A.C. MILAN vs INTER 28/08/09

Oh the old sucject, who is THE club in Milano? The one that was created out of AC Milan's rebelions or the Milano calcio club - AC Milan

The answer lies in trophys my friends

Monday 29 September, 2008
Blog: Run of the Mil
The first derby of the new era went to Milan and James Sugrue thinks we might be about to see something special at San Siro



The Milan derby is always a special game, but Sunday's edition had an extra touch of spice thanks to the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Inter and the Rossoneri's new-look side after Carlo Ancelotti and Adriano Galliani's summer rebuilding. With both teams looking to start a new era in style, the Madonnina showdown meant a lot more than just three points.

The fact that Mourinho's forceful and determined side failed to keep their undefeated record intact was fairly surprising, even if the Portuguese tactician's outraged response in the post-match Press conference wasn't. A far bigger shock was Ancelotti's decision to try again with his Brazilian attacking trident of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato. However, without doubt the most surprising thing about the whole game was that it worked so well this time!

While on paper that is a devastating trio of Samba flair, we have all seen how much trouble Milan's players have fitting into that 4-3-2-1 system. The Carletto Christmas tree had seemed destined to become one of those plans that was devastating on paper but confused and aimless on the pitch, drawing inevitable comparisons with the similar problems Real Madrid struggled with during their 'Galactico' era.

So kudos to Carlo, he made a very brave decision to give it another go in such a high-pressure environment and it was a big success. I haven't always been the Rossoneri boss' biggest supporter, but he certainly came up with the goods this time. The link-up play between Kaka and Ronaldinho flowed quickly and fluently while Pato's pace gave the likes of Marco Materazzi a torrid time throughout. If they continue to gel then we could be witnessing the start of something very good indeed.

The success of the Selecao trident wasn't the only promising sign to come out of the derby victory either. By changing from the 4-3-1-2 that had dispatched early pace setters Lazio to the aforementioned 4-3-2-1, via an attempt at 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2, it seems that Milan may finally be learning the versatility that they have missed so badly in recent seasons. They had become far too predictable and their over-reliance on Kaka and Andrea Pirlo was bordering on the embarrassing.

That made it easy for opponents to nullify the Rossoneri, but it now appears as though they are capable of switching tactics depending on the individual teams they face and the circumstances surrounding the match. That is a vital attribute for any side hoping to win silverware and could make all the difference if Ancelotti and his players are in the hunt for glory come the difficult and tiring final months of the Serie A campaign.

Source: http://www.channel4.com/sport/footba...logs/js14.html

Originally Posted by Karim

brk, take it from an Inter fan who was watching the game, we werent attacking at all, Maldini defied my logic and played the match of the season, cutting off Ibra totally. Quaresma needs time to grow he slowly was growing into the game but again he was far too weak when in possession and lost t easily, Mancio wasnt at his best but I would have prefered him over Quaresma to stay in the game.

Milan had the better hand in the midfield, Cambiasso was playing alone with no support what so ever from Vieira, while Zanetti had his hands full because of the continious runs down the flank near the right hand side, with Ronaldinho and Kaka exchanging passes there, Vieira needs to be offloaded.

Burdisso over Cordoba? Really Mourinho?, I expected better, Adri was a monster, I think he has a few more pounds on him, but was a beast and almost scored twice.

In the end, I think Milan were better, you dominated, we were bad congrates Milanistas, but there are more derbies to come

You have too much class to be a fan of Inter, you should consider switching club to support.

I am disgusted by all the sore losers of inter, the manager and all the players. Simply won't admit they sux in the game.

Originally Posted by Karim

Yesterday was YOUR day, not ours

we kefaya keda ana sayem

Happy Eid

Whats up with Mourinho's comments about Milan fans being racist ?
What a bad loser!
I cant believe i'm saying this but i think Mancini was a better choice for them than Mou !

