AC Milan - AEK Athens 13/09/2006 Champions League

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

I've read a few reviews of the game and they seem to suggest that we misplaced alot of passes and alot of moves broke down. I don't know if this is true or not, but it makes me think that we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. This was only AEK after all, widely recognised as one of the weakest teams in the competition, so i don't see this being a yardstick for the rest of our season. All it can be is an exercise into getting fitness and fluency.

A professional performance considering the circumstances i think.

hmm, tbh, those reviews seem pretty dodgy. I honestly saw a good Milan out there, fluid movement and playing at a decent pace, never losing control of the match. Honestly, there were few misplaced passes and I think these were no more than you'd get in any match.

The only real weakness I could see were AEK were at times almost being invited to cross from their right wing, but that was usually dealt with comfortably.

I think Kris' ratings were pretty fair (few disagreements from me), with the exception of Kaka, who I thought was tremendous (7.5 with Gourcuff for me). For me he played like a leader, and in the end, scoring and assisting a goal is enough for me

Originally Posted by Warro Bantan

Agree with all that you said above, but the above quote needed to be repeated....well said Dev!! Well said.

Donde esta el clube de doom & gloom?

lol, thanks, seems I've not been leaving you much to say lately

Im a biut late but I was studying for exams so...you'll forgive me

summary:
DIDA- as always, he is a great keeper. Had one clumsy knock with Favalli.
CAFU- visibly better than last year's Cafu, not as explsive as 2 or 3 years ago, but moves wery well and has great crosses in the box. good game!
SIMIC-as always, does his job.
MALDINI- our captain needs more time for his fitness, aldough he showed some class play (cross and some tackles), he lost many air duels, but im sure in few weeks he will be 100%. He is not there yet.
FAVALLI-had defansive duties, but its clear Jankulovski is our BEST LB, he just needs chance of few games. He can go forward,cross,pass and defend well. Better solution than Sergio and Favalli. Aldough we can use them also.
BROCCHI-great game, anothe one! he run more than Gattuso and tackled well! he is better after that Fiorentina season. Demanded me as Im always saying he cant play for Milan. But he proved he is truly usefull squad player.
GATTUSO-runs,makes fouls,screams and so on...good old Gennaro
KAKa'-Kaka is our magic boy, nothing more to say.
GOURCUFF- this man is perfect replacement for Seedorf's position. Next year, if things go ok, im sure he will be in starting lineup. His passes and vision are superb. He can move really well and defend as well. The best thing is that he follows the play untill the end, and after providing the pass to flank,he goes for the cross. Something we dont have with Seedorf. So he is one man more in or the box, like kaka'. Seedorf is now better, but wait... Gourcuff needs more strenght, more speed( he is not that fast as KAka' is, that is why I think we will use him in seedorfs position in the future) and tactical knowledge. he will get all of this in Milanello, and we have a great prospect in our hands. Good job mr. Cesare Maldini!
PIPPO= superpippo does it again,and again,and again....!!!
OLIVEIRA-im not soooo impressed. He did ok. He needs more time to adopt. His passes are good, his touch also. He will be a very good forward with kaka' and pippo, maybe even great. What I dont like is that he can be selfish, but im sure that will be solved soon. ( we are not Inter )

CARLo - well...bravo Carlo, I have to say. Apart from missing Janku becouse we needed third man in line with simic and Maldini, tactical linup was great. We rested Pirlo,Seedorf, Serginho, Nesta, Gila. And played with routine and calmness. Good game! NOW PARMA with the same stile and concentration.

I think Warro that you need not worry about the so called 'Doom & Gloom' brigade as you put it, but the ...

'Wow, we're going to win everything based on 2 games of the season and against poor European opposition we were expected to beat' brigade!

You might have your hands full bringing these people down to earth again

This was a normal result. A good win
Gourcuff has played very well. It was the first time that i've seen him play in MILANs shirt and he was very impressive
All that he does is perfect. He can replace either Pirlo ,Seedorf or Kaka
I am happy to see that Il Capitano still makes those croses perfectly as he used to do more often until few years ago

And another result that i did like very much lyon-real 2-0

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

You might have your hands full bringing these people down to earth again

But the pole doesn't move absolutely left (doom) or right (ideal) . It will always swing on both ends that goes at varying degrees. I don't think we reached a state of total bliss that needs checking. So I don't think Warro will be busy much. Let it be!

Originally Posted by arcy

I don't think we reached a state of total bliss that needs checking. So I don't think Warro will be busy much. Let it be!

You better tell that to all those people who think we're going to dominate the world after playing 1 CL game

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

You better tell that to all those people who think we're going to dominate the world after playing 1 CL game

Then I guess it’s all a matter of perception and expressiveness of elation from our win from yesterday. The feeling should settle down.

Originally Posted by arcy

Terrible terrible ... when will I see Gourcuff play?

Thanks everyone for the recap. Inzaghi has scored for every major game of Milan. And good to see Kaka get a share of goals. Good win and we've rested some of our players.

lol Real Madrid loses to Lyon again. Even last year they couldn't get a win against them.

Pippo is no doubt one of our important player and the way he celebrates his goal is an energetic show that he loves to help Milan winning the game.

Kaka has just announced that he would like to be the next Milan leader (or captain maybe) and thus make Ramon Calderon and Pedrag Mijatovic, those 2 bastardo of Real Madrid closed their big mouth for bringing Kaka to Madrid

This make me feel so happy with the above not to mention that all Milan players have given their shares to Milan's glories....the 2 new signings were also shine with Milan, Oliveira and Gourcuff...and even the old boy Brocchi....

Il Capitano Paolo Maldini...he's not 38 but 28 when he's on the pitch..who could deny his contribution and important role for more than 20 years with Milan..the next Grand Legend of Milan.

Il Grande Capitano! Stay for another 10 years at Milan! Retire at 58!

Originally Posted by rt9

3) Brocchi. People have been raving about Gourcuff. Yes, he had a great game, no doubt about it. But in my eyes, the true hero was Brocchi. He commanded the midfield, rarely made mistakes, made some great passes, and played his heart out. Outstanding performance. He looks a few classes above the player who sat on our bench a couple of years back. If he can play like this consistently, then he would be a fantastic acquisition

He has been my MOM for a couple of games now...I think Pirlo may have pipped him for the Lazio game(?)...but I do agree with rt9, that if he maintains this level with consistency, then, he will be invaluable to the team.

Unlike a lot of so-called European giants, we are showing that we have quality in depth.

Important when u r trying to win trophies in 3 competitions.


Attention: The Doom and Gloom club have officialy left the building!

Originally Posted by Warro Bantan

Important when u r trying to win trophies in 3 competitions.

well, make that 2 ... see, we don't stand a chance for the Coppa vs Inter ... plus we already robbed them from the TIM Cup

Originally Posted by warro

Unlike a lot of so-called European giants, we are showing that we have quality in depth.

Don't you think though that we had the easiest match out of whoever you class as the 'so-called European giants'?

Honestly, it is good that we won with style and convincingly. B/c against AEK, we better beat teams like that hands down. Lets just hope Milan will always beat small teams for the rest of the season

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Il Grande Capitano! Stay for another 10 years at Milan! Retire at 58!

)))

Did you mean at 68?

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

Don't you think though that we had the easiest match out of whoever you class as the 'so-called European giants'?

that's why we send in the reserves.