Juventus vs Milan 10/1, week 19

Originally Posted by Milan_Kaka

We raped the Old Lady

she begged for it...

OMG! The visibility for our third goal was terrible.... I could only see it in a slow-mo zoom in.

It was a very big match for both teams... in these games a lot of what is expected is thrown out the window... and it is hammered out on the field... i would accept this win with great joy even if we cheated....

Originally Posted by GeoTav

PS: Ambrosini didn't do the same performance as against Genoa unfortunately ... but Pirlo was superb.

I am sure it was Leo who asked him to focus on defense and not to push forward.

During this game, I saw two teams:

I saw an excellent team, full of self belief, in total harmony with their coach, and his tactics, and another team, bereft of ideas, lacking belief in themselves, their coach, and the system in which they were asked to play.

Ferrara´s time is numbered in hours IMO...he wont last much longer.

Leo´s star is on the rise, and if his players stay healthy, then I think he can work wonders.

Ladies and Gentlemen, now I beleive.

Only terrible luck, injury, or some other caprice of fate can prevent Leo from taking Milan back to the giddy heights to which we are grown accustomed.

Every Milan player was up for the game...mentally prepared to go to a stadium where we rarely win, and play our way (as best as the pitch, weather, persistent fouls and the ref would allow), and take 3 points, and 3 goals in a fixture we usually lose, or are glad to get a point in.

Dida: Had nothing to do, but did what was necessary.

Abate: Solid performance...made some exhausting runs (decoys in the end) that werent used to good enuf effect, and not a liability in defense

Antonini: Not as good as in other games, in the attack, but solid in defense...didnt connect well with R80 as in previous matches. Still put in a good shift.

Nesta and Silva: What can be said about this pairing that wont sound like effusive praise? Simply put, a text book performance in defending.

Ambro and Rino: Wonderful performance....everyone knows Rino´s not usually good for much in the attacking phase of the game, but his defensive contribution and grit, is oh most definately necessary, and contributed in no small part for this win. Ambro was limited offensively, but did enough, including a crunching tackle on Del Piero, to warrant praise, and displayed the leadership that Juve seemed to be lacking.

Flamini: Did his job. Didnt contribute much to the attack...and when in a postion to, wasnt given the ball by Boriello...

Pirlo: Suffered a bit as the ref wasnt protecting us, our players werent moving enough, and Juve seemed almost to be double teaming him...came into his own in the 2nd half, and his set piece delivery is still up there...and contirbuted to 2 goals with the corner kick that R80 converted, and the initial goal, by Nesta.

Beckham: Workmanlike performance...contributed big time to the nail in the coffin goal by R80....nothing spectacular, but showed his defensive qualities, and positioning sense. Good work out...nothing great, but nothing too bad, only one mistake that wasnt fatal in the end.

Ronaldiñho: Peripheral throughout most of the match, yet displayed the true mark of greatness, by being able to influence the outcome of the game in two moments of sheer class and brilliance..(though one was helped by luck...yet luck favors the brave...)

Boriello: He without whom the trident attack cannot properly function...a true giant....held posession, did what he had to do...even if he didnt score, a fundamental cog in the wheel of the Leo machine. Wasted an opportunity to give Flamini an assist, or at least create a better chance...but sobeit....it wasnt fatal.

Hunter: Again only brought in to kill time, and to be honest, I couldnt see much of his performance, due to the smoke filling the stadium....

We did what we had to do. We won ugly, and if Inter think they can stop us, let them watch the video of this game.

FORZA MILAN. Siempre Milan, Milan siempre.

Totally agree Warro. If this performance didn't make the doubters believe and the merda scared then they are simply ignorant of the fact that this Milan team is starting to function really well.

It was great to beat Genoa 5-2, and to totally dominate Sampdoria, and etc. However this was the type of match that we hadn't still won and that we hadn't still played. A closed up game full of fouls and stoppage of play. Long balls and physical challenges. NO SPACE on the field what so ever. Yet the team held their ground, held their shape and stayed compact throughout. Never gave Juventus a sniff at goal. These were the type of games that I wasn't sure this tactical set up of ours could handle. Most of the time in the previous victories we looked superb when going forward....yet our team looked separated. There seemed to be too much of a gap in the middle and WAAY TOO much space for the opponents in the midfield. We looked voulnerable because of that. But today (and also to an extent against Genoa) we have looked very very compact and solid. (I put much of that on the fact that Pirlo is comming back a lot to help out and Ambro and Gattuso cover too much ground......so I hope Seedorf will do the same as Pirlo yet be great in attack as well when he comes back)

So if we want to be in the mix of things in the CL and the Scudetto in April, then this is exactly what we have to see from the team. Compactness and the ability to come away from games like these with victories.

