Milan - Lecce (05/04/09)

Originally Posted by El Fre

Did you actually watch the game?!?

There's something wrong here. There is a trend of bashing somebody, and everybody is eager to jump on the bandwagon...

First it was Dida, sometimes he really was bad, but some people bashed him all the time, sometimes just for getting up in the morning...

Than it was Ancelotti, some people blame him for our transfers ( clearly Berlu and galliani are to blame here more than carlo), and never give him credit for the good things he's doing..like yesterday..playing with 4 forwards in the end of the game which eventually gave us victory...

And now it's Ronaldinho...he was pretty good yesterday, gave some delightful passes, dribbled past defenders, has a great free kick saved...always asked for the ball...after he came in we started to play...I would say this was one of his best games in a long time...

I really don't understand your post nalx, sorry to say this but your last statement is totally untrue.

I know you guys are frustrated by our bad season but it is no reason to bash somebody when they do not deserve it.

El Fre, I wouldn't have commented on the game thread if I hadn't watched the ENTIRE game, dig it?

There might or might not be a "trend of bashing somebody, and everybody is eager to jump on the bandwagon" but I can say I'm not one of them.

If I think some player is bad/good then I'll give my opinion about it while trying to give the reason why. I don't feel glad (like as if I got backed up) when someone agrees with me, and I don't fell offended if someone doesn't either.

He did make one good freekick, if you want to be exactly fair,yet a couple of minutes before that he wasted one when he aimed it staright to the GK when many of our players were flooding the Lecce's box.

Dribble past some defenders? To me sometimes he seems to forget how to do simple things only to prefer the easy way to distribute the ball in other moments. I recognized his back-heel to Sheva that eventually led to our second goal. But I also noticed that in one of our counter attack he received a ball just outside the Lecce's box (at the left part) with only one defender. Years ago he'd simply made a fool out of that man, but last night he simply waited about 2-3 seconds for the strikers to take their positions before sending the ball in.

But what startles me the most is just the ridiculous amount of times he lost the posession. Seedorf might be slow and unwilling to track back the opponent but when the ball is on his feet, he rarely loses it.

So we might have a totally different opinion about this issue, but that's okay to me. Just don't call me "frustrated" because you don't know me after all

Well, I think what Nalx made point about Ronaldinho but I also think it's too harsh as Ronaldinho played better if not much better compare to Seedorf. What Ronaldinho missing now is still his phisical fitness. He was so easy in loosing the ball or it was so easy for the opponent to steal the ball from R80 which generally caused by his slow movement, he also missed some passes towards him and he was really owned by the Lecce's players so easily.

Only himself can solve that problem. The key is motivation.

I think he had a great game. He did lose the ball a few times but it is the nature of his position.

I did not talk specifically about you when I said " frustrated", there are people here that just don't like some players and bash them all the time. I think it is because of our poor results. But that's just my opinion.

EDIT
One more thing: a couple of times he lost the ball was under foul but the ref didn't call it.

Seedorf might be slow and unwilling to track back the opponent but when the ball is on his feet, he rarely loses it.

Nalx, that was in the past, I used to be a HUGE Seedorf fan but since the last 2 years he's been all most useless, lose the ball cheaplly, slow down the tempo, complains if carlo decided to replace, never creates any scoring chances to the strickers, this doesn't mean I hate him now, I still want him in the team but as a sub untile he retires in milan same goes with Paolo.

Originally Posted by hany.Egypt

Nalx, that was in the past, I used to be a HUGE Seedorf fan but since the last 2 years he's been all most useless, lose the ball cheaplly, slow down the tempo, complains if carlo decided to replace, never creates any scoring chances to the strickers, this doesn't mean I hate him now, I still want him in the team but as a sub untile he retires in milan same goes with Paolo.

I agree...well said hany..

Seedorf is the shadow of a once great player. Should be used as a sub or leave the club.

Okay, buddy, we agree to disagree Btw, why is it so quiet on this forum today? Is everybody busy preparing for the Easter eggs or something?

Agreed.

I don't know...it was like this yesterday also during the game..maybe you guys were in the live java chat...I have a new computer and something is wrong with my software, I am unable to log in...

it says: missing plug-in...can't install automatically, must install manually...

can somebody help me? what should I download???

Originally Posted by Nalx

El Fre, I wouldn't have commented on the game thread if I hadn't watched the ENTIRE game, dig it?

