AC Milan - Palermo Dec. 13, 2009

I did not see a thread for this game, so I decided to open up a new one. Difficult game.

Called up players:

MILANO - Questi i 19 rossoneri convocati da mister Leonardo per la sfida di domani contro il Palermo:

Dida, Storari, Antonini, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Nesta, Zambrotta, Abate, Ambrosini, Flamini, Pirlo, Seedorf, Borriello, Di Gennaro, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Pato, Ronaldinho.

Not avaliable:

Giocatori indisponibili: Bonera, Oddo, Thiago Silva, Onyewu, Gattuso.



From football-italia.net:
Leonardo admires Palermo, looks to the future with Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho as well as offering Juventus some advice.

“Palermo have some very dynamic players and are extremely dangerous, but we really want to do well in the final home game of the year,” said the Milan boss.


“We’re in second place and Inter’s defeat last week tightens everything up at the top of the table, so that naturally gives everyone a boost, but there is a long way to go this season.”


The Rossoneri were on stunning form, though the midweek 1-1 draw with FC Zurich was a disappointing performance.


“It was a strange game, as we had lots of players who weren’t 100 per cent fit. Massimo Ambrosini had a fever and he wanted to play, but during the match he clearly ran into some difficulties.


“Kakha Kaladze was also not fit, so I opted for Thiago Silva and unfortunately he aggravated the injury.”


A calf strain has ruled the Brazilian centre-back out for the next two months, a devastating loss to their back line.


The team’s other two Selecao stars, Pato and Ronaldinho, were heavily criticised at the start of the season and are improving radically.


“Ronaldinho looks happy, he tries to do everything he can for the team and that pleases me, as he went through a moment of great difficulty.


“No player can be 100 per cent for 90 minutes in 60 games a season. Pato is always marked very tightly and let’s not forget he’s only 20 years old, so he’s learning on the job.”


Brazilians elsewhere around Serie A are in dire straits, as Diego and Felipe Melo have largely been blamed for Juve’s Champions League flop.


“I think Juve will follow their own path,” mused Leonardo. “Don’t forget after everything that happened with the demotion to Serie B, they probably thought just signing lots of great players would resolve everything.

Delio Rossi is not the type of coach that plays to defend...that's why we always thrash his teams! Expect a goal fest from our attacking trio, especially as they failed miserably last game against Zurich. I'd like to see Huntelaar start, but Leo's turning out to be quite inexperienced in squad rotation..

I expect a lot of rotation after the winter break. I think his point in sticking with the same 11 is to forge some sort of identity and character for the squad. You can't really do that if every game you try something new (see Juve). Now that he succeeded in doing that, he can start micromanaging the situation, but now everyone knows who the best 11 are.

Or so I hope...

Thiago and Bonera will not play until January.

What's the situation with Abbiati? He's listed as available for some time and he's never on bench.

I doubt Leonardo will rotate now, we play just Fiorentina on December 19th until the break.

Though, I would love if Flamini get some chance and if Borriello stay on the bench sometimes. I would bench Ambrosini and Borriello and play Flamini and Huntelaar in this match.

Originally Posted by Revolver

Thiago and Bonera will not play until January.

What's the situation with Abbiati? He's listed as available for some time and he's never on bench.

I doubt Leonardo will rotate now, we play just Fiorentina on December 19th until the break.

Though, I would love if Flamini get some chance and if Borriello stay on the bench sometimes. I would bench Ambrosini and Borriello and play Flamini and Huntelaar in this match.

I think given Dida's generally impressive form Abbiati will return after the winter break so he has time to get back into match fitness.

This game makes me pretty nervous, mostly because there's a real chance that Kaladze will play. I think he ruins the dynamic of the team's play, I really hope Favalli can play, because he seems far more assured at the back then Kaladze, and the one time that Favalli played (at left back) this season, I remember him having a good game.

If I was Leo, I'd play:

-------------Dida
-Zambro--Nesta--Favalli--Antonini
-------Flamini----Pirlo
-----------Seedorf
--Pato-----------------Dinho
-----------Borriello

Abate to take off one of Pato/Dinho, if its comfortable, Di Gennaro to come on, and Huntelaar definitely deserves more playing time. I'm not 100% convinced that he needs another striker next to him, I think the last game (against Sampdoria) the game was dead anyways, so we weren't going to get to see Hunt get much service anyways.

Bari 3-1 Juventus (FT)
Third goal by Almiron and he showed he was sorry to Ferrara instead of showing some happiness, is he still a Juventus player (on loan) or was he sold ?

It looks like it could be a goodbye to Ferrara sooner or later after this terrible week for them ...
I still remember some people bashing Leonardo and saying how bad he was during our pre-season and the first games of Serie A and comparing him with Ferrara by saying that Ferrara is a real coach. Truth is that Ferrara seems to have found no solution with his team (anyway, I'm against the fact that Juventus should fire him as clubs need continuity, and as Leonardo at the start of the season, it's maybe just a matter of time before Ferrara finds the right solutions, and like they are already eliminated from the CL, they have time to find them ...) whereas Leonardo has a project (good or bad, depends on opinions of people, for example, Cesare Maldini thinks that our formation is bad and that we can't win this CL like that) since the start and managed to make it real.

