will help them catch up. Personally Gilardino will cause us more problems, he may not be playing that good but he has different qualities which the Arsenal defence can struggle against. The key to the next leg is if your defence can keep us out again, as we were extremely unlucky yesterday. My only worry is that Arsenal could dominate 160 minutes of the tie only to lose to a Milan goal in the last 20 mins. If we can dominate the game and stop you from controlling the tempo like yesterday, Arsenal have a great chance to go through.

Also remember we are not Man Utd, they are a team who play great in flashes, with lot's of wing play. Arsenal are different, we look to control the game as well as keeping it a high tempo. I personally don't think you saw the proper Arsenal yesterday, we put in too many crosses and high balls which we don't do usually. I think the players were slightly overawed and if we can keep the ball slightly longer than I am fully confident that we can eventually wear you down. Don't forget we have an exceptional record against Italians.

Last but not least I am going to buy the black Milan shirt with Weah 14 at the back. Not only is it a great kit, it's the kit of a great team.

Good to see you here. Welcome to MM!

Quality of San Siro is often awful lol (like potato field that's what they say). But that affects Milan just as much as Arsenal, so I don't think you can blame the field (unless it's horrendous like teams in lower division).

It's not just winning due to home support: But we have seen again and again a different MIlan at home. Now, I'm not saying that Milan IS going to win at home... Arsenal definitely has the chance to do it; we are just saying that Arsenal will see a different milan, at San Siro, 2 weeks later; and that may make a huge difference.

You are right that most of the poor league performance come before the break, but playing against SErie A teams is different from playing in CL then (you'll have to understand Italian way of playing against Milan in order to fully appreciate it). Also, Milan is already quit renowned for playing far less emphasis on Serie A (no idea why) and players are usually not as motivated as playing in Champion League.

The two years that we have won CLs (2003; 2007): Milan came in both 4th.

And we are going to come in 4th again this year -.-!

It's not 4-5-1; it's 4-3-2 (Seedorf and Kaka) - 1 and it's different. also known as the christmas tree formation.

4-3-2-1 has beaten Real Madrid, Liverpool (twice almost lol), Man U (3 times out of 4), and many others...
4-3-1-2 is used less frequently, usually against weaker team such as Deportivo (at home) and PSV. Or when both strikers are extremely fit.

Not sure if Ancelotti will play christmas tree or 4-3-1-2; given that we are lacking players in terms of attack (only Pato, Gila, and Inzaghi available) and that we have been playing one game per 3 days, I think Milan will opt for 4-3-2-1 in the first half.

4-4-2 is never Milan's strongest performance. In fact, quite awful.

Contrary to believe, Milan doesn't just rely on pace, though it is important. Milan tends to use ball possession and high-technique passing to tease the defense apart. And, of course, take adv. of lack of concentration of the opponent team.

Gilardino is never a real force in Champion League, though I will say that you'll see Pato - Gilardino if Milan lost 1-0 in the first half at SS.

Unlucky is almost always the word that the other team used when they didn't score against Milan (if not beacuse of the woodwork (that's the striker's fault), if not the last-ditch tackle (but that's what Milan does even at Serie A), if not because of that too much strength on the pass...)

Agree that Arsenal can dominate the game like they did yesterday, Arsenal has a high chance of going through. But do you ReALLY think that Arsenal can dominate the whole 180 minutes against a team that has won the Champion league 6 times in history (twice in the last 5 years and still playing about much the same team?)

The fact that Arsenal is putting high crosses (which they don't usually do according to you) is a sign that they fail to open up Milan in their usual way. The same goes for Milan: I Don't see MIlan playing long ball to pato (who is short and definitely not as good as Gilardino in heading the ball I guess) but they did just that yesterday, which were all in all awful.

And we have an exceptional record against English team at San siro .

Congrats on buying a Milan shirt! - J

Welcome to San Siro

I'm not saying we will win at the San Siro.
If we score first we have a great chance of winning..but i feel pressure is on Milan seeing as they have to attack us, thus giving us space to exploit.
all we need to do is score a goal or fight for a draw...i'm glad it was a 0-0 draw for us.
Milan beating Man utd at the San Siro was a good result last year...But i'm very optimistic over our form and the ability for us to get a victory.
It's all well and good for Milan totry and get a draw at the emirates but a 0-0 draw is the worse kind at this stage...seeing as if we SCore which i know we can..we have the immediate advantage.
And Alot of serie A teams have scored against Milan at the San siro this season so i don't see what would stop us if we play to our potential.