Milan - Udinese Dec 21 2008

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

I would write because in that sentence instead of though.

If we had DM's we would have never played with such a formation and played such football. The formation Carlo put out there was not because of his tactical genius or that, it simply was because he had no other options. I really hope he learns that we must stop playing with 2 DMs, sometimes 3!

Precisely what I meant. However, it's not just Carlo's fault the team failed with DMs, but the players get lazy when relying on the likes of Rino et al. Today they didn't have that opportunity, so they all worked their butts off. Let's hope they get this point drilled home.

Originally Posted by Siregar

Really? Where did you read it? Share with us.

Galliani said it if I remember correctly. Something like Becks had no idea who Pato was and couldn't believe how good he was.

Right, I have been looking forward to writing this post mostly because for the first time in a long while I can focus on the positives of the performance. We were outstanding last night, especially when considering what state our squad was in coming into the match. That said, these factors are also the reason behind the performance, and showed the potential we have. I said just before the match I was interested to see if we'd fight or fall in what was one of the toughest situations of the season, and we very much reacted like a cornered fox.

The first half was an outstanding display of attacking football, with quality all over the pitch but even moreso a tight compact unit rather than the group of individuals we saw a week ago. Pato was simply incredible, all over the pitch, but making chances and scoring goals for fun. His pass to Kaka for the second goal was a thing of beauty. We looked vulnerable, but this had to be expected with the lineup we had, especially when facing off against the likes of Di Natale and Quagliarella. 4-1 was actually a very fair scoreline at the end of the first half.

The second half was played at a more comfortable pace and we dominated easily. Kaka's second goal was outstanding and it was great to see him playing the way we know he can. It was also great to see youngsters given a run out. I thought both made mistakes, but both did well for the time they were on.

Players...

Abbiati - Superb, he made a couple of great saves
Antonini - Good going forward, and a great header for Pato's second, but I wasn't too impressed with him in the defensive third, struggled a few times and was at fault on Di Natale's goal.
Maldini - Masterclass performance, flawless all night
Kaladze - Solid performance, a few rash challenges and poor decisions, but on the whole not the calamity I fear this season.
Favalli - Excellent, solid at LB and great run to set up Pato.
Seedorf - The weakest of our midfield trio imo, but did very well on the night.
Pirlo - Incredible, he ran the show last night and was involved in all our key play. I can remember only one misplaced pass from him last night. I could keep going on, but I'll end up writing an essay.
Janku - The revelation of the night for me. We know he works hard and never stops running, and last night that proved this to be a valuable asset in our midfield.
Kaka - Incredible. He pushed further up the field last night and he revelled in playing closer to Pato and goal. Back to his best.
Dinho - Superb game on the whole. Not as great as Pato and Kaka, but still involved in all our good play and really showed some great tricks.
Pato - MOM for me without a doubt. His movement was superb (he was everywhere) and scored a terrific brace. His touches were great and he was the one that took most responsibility in attack, which with Kaka and Dinho playing great next to him, says a lot about his performance.
Sheva - Little impact, which is a shame as I was hoping he could regain some confidence in that situation.
Strasser - Looked good in midfield, settled well on the whole. He made the odd mistake, such as the foul that got him a yellow card, but he looks positive.
Darmian - Started slow in RB after failing to cover as Udinese almost scored. However, he grew into the game and left a positive impression.

What I took from this game was that this team when working with the correct attitude can produce great things. However, the players far too often simply don't work hard enough in areas they don't feel they have a great responsibility. This stops us working as a unit and we become loose and easy to break down. Carlo MUST use this performance (even if it was against a dire Udinese) as an example to the players of how they are ALL responsible in ALL areas of the field.

Personally, I felt Janku must be used in midfield on a more frequent basis after yesterday. In LB he's vulnerable, and while I wanted him in midfield this year (with a new LB), I never saw him in the role he played last night. He was superb with his effort both in defence and attack and I think was key in getting a good balance in midfield. It's also worth noting Udinese made very little headway down the left side of their attack.

Kaka was another key figure. Our attack was very fluid with great movement and this must be maintained. However, Kaka moving further up and playing on the same line as Dinho "behind" Pato was excellent for the creative play. Kaka looked more comfortable and threatening than he has anytime this season and Pato revelled in the support he received. I've said before I want Dinho to support Pato more and the idea was the same. If Dinho stays on the left, Kaka should support the attacker.

I was really pleased watching last night and I saw the Milan I want to see. We weren't perfect, but we can take so much from this match. Everyone, the players, Carlo and upper management all must use this match to improve Milan. This is the starting point to making our season successful, but it's up to everyone to accept responsibility and work towards a brighter future.

FORZA MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a very good game, even if I was afraid after the goal of Di Natale (afraid to see again our team defending etc), but Pirlo->Antonini->Pato relaxed me in some seconds ... lol

Anyway, we did well at home, again, it would be nice to play like this all the time, home or away, and if Kaka', despite his start of injury, can play like he did yesterday for the rest of the season, we'll be unbeatable again lol, it was a Golden Ball Kaka' yesterday ... as well as Pato, and with Ronaldinho and Seedorf playing like that, we can only score many goals !!

