Summer Mercato

Crucial moment for Pirlo's game is the arrival of Flamini. A player like De Rossi, not below him trust me. flamini is class player that can really play football and can play the same role as De Rossi/ Perotta play in Italy with Pirlo. Allowing Pirlo not to have duty to pick up EVERY attack from the beginning.

Back in 2003/2004, when we played our BEST football, Pirlo was helped by Seedorf like that, and Pirlo played closer to the goal, and played better.

to combine Pirlo-.Flamini, Pirlo-Seedorf in the middle is the way to give Pirlo freedom as Rino and Ambro are simply unable to pass. They cant pass or create, not hing more to explain, its clear.

Playing pirlo-Rino-Ambro is devastating for our creative play. No matter who do you have upfront. Flamini is the key, I have faith in him.

Give Ancelloti to pick his squad and he will win everything.
He is a fantastic coach.

But he lacks vision and adaptability.
He never plans for the future.
He can't adapt to different opponents.
He only sticks with his beloved 4-3-2-1 (btw, this is fantastic formation if you have quality players, and he developed it perfectly). Couple of injuries and we lack results. How many times we saw teams playing without pure strikers. Now we played one game like that and disaster struck.

I hope that everything will line up perfectly and we will have success, but I am, too, with opinion that we need another coach.

Ferrari to Genoa:

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=807562

I'm very happy Milan didn't sign him. I know some people on this board think we need CBs, but we don't need CBs to sit on our bench - we need a STAR CB who can start over Bonera or Kaladze.

From wikipedia, about Mirel Radoi (international Romanian CB):

Radoi himself has stated "I would be happy to move to Milan as soon as possible, It would be a unique opportunity for me and I can't afford to miss it."

Don't think wrongly; it is about his move plan to Inter.

I think we all agree that Flamini is great.

I read this comment on Goal.com regarding a Dinho story. We all complain about Milan, but sometimes you need to take a step back and see what talent we already have on our team. (Although we definitely need a starting XI CB!!!)

Cabrawler Windsor, Canada
As an Inter fan, I feel that this is Milan's Scudetto, I hope I'm wrong but the coaching change is not the only thing that Inter needed, they have made one half decent signing in Mancini, Dinho will be Player of the yeare once again, you can see all over him that he is going to take Serie A by storm! Inter need a playmaker desperately and Quaresma will not be sufficient.. Murinho make a move now... Milan's Squad is unreal right now.. Dinho, Kaka, Pato, Pirlo, WOOO....Forza Inter, Forza Milan, I cheer for both...

That is some internet fan. No real football fans support Inter ANd Milan in the same time. Not possible.

brk, oh no, I am not saying sell Pirlo, all I'm saying is that we need to find a replacement because he has been far too inconsistent for us. I am his biggest fan but unfortunately for him I'm a bigger fan of Milan. Pirlo is the worst free kick taker in Europe (well at least from big Euro teams from Spain, England, Italy, Bayern). His free kicks are atrocious..out of every 10 he takes only one is on target.

brk, what you think of Ibrahim Al Farsi, the new Fiorentina keeper?

Unless I"m mistaken, I think Pirlo, together with Gattuso and Ambrosini, are the three Milan players who run MOST on the field.

Prove me wrong, but I remember seeing stats in CLs (remember I asked about how they come up with exactly meter they run?) and Pirlo si on the top three.

I think ti's more because of her physical presence that makes him defensively fragile, but hoepfully his technique and ball control will make it up.

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I don't know why we are doubting Carlo. Ok, he needs to share responsibilities that's for sure. But last year when you have a terrible Gilardino, an injured Kaka`, a semi-injured Inzaghi, and an always injured R99. I don't really know whta you expect from him.

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The problem is we are not playing with continuity like the way we did before, and injury is the major culprit. To that, I don't know how you can hold Carlo SOLELY responsible.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Unless I"m mistaken, I think Pirlo, together with Gattuso and Ambrosini, are the three Milan players who run MOST on the field.

