Banter 2009/2010

I'm really very worried that Milan will lose Leo come seasons end. Huge loss, we will not find as good a coach as Leo soon. His personality is what distinguishes him from everyone...he is so strong, and when we were worried that he was only hired to do as he was told, it turned out to be the complete opposite...now they want him out cause he isn't listening them.

The day we lose Leo will be a similar day like the one we lost Albertini and Maldini..because if he goes, he isn't coming back.

Hitmannq8, speaking about Paolo football-italia said that Galliani in panic of having only T Silva as a reliable CB has asked Paolo if he felt "like participating in title challenge".

Great news isn't it? Let's ask Marco to make a comeback too and Silvio won't be whining about lack of goals anymore

Nalx is that true??? still better than favallinho but thats sad , how old is Simone maybe can form a formidable attack with Marco Van the man Basten.

Good idea Jay, Simone is right in his prime now. According to B&G's way of thinking, that is. Fortunately though Paolo wasn't that stupid and rejected the offer. Besides I don't know how he can just put on his boots and play. He's not in the players list remember?

Originally Posted by Jay Crisp

Some players get in each other's way or don't like each other , but Kaka and Dinho just doesn't work doesn't matter who the coach is. Revolver I think you are being harsh on Leo he has done well last summer 85% of people thought we would finish in a Europa league at best but alas we are in 3rd 4 points off top with 5 games to go , when questioning Leo you really have to look at the squad , Abate , Antonini , Bonera , Ambro are ordinary and Pirlo Seedorf are not what they were , Borri and Hunter are okay but not world class Pippo is gone Flamini doesn't offer much going forward , Silva and Nesta are defender's that leaves Pato and Dinho , Dinho is a LW/LF thats where he plays and he is our most creative player you play to your strenghts it would be pointless playing different formations just for the sake of it....If Leo had Barca or Madrids or Inter's squads them Im sure he could be versatile but he has 2 great players going forward and 2 sometimes great the rest are defenders so when you say he isn't good and hasn't been and Carlo was just as good last year , its different teams....I know you think Leo will be good-great but if we back him then he will be great for us.

Look, I agree, Leo did a good job this year, great if you want, I'm not worried about results, I'm worried because we didn't solved any of our problems. We didn't fixed even ONE position this season. This season's Milan is Ronaldinho + 10, if Ronaldinho doesn't play well - there's no Milan. Furthermore, I don't have anything against Leo, I even like the guy, but I have something against his system. He tends to play pressure play, where there's no real pressure, he has idea, but he doesn't have knowledge to make that idea work, AND he doesn't have players for pressure play. The problem is, he doesn't give up from his imagined system, even if it's clear that, for example, high defense without Nesta simply doesn't work. Mourinho, for example, likes to play with wingers, he tried that at Inter, it didn't work, so he made a system that's suitable for Inter and for Italian football in general.

The thing that worrys me most about Leo going isnt the fact we are coachless, its the fact he probably wont take his old job back and Leo is the reason we have got most of the decent players in our squad over the years as we all know.

There's a lot of debate of late surrounding Leo. First and foremost I think we need to keep Leo, as I think he's a got a clear project in mind, something which doesn't seem to have been the case at the club for a number of years.

For me his tactics aren't in question. He's experimented with at least 4 different systems this year (4-3-1-2, 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-3-2-1) to try and utilize most players in the best way. Pirlo and Dinho are probably the two biggest improvements this year as they look the best they have in years. However, they aren't the only two. Borriello was questionable at the start of the season, but Leo has got the best from him. Ambro and Flamini seem to have developed their games under Leo (particularly the latter). Pato is one of the most debated players, but I think Leo's got ideas on how best to use him which I will go into more detail later.

Arguably the biggest success stories are Thiago, Abate and Antonini. Thiago was hugely talented but very raw when he joined Milan. Now he looks much more polished and he's become extremely reliable. Abate was considered a one dimensional player early on, yet he's shown himself to be an able (if still error prone) RB, and his contribution this season shouldn't be ignored. Antonini was a very average squad player before this season. However, right now he's one of Italy's finest FBs and invaluable to the side. The reality is Leo has gotten more than pretty much anyone expected from the squad.

I think Leo needs to be given the time and the resources he needs to carry out his project. He said from the start he wants a quick, technical side with a lot of movement and the whole team attacking and defending together. However, the only quality that our players possess from that list is that they're technically good. Leo's situation is worse than Sacchi's back in the 80s in this respect. Sacchi had very clear ideas on how he wants football to be played (like Leo does now) and he was given the world's best players at his disposal to achieve his goal. That said, in the early days Sacchi struggled badly at Milan and it required patience to get results. Leo doesn't have the resources Sacchi did, nor is Berlu giving him the patience and space required to try and get results. It would be unfair to Leo to let him go now when he's done really well with a weak squad in the most competitive Serie A of the last 3 years.

