Milan's Biggest Need + Crisis Solution + Don't blame management

Players who i think we should at least make a bid between now and next season

Alessandro Rosina

He is currently having his contract neogations with Torino and Milan could get in and offer him £2 mill a season which is double what he is on atm. Rosina is a big talent and could play in our x-mas tree formation or play in a wide role. Even play in Kaka's role if need be. Last season he pretty much carried Torino and to honest i would be angry if he went to Juve or Inter.


Pasquale or Chiellini

Although i love Zambrotta, pasquale might be better longterm and cheaper option than Chiellini. With Maldini retiring and Cafu + Favalli reaching the end of there career it would be worth us spending money at LB where we can get a semi-experienced young player who could be trusted in the role. Chiellini would be my first choice as he is tall and a better defender than Pasquale.


Cigarini (pirlo sub)

When Cigarini came on for Parma he pretty much opened the game up on us. Hes crossing was pretty good, and plus he could also play in Ambros role and go forward like how Maresca can. Hes wage however wouldnt be that high, and he wouldnt be as much of a risk as youth is on his side and it wouldnt be like buying Emerson. This season we have really lacked a decent sub for Pirlo without having overkill with defensive midfielders.

I will add some more players later when i get some time.

is Maresca still owned by Juve?

nope hes 100% sevilla now i think. Hes 27 so ok age to come in, plus a experienced player. We could get a good 5 or so years out of him.

what about that Daniel Carvalho of CSKA Mosko...he is said to be better than R10 but no one watches the Russian League...but i saw him distroy Arsenal and Argentina for Brazil...

Daniel Carvalho...watch this kid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7lR1gdnw8Y

As you all know our form of late is concerning, rather it's far below our standards and the results have been awful. I think everyone here is upset about this, but I also do think many if not all of us believe things will improve drastically during the season (hopefully sooner than later). Everyone has their thoughts on the problems, though what the correct answer is no one can be sure. Anyway, to continue, I've thought about this and have tried to objectively find what areas need working on to try and get out of this rut:

Confidence

This for me is by far this biggest problem in the club right now. Despite attempts to reduce the pressure on the players by making statements about how we're all calm and things will be sorted very soon, I don't think there's any confidence right now, amongst the players especially.

This for me is most evident on the pitch, as the players look stressed, upset and like they really need support (glad to see the fans have responded of late).

These confidence issues are extremely difficult to handle, and they will attribute to most of our problems.

To deal with this, I think the biggest factor is we need a decent performance with a result, or someone influencial who can instill confidence in the players (something Ronaldo managed last year with his hype, this year both him and Maldini might have this effect). The first method (good performance, result) is more than possible as despite our bad run of results and form, we are still dominating every match.

Attack

Everyone is well aware of our attacking problems. It can well be argued that the management did poorly during the transfer campaign and thus now we're desperately suffering. This imo is partly true, as I felt we should have reinforced in attack (either with keeping Oliveira half a season or purchasing a solid squad player in the frontline). I say this because Pato isn't available until January and with Ronaldo's injury situation, we really are left with problems considering Gila and Inzaghi's poor form.

However, there's definately a silver lining. Ronaldo's recovery is going well now and he shouldn't be out too much longer, which will be a massive boost to the squad. Gila also is starting to perform better, even though his shooting is poor right now, his ability to hold the ball and lay it off for forward running midfielders (Kaka and Seedorf) is currently invaluable. That much for this half of the season should be enough to get a good run of results (as seen in the second half of last season). Pato is young but talented, so adding him in January will be very helpful and most importantly, will add depth to our attacking force.

Carlo is also criticised for not playing 2 forwards. However, considering the situation I don't think it's much of a viable option, as Gila and Pippo are terrible together and Aubameyang is clearly still not ready for the highest level. However, I do think using Gourcuff more would be better, especially instead of Brocchi is often used to provide an extra option in our midfield (his ability to attack and defend is what Carlo likes imo).

Defence

This is another big problem we have. The defence isn't bad right now, as we're not giving chances away easily, but there's a tendency to drop concentration during matches that lead to us being punished (a bit of bad luck, but as Carlo says we make our own luck).

