Milan vs. Lazio - 21 Sept. @ San Siro: 3a. Giornata

this match was played even better than the bologna one all the players seemed to be on the same page kaka is back carlo did the right thing by playing the best players available and borrielo was unlucky to get a goal but you can tell this is the type of physical presence we were missing upfront he runs around and tries to insert himself in the game as much as possible

Please dont kid yourselves.. It was a good win but the performance was far from a perfect one. Kaka was amazing today, and so was his goal..Zambrotta wasn't great but he had a good goal.

We have some MAJOR problems in our defence, Kaladze in particular. They are not confident in themselves and they are always losing the ball..did you guys see how Zarate owned him a few times?

And what the f is up Carlo with bringing on Emerson for Seedorf? Why not Cardacio? Whats up with this DM fetish? and why did Sheva not get a run in this game? A goal for him would have been great for his confidence.

again, Good win by Milan but don't kid yourselves and think those beautiful goals mean it was a beautiful performance. Good thing is we are improving.

Seedorf's & Pato's Replacement , Ancelotti hugs Seedorf & Good Saves by Abbiati
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Ronaldinho hits the Bar ! 91
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Originally Posted by Hasan Rossonero

The other alarming thing was that our forwards were camped in midfield at times. Our front trio is supposed to be a slick, one-two playing unit; instead, it was contesting (and losing) balls in midfield. This is a classic sign that the team is not used to each other. However, it also shows that perhaps we should play with a conventional 4-3-1-2 (like when Borriello and Pato came on).

I said this a while back, and it seems that I have been vindicated today.

Also, this may be (God willing, it's not), a false dawn. Remember when we skinned Lazio last season at the San Siro? We thought it would bring more victories immediately. Unfortunately, it did not.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Please dont kid yourselves.. It was a good win but the performance was far from a perfect one. Kaka was amazing today, and so was his goal..Zambrotta wasn't great but he had a good goal.

We have some MAJOR problems in our defence, Kaladze in particular. They are not confident in themselves and they are always losing the ball..did you guys see how Zarate owned him a few times?

And what the f is up Carlo with bringing on Emerson for Seedorf? Why not Cardacio? Whats up with this DM fetish? and why did Sheva not get a run in this game? A goal for him would have been great for his confidence.

again, Good win by Milan but don't kid yourselves and think those beautiful goals mean it was a beautiful performance. Good thing is we are improving.

i know it makes no difference but Seedorf was subbed for Flamini who is somewhat of an offensive-defending midfielder...
Emerson was brought for Gattuso which was a bad move...

i agree on the defence we need to figure that out....but hitman you are talking about about two different things..just because carlo didnt play sheva and cardacio doesnt mean we didnt play a good game ...it was a wonderful game but criticizing carlos subs doesnt make it a bad game

Sorry I meant for Gattuso. With Ambro-Emerson-Flamini we just totally killed the game, it was horrible. With Cardacio in the middle we could have a 'go-to' guy that could spring attacks with his passes. Anyway lets just enjoy the 3 points but again I dont agree with all of you, this was no where near a perfect performance for me.

remote, please re-read my post. I didn't say it was a bad game. I think you guys are going over the top with all your praises. They weren't great but they were good relatively. Milan against Bologna was the best Milan I have seen since the Milan 5-2 Napoli game (Pato's debut).

Come on hitmannq dun be such a wet blanket !... sure the defence wasnt perfect but it sure wasnt down to just a KaKa show.. seedorf had a great game too..
Anyway, im okay with that Flamini for Seedorf substitution as we just wanted to slow the game down more and conserve energy. More of our turn to defend and hit them on the counter which is what they set out to do ( flamini is a very good passer of the ball too FYI ).. about Sheva not getting a Run, would you replace Boriello with Sheva given that Boriello played his heart out and deserve a goal he didn't get?

I think Carlo wanted to Preserve the Scoreline primarily but adding 1 more through Boriello would have been great thats why he didn't bring in Sheva IMO.. so that our Attack would focus on assisting Boriello.

Btw do not forget we are still in that UEFA cup.. conserving energy is also very important at this early stage of the season. sure it would be great to skin the romans again like last season but at the risk of later on burn-out? no thx.. Emerson for Gattuso was also not a mistake IMO coz Rino is still carrying a hand injury do not forget.. better not risk aggrevating it just for the sake of adding to the scoreline.. and Emerson is a safe choice as he slows down games A LOT.. which is obviously what Carlo wanted..

True, we were far from free-flowing best. If you had watched closely our attack got chopped up by Lazio way too many times. Two of our goals were from long shots and only one (Pato's) I can truly attribute to good team play. Though of course Lazio are an in-form team atm and I personally think the Serie A has gotten a lot tougher this season.

Also, I think its kinda sad we're trying to fit Ronaldinho into his natural position. A position we don't really have at Milan. I'd like to see him just take over from Seedorf or Kaka direct, maybe during UEFA Cup matches. He's definitely good enough to be in the centre. Especially now since Kaka's form has been far from his best coming back from injury. But I guess Carlo won't do that since he's Kaka and that's just how things are done at Milan.

Anyway kudos to Janku, our best player of the season thus far. Not his best game today but still very impressive. Shame he didn't do the full 90 against Bologna. Imagine what might have been.

Still, good job tonight boys. Forza Milan!!!

It was a good game and cardaccio is going to have to prove himself to Carlo. Has it ever occured to you that he may be terrible in training or that Emerson may be doing well. Just relax and let the man do his job. All this Carlo bashing is just gona end up in Milan being like Real when they sacked Del Bosque. How many managers have they had since who didnt know how to handle all the stars??

