Serie A Week 8: Milan - Roma (18/10/09)

In the 11 matches Dida has played as an injury substitute for Storari and Abs, we've won 8 and drawn one.

Yeah, yeah, he might be overpaid, but rumors of his death after being benched in '08 have been greatly exaggerated.

Don't get false hope guys.

Roma was bad, and we were bad. But we managed to grind out the result thanks to flashes of individual brilliance.

I will take the 3 points though and pray for a good performance against Madrid.

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

I did not watch the game, but from some of the comments I read on a Chinese forum, it seemed like Seedorf is being booed every time he touched the ball. Is that the case, if so, GREAT JOB SAN SIRO MILAN FANS.

I'm sorry, but this is just completely biased. First of all, as you yourself admit, you did not see the game, then why do you appreciate the fans booing Seedorf so much? Is there that much of a personal hatred against the guy? Is it his fault that the coach plays him? Is it his fault that the club has retained him?

Seedorf had a so-so first half, but he was invaluable in the second half. Held up the ball well, and kept possession. Without him there would've been no creativity in our midfield as Pirlo was only making long passes forwards.

Seedorf may not be the fastest player, he may be past his prime, but give the guy some credit and some respect. He has done more for the club than anyone of us has.

I hope that Leonardo finally realized that the system is THE problem. Since the start of the season I keep telling that Leonardo MUST put one creative player close to Ronaldinho. There's no way to play Pirlo behind two DMs with Ronaldinho in front of them and get something with it. 4-4-2 form last night is even worse, beacuse Pato can't play in attack alone.

Since Pippo's introduction we begin to play and finally we won. But 4-3-3 is not the way either, because our midfield is too old for that. Just put Ronaldinho as AM, everything else formation-wise is good. Seedorf - Pirlo - Flamini is the way to go.

I just hope that Leo will not back to his old system with two DMs and Pirlo behind them for the match against Real, and not just for that match but never.

I agree, a midfield with a combination of one of each: Seedorf(Beckham), Pirlo, Flamini (Gattuso, Ambro). I have a feeling we'll settle on Beckham, Pirlo, Flamini in the mid-late season. Seedorf will rotate with Ronnie.

Originally Posted by GeoTav

It will be a totally different game against Real as they will not hesitate to keep the ball ... and when you see how Menez and co managed to dribble into our side of the pitch until they can shoot, I'm a bit afraid that highways will be also opened for Kaka' ...

Funny, I actually struggled to understand what you're saying for awhile...until it hit me that Kaka is no longer in our team

Like someone said it here already.....Ronaldinho is at times a victum of his own past greatness. Sometimes he deserves to be benched and be pissed at, but others he deserves credit.

I can't believe some people are saying they weren't impressed with him. Yesterday he played a game that would have rated high scores by ANYONE'S standards. He linked up play well and turned the game with one move (The pass to Pato). After that he had another amazing pass to Pato which would have put him in one-on-one with the keeper again but the kid misscontrolled it (it happens, I am not knocking Pato....it's just an example).
Also....he worked hard throughout the whole whole game. Something uncharacteristic for him for a long time.

It seems to me that people are expecting Ronaldinho to dribble through 3 players ever time he touches the ball. Expecting for him to do something extra-extra ordinary in every game.

Well, it's not going to happen. It actually never did. However it was a lot more frequent in the past then it is now.

Just as an example.......a few weeks a go I saw a Real M. game where Kaka made 2 assists (one a give-and-go on the edge of the box/the other just a simple pass to the forward). Other then that Kaka didn't do much throughout the game. Just simple passes here and there, a few dribbles (some went good, on some he lost the ball) etc. Yet a lot of people on the forum were praising Kaka. And correctly. I praised him as well. He deserved it because he put the game away with two moves. Now Ronaldinho does practically the same thing yet it's not enough. I don't get it.

As for the game.......it wasn't a bad performance at all. We played an in-form and strong Roma. We gifted them a goal 3 mins into the game and then it was a tough mountain to climb. We pushed forward and they menaged to make a couple more opportunities. We held possession well from then on but we just couldn't get anything going with that 4-4-2. It was a good 3 points although let's not allow the result to fool us. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to improve on.

Yes they should have had a penalty but you know what....tough luck. We've had many times before where we should have had a penalty and we weren't awarded one so that's how things go. I also think that Nesta was rightfully awarded a penalty. Burdisso is an idiot for making a tacke on a player thats practically run out of space and had nowhere to go also while turned away from the goal. He might have gotten the ball but he at the same time he took Nesta's legs as well. So I don't see a problem there. However, the refferee was bad throughout the night. He made a number of mistakes and sometimes I wonder how an experienced official like that can make such horrible mistakes. Ambro maybe deserved to get 2 yellow cards for his recklessness throughout the game. But he definately didn't deserve the yello for the actual challenge that he received it on. It was a 50/50 ball in the air. He had his arm extended but there was ABSOLUTELY NO bend at the elbow and absolutely no intention to ellbow or foul. It was simply not a reckless foul.

Anyhow, we did good to get the much needed 3 points and now we need to build on this. Because these points will be totally useless if we then go to Chievo and not win.

Originally Posted by brk

Heh. I had a moment of weakness. But I did actually have it up a few days before the Roma game.

no problem. we all hope for the best Dinho for the sake of Milan. When I said "don't make it disappear again", I was more talking to Dinho himself.