Personally, I think there are areas that Leo can improve in his system for next season. The key is to get the team to work as a unit together all the time. Too often the attackers don't help defensively and the deeper midfielders don't push forward to support the attack. However, this has been a problem for years and I think it's mostly due to the personnel than the system.

The other area I'd like to see improvement in is the movement within the team. When we attack we're often very rigid with Dinho glued to the left, Pato (or his replacement) on the right and the players generally not straying too far from their positions. I would love to see more fluidity within the side, as Dinho when he has cut in centrally during matches has often been very effective. Players like Flamini and Ambro also have the ability to push up and it would be good to see them running from deep into the opposition penalty area more often. Ambro is very good at exposing open channels into the penalty area from deep and I think Flamini can do the same.

This leads me onto another debate of late which is Pato's position. I originally thought using Pato out wide was a waste, which it is depending on how you use him. If he doesn't move much then he will not be close enough to goal to be effective. However, I am sure Leo wants him to come in and attack opponents a lot as a second striker, as Leo in preseason blasted Borriello for not doing this when starting out wide. Pato's technical ability is out of this world and his instinct on the ball is uncomparable. With tactical maturity (and he's already got good positional instinct), he has the ability to play a free role starting from the right, much like how Messi does in Barca. If Leo can get him to do this then we will really see the best of Pato imo.

For me Leo has great ideas and can be a great coach if he is given time and resources required to do good things. I can't understand why people would want to replace him as he's achieved more than expected, and I consider the idea absurb if I'm honest. He's earnt a great deal of respect amongst journalists, fans, the players and peers, as Sacchi, Zaccheroni and Ancelotti have both spoken very highly of him (with the former, who is often a tough critic, saying Leo is on the verge of creating a masterpiece).

Its a player problem if he had this team in 2003 then great but he doesn't , snd there isn't any real option except play through Dinho .He needs new players maybe as many a 8 and build his own team ...But the system isnt perfect but a flat 4-4-2 won't work wing backs won't work but MGT are happy so what can we do.

Today's a big day in calciopoli 2. You can find live updates on goal.com...

http://www.goal.com/en/live-update/1...oli-trial-live

Don't compare Leo with Sacchi, please, yes they both have ideas, but Sacchi had KNOWLEDGE to make that ideas work. And don't be ridiculous that he had the best players in the world, the truth is he didn't have ONE WC midfielder in his first season at Milan, Ancelotti, Donadoni, Colombo, Evani, all good players, but none was WC at the time. Sacchi had some problems at the beginning, but that was because players struggled with his extraordinary demands.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy...moggis-defence
oficial inter is involved in calcopoli

Brasiliero,


Any chance Ganso moves this summer? I know he likes Milan and Barca and I think if Milan showed interest he'd try to leave like Robinho and others did on lower fee. I really like him for Serie A.

Also was he hurt lat weekend? I was dissapointed i didn't get to see him. Though Nemar, wow that kid, you don't need to be a scout to see assuming he stays injury free, he's a star.

ciao ciao inter

Originally Posted by Revolver

Don't compare Leo with Sacchi, please, yes they both have ideas, but Sacchi had KNOWLEDGE to make that ideas work. And don't be ridiculous that he had the best players in the world, the truth is he didn't have ONE WC midfielder in his first season at Milan, Ancelotti, Donadoni, Colombo, Evani, all good players, but none was WC at the time. Sacchi had some problems at the beginning, but that was because players struggled with his extraordinary demands.

What knowledge are you referring to when you say that Sacchi had the knowledge that Leonardo doesn't? Also what evidence do you have to even backup that argument? If your argument is your questioning of Leo's decisions during this season then quite frankly, Sacchi was just as heavily debated through his coaching career, most famously during World Cup 1994. Leonardo has always shown a good understanding of the sport through his career (while he was playing and post playing) and his intelligence is considered one of his most valuable qualities. He's also one of the most experienced professionals out there as he's played all over the world with various ideas of the game. Finally, you just need to watch him as a pundit to see how well he knows the game. I've said this before, but when he was a pundit for the BBC he would often comment on things which other pundits didn't even see.

I'm sorry, but to say Sacchi's midfield wasn't world class at that time is somewhat of a joke. Donadoni was one of Italy's top prospects, Ancelotti was a top level DM and the others you mention were very good players. Right now, our midfield is no where near as good as that midfield lineup, especially given our lineup contains mostly players past their best whilst back then the players were nearing their peak. In addition, Sacchi had Baresi, Maldini, Van Basten and Gullit (just to name a few) available too.

Players did struggle with Sacchi's extraordinary demands (but they were capable of meeting them) and that's why they struggled in the early part. My point was Sacchi needed patience and he got it. Leo on the other hand has a group of players who can't meet his demands and until now has had to put up with frequent and unfair criticism.

I don't think the criticism is unfair. A little more than necessary maybe, but certainly not unfair. In the fickle world of football, somebody has to take the most blame if the team isn't performing well. That person is the coach. Besides, the bulk of the criticism is constructive.