DERBY TIME! Inter x Milan

I read somewhere that the last time Milan and Inter were in the top two spots and were competing against each other for the Scudetto was something like 17 years ago (can anyone confirm?).

This must be the closest we have been to Inter in terms of points before we play them in recent years. This game is extremely important because we are 6 points behind with a game in hand.

Mourinho hasn't lost a home game in about 8 years!!!!! Inter will play home and I will be really optimistic about our chances of breaking this record.

so what lineup would you field, considering Seedorf and Pato's return? If you were Leonardo what would you honestly do?

my lineup would be:

----------------------------- DIDA ---------------------------
ZAMBRO--------NESTA---------------SILVA-------ANTONINI
--------- BECKHAM -------- PIRLO -------- AMBRO --------
--- PATO --------------- BORIELLO -------------- R80 ------

I would bring Seedorf on half time regardless of what the score is. However depending on the score, I would bring him instead of any of the three players in the middle.

btw: Antonini is playing just as good as how Grosso played prior to World Cup 2006. I hope he gets called up because he could be very important. He is improving game by game.

Forza Milan, Can't wait for this one!

Whether Seedorf and Pato should play depends on how fit they really are. If they're both ready to start and play 60-70 minutes then It'd be hard to exclude Pato, since he adds something on the flank that Becks cannot. With Seedorf, meanwhile, it might be better to start him on the bench and let Pirlo play 'his role', which would give the midfield some more balance.

Even though Inter are playing terrible football, they're still a very good side, and while I usually don't give a damn about statistics, Mourinho's unbeaten-at-home streak is very impressive. So maybe having a midfield three of Becks-Ambro-Pirlo or Pirlo-Ambro-Seedorf would be pushing our luck. Yet at the same time I don't wanna see us go out and play a Mourinho-style midfield. On form the Becks-Ambro-Pirlo midfield looks the best, since neither Gattuso nor Flamini have been convincing. But for one reason or another I could really see Gattuso starting - he'd add some fight to the midfield plus he's the 'motivator' (no matter how off-colour and off-beat he is) like for the Italian NT.

Some people might want Abate to start at RB, but I agree with hitmannq8 that Zambro should get the nod, if he's fit enough.

I'm concerned about Nesta. I hope he's not out for the derby

I watched Inter's game against Bari, and while they did not impress me, they were able to come back from 2-0, which tells me that they absolutely can't be underestimated. We are doing well at the moment, but in derbies form counts for nothing.

If Pato is out, then it'd be a blow, but Beckham has proven that he can do very well on the right side, and he actually brings more balance to the side as he is better at defending than Pato is.

Anyway, if we win this game we're only three points behind Inter with a game in hand. The most important thing is actually that we do not lose, as that would increase the gap again and possibly decide the scudetto race. I'd happily accept a draw in this game.

I would start the same team as today. Only change is gattuso for ambro. Bench coming in is seedorf. Pato. Huntelaar.

We stop snejder and milito on offense they are toast. Lucio and Cordoba have no chance on us.

We need to score first and try to go for the kill. I'm hoping for 3-0 win.

B22.becks and r80 goals. Lol if I'm wrong who cares just want to win

---------------Dida-------------
-Zambro--Nesta--Thiago--Antonini-
----------Gattuso-Ambrosini-
--------------Pirlo-------
----PAto-----------Dinho-------
------------Boriello--------

Im just praying Zambrotta and PAto are ok for the derby, Zambro on the flank would mean much as I do not trust Abate for big games... But as far as I know Zambro will not be ready PAto is badly needed, as aldough Becks plays well in defence, Inter will man mark Pirlo and double mark Dinho, which will leave the other side free for PAto or Beckham. And PAto can create much more going vertically... We'll see during the next week, but lets just not loose the derby and we are in for the scudetto...

Originally Posted by mrki

---------------Dida-------------
-Zambro--Nesta--Thiago--Antonini-
----------Gattuso-Ambrosini-
--------------Pirlo-------
----PAto-----------Dinho-------
------------Boriello--------

Im just praying Zambrotta and PAto are ok for the derby, Zambro on the flank would mean much as I do not trust Abate for big games... But as far as I know Zambro will not be ready PAto is badly needed, as aldough Becks plays well in defence, Inter will man mark Pirlo and double mark Dinho, which will leave the other side free for PAto or Beckham. And PAto can create much more going vertically... We'll see during the next week, but lets just not loose the derby and we are in for the scudetto...

mrki gattuso ruined it with his hot head you sure? Abate pirlo and ambro in the mid and zambro in the back maybe.

i still trust in gattuso, things like that happen a huge game the gladiator has always gave his all for us, its rare to see that nowadays my start 11 would be