This is the first time in a long time we have options on the bench!! Boriello is doing fantastic, Shevchenko is showing promise, Flamini runs, battles, skillfully tackles and passes!! Zambro is reliable and improving. Ronnie is far from his best, but Carlo is handling him well as Milan comes first!!

Although, Ronnie hasnt been very impressive yet, his arrival has turned lazy Seedorf into determined Seedorf!! Of all the palyers, he is handling the competition the best!!

Yes our defence is pretty terrible, but once the Milan unit gets into gear it will protect its terrible defence more. When Nesta comes back it wont be as terrible and if we get someone like Zappata next season then it will look pretty mean.
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We all know that Cardaccio and Vuidez arent going to get much playing time, so they need to be sent on loan at Christmas. Between those two, Flamini and Gourcuff our midfield seems solid for a few years to come. Having said that Seedorf, Ambro and Gatusso arent looking like they are going to give up their spots lightly.

Anyway, its great to see Milan winning a game again. Come on Carlo, get a little run going for the Derby!!

Originally Posted by Milan4eva

True, we were far from free-flowing best. If you had watched closely our attack got chopped up by Lazio way too many times. Two of our goals were from long shots and only one (Pato's) I can truly attribute to good team play. Though of course Lazio are an in-form team atm and I personally think the Serie A has gotten a lot tougher this season.

Also, I think its kinda sad we're trying to fit Ronaldinho into his natural position. A position we don't really have at Milan. I'd like to see him just take over from Seedorf or Kaka direct, maybe during UEFA Cup matches. He's definitely good enough to be in the centre. Especially now since Kaka's form has been far from his best coming back from injury. But I guess Carlo won't do that since he's Kaka and that's just how things are done at Milan.

Anyway kudos to Janku, our best player of the season thus far. Not his best game today but still very impressive. Shame he didn't do the full 90 against Bologna. Imagine what might have been.

Still, good job tonight boys. Forza Milan!!!

Sure, 2 goals from our 4 were from range, and Seedorf was not really a team goal.. only Pato's would be a team goal.. but you forget that Milan did have a lot of chances like the one where Ronaldinho did that wonderfull pass to BorriGol or when he hit the crossbar, or when borrigol head the ball afterwards (it shouldve been a goal if it wasnt for emerson! I dont really understand why Milan bought him in the first place!!) we had a lot of chances. The defence was very good with Rino the middle, I think he was the one who motivated Milan to the win... when he left, you can see that there was a huge gap in the middle that Lazio capitalized on and couldve scored.. Emerson I think was out of position and I didnt see him run nor win any balls, its like having 10 players but only we're depending on the 11th player :p It would be great to have Flamini and Gattuso in the middle wih Ambro in the bench or maybe convert him to cb because he seemed very good in the box today.

FORZA MILAN!

And oh! Ancellotti could sub Kaka but have you've thought that maybe KAKA doesnt want to be subbed? He always says that he doesnt want to get subbed in the middle of the game and says he hates himself for doing this becuz he's injuring himself even more.

Just like I predicted...see the bolded portion:

Galliani: Carletto's the one!
Sunday 21 September, 2008
Milan general manager Adriano Galliani blasted the naysayers who wanted Carlo Ancelotti sacked. “You need patience in sport.”

The Coach was under fire after two straight defeats, but following crisis talks he was confirmed and notched up back-to-back wins over Zurich and Lazio.

“We all kept a cool head and understood this terrible period had to come to an end.

“Can you imagine if we had hired a new Coach who then beat Zurich and Lazio, then everyone would've said it was Ancelotti's fault and this new guy was a genius!

“You need patience in football. This is Ancelotti's eighth season with us and we are sticking with him.”

The 4-1 victory over Lazio saw Kaka support Alexandre Pato and Marco Borriello, with Clarence Seedorf, Gennaro Gattuso and Massimo Ambrosini in midfield.

“We are very happy, as not only did we win, but we did so convincingly,” grinned Galliani.

“I find this is a very organised side and this is the tactical system we should adopt. The players can rotate, but the tactics suit the squad and we should stick with them.

“Ronaldinho can do very well either out wide or as a support striker. Kaka is our prime trequartista, no doubt about it.”

“I must praise Borriello, as I have never seen a Milan centre-forward run all the way back to defend against a potential Lazio goal.

“The only negative aspect of the night is that I just saw Gattuso and he has pain, the hand has swollen up again. We have to do more tests and see how that is progressing.”

The midfielder was making his comeback with the aid of a special protective cast after suffering multiple fractures to his hand and wrist when falling into the dug-out during an Italy friendly test.

Meanwhile, President Silvio Berlusconi also had words of praise for Ancelotti and his squad.

“I was disappointed by the Milan of the first two games, but this is the real Milan we had been expecting for years,” said the patron.

“Football is often a case of luck and in the previous two matches fortune did not smile on us.

“Ancelotti was a great player, he is a great Coach, a great friend and one of the family

Completely unnecessary to rush Gattuso back into the starting 11.

“The only negative aspect of the night is that I just saw Gattuso and he has pain, the hand has swollen up again. We have to do more tests and see how that is progressing.” -- Damn! Just when I was happy that Rino did a very good job this happens ..
"Completely unnecessary to rush Gattuso back into the starting 11" -- LOL I guess they think that just because he's Rino it means that he's ready all the time and an injury wont stop him, he's only human

Originally Posted by Mystik

Just like I predicted...see the bolded portion:



Completely unnecessary to rush Gattuso back into the starting 11.

I don't know about that; I think he contributed a lot today; much more than what he did last year.