Cagliari - Milan, 14th Giornata

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Us losing another game was inevitable. Im just curious to see how our management would react to this loss because since September, it was always luck, or the referee, or the post, or injuries that have made us lose. They never say 'its because we dont have a deep squad with alot of talent' or 'we dont have enough players'.

I think jeff was referring to you calling this a "loss" - we didn't lose, we drew today

From acmilan.com.
Carlo's comments:

We could have won the game and it could have finished in a different manner. We had our chances even when we were down to ten men so I am satisfied about that. The team played well and went ahead through Gilardino. Then, we were setting up the match to control the tempo and force Cagliari to open up more. But the penalty was non-exsistent and that changed things and made it more difficult, but the players did well to bounce back. Kaladze was elbowed by Suazo, thier penalty was uncalled for as was Pirlo's sending off, he wasn't trying to foul but was going for the ball. I expect Andrea to get only a one-game suspension, anymore than that would be a joke...

I liked the way we played with four in midfield, I am especially pleased with the way things went after the break. We were playing too many long balls in the first half but the midfielders did well in the second.

Borriello lent a big hand, he helped improve the long balls. He's playing more and will get more space to play. I think it was an important performance for him as it was for us. Brocchi had a bit of a back problem but I think he will recover quickly. Kalac played well and showed what he could do with some excellent and secure saves.

Even if the result only served in terms of the league position, I saw positive signs in the second half. We wanted to win, the team played well on a difficult ground even when they were down to ten men, we got back into the game so that is positive. Now it becomes important that we beat Torino, taking advantage of a positive home result after this away draw is what counts. It won't be easy on Sunday, Torino have won three in a row but we have to find our consistency.

Galliani's:

We have used the whole squad apart from Fiori this season, we have nine players injured which is incredible. It's been different in terms of results and play. We are eight or nine points off fourth place, our objective is to arrive in the top four.
Despite the dramas of this summer, we have gained 20 points, we should be fourth. We have to recuperate the eight points we were penalised. I am not going to say anything about the referees. Playing well in the Champions League and Italian Cup has lifted morale, we have qualified in both competitions. Now we have to finish in the top four in the league because it is unthinkable that Milan will not take part in the Champions League. Borriello has done well, that was a positive note today, he came on and changed the game.
(On Kalac) He's a good goalkeeper, obviously as with all goalkeepers he loses a bit of brilliance when he doesn't play regularly but we know what a good keeper he is and with consistency he has also found the performances. Kalac will hold his role until Dida is fit again.

After seeing the highlights, I'm not too sure about the penalty, see Pirlo's sending off as being quite harsh, and am shocked at how Borriello choose to try and volley a cross instead of controlling it. Maybe it came too quickly for him, but maybe we should try and forget about being a 'flashy' Milan side and just get the goals anyway possible.
By the way, where/when did we get him?

BTW, Seedorf can't really replace Kaka as CAM, I always thought Gorky would go there.

Originally Posted by NAMMY

After seeing the highlights, I'm not too sure about the penalty, see Pirlo's sending off as being quite harsh, and am shocked at how Borriello choose to try and volley a cross instead of controlling it.
By the way, where/when did we get him?

Marco Borriello (born on June 18, 1982 in Napoli, Italy) is an italian footballer who plays as a striker for AC Milan. He has previously played for other Italian clubs including Sampdoria, Treviso, Reggina, Empoli and Triestina.


His younger brother, Fabio Borriello, was also a professional footballer.

Serie A - 82 appearances, 10 goals
Serie C1 - 27 appearances, 10 goals
Serie C2 - 9 appearances, 1 goal
Total: 118 appearances, 22 goals

from wikipedia.com

It seems that we bought him from Treviso. According to wiki.

Thanks, I saw that earlier and thought maybe we bought him - but he is from the youth system, isn't he?

Borrielo is from our youth system, he was on loan to those other clubs.

I dont know why the heck we are giving Foggia on loan, he play very good. Very good player.

I just finished watching the replay. This is my two cents

Positives:

1-Yourcuff had a very good game-Milan man of the match IMHO. He switched flanks and linked up with Seedorf very well. He looked skillful and comfortable on the ball. He also did a tremendous amount of running today. Definitely a player for the future of Milan.

2-Kalac was solid today. Having seen Kalac in the past in matches for the Socceroos, i have always had doubts about Kalac, whether or not he deserves to don the Milan jersey. He proved me wrong in this match, pulling out top class saves when needed.

3-I think Pirlo looked fitter and his form improved today although he got a straight red. He was holding the midfield quite well. However, I still miss the penetrating killer passes, which he often threaded to sheva while lying deep. Probably, this is due to the facts that our current strikers do not possess the type of movents that Shev does to create the neccessary space for the passes.

Negatives:

1- Probably, it has now become factual that our defence has aged and seriously lacks pace. Instead of playing balls to the feet of Suazo, which might have been easily dealt with by the marking ability and experience of Maldini & Kaladze, Cagliari played quite intellegently, putting the ball behind our defenders for Suazo to utilise his pace. He amazingly overtook 5 of our players in an instance!!! I also dont feel secure in Bonera, specially when he is in the RB position. Defensively, he was caught out of position few times tonight. Offensively, his crosses mostly went astray.
2- We easily dominated possession in the middle of the park but couldn't turn such dominance into chances. IMO, i dont think this is the creativity problem of the midfield but rather the movements of the forwards. Simply put, I think Gila and Olivera don't possess the type of movements or runs to optimise the creativity of our midfielders.
3- Brocchi was much invisible today. Although his passing might be better than Rino's, I would take Rino over him any day just for the sheer determination & grits that Rino possesses.