It's a problem that's difficult to solve, as many of these defensive lapses are individual events that otherwise normally would not happen. Even if you train at it daily in training, these kinds of things are difficult to prevent in actual matches, and in our case I believe this is again related to our lack of confidence. The players have a tendency to panic, this leads to stress and thus mistakes are more likely to occur. Additionally, I think communication is an issue. We need to have someone on the field who can lead us defensively. Normally, this would be Maldini who communicates regularly on the pitch, but of course he isn't an option right now so I'd have to think Nesta should be given the responsibility to get the commands out to those in the defensive line (and others on set pieces), as he's by far our most accomplished and respected defender after Maldini, and has done a similar role in Lazio.

However, there's a lot to be positive about regarding individual performances, as Nesta, Janku and Oddo are all performing pretty well, and Bonera is continuing on from last season. Kaladze's not been too bad overall, but is usually a case of being hot and cold with his performance, difficult to predict what he will do.

Midfield

Much like the defence, looking at individuals we're not bad. Seedorf and Kaka haven't had particularly bad performances this season and Pirlo has been excellent. Rino and Ambro are performing to a reasonable standard, but essentially the problem isn't to do with individuals, it's to do with the collective unit.

Essentially, Gattuso and Ambro to begin with are doing a reasonable jobs considering their roles, but they end up staying deep when one should normally look to push forward and support attacking moves. Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambro play deep (often at the halfway line) and are very square, so when we're looking to move forward, the attacking trio are getting marked out and we end up moving side to side across the line as neither Ambro, Pirlo (who isn't expected to move forward as he's got the ball and looking to make the pass normally) or Gattuso are moving forward creating space with their movement. This also makes it difficult for the wing backs to push forward, as the opposition fullbacks have little pressure from our midfield which in Gattuso and Ambro's case (who play on the right and left respectively), should be trying to draw opposition players to them to create more space for others.

This in turn creates further problems, as Kaka and Seedorf are often forced back to try and pick up the ball and we end up with 2 players further up field against often 8-9 defenders minimum. Those odds aren't good for us, and even if a wing back gets in positions to cross, we only have one poacher (when a target man is better if alone in a box) available. Essentially, what I'm saying is we need to push higher up the field when attacking and we have to work for each other to open teams up.

Goalkeeper

Not much to say regarding this. I understand the management's decision to keep Dida as he started looking much more confident in the last month or two of last season, but really this season he's having a nightmare. Like Gila, his confidence is rock bottom and he needs as much support as he can get (something I don't see happening anytime soon looking at posts here).

Movement

As mentioned above, movement is key for us. We won't physically dominate opponents high up the field, but we have a lot of technical talent in our side, and this must be utilised. To do so, these players need space, and so it's up to them to make space for others and expect others to make space for them.

There aren't enough intelligent runs off the ball at the moment (actually, we seem completely disorganised when moving forward), and the play in general is far too static. Playing in such a way will never drag opponents out of position and always results in them finding it easy to defend.

Gila was critical in this of late, as he always drags defenders out with him, which opens up spaces and allows Kaka and Seedorf to utilise these spaces (as was the case in Seedorf's goal against Catania). However, we can't rely on Gila with this all the time, and as said above, Ambro, Pirlo and Gattuso also have to play their parts in this.

Pace and Rhythm

Movement, positioning and confidence is good but in the modern game, pace is a key element too (actually it always has been). Our play is normally far too slow of late, but also we're very monotonous. The Brazilians are historically brilliant with controlling the pace and rhythm in games and this is what's always made them such a great attacking force. Not only do they control the tempo, but even in single attacking moves you will see variations in the rhythm and tempo of the play, which is very disorientating for defenders.

We need to bring a similar element into our game, which is realistically possible when some of our Brazilian contingent are playing more regularly (currently Kaka, Emo and Cafu are the only outfield Brazilians available, and Cafu's not what he was, Emerson's not a typical Brazilian and Kaka's style is more European with Brazilian technique).

Conclusion

We have many, many problems right now, but realistically there's no reason this won't get resolved, but the key element that relates to all areas of our play is confidence. The players have quite honestly of late admitted it's been tough to handle all this, but once the they're in the right frame of mind, we're very difficult to stop.

It's easy to say a win will bring back confidence, but the low is due to lack of wins, so it's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. We need to get the essentials I've said above correct (positioning, discipline, pace and movement), which will almost certainly result in us getting something positive to build on, as we have quality in the squad.

Ofcourse we blame the management, who else?

