Milan - Atalanta Sunday, March 30, 2008

Originally Posted by Jeff

I also wonder: If we play 3-4-3, why are we taking out Gilardino? Because he is so pure crap that even Brocchi is better than him?

Regardless, Milan is officially in huge trouble (it has been unofficial for the past year).

Gilardino definitely shouldn't have come off so quickly. One or even two of Pirlo, Ambro, Seedorf should have come off. But no, we have the "best midfield in the world" and the Pirlo - Gattuso - Ambrosini trio can't be broken. Seedorf was played in his favourite position and plays even more nonsense. Laughable. Gourcuff should look elsewhere for a run because if he can't get a run in these conditions then he never will.

EDIT: Only good news is we're still only 4 points off fourth place. We need to get some wins though, starting next match against Cagliari.

Pirlo Misses Pen As Milan Lose Again
AC Milan 1-2 Atalanta

Atalanta produced an inspired display to down a poor Milan in an eventful game at San Siro
AC Milan’s bid to qualify for the Champions League took a hit on Sunday as they lost at home to Atalanta.


The Rossoneri were terrible before the break, their sloppy play punished twice as Floccari and then Langella found the net.


The hosts picked up after the break but didn’t find the net until the 84th minute as Maldini’s tame header squirmed past a heap of bodies and in.


Drama unfolded in the closing minutes as Nesta was dismissed for arguing with the ref and Milan were awarded a spot-kick which Pirlo failed to convert.


First Half

Carlo Ancelotti made one change to his Milan side from last weekend, bringing in Favalli for Kaladze. Atalanta brought Pellegrino and Bellini into defence. At an eerily quiet San Siro the home side had the first chance on seven minutes, as Langella’s poor headed clearance falling straight to Gattuso. The midfielder couldn’t keep his shot down, however.


Gilardino then headed the ball over from an offside position. Milan were giving possession away cheaply, especially in the final third. Long balls to Pato were failing to reach their target. At the other end, Doni looked bright but Nesta was more than equal to the challenges posed. he next serious chance didn’t arrive until the 28th minute as Gilardino, latching onto Oddo’s ball down the right channel, was unable to convert from an acute angle.


Suddenly the Rossoneri defence suffered another collapse, allowing Atalanta to break the deadlock on 31 minutes: Pinto nipped down the right, leaving Favalli and Maldini for dead before whipping in a low ball into the six yard box. Kalac parried Floccari’s toe-poke but the striker was on hand to tap in the rebound as whistles rained down from the curva sud.


Milan responded with a Pirlo free-kick form distance, which Coppola punched unconvincingly, but the keeper had no problems bringing down Gattuso’s looping header. Pirlo then wasted another set-piece after Rivalta had downed Ambrosini – it looked costly as Atalanta bagged themselves a second before the break.


Floccari broke clear, unchallenged, and as Milan’s defence backed off the striker held up play before feeding a surging Langella down the left. He rode Oddo’s challenge and fired low past Kalac for a birthday goal. An ambitious volley from the midfielder then crashed a couple of yards wide. Pinto should have netted a third when unmarked 12 yards out - Milan were clueless.


Second Half

Ancelotti made two changes at the break, altering things at either end as Kaladze and Paloschi came on. The impact appeared almost immediate as Paloschi’s parried shot fell to Seedorf who slotted home. Offside.


Nonetheless, it was a signal of intent and moments later the Atalanta keeper was called into action again as Gattuso out-muscled two defenders and shot low and hard. Ambrosini failed to convert the rebound and saw his penalty appeals rejected. It was all Milan now, great build-up play meeting a disappointing end with Pato’s weak sidefooter.


The Rossoneri were winning those midfield 50-50 balls that they’d lost in the first half. Their passing, too, had become crisper but they rode their luck at the back: great skill from Pinto on the edge of the box ended with a glaring miss by Doni, unmarked, twelve yards out and central. Scoring seemed easy. The same player curled a free-kick harmlessly wide while at the other end a succession of Milan corners came to nothing, Atalanta’s defence holding firm.