Regarding the penalty against us, I think Kaladze did make contact with Suazo, a very silly one IMO as the ball was going away from Suazo. Kaladze with his experience should have known better than that. Also, Pirlo shoudn't get the straight red card. An yellow would have fitted better.

hey guys great game....mad as hell dat the ref gave the penalty..for those of u who watched kno wat iam talking about...but either ways ..we played great..and no to mention BOTH OF OUR STRIKERS SCORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! come on guys..and not just scored..did u see da goals..BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE MILAN AND I KNO WE R GONNA HAVE A BIG SEASON!!!!! HERE WE COME CL!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by kenny_shev

1-Yourcuff had a very good game-Milan man of the match IMHO. He switched flanks and linked up with Seedorf very well. He looked skillful and comfortable on the ball. He also did a tremendous amount of running today. Definitely a player for the future of Milan.

Yourcuff?? Is that a new nick??

I agree, very good game specialy in the second half..In the first, I thought he was playing too defensively, not making enough forward runs..Maybe he was given some defensive responsibilities by Ancelotti while Seedorf played in Kaka's role..In the second half, he was the one who was doing things that Kaka usually does and if there wasn't for that mistake which led to Pirlo's red card, it would be yet another excellent performance by our young talent..

In Seedorf's case I'm with Acmir, he was the 2nd best yesterday IMO..He does look slow sometimes, but yesterday this was mainly due to low support from the flanks or lately in the game with a player down, he really haven't had much options so he tried to do something which often ended as a lost ball..Pirlo and Brocchi were pretty quiet, so Seedorf isn't the only one to blame for not winning the match..

Yourcuff? Shortcut for his name then?

I agree as well, he was very good in the game, especially in the 2nd half, although he did have some good runs forward in the first half. Although the runs usually left Seedorf all alone to the left. No one else came forward nearby...

Originally Posted by oskarius

Yourcuff?? Is that a new nick??

..

LOL..I hope i am not in the making of another infamous Paolo Inzaghi thread...My bad typo..Gourcuff .. with a capital G. Cheers

Originally Posted by kenny_shev

LOL..I hope i am not in the making of another infamous Paolo Inzaghi thread...My bad typo..Gourcuff .. with a capital G. Cheers

Ah, I almost forgot..Where is my national Jure, anyway??

I got to give you a credit though, Goann Yourcuff does sound good for starters..

I was disappointed only in the performance of the ref...did he even consult his linesman for the supposed penalty?

Sheesh..its gonna be such a long season.

Glad we got a point, mad we didnt win, but the team played well...one thing I am mad about.

Suazo is a player we could have bought...now he scores one, and sets up one...when will we learn?

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Us losing another game was inevitable. Im just curious to see how our management would react to this loss because since September, it was always luck, or the referee, or the post, or injuries that have made us lose. They never say 'its because we dont have a deep squad with alot of talent' or 'we dont have enough players'.

Comic relief for the day.

My view on the game:

Another Milan game done. After the first half I was halfasleep, one of the most boring I seen, Milan played good for a whole 10 minutes and then dissapeared. We looked disorganised and more importantly, not hungry at all for a win. In fact we didn't look like really caring before we was a goal down...

The second half then had all entertainment. Goals, strange referee decisions and all that drama. Not to talk about teams that wanted to play. Unlike many others here I think it was a penalty, clumsy tackle by Kaladze, but the red card was just silly. silly. I am unsure about how the offside rule is implemented here, but clearly the pass to Gila on his goal was backwards and I heard that does not make a offside. (checking with someone who knows though to be sure)

Rated:

Kalac. 6. He was quite solid with a good save on the freekick and none of the scary stuff he done before. Can't be blamed for the goals.

Bonera. 6. He was very solid on his side, not letting players trough and sometimes covering well in the middle too. Offered nothing in offense though.

Kaladze. 4.5. At fault in both goals and together with Maldini working not to well on containing there opponents. It was really not his day, he have plenty of excuses, but we don't wanna hear them.

Maldini. 5.5. Had as mentioned problems containing the opponents, especially Suazo of course.

Jankulovski. 6.5. Took away Esposito from the game completly and offered some help in offense. But have anyone noticed how he NEVER beats a defender?

Brocchi. 5. He did none of the things he do good. I hardly saw him win a ball and his passes where awful. I can understand why he was taken off.

Pirlo 5.5. He looked a bit lost on the field, did some good things, but the whole midfield didn't work well together. It was like tried some new tactics for the first time, but hadn't trained enough with it. Again saw a clear sign of trouble when Pirlo, Seedorf and Gourcuff all stood within 10 meters from each other. we don't have Pirlo in this role to play 5 meter passes to Seedorf. That's just plain misusing.

Seedorf 5.5. What an enigma! First he seems to be ruling the field for 10 minutes and then... he vanish. did he go buy a hot dog? But the pops up a couple of times more.

Gourcuff. 6.5. Best in Milans midfield and the ones with ideas. Now he still plays a tad to slow and hold on to the ball to long. But he was behind the goal and he ran more than all others making himself avaiable for pass. Losing the ball leading to the Pirlo's sending off was a regretful mistake though.

Gilardino. 6. He did what he is supposed to do, score. He seems to work well in air, heading the ball for teamates, but his teamwork with oliviera leaves a lot to be desired. They are to far apart. He seems to have bigger problems on the ground than air.

Oliviera. 5.5. Never really got into the game. Lack of running from his teamates didn't help. I remember that counterattack when he was alone against 4 players and none ran up to offer support.

Borriello. 6.5. Fought really well and scored a really nice goal.

Ancelotti. 6. Start of game was like a confused mess, but his subs was sublime.

Teamrating: The equivalent of a bear. Sleeps trough most of the game, but show some fury when injuried (losing/man down).