Last year's pathetic summer campaign was strike one. Then we suffered in the league so much and they were promising a major haul and at least a world-class striker in the summer, and then due to the heroics of our players we win the CL and it has blinded our arrogant management and made them think who needs more players? why dont we just save some money? Saying something like we cannot bring any players out there to improve the squad was just stupid, I can name many players out there better than Simic, Favalli, Cafu, Brocchi (even Gila).

Missing out on Ribery and Toni is their biggest mistake thus far, and if rumours are to believed, we missed out on the best keeper of all time, Buffon, to keep our faith in Dida.

2 summers in a row, they screwed up BIG TIME. Now the management cannot do anything and it is only right that they say we dont need reinforcements because it'll unsettle the players. However, if they fail to see that the team is in desperate need of players and new tactics, that is when I will be the first one in line asking for them to be sacked.


True they know better than most how to bring victories and trophies, but even a child can recognize that the last 2 summer transfer campaigns were nothing short of abysmal. Thankfully, the fans at the San Siro are not against the management (yet) and have been supporting them all the time. I hope the management doesn't let the fans down like how they have been doing in the last couple of years (most notably the promises made in transfer markets).

I think what we can do is try and change tactics. 4-4-2, 3-5-2 are the first ones that come to mind. Maybe, just maybe, we will become less predictable.

Wonderful post, Dev, as usual. I appreciate you taking the time to write this and your insight. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Jeff

Wonderful post, Dev, as usual. I appreciate you taking the time to write this and your insight. Thank you.

thanks, I just wanted to vent really lol (the whole day was spent thinking about Milan )

^ Great post Dev ...(no way in hell I'm quoting it though )
I STILL think there is no reason to panic as yet
Ronaldo (aka superman) is returning from his space travels and though Lois Lane is upset and looks like she has moved on (*cough*cough*don't renew his contract...he's too injury prone "*cough ) he will save the day once again

I am also excited by the prospect of getting Pato.....some say he's the next Kaka ...others the next Ronaldo (not likely )..Personally I think he's the next Sheva (complete : good free kick, Fast, strong, good in the air, decent dribbler) Under the tutleage of the two best attackers in the world and learning form a dead ball speciallist like Pirlo AND Kaka AND Ronaldo AND Maldini AND Seedorf can teach him english (all we need to do now is get him hitched with a mafia hottie so he can never leave Milan ) the future is bright.

As for Gorky....players of his Ilk don't show their true colours till the late mid twenties as did Zidane/ Riquelme...however there is and can be no one questioning his skill

We only need a LB and a forward or fast winger and we're pretty much set....I mean even if we go trophyless this season I expect to see some entertaining football and plus the gloryhunters would be weeded out

Dev....excellent post, excellent analysis. You should be a sports writer!

Confidence is always an issue--such an intangible yet oh so obvious when we lack it. Sad thing is, I have no clue how you build it or restore it...other than to win a few games! Our lack of summer mercato doesn't help us any...but Idon't need to belabor that fact, we're all too well aware of it. I have no answers...

Originally Posted by Jeff

Ok, then tell me what you have on the table to make it better. Give me some realistic solutions, not just like "Gila SuX" or "Dida should never play for Milan".

I know very well Milan can't do anything until january. And I won't say Kalac is better, that's ridiculous.

This article about Buffon made me so angry, IF it's true, then how can anyone defend Milan management? Didn't Dida's mistakes from the past three or four years made them learn he's past it? Did Berlu expect a magical turnaround in his performances? You, me, everyone here, and many many more Milan fans knew that. And we were right. What did they expect? Refuse a WC winning GK and re-sign the one who made blunders regulary for the past three seasons (at that point in time) ? And it's not like they didn't have the money.

As disappointed as every Milan fan here, I too have an idea to share: 4-2-3-1.

Gila

Gourcuff/Serginho - Pirlo/Seedorf - Kaka

Ambrosini/Jankulovski - Gattuso/Emerson

Kaladze - Bonera - Nesta - Oddo

This is sorta an imitation of the Parma system when Gila was scoring crazy. Could this be possibly the solution to resolve our forward's inability to score? I don't know, but at least it's what I can think of so far.

I understand Kaka doesn't like to play on wing (based on my recollection, he stated that in an interview), but it will help speeding things up. I always think Milan is far too slow in building up plays. I think with Kaka and Gourcuff on right and left flanks might be able to get some offensive sparks. well who knows?

If it's true... well let me just say that I don't trust it because i don't believe in coincidence.