Audi Cup 2009

well i saw an unmotivated squad,with no will to run,no will to prove anything(we ve been loosing a lot lately..)..
they could not pressure bayern the way they should,i think that even the players were feeling inferior to their opponents(which is sick for a club like milan)..
the sad part is that i saw a lack of talent in this team,i thought i would never say that as long as i ve been watching us..

R80 sucked ass today. Relax on onyewu guys ****, the guy just has to have some normal training with the teammates.

I agree with someone like before Flamini and Abate played their asses off. Our team sucked big time today wow. I dont think signing 2-3 players is going to make a big deal either. It seems like the moral is the thing that really down. Now we have Boca, Benefica, and still RM. LOL wow im nervous.

Guess what though? Im still Optimistic.

There is no connection between each part of the team ... and am I the only one to start to be worried about Thiago Silva ? He hasn't impressed me at all so far, and he will should be our starting CD alongside Nesta.

PS: Even Nesta worries me a bit ... but after a so long injury, I think we can't ask him too much for moment.
PS1: It is a real mind game for Leonardo to make that team working ... anyway, the first half seemed to start like a 4-3-3 (on paper) but that never was a 4-3-3 on the pitch: why didn't Ronaldinho play on the left (always in center).

Originally Posted by GeoTav

There is no connection between each part of the team ... and am I the only one to start to be worried about Thiago Silva ? He hasn't impressed me at all so far, and he will should be our starting CD alongside Nesta.

PS: Even Nesta worries me a bit ... but after a so long injury, I think we can't ask him too much for moment.
PS1: It is a real mind game for Leonardo to make that team working ... anyway, the first half seemed to start like a 4-3-3 (on paper) but that never was a 4-3-3 on the pitch: why didn't Ronaldinho play on the left (always in center).

i have written a lot of times,that thiago silva is not as good as most of you expect geo..

dont worry about nesta at all..just believe in him,he is the best player of this team,he always was..

i think leo needs to play dinho on the centre so as to see how good can he be there,everybody knows dinho is better on the left..he is just preparing him for the difficult parts..maybe he shouldnt,although..

I think we've been playing and traveling too much. These games are meaningless, but i'd rather the team find a better balance between training and preseason friendlies. It seems like all they're doing is playing games and recuperating; no time for actual training. The America tour was a joke, a game every two days; and this Audi cup is worse! How do we benefit?

The major plus from all this is that I think Flamini is doing enough to warrant a starting spot this season. He's incredible.

It seems pretty obvious what is happening to our squad. Leonardo is making them exhausted, on purpose. He wants to push his players to their limits. From what you hear about training, it is hard, it is very structured, and is pushing the players to their physical limits.

Many coaches like to do this, they like to push their players to their limits very early, making them go against incredible odds, and even if they lose, they will be able to emerge knowing that they will do better in the future. The team that beat them, will think they have defeated a giant, handily, and this will push the champion to an extra set of motivation.

Is it obvious that Milan need reinforcements. Do I think we need a massive squad overhaul? No. We are missing a few players, that is for certain, but watching Abate, he gives me hope, and I think he has staked a claim to take a spot in our midfield.

At the end of the day, this is pre-season, and this is the only time that Leonardo can really experiment at all. He hasn't had the years with this squad to do anything, and did not have the same level of interaction with the squad on a day-to-day basis that Ciro Ferrarra did, and has to learn the practical limits of his players.

However, I cannot stress the importance that we get a new fullback and striker. Borriello seems yet to really shake off his rust from his injury setback, and our returning internationals seem exhausted. The only players who seem to be resistant to such a tiresome workload are Abate and Flamini.

The thing is, we have yet to see Ambro really play that much. Seedorf was absent for this game, while Ronaldinho was taken off very early, when he usually is kept on longer. Inzaghi did not make a cameo either. The thing I am most curious about is what about Albertazzi? He is supposed to be relied upon a little more, and I feel he could have taken over from Favalli for at least the last few minutes? Then again, perhaps Leonardo is trying to protect the guy?