The hosts had further scares as Kalac saved well from Langella before the winger then tore down the left, beating Kaladze before Maldini scrambled clear in the six-yard box before waiting white shirts could tuck the ball home. Milan had once again lost their edge despite their copious possession. Pato had a tame shot while Guarente’s snap effort for the visitors was well wide.


The Rossoneri had the ball in the net on 77 minutes but Ambrosini’s header was ruled out for a challenge on Coppola. But just as the game looked up the action exploded: up popped Maldini in the 84th minute to nod home. Immediately afterwards, substitute Simone Inzaghi should have made it 3-1, squandering when one-on-one.


There was more to come: after a foul by Maldini the Rossoneri players surrounded the referee, culminating in Nesta being sent-off. Seconds later, Milan had a penalty as Ambrosini was scythed down in the box. Pirlo stepped up coolly in the 90th minute but Coppola pushed his shot away. A great save and one that gave Atalanta the win they deserved.

Line-ups:

Milan (4-3-1-2): Kalac – Oddo (Brocchi 59), Maldini, Nesta, Favalli (Kaladze 46) – Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini – Seedorf – Pato, Gilardino (Paloschi 46)

Subs not used – Dida, Simic, Gourcuff, Bonera



Atalanta (4-4-1-1): Coppola – Rivalta, Pellegrino, Talamonti (Manfredini 43), Bellini – Ferreira Pinto, Tissone, Guarente, Langella (Padoin 69) – Doni – Floccari (Inzaghi 82)

Subs not used – Forsyth, Belleri, De Ascentis, Paolucci

Goals:

0-1 Floccari, 32
0-2 Langella, 42
1-2 Maldini, 84
Cards:

Yellow: Gattuso, Ambrosini / Rivalta, Langella, Guarente, Tissone
Red: Nesta (89, foul and abusive language)

Kaka speaks the truth:

"AC Milan ace Kaka has revealed the dressing room are finding it difficult to motivate themselves in their battle to clinch fourth-place.

Out of the Champions League and running for the Scudetto, Kaka conceded: "We need to show our character.

"The battle for fourth place is a war within ourselves, but it is hard to stay motivated.""

A few weeks ago he also said that it is time to accept that the cycle of this team has ended. At least someone at Milan is saying what is needed to be said. I can't wait for Ancelotti and Galliani's excuses and statements that "this is unexplainable" though. Fscking Ancelotti and uncle Fester.. I have really had enough!

Originally Posted by _Ace

its true that Udinise is one point ahead, but a win for us a lose for them &Fio will make us fifth and 1 point adrift from fio...

anyway, i cant believe what i'm reading atm... Milan totaly deserved the win in the second half, they put the Atalanta defenders in Pressure and if it wasnt for the ref and linesmen it would have been an easy bash for milan...

LONG LIVE SERIE A REFS!

It's also a fact that Atalanta had 4 amazing chances (3 of them were one on one with Kalac) in the second half.
Milan were simply awful today. They were lucky it wasn't 0:4 or 0:5 at half time and they were also luck Atalanta missed 4 great chances in the second. But they were unlucky with 1 or 2 ref mistakes and with the missed penalty.

Long time since i've seen Milan play so bad, and i did watch 80% of Milan's matches this year. You were weak but never as weak as today.

What worries me the most about all this is not the prospect of not playing in Europe next season, cause we can handle one season of just Serie A football. What worries me is that we won't be able to sign any world class players as long as we're not in the CL, which means that us fans will have to wait at least 2 more years before we get the revolution we want.

Agree, Tony...

bad luck for Atalnta... but u cant deny its a bad refereeing against Milan which also could have changed the story line ...

Originally Posted by devoted_dm

What worries me the most about all this is not the prospect of not playing in Europe next season, cause we can handle one season of just Serie A football. What worries me is that we won't be able to sign any world class players as long as we're not in the CL, which means that us fans will have to wait at least 2 more years before we get the revolution we want.

Money would be the most important factor in getting players, devoted_dm, not the prosperity of playing CL.
If Berlusconi decides to give the bucks then i'm sure Milan will be able to make a great team, even without CL.