-------------Dida---------------------

Zambrotta---Nesta----Silva------Abate/Antonini


-----Gattuso-----------Beckham--------


---------------Pirlo----------------------


------Pato------------------------------


-----------------------------------R80--

---------------Boriello-------------------

Why are some of you discrediting Abate? Had he been playing like Kala over the past months? Had he not been doing his job?
If he never plays any big game for Milan, how the heck can anyone know if he can be trusted? Come on, I think this is the best possible opportunity for Abate to play, as the whole team is playing well as a unit and everyone is healthy. Thats exactly what Carlo done over the past few years and thats one of the reason why we all dislike him for it. Yet, a lot of you still say stuff like that.
Beside, it is not like Abate never played against big teams before, he was a starter for Torino last year and I am pretty sure he played against the likes of Inter, Milan, Juve and Roma.
Lastly, a lot of you kept saying how come Milan cannot produce a Santon or Balottelli...well, Abate is on the verge of doing that and yet lets play Zambro b/c he should do well against INter even though he had been out for a month.
And so what if Seedorf, Pato and Zambro are back from injuries? Nomatter how fit they are, they have not play competitive football for over 1 month, and they really should not be starting right away.

Leo should keep the lineup that is currently working great and have a bench of Abbiatti, Zambro, Favalli, Seedorf, Pato, Flamini and Pippo off the bench.

i would prefer pato in place of beckham IF he's 'FIT' enough, and either beckham to start first instead of gattuso OR beckham to start later from the bench

otherwise i wouldnt mind having the same winning team playing against inter .. the TEAM who TRASHED juve 3-0 IN TURIN,

FORZA MILAN>.

Originally Posted by OCmilano

I would start the same team as today. Only change is gattuso for ambro. Bench coming in is seedorf. Pato. Huntelaar.

We stop snejder and milito on offense they are toast. Lucio and Cordoba have no chance on us.

We need to score first and try to go for the kill. I'm hoping for 3-0 win.

B22.becks and r80 goals. Lol if I'm wrong who cares just want to win

This night I want the devil ready to fight
4 - 0 cheers bro

Can't wait for this game. I think we should be starting Flamini over Gattuso. He offers more going forward, and I believe we should be able to control possession against Inter, which is where Flamini is better. Bari did it, surely we can as well. Gattuso seems shacky with the ball at the moment, and loses quite a few balls. That being said, he is excellent at immedialy putting pressure on the opposition when we lose the ball, he just always seems to be there when things could potentially get dangerous, although he probably still doesn't win as many balls as he should.

All in all, I think we have to be considered favorites. BUT if Nesta ends up not being able to play then I don't see us having a chance at all. Whenever Nesta or Thiago Silva are out our defense play like a Serie B side. In two games we hadn't even conceded a chance, but as soon as Nesta went out today Siena started looking dangerous.

Btw with a win here and a win over Viola we'd be level on points!

FORZA MILAN

It will be 6-2 with Borreillo scoring a hattrick and shows the world that he is IT No.1 Striker.

I am hoping so too, that would gain an extra 0.5 point for us in the possible tie-breaking. The 0-4 defeat was too much to reverse, but one can always dream.

But I would take a narrow win with no complaint.

If Pato is ready, I would definitely play him. Gattuso in my opinion is not good enough yet, but we have Ambrosini. Beckham should come back and help Ambrosini, so the lineup would become:

------------------Borriello----------------------
-----Ronaldinho----------------Pato/Beckham---
-----------------------------------------------
-------------------Pirlo------------------------
----------------------------Beckham/Seedorf----
-----------------------------------------------
-----------Ambrosini----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
-Antonini--------Silva-----Nesta---Abate/Zambrotta-----
---------------------Dida------------------------------

Of course, I hope that Nesta will be fit for this game. I suspect it was Ronaldinho's jumping onto his back while celebrating during Juventus game that caused some inconvenience.

I'd rather Pato come in off the bench, actually. Even if he's 'fit'. We have more balance with Beckham on the right, and Pato coming on at 60 for Becks would mean that Beckham will run his heart out, and the defenders will tire, and Pato will come in for half an hour to kill them off.

I'd start with this:

--------------------------Dida
--------------Nesta--------------Thiago Silva
Zambrotta----------------------------------------Antonini
---------------Pirlo--------------Ambro
-----------------------Seedorf
-------Beckham
---------------------------------------Ronaldinho
-------------------Borriello

Subs:

- Pato for Beckham
- Flamini for Gattuso/Ambro whoever has a yellow


The key in this game is isolating Sneijder and forcing them to play long balls. Ronaldinho is going to find a lot of space behind Maicon and that may force them to keep him back. Borriello is going to have a lot of fun with their central defense. They're very slow and always end up giving away lots of fouls. Beckham should score one (I hope).

It's going to be a great game. Inter really suffer when attacked, and there's no better attacking team than us at the moment. We're confident, and they're not. We can win this.


Edit: Nesta is okay, and Samuel is suspended. They'll probably have a back line of Santon, Cordoba, Lucio and Maicon. I think I can score against them!