MILAN vs napoli

Any news on the extent of Pato's injury? How long will he be out for?

Out until the doctors at Milan are out.

So Milan did not beat Napoli, and still 1 pt down from Inter. It is not the end of the season, folks. Still a lot of games left and a lot can still happen. I mean, what if Milan won last night and ahead of Inter by 1 pt, then start dropping points and finish second or third. Point is, it really does not matter unless MIlan finish at the top in the end. Even if MIlan did not win the league, it won't be b/c of this Napoli game, it will be more about the derbies, or the points Milan dropped in the beginning of the season against Livorno, Udinese, Atalanta, Bari, Palermo....

Back to the match, I thought it was a great game by both sides, as both sides had chances to win the match. Oddo was just horrible and thanks god for Flamini, he must at least had 2-3 game saving tackles. An interesting note, I think Pippo actually had more tackles won than both Seedorf and Dinho combined last night-pretty interesting fact.

Also, pls stop these Milan win=Invincible while a Milan lost=relegation thing, it is pretty annoying after all these months.

Originally Posted by Aficio

Come on, man, don't be so harsh!

The team did their best. Oddo was a catastrophe, but that's his ability, he couldn't do better.

We played without 4 first team players: Nesta, Pato, Antonini, Abate.
Imagine Inter without Samuel, Maicon, Zanetti & Millito, they'll lose miserably. Regardless how deep their squad is, there are some irreplacable players.

Actually we were without six first team players: Nesta, Pato, Antonini, Abate, Borriello and Ambrosini. Add Bonera, Beckham and Onyewu to that list, and you have an injury decimated Milan.

All things considered, I think we did well against Napoli, although we struggled a lot in the first half. In the second half we took full command of the game though, and probably should have won it. That's pretty impressive considering the aforementioned injury situation.

Hopefully we'll have Antonini, Abate, Borriello and Ambrosini back against Parma on Wednesday. I dunno what's going on with Pato, but I'm not counting on him playing either of our two matches this week. Mancini did well enough yesterday though, and showed that he is a decent replacement for the Duck.

Originally Posted by Blacktop

Gosh, Abi's been playing like sh-t since Man U. Remind me again why people think he's the cat's pajamas (besides the fact that people hate Dida's guts)?

Abbiati played like sh!t against Man U, true, but not since then. He had a decent game today. The goal conceded was absolutely not his fault (stupid Oddo); he did make a Dida-style mistake when he tried to punch the ball away, but later made a huge Buffon-style save to secure our 1 point.

You know, sometimes I can't help wondering maybe we could have had a chance against Man U if we played Dida, considering the crazy pattern (one horrific followd by one terrific) that Dida had shown in the past years in the CL. This Milan is worse than the one in 2007, but we were not good at all either back then. So you never know.

But realistically, I think Dida is history and should be history. He isn't as old as van der Sar, but his inconsistency has caused too much restiveness and it is not a sign of a reliable goalkeeper that Milan needs. Perhaps Abbiati isn't good enough, but in my opinion, he is already better than Dida.

Time to let go and move on, girl!

Originally Posted by Jeff

Out until the doctors at Milan are out.

Good one. Though I wish I could laugh.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Out until the doctors at Milan are out.

beside our squad needs so called 'the clearance' , I guess our famous MilanLab needs that too .. I just cant believe the head of the lab didnt dare to have the final say on whether a player is qualified to play or not to play, (despite, maybe he was pressurised by his Boss - in this case B&G maybe?)

If the team (assuming the same team) , could come up with the 'teeth-tale story' (problem with the teeth that could ultimately impact someone's performance), I guess the same team is so much aware of those consequences when you 'force' someone to play when he's not fit.. as it wont be as complicated as the teeth problem

it's just heart-breaking to see a 20 yo kid being 'forced' to play when he is probably not fully recovered yet and limped off after 15 min.. he still has great future ahead & still developing right now!..it's just not right me think.