So now, we can hope for a draw between Atalanta and Inter for example combined with a win against Palermo, and it will be a perfect Serie A week-end ...

Juve is playing terrible at the moment. But take nothing away from Bari as they are playing excellent football this season. They've been impressive from the start of the season and are very solid. Bonucci impressed again but what allowed Bari the win is their super-fast attack. They break out very fast and hit you on the counter so quickly. However, that's not all their game. They can also controll the ball very well in the middle of the park and pass it very nicely.

Anyhow, Amauri is extremely dissapointing. He misses so many chances (although maybe none of them are 100% opportunities he still should have done much better). I am 100% sure that if Trezeguet had even 1 of the opportunities that Amauri had he would have surely scored. Amauri always manages to somehow head the ball over the bar or to be a split second late to the ball. He's made his name somehow and he is capable of playing great football.......but at this point I can't see how he is better then for example Boriello. Still people want him in the Italian National team and what not. At the same time, Giovinco has been much more impressive then Diego when he's been on the field yet Ferrara goes on to say something like "Giovinco is NO Diego but he is useful" (he said that a few weeks ago when Diego was injured for a couple of weeks). Diego is just having all sorts of issues adapting to the Italian game. He always seems to be in trouble because he is given no space at all in the attacking third....and that's why he always looks like he is trying to dribble his way out of trouble. If he is to succeed in Italy then he needs to think faster and know what he's going to do with the ball before he gets it as he'll never be given time in the attacking third to receive, look up, dribble, pass...etc. In any case, Juve played their best football this season in the beggining and then for a few weeks when they switched to a 4-2-3-1 (as a matter of fact their most impressive games IMO came from that 4-2-3-1 with Camo and Giovinco on the wings). Yet when Del Piero came back they had to somehow fit him in and went back to a diamond.

Anyhow.....I'm sorry that I went off topic here. It's GeoTav's fault, he dragged me into this Juve nonsense and Ferrara. But it all works out for us. Juve's troubles are our gains. The longer it takes for them to wake up the better. I just somehow hope that they made it through the last 16 of the CL as it would have greatly helped Italian Football. Oh well.

As for our game. I believe there will be goals. If you bet, then definitely go for a 2+ option or even more. Palermo plays open style and so do we.

Expected line-up from Gazzetta is: Dida - Zambrotta - Nesta - Kaladze - Antonini - Pirlo - Ambrosini - Seedorf - Pato - Ronaldinho - Boriello

I hope Flamini comes in instead of Ambrosini. That's the only change I'll make. As for the rotation, I agree with Brk and Revolver. We made it this far without it and now we need to finish up the next two games like this. Then we get a break. But it will be extremely important to rotate the squad in the spring. That is the most critical part of the season and we need the players fresh.

Prediction for tomorrow....I think we'll beat Palermo. But I too am nervous with Kaladze. Thiago has been one of the most impressive CBs in Europe this season. He is massive in the back for us and he seems to win EVERY high ball for us. He is unbelieavably great in the air. He will be a huge loss. I just hope that Kaladze gives us an ordinary couple of performances. I don't want him to be great, I just pray that he doesn't do anything stupid.

edit: just a thought I forgot to post about Bari. It will be worth taking a look at some of their players this summer or even now in the winter. Ranocchia and Bonucci for example would be great great signings. Barreto can also be a very useful player while their GK Gillet has been hugely impressive throughout the season as well.

MILANELLO – These are the declarations of coach Leonardo during the press conference on the eve of Milan-Palermo:

ON THE MATCH AGAINST PALERMO “Tomorrow we shall return to play at San Siro: it’s always nice to go on the pitch with the support of our crowd. Against Palermo I expect an interesting game. Palermo is a team who expresses nice football and despite the change of numerous coaches, has always maintained its identity. They have players who are very useful and versatile. It will therefore be a team whom we will have to be careful of because they have dynamic players.”

ON THE LEAGUE “Following the defeat of Inter of last Saturday against Juve, I don’t think that it changes much for Milan. We have moved from a gap of seven to four points, but there are still many games left until the end of the season. Right now all Inter, Milan and Juve are very close and this makes the league more interesting. However, I remain always on my line: I believe that Milan must keep its continuity, think about its way of playing, trying to remain in the top positions of the standings until the end.”

