friendly summer games

Very good. The last thing we needed was another "high pressure" friendly in front of the worldwide media. Let Leo and co work in peace before the season starts!

Also happy to see it cancelled,ridiculous that we have to play at Madrid just a few days before the Inter derby,thats really pathetic setup from MGT,we have had enough friendlies,now the TIM CUP and Trofeo Berlu and were enough trained,i think the bad results arent because were not fit but overfit IMO,the players are exhausted....

not really pathetic, we play Siena on the 22nd of August and then Real Madrid on 25 and then Inter on the 30th.. Not bad at all if you ask me.. but yeah I guess we are already looking for excuses for next season's failure, already thinking that our players can't play every 3-4 days.... well we better get used to it, cause we are back in the CL and we're going to have a very hectic schedule in January/February.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

not really pathetic, we play Siena on the 22nd of August and then Real Madrid on 25 and then Inter on the 30th.. Not bad at all if you ask me.. but yeah I guess we are already looking for excuses for next season's failure, already thinking that our players can't play every 3-4 days.... well we better get used to it, cause we are back in the CL and we're going to have a very hectic schedule in January/February.

I can't understand that a team still plays friendlies when the championship is started (and by knowing we will have plenty games with CL) and when at the end of a WC season, players will all complain that they had too many games during this year ... (like each year wit an international competition).

You don't have to prepare once the championship is started but before, so the friendlies are for me useless once your season is started ...

Originally Posted by GeoTav

I can't understand that a team still plays friendlies when the championship is started (and by knowing we will have plenty games with CL) and when at the end of a WC season, players will all complain that they had too many games during this year ... (like each year wit an international competition).

You don't have to prepare once the championship is started but before, so the friendlies are for me useless once your season is started ...

Simple answer is money.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

Simple answer is money.

Just right. ALL IS ABOUT MONEY.

Exactly. It's all "commitments" just like the LA Galaxy game, that was our "commitment" as part of the David Beckham deal. I remember we had to play a game against Betis or someone is Spain when we got Oliveira as well. And then of course some of the Eastern European and Middle East friendlies last year....end of the day, it is the money that counts.

I wonder sometimes though whether training and playing high profile friendlies have an effect on the team over the course of the season. I mean our US tour was almost like a season game in terms of audience attendance, TV viewers, and overall pressure to play well and win. That might take a psychological toll on the players in the long run. It's amazing to see how everyone is complaining of tiredness when the season hasn't even started yet.

Originally Posted by rt9

Exactly. It's all "commitments" just like the LA Galaxy game, that was our "commitment" as part of the David Beckham deal. I remember we had to play a game against Betis or someone is Spain when we got Oliveira as well. And then of course some of the Eastern European and Middle East friendlies last year....end of the day, it is the money that counts.

I wonder sometimes though whether training and playing high profile friendlies have an effect on the team over the course of the season. I mean our US tour was almost like a season game in terms of audience attendance, TV viewers, and overall pressure to play well and win. That might take a psychological toll on the players in the long run. It's amazing to see how everyone is complaining of tiredness when the season hasn't even started yet.

I think it's normal players complain about tiredness ahead of the new season. When they return from holiday they're forced to train extremely hard (and in our case, play a stupid number of matches in a short period halfway across the world). When the new season starts, the intensive training eases off a little as players are near to the required fitness and simply need to remain fit for match days.

Yeah, I hear you Dev. But playing some training games under a closed environment or against serie C opposition can give the team the necessary breathing space to "ease" back into fitness, so to speak. And of course, it gives them the room to try new things and make mistakes----because in the end of the day, not many people will be witnessing it. Then come new season, everyone is ready for the scrutiny, pressure, big games, etc.

But, when you introduce high profile games in pre-season when players are not fit and are struggling to gel, there is immediate pressure on them. Imagine Nesta not chasing a ball in one of the US games, he would be torched by the media and fans, so instead of "taking it easy", he has to play his guts out. Likewise, Ronaldinho and all our other players. If they play too hard during pre-season---and really they have to, because when you play games against teams like Madrid, Chelsea, Inter, it is embarrassing to lose---it may take its toll during the season. It's sort of like you never really had a pre-season if you get me.

Either way, time will tell. I can't wait to see Huntelaar in action. I'm still waiting for our next top Dutch striker since Van Basten.

continuing on your point, mentally, they had no time to ease into it. Having TV scheduled matches and putting a useless trophy name on a friendly kind of forced them to get ready for a cup final game, so to speak. Yes we are in financial ruin blah blah blah but seriously, surely the pre season could of been prepared more low key.

rt9 has right,the only reason the team has to play this many friendlies in pre-season AND throughout the season is because of many,thats it.I remember Galliani saying last season when we were third and Fio and Genoa were closing in on us that we wouldnt play any friendlies anymore because we had to focus on finishing in top three,but when we were doing great and we leapfroged Juve and got second and everything was fine,we went to play friendlies again.

I mean if we're already a star team that has just won a trophy like Barcelona, then it's not such a big deal to play some high profile friendlies, as the team is more or less already gelled and clicking. But look at us---lost our best player, lost our captain, lost our coach, fans protesting, etc, etc....the last thing you want is for the media and the world for that matter, watching you try and get your act together after a summer of such dissarray. But then again, we are AC Milan, we are a big team, and this is what you get or rather the price you have to pay when you are big and well know. Let's hope the players and Leo have enough time to re-charge and get a system in place. I still have hopes that we will surprise a lot of people this season.

This is the squad for the TIM Cup tomorrow:

Storari, Roma,
Antonini, Favalli, Kaladze, Nesta, Onyewu, Oddo, Albertazzi
Abate, Flamini, Gattuso, Di Gennaro, Strasser, Ikande
Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Pato, Borriello, Ronaldinho, Zigoni, Oduamadi, Ikande, Scampini, Verdi.

A chance to get a look at Roma and Huntelaar.

Verdi was player of the tournament in the Torneo Internazionale di Villareal which our Primavera just took part in with Ajax, Celtic, Real Madrid and a Japanese Selection. He has only just turned 17 and was playing with the Allievi Nazionali last season (2 levels below Primavera) so he could be one to keep an eye on!!

Gaeta Marco 21

Verdi Simone 16

and he scored 16goals last season, topscorer was marco gaeta, a midfielder.

just some info

I think Gaeta scored 22 goals from the midfield..not 21..