Prove me wrong, but I remember seeing stats in CLs (remember I asked about how they come up with exactly meter they run?) and Pirlo si on the top three.

I think ti's more because of her physical presence that makes him defensively fragile, but hoepfully his technique and ball control will make it up.

You are correct, but that's because midfielders generally do run the most in a team. Defenders run up to 8-10km a game on average, midfielders 10-15km, and strikers 10-12km. Some of course naturally do more (Gatusso) as they constantly chase after the ball and get into position.

The more important question is what that running is also used for? Is it to get into good positions off the ball when attacking or is it chasing after the ball and getting into defensive positions. The former is obviously more beneficial and something we need to improve more on, think of Cafu in his prime!

Originally Posted by mrki

4-5-1 is a great formation if is used properly. chelsea, Barcelona,Milan all play it.

You can't lump all the 451's together. What you're talking about is a 4231, which is what Roma and Man U use. Chelsea played more of a 433 under Mourinho, and Barca plays a 4231 also. Milan is probably the only team in Europe that plays two central trequartistas and a central forward. Centrality. That's the key word. We lack width, and we depend on Oddo and Janku to provide that, which they failed miserably. 4231 works. Xmas tree doesnt.

Originally Posted by Siregar

We play a long run league in Serie A and there is big possibility one of kaparo (or even all of them) will be out of games. This is what Milan shouuld think. Dont depend only to certain player(s). You won't game a league if you do that.

Well, we have Seedorf to replace Kaka or Ronnie. Inzaghi and Borriello can replace Pato. I don't see what the problem is. We don't need world class replacements, just adequate ones.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Unless I"m mistaken, I think Pirlo, together with Gattuso and Ambrosini, are the three Milan players who run MOST on the field.

Technically, you're right. But Pirlo hardly ever sprints. That's the reason why he's never tired. He jogs back and forth, from deep in defence, to halfway up the opposite side field, jogs up for corners and free kicks. He's always moving, always mobile. Defenders stand around, and sprint into action, and waste more energy, but move less (and its similar for attackers). Gattuso and Ambro close down far more than Pirlo, and that's a sprint too. So, yes, he does move more than most, but he conserves far more energy.

Originally Posted by dejan.s

Give Ancelloti to pick his squad and he will win everything.
He is a fantastic coach.

But he lacks vision and adaptability.
He never plans for the future.
He can't adapt to different opponents.
He only sticks with his beloved 4-3-2-1 (btw, this is fantastic formation if you have quality players, and he developed it perfectly). Couple of injuries and we lack results. How many times we saw teams playing without pure strikers. Now we played one game like that and disaster struck.

I hope that everything will line up perfectly and we will have success, but I am, too, with opinion that we need another coach.

This is probably the worst post I have ever read. You contradict yourself in the most bipolar way. He's fantastic, but he's terrible lets change him? He developed the Xmas tree perfectly but he's wrong to stick with it? I agree with you that he's fairly static and abhors change, but you can't call him a fantastic coach and then blame him for our troubles.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Pirlo is the worst free kick taker in Europe (well at least from big Euro teams from Spain, England, Italy, Bayern). His free kicks are atrocious..out of every 10 he takes only one is on target.

That's a terribly unfair exaggeration. He's not that bad. Just don't expect him to score every one. If you want to make that assertion, that's he's the worst, back it up with stats. Come up with stats that show that he's not in the top 20 free kick takers in the last three years. If he's not in that list, I'll concede that you're right. But I have a feeling that he is. Top 20 players that have scored free kicks in the past 3 seasons in all competitions, including internationals. If you want to get technical, divide the goals by minutes played and get an average. I'm curious.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

brk, what you think of Ibrahim Al Farsi, the new Fiorentina keeper?

Never heard of him.