Something tells me that if we want to get rid of Manchester next month......this is exactly the type of game we will have to play.

Forza Milan....what a great day!!!

ALL HAIL MILAN!!!

Each time Milan and Real Madrid faced each other in CL, the winner was the one winning the confrontation (this year, us).
The last 4 times we beat Juventus in Torino, we won the championship.

Are we going to live an extraordinary year ?

Originally Posted by Revolver

Yes, it was the first time that Thiago tries his shot at Milan, I was wondering where his great shooting from distance disappeared when he joined us, because he scored some great free kicks and goals from distance back in Brazil.

But, you're hard on Salihamidzic, yes he's an *******, many people here in Bosnia don't like him, me included, but he just came back from long injury and he's their best player, scored two in the last two before tonight. Yet, when he was in Bayern he was one of the best right wing-backs in the world, he OWNED Roberto Carlos every time they clashed.

i actually never saw Thiago play before coming to Milan but from the way he took that shot it definitely showed it was not a one-time try and it is gr8 that u confirmed that.

on Salihamidzic, i'm sorry if i am attacking a bosnian player and i am not saying that he is not a good player, actually he is very effective, but he is the player i HATE most because he is the epitome of a DIRTY player, if u see all the challenges in yesterday's match (which is exactly the same type in all his games and not just a one time thing) you can see that they are all done with the intention to hurt the other player...

As for Ferrara, i also am sure that Leo sealed his fate yesterday and like we were discussing on some other thread, we got what we want: they kept him until we played them, we beat them, and now they will change him. i'm sorry for him actually because he is having to deal with soooo many injuries (Buffon, Camoranesi, Trezeguet, Iaquinta, Giovinco) and the drop of form of some of the player who were supposed to carry is team (Cannavaro, Melo, Diego, Amauri)....i'm not sure if any other coach could do better in these conditions....

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Each time Milan and Real Madrid faced each other in CL, the winner was the one winning the confrontation (this year, us).
The last 4 times we beat Juventus in Torino, we won the championship.

Are we going to live an extraordinary year ?

i totally love your observations man

Originally Posted by Xudong

I feel bad for Juventus. Really.

I don't. I feel bad for Siena next week

just stopped by to say hi to all the former pessimists on the forum.

the game was rather ... dull because both sides felt uncomfrotable, made many mistakes and gave away posession.

however, people who were hailing Juve's transfer campaign and were saying that we are doomed should reconsider. don't get me wrong, we still need reinforcements. but i think Juventus was too hasty with their transfer targets. Melo and Diego might be very good, but they were still unproven when Juventus brought them in. On the other hand Pato was a certain game winner back when we brought him. Both us and Juve need more transfers of Pato calibre.

and whoever said that he feels sorry for Juve - don't. Inter humiliated us. Juve beat Inter. We beat Juve. So it isn't the end of the world for any of the teams.

frankly, I think Juve fans are overreacting, just like we were at the beginning of the season. Juve needs time. ... And a new coach IMHO

Originally Posted by fLame

however, people who were hailing Juve's transfer campaign and were saying that we are doomed should reconsider. don't get me wrong, we still need reinforcements. but i think Juventus was too hasty with their transfer targets. Melo and Diego might be very good, but they were still unproven when Juventus brought them in. On the other hand Pato was a certain game winner back when we brought him. Both us and Juve need more transfers of Pato calibre.

Diego had won over the German during his years there. If I'm not mistaken he won the Bundesliga Player of the Season once. Melo has proved what he's capable of in Fiorentina and Brasil NT. So I don't know what more you expect to be called "proven" players.

I think they're just having the same situation Dinho had had last season. Showing glimpses of their capabilities quite early, only to fail on the latter and bigger part of the season. I think the key to Leo's success so far mainly is on resurrecting Dinho, something that Carletto failed to do. Though he's not the out-of-the-world player we used to watch in 2003-2006, he still can be very, very valuable to any team with his assists (mostly) and goals.

