Gornata 9: Chievo vs Milan, Sunday Oct 25, 2009

Nesta is a god among men. A legend.
Dida's save was godlike.

As for the rest of the team, it is far from good. We put in a lot of spirit and it paid off, and these good result will lead to a confidence boost and winning mentality (something Ciro Ferrara talked about with Juve). But in any case, we are improving.
For our next game we are going to need rotation, and I am uncertain if Pirlo or Seedorf should be swapped. Pirlo was very bad imho, he made that one nice cross and the corner (due also to Nestagol being completely unmarked), that is all. Seedorf at least ran and tried, but his shooting was pitiful tonight.

Both Pippo and Borrigol proved to deserve a starting spot over Huntelaar tonight. Sure, Hunter has played with zero service and still needs to fit in, but we cannot afford to let him "blend in" while the other two strikers contribute more. Borriello above all, actually. His physicality opens so much space for the other strikers.

Eh, had Pippo started it would have been the same. Pippo and Klaas are the same, they feed on scraps, but they play for themselves. Borri hurts to make space for the team. Its a huge difference. We needed Dzeko to do this, and also score goals.

Now the $64,000 question: should Nesta be rested against Napoli on Wednesday? Today was our third game in a week.

The 64,000$ answer: No way! The man is incredible and way too important. He can rest against Parma.

Pirlo was the one that whipped in both crosses that eventually led to Nesta's both goals, so I guess he was fine. But he wasn't at his best for sure, and I am more inclined to put him in the category of "underperforming". In that group, there were also Ronaldinho, Seedorf and Oddo.

Overall, we had a great second half, as everybody played their heart out. I am very proud of the spirit that we showed. Even if we didn't win today, I wouldn't be complaining much.

But have you realized that in three games in a row now, we have all had a very crappy first half and fantastic second half?

The next game, we play Napoli, which is a tougher opponent than Chievo. I hope that we can score first and win. Comeback is exciting to watch, but I don't want us to overdo it.

Oddo was pretty solid, his crossing is so hot-and-cold, actually, more like lukewarm-and-cold. Defensively, you can't fault him for much. Antonini impressed me, really, I'm sold. If I'm honest, I'd rather have Antonini left and Zambrotta right. Zambro is not only going through bad form, but its also weird how he's become a lot more dependent on his right foot. That has been his major weakness the last few weeks.

Huntelaar is not playing well, that's obvious. However, I don't think he'll be the next Gila. Well, maybe I hope he won't be, but Gila came into a Milan side that was at the top of its game. Huntelaar needs to be more physical, I don't see how he's supposed to adapt to the Prem if he finds Serie A difficult. I think we should be calm, I just remember a certain Hernan Crespo had a similar start to his Milan career, he didn't score at all, and I remember threads here questioning whether Crespo would score at all the entire season. Funny how that turned out. Poor performance, but, I'm not willing to write him off yet. Leonardo took him off because we needed to win, if Milan was winning 2-0 going into the second half, I'm sure Huntelaar would have stayed on to play the full 90.

I am perplexed at how people can say Ronaldinho was not good today. He opened up play, he gave perfect balls to Pato who couldn't control them. Yes, he lost the ball sometimes, but so does Pato, and all attacking players. I don't think he was tracking back as much as he has in previous games, but, he created a lot. Plus, Chievo's GK was in stunning form, and I'm sure he was as surprised as Dinho that he saved that late shot from Dinho.

If I had to give ratings, I'd say:

Dida - 8.0 His save alone warrants the rating, and I'm not sure he really could have saved the Chievo goal. I go back and forth, but it doesn't matter, pulled off a wonder save at the death. Chievo's GK was awesome as well, it has to be said.

Oddo - 6.5 He was solid defensively, and he even managed to get some useful crosses in the box. This was not exactly an old Oddo performance, but its good seeing him slowly come back. If he can return to being the Oddo when he first came to Milan, it would relieve tremendous amounts of pressure.

Thiago Silva - 6.5 Physically he is imposing, he has the pace to complement Nesta perfectly. Seems a little rusty though, and he all most did the same thing he did against Roma by getting skinned by Pellissier. A good outing, but I think he's slowly finding his form after his injury.

Nesta - 8.0 Like Milan, seemed a little disjointed to begin. Questions on the center of defense were raised following Chievo's goal, but afterward Nesta led by example. Pushing forward and scoring a brace, plus that amazing tackle to take the ball away from Pellisier in the box, is there a better defender in the world right now?

Antonini - 6.5 I was impressed. He pushed forward well, maybe a little more conservative than Oddo, but that's fine, he injected pace down the left hand side, and seemed to hook up with Ronaldinho very well. Should start next game.

Flamini - 7.0 He was not as good as he was at the end of last year, but Flamini seems is finally growing into his role. He really is Gattuso 2.0. He has pace, he has strength, commitment, and seems he can actually add to the attack. His earned the rating by covering for Oddo and the stress that Milan's 4-3-3 places on the midfield.

Pirlo - 6.5 He pushed forward, he put in the free-kick that led to the goal, and seems to have the confidence to shoot. He's not the Pirlo we are used to, but it seems since the Madrid game he is slowly coming back to what we remember.