ON THE COMMITMENT ON THE PITCH OF AMBROSINI AND THIAGO SILVA IN THE GAME AGAINST ZURICH “Ambrosini was hit by a flu problem, I knew that he wanted to play at all cost, and I decided to mainage the situation according to my personal experience. When I used to play, I never missed a game due to a flu problem and I chose to play him. Clearly then, seeing his situation during the game, I noticed that he was in difficulty. Before the match against Zurich, the situation for me was very difficult to manage because Ronaldino was in doubt, Pato did not have a problem the day before. Even Kaladze was not fine, he did not train the day before because he had picked up a knock. We also had Pasini, a Primavera player, even he was injured. In a moment like this, the things are difficult to evaluate and doing so today is obviously easier.”

ON THE INDIVIDUALS “Pato’s continuity on the pitch? It’s difficult that every player who has a great talent can be consistent for 90 minutes and 60 matches during the year. Also, he is still very yeat and being a dangerous player he is marked a lot. I don’t think that Pato needs to be on the pitch to learn. The way he plays repeats itself in the different situations on the pitch and this allows to the opponents to be closer in marking. Ronaldinho is going through a good moment, I see him serene. It’s difficult to compare him to the Ronaldinho of Barcelona. During training I see him training hard, I know him well and after having faced a moment of great difficulty, now he is more tranquil. I think that the award that was attributed to him by ‘World Soccer’ is a deserved one. Gattuso will not be available yet for tomorrow. Abbiati is returning from a long and bad injury, he found Storari and Dida who on the pitch have done well. Christian knows well his importance inside this club and he knows that he needs to end a long path to return. Even up to today, Inzaghiknows that we play in a way in which there are three players who are fine. Pippo has a chance like the others. Yesterday he had a great training session. He worked very well. He is playing for a place with his team mates in that role. Abate has already got used to the full-back role. Ignazio is a player who is very versatile and can be played anywhere. He learnt how to do the diagonals, the coverings as a full-back. These are not easy, but he was good to get used to this role. Jankulovski was recovered in the last minute for Zurich. For tomorrow he is available, but he must still recover the right form.”

ON THE DRAW OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST SIXTEEN “If I had to chose the next opponent it would be difficult because they are all great teams. If we face Chelsea? It’s a healthy team, very strong, we’ll see what destiny holds.”

ON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SQUAD “The choice of the Champions League squad was affected by the situation of the goalkeepers and the series of injuries which occurred to Dida and Abbiati at first. This removed an extra player who could have helped us in a situation like the one against Zurich.”

ON THE MILAN PROJECT “The club’s idea is that of succeeding to move closer the game of the Primavera, so that it can be useful for the first team. In the first team there’s an important squad and from the opportunity level it’s difficult for the Primavera. Albertazzi? He can be useful in future, but he must still complete his growth path. Hewas with us just for one month, also due to the national team commitments. I think that he needs a bit more time to get accustomed to the first team situation. Milan started out with a squad of about 26 players without counting the players of the Primavera, because with them we would reach 30. Amongst the young players there are those who have the possibility of playing in the first team with Merkel, Zigoni and Albertazzi.”

Dida, Storari, Antonini, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Nesta, Zambrotta, Abate, Ambrosini, Flamini, Pirlo, Seedorf, Borriello, Di Gennaro, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Pato, Ronaldinho.
Unavailable players: Bonera, Oddo, Thiago Silva, Onyewu, Gattuso.

acmilan.com

Huntelaar should get a decent run out in this game I think..so that Borriello gets a chance to rest, and Huntelaar gets a chance to consolidate his performance against Napoli.

Very nervous about this game, as we tend at times not to capitalize on our opponents' slip-ups this term when we should...

While I don't expect Inter to drop points @ Atalanta, I do see us potentially dropping some here if we are not careful.

Kaladze in the back is always a dangerous situation for us, and Dida, well, the less said about his gaffes the better.

I doubt we will keep a clean-sheet, yet think that if our strikers are clinical, Seedorf runs, Pirlo plays well, and Flamini/Ambro tackle properly, we can win this game, and by a good margin.

Don't see Palermo caving in the way Samp did, but who knows? Maybe if they are 3-0 down in the 1st 20 minutes, they too will give up!

FORZA MILAN!

Rumours on Milannews.it, that Pato won't start, but he'll be replaced by Abate.

Milan - Dida; Zambrotta, Nesta, Favalli, Antonini; Pirlo, Ambrosini; Abate, Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Borriello.

Palermo - Sirigu; Cassani, Kjaer, Bovo, Balzaretti; Nocerino, Liverani, Bresciano; Simplicio; Cavani, Miccoli

Tough game is in front of us for sure. Palermo has strong midfield, lets hope Abate will help out in there and Seedorf will play well like vs Doria. We have good solutions from the banch ( Pato, Huntelaar ).

And, its Favalli, not Kaladze! hehehe...

Whilst I'm not for Kaladze starting, I must say Favalli in this side makes me a little nervous. We generally need a fair amount of pace in our backline given how high we push. With Favalli, Palermo may have a weakness to hit on the counter.

Favalli's still probably a better option than Kala.

Streams? I usually watch veetle.com, but it seems Milan channel is of air

I'm watching Bet365.com