There might or might not be a "trend of bashing somebody, and everybody is eager to jump on the bandwagon" but I can say I'm not one of them.

If I think some player is bad/good then I'll give my opinion about it while trying to give the reason why. I don't feel glad (like as if I got backed up) when someone agrees with me, and I don't fell offended if someone doesn't either.

He did make one good freekick, if you want to be exactly fair,yet a couple of minutes before that he wasted one when he aimed it staright to the GK when many of our players were flooding the Lecce's box.

Dribble past some defenders? To me sometimes he seems to forget how to do simple things only to prefer the easy way to distribute the ball in other moments. I recognized his back-heel to Sheva that eventually led to our second goal. But I also noticed that in one of our counter attack he received a ball just outside the Lecce's box (at the left part) with only one defender. Years ago he'd simply made a fool out of that man, but last night he simply waited about 2-3 seconds for the strikers to take their positions before sending the ball in.

But what startles me the most is just the ridiculous amount of times he lost the posession. Seedorf might be slow and unwilling to track back the opponent but when the ball is on his feet, he rarely loses it.

So we might have a totally different opinion about this issue, but that's okay to me. Just don't call me "frustrated" because you don't know me after all

on dinho case, i think nalx commented dinho last match comparing to his old performance in barca. your big expectations onto dinho based on what he had ever shown few years ago. Yes, in that 1 on 1 position, dinho would be easily past the opponent/s.

but in current physical condition, what he shown last night will be the general performance he can produce each time played. Nothing more you can expect from an ex-player to contribute for team. if team ask for more contribution from an offensive midfielder then find someone new.

i think both seedorf and dinho will be in flop curve from now onwards. They cant regain their old physical fitness and can't performed the way they were. My guessed

Originally Posted by Peachtot

i think both seedorf and dinho will be in flop curve from now onwards. They cant regain their old physical fitness and can't performed the way they were. My guessed

I agree on seedorf as he's 33 years old, but ronaldinho is at his pek age of 29...he could regain his barca form..it's all about motivation, I think

Perhaps, Pecahtot. Footballers nowadays seem to past their peak a bit sooner IMO. A couple of years ago, a noticeably drop in performance took place when the players reached 33+ years old. But now, look at Dinho, he's simply nowhere near his best condition since 2005 I think. Or Sheva, who's just 32, in the last 2-3 years, injured or not, is sadly finished IMO

Yep, motivation & discipline. And the last thing is what he lacked from

Originally Posted by DjMagnum3

Sheva is god!

he is my fav player of all time. he still has it. anyone see england vs ukraine? he is still able to finish. if you look at his stats for chelsea, they are incredible, dont take into considerations they game he went on in the 89th min. look at the games he started. maurinho just never played him.

if ancelloti wasnt a tool he would give sheva a change. he can still be an amazing player and the same sheva we had before he left. he is the type of player that needs the team to be build around him, and if that is the case he will deliver.

we need Kaka sheva and pato to be togeather and work an attack around that. take shevas and patos strenght and weaknesses togaether and make a team.

Originally Posted by Nalx

Perhaps, Pecahtot. Footballers nowadays seem to past their peak a bit sooner IMO. A couple of years ago, a noticeably drop in performance took place when the players reached 33+ years old. But now, look at Dinho, he's simply nowhere near his best condition since 2005 I think. Or Sheva, who's just 32, in the last 2-3 years, injured or not, is sadly finished IMO

it's all about discipline include nutritions, rest and phsical exercises. Someone like maldini can performed til his age now cuz he manage to take physical exercise continously and with enough rest.

The other thing that can affect the length of peak is the way they play. Players who always played with high speed could fastly 'retired' and become more injury prone. Owen is nowhere again, so is Ronaldo. Now dinho. Player like Giggs who always played fast yesterday change his style of play become smart play not from the flank anymore but from central of play. Giggs cannot past opponent by outrunned them on flank again.

As smart as what Jordan did after comeback after played baseball. Less drive, lay up or slam dunk but provide more shoot and made his muscle bigger than before for strength and power

It was an interesting game, and the mixed reactions and debate here alone show what an odd match this was. Personally, I felt some improvement had been made, but for every positive in our game, there was always a negative and I want us to try to strive for much more.