Originally Posted by Bender

Happy Eid

Whats up with Mourinho's comments about Milan fans being racist ?
What a bad loser!
I cant believe i'm saying this but i think Mancini was a better choice for them than Mou !

Actually he was complaining about some Milan fans insulting Materazzi, and saying that abuse like that should be punished just like racial taunting is. He is, though, an incredibly sore loser.

Okay, a couple of points:

1. Milan did deserve the win. I'm happy we won, but it wasn't an incredible performance. Like Mourinho said, it was a pragmatic and smart performance. Ancelotti did well.

2. What I was railing against here was not the fact that we didn't deserve to win, but that some kids here are too emotional. Too quick to condemn or embrace. You need to learn to have some restraint and not resort to hyperbole. I'm guilty of that sometimes, but at least I know when i'm indulging myself in it and not care.

3. I know 12 year old children that I can call mature and level headed. I know 30 year old men that I call kids to their face.

4. You will still see the dreaded Emerson substitution. The reason why Bonera was used last time was that Inter had 3 tall, powerful center forwards; Cruz, Adriano and Ibra. If Kaladze and Maldini man marked one of them for a cross, the third is always free, or being covered by the shorter Zambro or Janku. It was too risky, and he needed another tall CB. No other team plays with 3 tall, dedicated center forwards, and so you won't see that substitution again.

5. Inter were the away team, and they were playing counter attack. It was a smart move, and would have been hailed as genius had they scored first. I never said they had possession, but they were always dangerous. One cross, one header, or one free kick and they would have scored. They had PLENTY of those. In the first half alone, they had at least 6 dangerous free kicks. Mourinho wanted those free kicks, and Mancini and Quaresma obviously went looking for them. We're lucky they didn't score.

6. Maldini. I won't judge him by using the caveat of his age to handicap his performance. He's old. That affects his performance. He's the best 40 year old footballer there is, but he's still old. Don't let nostalgic longings cloud your judgment.

Originally Posted by brk

6. Maldini. I won't judge him by using the caveat of his age to handicap his performance. He's old. That affects his performance. He's the best 40 year old footballer there is, but he's still old. Don't let nostalgic longings cloud your judgment.

I pretty much agree with most of your points except the one above.

I think it's equally plausible to say that your judgment is indeed based on his age. Because otherwise the topic of discussion should be whether he performed well or not. But instead your argument, paradoxically, points to the same level: he is still old, and that affects his performane.

Judging just from the game against Inter, I don't think he made any glaring mistakes that any (young, if you will) defenders WON"T make. Equally possible, other (young, if you will) defenders may well make mistakes that Maldini did not make.

Is Maldini still on his prime like he is 10yrs ago? No way; saying so will be 'letting nostalagic longings cloud your judgment'. Is he without fault? No. Is his age catching up with his performance? Yes.

Did he play FANTASTIC against inter? No.

Did he do enough to stop Ibra yestserday? Hell yes, and there are not many defenders who can do that.

Maldini may not be able to play week-in week-out, but if he can play every 2 weeks with such a high level of consistency, technique, and grit, then why not?

Don't let nostalgic longings cloud your judgment, but don't let his age cloud what he did perform, at least for yesterday's performance against Inter Milan.

Originally Posted by Bender

My main reason for registering is the fact that only a few mentioned how Milan started to play marvelously after Pirlos absence ! I think this is BIG, IMO he is a shadow of himself, his magic disappeared and his passes became random, I'm a big fan of him dont get me wrong, but he has to develop, he became predictable.

Welcome to MM and thanks for bringing this up. I actually had a conversation about this with a friend outside of the forum, and had never wrote it here, but you're right. And it's not that Pirlo is not needed, but he definetely needed a "vacation" even if at the expense of this injury... it's been 6 years that he nearly played every single match with Milan and Italy's NT... I'm sure he was not just physically tired (and the injury might be a reflection of that) but also mentally exhausted...