Seedorf - 6.0 He worked really hard today. In our new 4-3-3, that's exactly what had to be done. Yes, he should have scored today. I am indifferent to Seedorf, but I do acknowledge that he put in tremendous amounts of effort today and is just second-guessing himself in front of goal, I know that he was thinking about the Roma game when he choked in front of goal. Plus, Chievo's GK saved very well on a late shot from him. It's okay, we won, and you have to acknowledge his workrate, no Slowdorf jokes today.

Ronaldinho - 7.0 I will start by saying quite clearly: he did not run that hard today. He ran his socks off against Roma, but this game he was working a little less hard. However, he tried less tricks, and when he did, they worked more often. He was a menace down Chievo's left and setup Pato superbly in the box, and Pato should have just shot. A miracle save was the only thing that kept him off the score sheet and I think this display was encouraging, it seems--even though its slow--Ronaldinho is finding his form.

Pato - 6.75 He, like Ronaldinho, was a terror for Chievo. He ran down the left for a great cross to Dinho, which was luckily (for Chievo) deflected out. He gets a 6.75 because he still needs to be a little smarter with the ball, but it doesn't matter because, again, we won. Not a big deal, just needs to pull the trigger sooner sometimes, but I'm glad he took a long-range shot today, which he should do more often.

Huntelaar - 4.5 A bad day for Huntelaar, no doubt. He doesn't know where to run, and does not hold his ground as well as he can. I still have hope for him, and I think he's going to take a lot more time to settle, which is hard considering the way our season has went. I hope he can slowly integrate like Flamini did last year.

Subs:

Boriello - 6.5 Wow, what an impact. It's not his running or his physical presence that was important today. He actually was a goal threat. He had a turn-and-shot that was just bundled away, and it was his header that hit the cross bar to give Nesta his first goal. He should start next game, he would benefit from Ronaldinho and Pato's invention greatly.

Inzaghi - 6.0 Unlucky not to get on the score sheet (another great save).

Zambrotta - 6.0 No fuss, came in and did a job.

Originally Posted by brk

Eh, had Pippo started it would have been the same. Pippo and Klaas are the same, they feed on scraps, but they play for themselves. Borri hurts to make space for the team. Its a huge difference. We needed Dzeko to do this, and also score goals.

I agree. Unfortunately, that makes our past summer mercato look even more stupid.

Who should be the MoM? Nesta or Sorrentino? I really can't decide. Not that it matters.

Originally Posted by nefremo

The 64,000$ answer: No way! The man is incredible and way too important. He can rest against Parma.

Well, the way he played today, he deserves to relax on the beach and sip pina coladas. Amazing.

Originally Posted by Xudong

Who should be the MoM? Nesta or Sorrentino? I really can't decide. Not that it matters.

MoTM is definitely Nesta. Sorrentino would be the logical choice had the match ended 1-0 or 1-1.

Originally Posted by Xudong

Who should be the MoM? Nesta or Sorrentino? I really can't decide. Not that it matters.

Nesta definitely.Without him,we can't even get a draw against Zurich.

Originally Posted by Rossoneri8

Nesta definitely.Without him,we can't even get a draw against Zurich.

Which makes me think.........We were so bad against Zurich the first time around, that not even Nesta could help us!!!

Originally Posted by nefremo

Which makes me think.........We were so bad against Zurich the first time around, that not even Nesta could help us!!!

I knew it,coz we didn't have TS as well

Samaldinho,

I agree about your comment on Ronaldinho. He did his job good today. As a matter of fact, my opinion is that he was one of the brighspots in the side for a while......untill we really pinned them back and everyone else upped their level as well.

But he did good. He linked up play really well and on more then a few times he switched up play beautifully to the right where he put Oddo in a position to be dangerous. Now.....Oddo never took advantage of those oportunities in the first half, and people quickly forget the work that Dinho did for the ball to get there in the first place. So to many......if there is no end product......it's as if it never happened. Same thing on the shot he had that was unbeliavably saved on the line by an olready 'laying down keeper'.

He also put in Pato clear on goal once (where Pato misscontroled the ball......it also happened in Madrid). Again....there was no end product, and many don't even mention it. All of a sudden it's down to "Dinho didn't do anything and he is in the lower level of performers". Yet if only one of those actions had an end product he would have been 'great'.

In my eyes, he had a good performance. Another step up the ladder and he just needs to keep moving in this direction. The only reason (I think) he was substituted was because we needed an extra body in the penalty area. We were finally getting through with the crosses and we needed an extra head and more traffic in the area.

i dont get all this hating on Huntelaar. the guy gets next to no service. Pippo isnt scoring at all either. and he missed a bunch of chances against Zurich.

This Oddo is playing better than Zambro stuff is crazy. Because Zambro was once the best in the world, ppl expect him to be that forever. he is still solid, just not world class. Oddo is playing good for him, but he is not as good. there are just no expectations for him.

I wanna try starting Borriello behind Pato and Huntelaar. he would be a good linkup guy between the midfield and the attack

http://goal.com/en/news/10/italy/200...nds-under-fire

So apparently we will continue with this somewhat classic 4-3-3 judging from Galiani's comments and also Nesta's (where he says that "some players in our squad were born to attack so others must compensate in order to get the best out of everyone").
From Galli's interview, he will apparently look for Pato and Dinho's subs (wide attackers/wingers).