The first half was mostly dominated by us with Lecce getting some half chances. We looked like we'd score, but I must admit I had lingering doubts in my head. Seedorf didn't really do much in the match (I remember one distant shot) and was rightly subbed pretty much at the start of the second half.

The second half appeared to be a more closed game from Lecce who clearly wanted a draw and we pressed up the pitch (which is rare these days). I honestly didn't feel confident in us scoring as despite our pressure we weren't making enough chances. A header off a freekick (or corner) seemed the most way to score and Senderos (or Dinho ) provided. Then Lecce were beaten and we grabbed a second goal which was well worked in all honesty.

Players....

Dida - Had little to do
Maldini - Ok before getting injured
Favalli - a decent game, solid
Senderos - decent after coming on and made a huge impact
Zambrotta - Decent job on the whole but I felt we could have used him more going forward
Janku - Same as Zambro
Flamini - Decent outing, he's performing consistently of late and our defence has improved since his introduction
Pirlo - A decent showing, but again he's too restricted and we're not making best use of him
Seedorf - Did very little
Kaka - Clearly still lacking match fitness, but glad he's back
Pato - This guy is gold. He's got everything in his game, but why do we stick him in right wing as he's clearly a striker
Pippo - continued his scoring run
Sheva - Glad to see improvements in his game of late. He played a nice ball to Pippo and looks a little more confident
Dinho - A mixed bag. At times brilliant (that backheel on the second goal was superb), but at others he's seemingly unable to control the ball. Still, glad to see him in the middle rather than wide left.

We weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time there were some improvements. We improved by trying to use the full width of the pitch, but at the same time we isolate players in our approach as Pato often stuck too far out right and Kaka often too far left. Dinho was often alone in the middle and obviously this means Pippo is isolated up front. Also, with Pato and Kaka so wide, there's little room for Zambro and Janku to push up. So while it's positive we played quite high up the pitch, we're not making use of our fullbacks. With our attackers playing so wide, we rarely got more than 2 bodies in or around the opponent's box, despite having four attackers on the pitch at the same time. In essence, we're trying to use the full area of the pitch, but in turn were losing compactness and this simply cannot be done. This normally resulted in Kaka, Pippo, Pato and Dinho often getting the ball, but then no one within around 3-4 meter radius around them for support with defenders swarming them.

I'm not going to praise Carlo either. His changes weren't bad, but at the same time they were academic. Senderos was enforced, Seedorf needed to go off and Dinho was the best option available and Sheva was a standard sub as Kaka was clearly tired and Sheva was our last attacker left to chase the win. In all honesty, I wasn't impressed with the team's shape or positioning (as said above), so really I ask why Carlo isn't improving this (as this isn't the first time I've talked about us lacking unity and compactness).

Still, a good result and we need them.

I dunno if Carlo's changes were academic, surely the natural change for Seedorf would've been Beckham, since Seedorf was playing CM.

The way I see it there are some positivs and some negativs about this game. I don't agree with the whole, 'Milan sucks, and everything and everyone is terrible'-thing that seems to be going on lately, I don't really expect us to suddenly play like Milan of 2005 in two weeks, but judging by this game it's going in the right direction.

- We didn't concede, that makes it 3 games without conceding, which is good considering how bad our defence has been all season. Lecce hardly created any oportunities, but they did on one occasion I think, become very dangerous when Tiribocchi came close from a deep cross. It's been a bad habbit all season that we can't seem to defend crosses very well, especially deep cross. For next season we definetly need someone who's good in the air in defence.
- I know scoring twice in extra time isn't exactly a secure win, but it is a win non the less, and it's good to see us being able to pull of a late win for once. We did have good chances during the game though, but I think Pato was a bit wastefull on some occasions. His run where he burned two defenders comes to mind, where he didn't see Pippo who was unmarked, he also had a free header that he probably should've scored from. His runs are amazing though, love how he dodges the slide tackles.
- It seems like Flamini and Pirlo are working together better now then earlier the season when Flamini played. Flamini generally has become alot better since he became a regular starter, and in my opinion he was the Man of the match.
- We don't get enough out of corners. I think we had 10 corners yesterday, and only once did it get even remotly dangerous when Pato, I think, missed a free header. That's just not good enough, I know we don't have a whole lot of strong people in the air, but we do have Ronaldinho, Pirlo and even Pato who are all excellent at taking set pieces, and normally we have Beckham, so we really should look more dangerous on corners, especially considering how many we usually get against teams like Lecce.