After the match last night Leo gave some kind words to Ciro. He said that "it sometimes doesn't take much, just that click to get something in place and it changes everything". It could be adjusting the tactics and/or changing coach. That's why I said I don't feel for them. Firstly, because despite the results they're still a very good team. Lastly, because their our archenemy, and we take advantage (rape, according to one member here) of our archenemy whenever the chance presents itself

Originally Posted by fLame

however, people who were hailing Juve's transfer campaign and were saying that we are doomed should reconsider. don't get me wrong, we still need reinforcements. but i think Juventus was too hasty with their transfer targets. Melo and Diego might be very good, but they were still unproven when Juventus brought them in. On the other hand Pato was a certain game winner back when we brought him. Both us and Juve need more transfers of Pato calibre.

Diego had won over the German during his years there. If I'm not mistaken he won the Bundesliga Player of the Season once. Melo has proved what he's capable of in Fiorentina and Brasil NT. So I don't know what more you expect to be called "proven" players.

I think they're just having the same situation Dinho had had last season. Showing glimpses of their capabilities quite early, only to fail on the latter and bigger part of the season. I think the key to Leo's success so far mainly is on resurrecting Dinho, something that Carletto failed to do. Though he's not the out-of-the-world player we used to watch in 2003-2006, he still can be very, very valuable to any team with his assists (mostly) and goals.

After the match last night Leo gave some kind words to Ciro. He said that "it sometimes doesn't take much, just that click to get something in place and it changes everything". It could be adjusting the tactics and/or changing coach. That's why I said I don't feel for them. Firstly, because despite the results they're still a very good team. Lastly, because their our archenemy, and it's mandatory to take advantage (rape, according to one member here) of our archenemy whenever the chance presents itself

A great result from what I'd describe as an efficient and hard fought performance. It was a dirty game (due to Juve) with many stoppages, so it wasn't likely many chances would come to either side. However, we were tough throughout, compact and controlled the game well. Juve were on one hand very disappointing for me as they played in a fashion that I'd expect a team like Catania to play, which is physical and getting men behind the ball. That said, given their problems I think they can't be blamed too much.

The first half wasn't too exciting. Some half chances for Juve were the most that happened beyond the goal. Otherwise there was a foul every few seconds it seemed and neither team was able to play cohesive football. That said, we maintained shape and gave away very little.

The second half was much more tranquil and controlled by us after a small flurry from Juve at the start of the half. We kept composure and saw out the match much like we might against a small team, which is about as much praise as I can give our performance. Dinho's first goal took advantage of Juve's defensive frailties at the near post on corners (much like Nesta's goal, something I bet we were aware of prior to the match). After that Juve were finished and third goal became an eventuality.

Players...

Dida - Had very little to do other than one save from a Del Piero freekick.
Abate - Solid in defence and made the odd run forward too. A sound performance which is all that was asked for.
Nesta - Majestic
Thiago - Majestic
Antonini - Solid at the back though didn't push up as he normally does. This isn't surprising as Juve's strength is in wide areas.
Gattuso - Not at his best but was solid and made a number of good tackles.
Ambro - Not as good as against Genoa, but still excellent. A solid linchpin in our midfield.
Pirlo - Supported in defence and spread the ball well, almost never giving the ball away. He was excellent and we cannot underestimate his contribution as he's become a focal point to our play.
Dinho - Relatively quiet but still scored 2 goals.
Beckham - Solid and reliable. Nothing great but did his duty.
Borriello - He doesn't always score against the top teams but his workrate and movement are really important to us.
Flamini - Did the same as Rino
Hunter - Couldn't see him through the smoke

We were good, without being spectacular. Sometimes we must win without playing our best and that's what we did. Leo's Milan are consistently getting better which is really positive and it'll be interesting to see what happens when Pato and Seedorf return as right now we've found the best balance we've had all season without them. Pato returning to the starting lineup is no problem for me, but Seedorf I would reconsider as Pirlo has been fantastic in his role of late.

Diego and Melo are excellent players who cannot play in chaos. Diego is a trequartista and Melo is not a playmaker who can pass 35m precise balls to Diego and Trezeguet/Amauri. It is like asking Gattuso to play what Pirlo does.

Oh, I forgot to comment n Thiago's passing!! This CB actually has passing range of Pirlo Sick player!! And we still havent seen him taking a free kick...