I am not too worried about this game, we did lose to Chelsea 5-0 last year, and we also lost to Man City, so I don't really see the point in stressing about pre-season results. Sure, there are things we need to worry about, but they seem to be transfer-related. Pato playing as a lone striker last year was possible because we played the 4-3-2-1, and I wonder if that formation should be looked at again?

Perhaps pushing Pirlo next to Ronaldinho, playing a midfield three of Abate-Flamini-Gattuso/Ambro would yield the midfield possession we seemingly lack, allowing Pirlo and Ronaldinho to focus more on the task of playmaking?

I think what worries the most is that we have only seen our best formation once, and that was against Chelsea, where I think we played well, but that was because Oddo stepped up and Zambro played left. Even with that sort of solidity at the back, Borriello's lack of effort and ability to hold onto the ball made Ronaldinho and Pato ineffective, and force them to push forward to try and force things.

If Oddo can play like he used to, then we can last the next year with Zambro on the left. But I have doubts to Oddo's ability to play well consistently. The biggest issue is the lack of a striker to take the defense's attention away from our creative department. If Borriello won't even hassle defenders, that leaves the defense with two targets: Pato and Ronaldinho, while the midfield has to simply clamp down on Pirlo. Can Inzaghi be this striker to make the defense shift constantly, creating openings for other players? I am not sure. Especially since his style relies upon intelligent movement, and frankly ensuring the defense forgets about his presence. That is why Inzaghi's best season came alongside Sheva.

Anyways, I am rambling and talking about tactics, but if you want to skip over everything I said, my ultimate question is: should we reconsider the 4-3-2-1?

ronaldinho is the player that scares me the most. he is not motivated and i doubt he will magically turn it on. I firmly believe that it would greatly benefit the squad to sell him to Man City or someone for 25 mil or so and then invest that money in G. Rossi. He is a high effort player with a good motor and he has talent.

---------Abs---------
Antonini--Nesta--Silva-Zambro
---Gattuso--Pirlo--Flamini---
----------Rossi------
---Boriello--Pato--

I think that Boriello is not fully recovered from his injury and he will play much better. We should have a pretty decent bench with Inzaghi, Ambro, Seedorf, Abate, Bonera, Janku, etc. i think i would be optimistic with this team

The only game we actually put up some fight was the Chelsea game. It is pretty bad. Hope for the best

Is this the line up that beat up 4-1?

Bayern Monaco (4-3-1-2): Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Braafheid; Altintop, Van Bommel, Pranjic; Sosa; Gomez, Muller. All: Van Gaal

****en pathetic

I only watched the first half and I really think our player were really tired. We can't evaluate the team performance from this game IMO (the first half). But I hate to watch how Ronaldinho played. I mean how he sent a pass, it's like that he really didn't meant to. Tired is one thing, not so serious with how to pass the ball is other thing.

i have no comment to make on this match, except sigh, we will be in for a long season

i know this is pre season and just friendlies....but at times we have seen what is probably our best squad get absolutely outclasses by their oppenent...i really hope we improve on this...i hope its jusy fatigue

I think this friendly match is meaningless except for a rookie,like every other friendly one.(Thomos cook cup,vurdez and caldaciao presented for a combined 60 mins,then absent for the whole season)

I´m very happy so far. I expect nothing but miserable season this year, and so far things are running like I expect. I´m not fooling myself saying we can compete, saying we can make a good UCL run. No we cant compete, and I´m not sure, but I think we need to play a preliminary round before UCL group stage and I´ll not be surprised if we get knocked out there.

Originally Posted by kumm

I´m very happy so far. I expect nothing but miserable season this year, and so far things are running like I expect. I´m not fooling myself saying we can compete, saying we can make a good UCL run. No we cant compete, and I´m not sure, but I think we need to play a preliminary round before UCL group stage and I´ll not be surprised if we get knocked out there.

no we finished third, so no play in