If Milan won't be playing CL you won't have to make a revolution in one single year, which is even better. This summer Milan can add 3 or 4 players and the next summer you'll add another 3 or 4 players (kind of what Juve and Bayern did last summer)

Originally Posted by devoted_dm

What worries me the most about all this is not the prospect of not playing in Europe next season, cause we can handle one season of just Serie A football. What worries me is that we won't be able to sign any world class players as long as we're not in the CL, which means that us fans will have to wait at least 2 more years before we get the revolution we want.

i think we will still be able to attract some players to the team. We do need a mass clear out, and need to cut the fat from our wage bill. Its horrifying to think we have the highest payout in the league, and were 6th..

But the management are the only ones that are to blame for all of this, and they will have to dig themselves out of this hole.

Originally Posted by Graeme C

i think we will still be able to attract some players to the team. We do need a mass clear out, and need to cut the fat from our wage bill. Its horrifying to think we have the highest payout in the league, and were 6th..

I don't know... It's not just a matter of attracting players, it is also a matter of paying for them. I have sincere doubts that Berlusconi will spend millions on the team now, considering our lousy transfer campaigns the last few years. So we need Champions League qualification to be able to afford world class players.

I remember back when we signed Nesta in 2002, we didn't buy him before we had qualified for the CL through the preliminary round. We were actually supposed to sign Cannavaro that summer, but since we were not yet qualified for the CL, the management chose to be careful, and he joined Inter instead.

If we don't have the financial security that the CL gives us, then I really doubt we'll sign that many good players. Berlusconi doesn't spend much on transfers anymore, he hasn't in a long time, because the goal for Milan is that the club should be able to stay afloat financially independent of Berlu.

We are really in huge trouble.

I live close to a music institute and there are some kids playing a slow, sad melody on some sort of brass instrument. I wish you guys could hear it, it is the perfect soundtrack to this defeat. It's hard to imagine Milan our of the Champions League next season, but it is slowly starting to sink in. Respect to Tony29 for hanging in there for a whole year, gracefully cheering his team on in Serie B matches. I'm actually happy to see Juventus drawing positives from their experience last year. The fans' patience has paid off. Lets hope we can do the same, should we find ourselves out of Europe next year.

Tony29 I agree with what you say, except that had milan not been losing 2-0 I wondered if those 1-1 clear cut chances would still exist. Anyway, I didn't watch the whole game excpet for the last 15 minues so I couldn't comment more. It just seemed baffling to me to take Gila off when Ancelotti went for a 3-4-3. Why not Paloschi - Gila - Pato (esp if Paloschi is not, according to Ancelotti, a box player) still makes me wonder....

I just read on channel4 that "Gilardino had not scored at San Siro in serie A in nearly a year"

I checked and i found out that he played almost every single match in serie A and the last time he scored at SS was back on April 7 last year.
If he won't score a goal to Cagliari in next round ( April 6) , he'll be goalless at SS for more than a year.
Unbelievable

@ Jeff, most probably Atalanta wouldn't have been able to create chances with such ease, but even at 0:0 and 0:1 Atalanta didn't have problems creating chances. Milan midfield and defense were really bad today and it was a piece of cake job for the wingers and attackers from Atalanta to create chance after chance.
They were faster, stronger and much more creative.
I really hope they'll put the same display in next round against Inter. Since Inter aren't any better themselves, i see no outher outcome but an Atalanta win if they play the way they played today.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

I just read on channel4 that "Gilardino had not scored at San Siro in serie A in nearly a year"

I checked and i found out that he played almost every single match in serie A and the last time he scored at SS was back on April 7 last year.
If he won't score a goal to Cagliari in next round ( April 6) , he'll be goalless at SS for more than a year.
Unbelievable

.

wow, and that's not the first time I've heard a stat like that, last year he didnt score for over 6 months...this kid needs to go, for the good of AC Milan but mostly for himself...both Fiore and Milan are spiriling downwards, maybe Udinese is the one we should be watching more carefully

We don't deserve CL next year. Udinese and Fiorentina plays better from us they deserve it.
Milan needs big changes.But i don't think that big changes will come i think and next year we will have a horrible year.
Berlusconi in the last 4 years forgot us and let the team to be so old. Now that is our punishmend. We are in big crisis and i can't see big players like Eto or Drogba to come in a team like us. The current team is finished.