!#&$&$*)!$*!!!!!!!!!!!!! We WON... who did we buy????

quite strange, Galli hasnt come out & said " See it? we have team full of champions , we still can conquer bla bla bla..

maybe he's still busy meditating, asking to spare us from hummiliation during RM match

Originally Posted by nefremo

Like someone said it here already.....Ronaldinho is at times a victum of his own past greatness. Sometimes he deserves to be benched and be pissed at, but others he deserves credit.

I can't believe some people are saying they weren't impressed with him. Yesterday he played a game that would have rated high scores by ANYONE'S standards. He linked up play well and turned the game with one move (The pass to Pato). After that he had another amazing pass to Pato which would have put him in one-on-one with the keeper again but the kid misscontrolled it (it happens, I am not knocking Pato....it's just an example).
Also....he worked hard throughout the whole whole game. Something uncharacteristic for him for a long time.

It seems to me that people are expecting Ronaldinho to dribble through 3 players ever time he touches the ball. Expecting for him to do something extra-extra ordinary in every game.

Well, it's not going to happen. It actually never did. However it was a lot more frequent in the past then it is now.

Just as an example.......a few weeks a go I saw a Real M. game where Kaka made 2 assists (one a give-and-go on the edge of the box/the other just a simple pass to the forward). Other then that Kaka didn't do much throughout the game. Just simple passes here and there, a few dribbles (some went good, on some he lost the ball) etc. Yet a lot of people on the forum were praising Kaka. And correctly. I praised him as well. He deserved it because he put the game away with two moves. Now Ronaldinho does practically the same thing yet it's not enough. I don't get it.

As for the game.......it wasn't a bad performance at all. We played an in-form and strong Roma. We gifted them a goal 3 mins into the game and then it was a tough mountain to climb. We pushed forward and they menaged to make a couple more opportunities. We held possession well from then on but we just couldn't get anything going with that 4-4-2. It was a good 3 points although let's not allow the result to fool us. We have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to improve on.

Yes they should have had a penalty but you know what....tough luck. We've had many times before where we should have had a penalty and we weren't awarded one so that's how things go. I also think that Nesta was rightfully awarded a penalty. Burdisso is an idiot for making a tacke on a player thats practically run out of space and had nowhere to go also while turned away from the goal. He might have gotten the ball but he at the same time he took Nesta's legs as well. So I don't see a problem there. However, the refferee was bad throughout the night. He made a number of mistakes and sometimes I wonder how an experienced official like that can make such horrible mistakes. Ambro maybe deserved to get 2 yellow cards for his recklessness throughout the game. But he definately didn't deserve the yello for the actual challenge that he received it on. It was a 50/50 ball in the air. He had his arm extended but there was ABSOLUTELY NO bend at the elbow and absolutely no intention to ellbow or foul. It was simply not a reckless foul.

Anyhow, we did good to get the much needed 3 points and now we need to build on this. Because these points will be totally useless if we then go to Chievo and not win.

Actually, the fact that, personnally, I criticize Ronaldinho even after a goal and an assist is because he tried too many times to dribble the complete Roma team alone !!

So it's exactly the contrary of what you said at start, you think people want him to dribble everyone and make extraordinary moves, but actually, and I speak for myself there, I just want him to play football, to do correct passes as it is obvious that he can't dribble 5 players at the same time anymore because he can't accelerate like in the past anymore ... the problem is that R80 still tries his amazing tricks that are nowadays useless.

Originally Posted by Stitch

Funny, I actually struggled to understand what you're saying for awhile...until it hit me that Kaka is no longer in our team

Funny or depressing ?

Originally Posted by GeoTav

Actually, the fact that, personnally, I criticize Ronaldinho even after a goal and an assist is because he tried too many times to dribble the complete Roma team alone !!

So it's exactly the contrary of what you said at start, you think people want him to dribble everyone and make extraordinary moves, but actually, and I speak for myself there, I just want him to play football, to do correct passes as it is obvious that he can't dribble 5 players at the same time anymore because he can't accelerate like in the past anymore ... the problem is that R80 still tries his amazing tricks that are nowadays useless.

It's not just about his acceleration but also his the fact he plays in Italy now. No player can dribble past 5 players in Italy, as you're simply not afforded the space to do so, or you'll get fouled as soon as you pass 1-2. Kaka was never able to dribble in Italy like he did at European level and Pato is now targeted in the same way. Dinho himself also admitted he's struggled in Italy due to lack of space, and if he wants to succeed at a technical level, he must adapt his game to be based more on picking out clever passes and not holding the ball too much, rather than looking to be spectacular. However, to achieve this he must prove to have a professional attitude to begin with.

Question is why do Dinho and Pato have to dribble pass so many players? It's because of the lack of support. In the second half, Dinho had Zambrotta behind him and Seedorf next to him and nobody moved. What's he supposed to do, keep passing the ball sideways or backwards? When players move, Dinho is awesome at making assists and finding them, but when the team is static, at least he has the balls to try and make things happen. I agree with Nefremo, people are being way too harsh on Dinho, and clearly there are double standards going around. Pato missed at least 2 clear opportunities because he miscontrolled the ball, yet everyone seems to forgive him. Imagine if it was Dinho in that position---we'd be calling for his permenent retirement in Brazil already...Give the guy some credit---without him, we wouldnt have won the Roma game and wouldnt have drawn the last game against Atalanta.