For Sheva, let him go and call back Paloschi, it will be better I think ...

A question about Darmian: his original position is CD or RD ? Because, I'm some kind of critical about his performance from yesterday, but if he is a natural CD, it's of course difficult to play a professional game in another position when you're so young ...

PS: I told Ancelotti to give me a good birthday present, it was done with this victory !! Hiha !!

Originally Posted by GeoTav

A question about Darmian: his original position is CD or RD ? Because, I'm some kind of critical about his performance from yesterday, but if he is a natural CD, it's of course difficult to play a professional game in another position when you're so young ...

PS: I told Ancelotti to give me a good birthday present, it was done with this victory !! Hiha !!

He's naturally a CB, but can play RB as well. Ancelotti when fielding him has almost always used him at RB.

The best match this year for Milan

Unfortunately, I didn't watch the game...
Thanx ACMILAN1983 for the great post-game comment.

no problem El Fre. Whilst last week I was mostly venting after the Juve match, I really enjoyed writing my thoughts this week

know I don't post here much but wanted to congratulate all the milanistas for a great win....it's beein so long since we had a big victory to cheer about

It looks like we may not buy any new midfielder ... after last match: Jankulovski, who is really bad in a LD position (it's my thought, I never liked him there even in his best games for us), was simply excellent in DM/CM position because he runs a lot and is able to take the ball from our defense and go in attack.

And as I just mentionned, I never liked him in a LD position, even if I have to recognize that he often gives as much as he can, but in this midfield, all his energy is well used, and as he has some skills in defense (not very good defensive skills anyway lol, but enough for a midfielder), he could be our recruie for midfield ... the so much awaited on MM "box to box midfielder" at least for this year ?!

A new try is required to see if it was just "his" game (and especially the game from our offensive players too) or if he is really good in midfield like yesterday ... because originally, he is a LM and not a CM.

Surprisingly brilliant performance. Marino said that he came to SS to attack, and that IMO to some extent contributed to our winning the match. Conceded two goals early also forced them to attack and thus leave us the space to exploit. Compared to their horrible performances last week, Abbiati, Marek and Pato made an absolute turn around last Sunday.

At the second half, we simply tried to play possession football. Seedorf was noticeably lost interest in the match, and I wondered why didn't Carletto send Cardaccio in to replace him. It's good to see Darmian and Strasser though none was really impressed me which is understandable though considering the scoreline and the minutes they played.

All in all, this game underlines our true potential when going into the game with focused mind. Hopefully the training session in Dubai and some reinforcements during the winter season will help us to perform better in the 2nd half of the season. In the mean time, enjoy the holiday dudes. See you in 2009, and as always, Forza Milan!!

superb performance.... we always see this when Milan pushed through the wall.
but didn't agree with point that we are better without DM, I like to see there one DM, who protect the back four and do all the donkey work. because in free flowing football, the one Milan played, there is lot of space available and Good team will always take that for granted.

I think the ide is more using Jankulovski as left CM which leaves us having at least one offfensive player in the midfield area (two players plus Seedorf). This much better than using two DMs IMO. So the formation in midfield will be :

DM-Pirlo-Jankulovski

With Jankulovski being a left CM it will also help our poor and shaky left defence because as we know, even Jankulovski not a great left fullback, he has pretty good defensive skills. He also has the speed to return back (to help defence) after moving forward and the advantage of using him that (like GeoTav said) he runs a lot and his fitness supports this (a normal thing for fullback : being able to run a lot in a game).

A DM is needed if Ambrosini is still injury prone as we can't rely only on Flamini as our DM (we don't want to put Emerson as a DM, right?).

In that case we also need a Left fullback, as we dont want favalli to play there every game zambrotta could play there and antonini on the right, but thats not enough IMO.
Dossena wants out, maybe he is an option... Or I always like Rafinha from Schalke but that probably dreaming

That's right mate. With that case (Jankulovski as fullback), we should find one left fullback (better who is able to play both flanks). It's still ok if we find an average fullback, just like Pancaro or younger Favalli. The most important thing is that the player can cross!!!

From all fullbacks we have, my point about the quality regarding the crosses a player has :
1. Serginho : best crosses
2. Cafu, Zambrotta : good crosses
3. Pancaro and Favalli : decent crosses (actually not very different from the second place ).
4. Jankulovski : average crosses
5. Oddo : don't need to tell here

I dont mean any offence to anyone here. But the fact that Milan only interest them selves in mediocre defenders seems to be seeping through to the fans here. If we the fans forget what Milan quality means then that is the most dangerous thing.

So far it is still an honour to wear the red and black of Milan. Galliani needs to stop recruiting players that only mid table seria A sides are intereted in.