For all those who feel disappointed just as i am at not having toped the table, please walk down memory lane and consider our perfomance at the start of the season, maybe that would bring a smile on our faces. Its a bittersweet feeling, nevetherless with our limited resources Leo s done a fantastic job to keep us in the title race.

But what confuses me is that when u have someone like Flamini who played brilliantly yesterday, why not use him often. Pippo may have lost his legs but he s always hungry to score. He gives in that extra bit. Maybe he cannot run the entire 90 mins, but i think he deserves some playing time.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Terrible week for Juventus: drawing against Siena at home (after leading 3-0), being humiliated in Fulham and now losing against a direct opponent ...

i actually feel sorry for them... they made decent investments during summer, but the results aren't coming...

anyway, Juve must return to top form in order to rejuvenate the strength of Serie A

If AC Milan doesn't win the Scudetto this year, the ONE person to be blamed in Leonardo. His pathetic team selection, utter crap game plan, absolute zero degree motivation, lack of innovation & guts, stupid substitutions & above all involving his personal matters with H11 in AC Milan matters. When Pato got injured again, H11 should have been on the field, instead he opts for an absolute flop and washed up players, just becaue he is his compatriot.

Plus now I will be supportting Holland for the first time in my life in the upcoming world cup & specially against Italy & Brazil

I thought Hunter was suffering from a fever last night, thus NOT 100%.

Guys, I don't see how you can say that Abbiatti made a terrible game against Man U when there was obviously no defense, no midfield and no attack ? Even Buffon in his best days can't do miracles with such a bad game from all his partners ...

Anyway, about Pato, Leonardo said he has no idea about what happened ...
He said that Pato trained during all the week and didn't have any pain (+ made physical training and didn't have pain at all), and suddenly, after 10 minutes on the pitch, he asked to be replaced. He wants the situation to be cleared.

Guys, MOI is 100% right. The result isn't worrying, that attitude is. Inter has a tougher schedule, they're playing in CL, he's right when he says that this title race has Milan name all over it, and still we can't beat Napoli at home.

Don't tell me we were without important players, the only absence was Pato from 10th minute, Antonini was introduced later, Flamini was best player on the pitch it seems (which cancels Ambrosini), Abate isn't starter anyway, and Borriello wouldn't start also. With this team we should beat a team like Napoli.

If we can't, how the hell we are supposed to beat Juventus and Fiorentina in the end? It will be very tough, because both will need points to enter top 4.

All I see here is that we count on worst possible Inter's displays until the end and best possible situation with our squad's fitness, and it should be all opposite.

I remember 98/99 season, when the same pathetic team got a chance to win the title in the end, everyone could see their determination and will to win it, and they did it with 7 wins in last 7 games. Unfortunately I don't see that determination and will now, it seems that our team isn't willing to fight and as they're satisfied with second place.

We can with this title, but only if BIG change in mentality of our team happens, rather sooner than latter.

Originally Posted by Revolver

Don't tell me we were without important players, the only absence was Pato from 10th minute

lol... how about Nesta? With Favalli and Oddo in the back line we had to be extra careful while going forward. If we didn't do that it could easily become a replay of the ManU game with a 0-3 after the final whistle.

I don't even know how to argue with you guys anymore. I hope we win the Scudetto so I can hear your pathetic excuses about how this "shtty team" managed to do it.

If you want an easy life with easy victories today - become a Barca fan. Unfortunately the truth of life is that even top teams lose important teams quiet often. Latest example: Chelsea (both domestic and CL)

I thought that Milan looked good today, despite not being able to call on key players....we don't have strength in depth this season, so losing important players is going to affect the club's performance.

Its unfortunate that many of us tend not to appreciate the miracle Leo has worked with the little he has....I thought we would be relegation bound this season, and here we are, a point away from Inter....

Sad that Pato's problem is unresolved, and its clear that as good as Pippo is, and as much as he runs, that physical presence in the box is severely missed when Boriello is out.

Flamini played will in the defensive phase, though not so offensively....Seedorf was good in spurts, and Mancini not good enough.

Oddo....sigh.

FORZA MIIIILAN! FORZA LEO! Let's try to win this scudetto....