Originally Posted by mrki

Crucial moment for Pirlo's game is the arrival of Flamini. A player like De Rossi, not below him trust me. flamini is class player that can really play football and can play the same role as De Rossi/ Perotta play in Italy with Pirlo. Allowing Pirlo not to have duty to pick up EVERY attack from the beginning.

Back in 2003/2004, when we played our BEST football, Pirlo was helped by Seedorf like that, and Pirlo played closer to the goal, and played better.

to combine Pirlo-.Flamini, Pirlo-Seedorf in the middle is the way to give Pirlo freedom as Rino and Ambro are simply unable to pass. They cant pass or create, not hing more to explain, its clear.

Playing pirlo-Rino-Ambro is devastating for our creative play. No matter who do you have upfront. Flamini is the key, I have faith in him.

I agree that Flamini has the potential to be a great partner for Pirlo. He has the dynamic fusion of energy and technique that Gennaro lacks. Lets hope he lives up to his reputation.

I am wondering, why do we call our attack "KaPaRo" ? wouldnt "RoPaKa" sound better? or PaRoKa, or RoKaPa?

Channel4.com has some interesting articles about milan, mainly the fact of Kaka's operation being "useless" as well as a general article about troubles at Milan and the mis-steps of the mercato. My honest opinion is that we are going to be fight for fourth again, our natural objective according to galliani.
Brk, one thing i disagree with you on is that in this day and age, we need to have world-class replacements as well, at least for our most vital positions. All great teams are doing this, and we are being left behind. This is the reason why we struggle over a long season; not only are 2-3 starters not doing the business, the replacements we are bringing in are well below standard. There really can't be a debate about this as our 4th and 5th place finishes attest to what level our players are at. We were flat-out outplayed by many teams last year, and that is a fact. This year, more and more teams will come to San Siro knowing it will be same old Milan, and they will have the confidence and desire to spank us in our home...i only hope that some new fire and respect for the shirt has been awakened in our players, that they will again feel they have something to prove.

Originally Posted by brk

That's a terribly unfair exaggeration. He's not that bad. Just don't expect him to score every one. If you want to make that assertion, that's he's the worst, back it up with stats. Come up with stats that show that he's not in the top 20 free kick takers in the last three years. If he's not in that list, I'll concede that you're right. But I have a feeling that he is. Top 20 players that have scored free kicks in the past 3 seasons in all competitions, including internationals. If you want to get technical, divide the goals by minutes played and get an average. I'm curious.

I think what hitmannq8 means is that Pirlo is by some assumed to be a freekick specialist, read among the best in the world. A bit like Junhino for Lyon. Imho Pirlo has great passing skills but he just doesn't score that much from a freekick position. He might score but others a way better in that. I know you want figures but I can't give them to you, but I think we can all imagine some players that whenever their team gets/got a freekick in the game on a intresting position there is a big chance for a goal, Pirlo doesn't give me that feeling.
Pirlo gives me that feeling whenever I see him giving a spliting pas threw the center -(when watchin a game at that moment I usualy jump up)- precisely in range of Kaka who can speed away from his defenders -(then I yell something)- and finish with a clean shot. -(I cheer)

Our problems are a combination of bad luck and poor planning. The garish celebrations that greeted Ronaldinho’s arrival were in part designed to seduce the fans into thinking that all was well at Milanello. What our management probably don’t realize is that fans are not stupid. Our team is crying out for a central defender and a striker who can both stay healthy and notch 10 goals at the very least. Surely, that is not too much to ask? Kaka’ is now injured and could be out until October. Ditto Borriello. That leaves Pato, Inzaghi and the fledgling Paloschi, who could break out this season or who could do absolutely nothing.

All that aside, if Kaka’ is indeed out until October then we need to slot Ronaldinho into a conventional playmaker role and play a 4-3-1-2.

...Pirlo, Seedorf, Flamini; Ronaldinho; Pato, Inzaghi.


We also need to pray that our attack does not suffer more injuries, or it will savage this already wafer thin squad.