This absence will allow him to refresh his ideas, and also allow Milan to find new ways, like this surprise of Seedorf in his role, when we all expected Flamini, Emerson, or move Rino there...

Milan deserved to win - the defense was world class and deserved a clean sheet. Ambro and Gattuso worked their arse off and Maldini didn't put a foot wrong all night (not a surprise).

One of my friends was at the "curva" for the match and wrote a recap on the blog in our signature. He gives some insight into the compliments given to Materazzi's mother

Originally Posted by Jeff

Good to see you here, Bender.

I disagree about the Pirlo part. Seedorf can play as DMC in one game or so like he did, but Pirlo is much better and experienced in that role. I bet if you count how many assists he created for assist (i.e., he passed to the assist who then assisted the goal), he'll be on top.

Cheers - J

Thank you..
About Pirlo, he is much better at that position than Seedorf and he sure controls the game, but the thing that annoys me most about his recent games is the poor body balance of him, he looses every 1on1 ball and thats why he plays deep to get away from the opposition DM's, and now most teams know how to shut him down.

Originally Posted by SANT

Welcome to MM and thanks for bringing this up. I actually had a conversation about this with a friend outside of the forum, and had never wrote it here, but you're right. And it's not that Pirlo is not needed, but he definetely needed a "vacation" even if at the expense of this injury... it's been 6 years that he nearly played every single match with Milan and Italy's NT... I'm sure he was not just physically tired (and the injury might be a reflection of that) but also mentally exhausted...

This absence will allow him to refresh his ideas, and also allow Milan to find new ways, like this surprise of Seedorf in his role, when we all expected Flamini, Emerson, or move Rino there...

Thank you too
Yeah Pirlo pretty much played every Milan game in the past years and at some point he was irreplaceable, being carletto's most important player and i'm happy because he's having a vacation (thought because of injury) because this is the only way to let Caletto change his tactics and experiment on new formations as you said, this will give our opponents headache, because we're not so predictable anymore!
To be honest Seedorf surprised me with his MOM performance

Originally Posted by Jeff

Don't let nostalgic longings cloud your judgment, but don't let his age cloud what he did perform, at least for yesterday's performance against Inter Milan.

You have a point. Part of that was me playing devils advocate, but you're right. I love our legendary quadragenarian. I just don't want him to be in a position where the Carlo feels compelled to pick him, and he can't perform. I guess the Inter game proved he still has it. He wasn't fantastic, but he was our best defender.

Originally Posted by Karim

Yesterday was YOUR day, not ours

we kefaya keda ana sayem

and the past three years have been yours because of the calciopoli...now things will return to normal, and so will Inter

oo 3eedik embarak


about Pirlo: he is the best in his position, he is so good there that he even made that position be named after him such as the 'Pirlo role'. However, the past three years his consistency in Milan has been so poor and it has harmed us, he has become sooo predictable and slow. I think this break will give him a much needed rest and he will come back better than ever. I think this Milan can be great, and I been saying that ever since the transfer campaign ended.

Originally Posted by Bender

To be honest Seedorf surprised me with his MOM performance

You know there are a couple ways to read this hehehe

Originally Posted by SANT

You know there are a couple ways to read this hehehe

I didnt see that coming hehe

Originally Posted by brk

You have a point. Part of that was me playing devils advocate, but you're right. I love our legendary quadragenarian. I just don't want him to be in a position where the Carlo feels compelled to pick him, and he can't perform. I guess the Inter game proved he still has it. He wasn't fantastic, but he was our best defender.

Oh rest assured; if Carlo is brave (yes, I mean that) enough to play Kaka` ahead of Rui when Kaka` just arrived; played Pato ahead of Gilardino (I mean, well, that's kind of obvious at that time), Favalli ahead of Antonelli (this is kind of weird), I don't think Carlo feels compelled to pick him.

In fact, i really don't think Carlo is forced to pick anyone, except perhaps the front attack (and then the board realized that they better not interfere...)

J