Bologna - AC Milan (07/02/10 at 15:00)

Day 23 !!
Our 22nd game of the season of Serie A will be against Bologna where we will have to take the 3 points, our team needs to start a new "run" of wins, if possible comfortable wins, to arrive confident against Manchester.

1st - Inter (49 pts) -1
2nd - Milan (41 pts) -1
3rd - Roma (41 pts)
4th - Napoli (38 pts)
5th - Juventus (34 pts)
6th - Palermo (34 pts)
7th - Sampdoria (33 pts)
8th - Cagliari (32 pts) -1
9th - Bari (32 pts)
10th - Genoa (32 pts)
11th - Fiorentina (31 pts) -1

Saturday - 18:00
Palermo (6th) - Parma (13th)

Saturday - 20:45
Livorno (16th) - Juventus (5th)

Sunday - 15:00
Siena (20th) - Sampdoria (7th)
Genoa (10th) - Chievo (12th)
Udinese (17th) - Napoli (4th)
Bologna (14th) - Milan (2nd)
Inter (1st) - Cagliari (8th)

Sunday - 20:45
Fiorentina (11th) - Roma (3rd)

- Like I said, nothing will be acceptable but a win for us ...
- We can hope that Cagliari takes at least 1 point against Inter (MVB will explain you why on the chat !!).
- Udinese need to wake up ...
- A kind of last decisive chance for Fiorentina to get back in the race for Europe ...
- I don't know why, but I feel that Livorno will draw or beat this Juventus side. I read somewhere that Zaccheroni wants to use 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 with them, but they don't have the right players to do so I think (Cannavaro isn't as good as before, Chiellini si error-prone nowadays and by playing this way, he will have more 1 on 1 situations to play).

On a side note, don't forget that our following Serie A game against Udinese will be played on Friday (12/02/10) !!

Geo: I agree Cagliari are capable of taking points off Inter but Inter also travel to Sao Paolo to play Napoli and they have always lost their since they came back to Serie A.

and you say its Fiorentina last chance to get into the European spots... well I don't agree with you...they are 11th spot, but if they win their game in hand they will be in 5th spot, 1 point off Napoli

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Geo: I agree Cagliari are capable of taking points off Inter but Inter also travel to Sao Paolo to play Napoli and they have always lost their since they came back to Serie A.

and you say its Fiorentina last chance to get into the European spots... well I don't agree with you...they are 11th spot, but if they win their game in hand they will be in 5th spot, 1 point off Napoli

If I said that, it's because if they lose and at the same time, Napoli wins, that means they will have lost points on both Roma and Napoli (a 13 and 10 points gap that could potentially become a 12/10 and 9/7 points gap) !!

And as I can't imagine anything else but a win from Milan against Fiorentina, it's why for me, it's their last chance ...

to be honest i think we are back to where we were at the begining of the season where a match against Bologna suddenly needs more calculations (i find myself checking their latest form, drawing with Atalanta, beating Bari, and drawing with Chievo...not bad). at one point i was no longer worried to play the "smaller" teams but with our latest form, especially drawing at home with Livorno, i'm not so sure we will get the win we desperately need.

With Pato still out, Mancini's arrival could well be the catalyst for new enthusiasm and belief in the squad and i sure hope he can deliver.

Also Nesta is back in so that's a huge relief and will also help offensively by letting players go forward more freely having confidence in the backline...we missed Thiago making his forward runs too

I hope Huntelaar will start this one. It's a shame with all creative players we have that we don't have some good goalscorer to finish chances... But, Huntelaar at least gets into chances, unlike Borriello...

I agree, I want to see Huntelaar.

Originally Posted by Revolver

I hope Huntelaar will start this one. It's a shame with all creative players we have that we don't have some good goalscorer to finish chances... But, Huntelaar at least gets into chances, unlike Borriello...

It's funny that people often say the opposite, that Huntelaar doesn't get himself into good positions but that Borriello does. One thing is certain though, that Huntelaar deserves more than just 10-15 minutes at the end of the game...because there isn't much he can do in that time.

Originally Posted by Mystik

It's funny that people often say the opposite, that Huntelaar doesn't get himself into good positions but that Borriello does. One thing is certain though, that Huntelaar deserves more than just 10-15 minutes at the end of the game...because there isn't much he can do in that time.

Well, I saw highlights against Livorno, and Huntelaar could score a hattrick, but I don't blame him for missing all the chances because he can't be sharp when he doesn't play.

But, at least he's getting into chances, as I already said, and that, along with Beckham's presence, underlines our problems with strikers. The same thing is happening as last season, in fact since Shevchenko left. We have a creating force, but no goalscoring force. Pato is great supporting striker, I must say, but he's too weak to be a penalty-box striker these days, and yet he has to learn a lot, he's just 19. It's too much to ask of him to finish all of our attacking movements by himself. He's great as support, but we need a REAL goalscorer, and I'm afraid that Borriello is not it, so we must try Huntelaar. Our midfield can feed a good striker with at least 4 or 5 clear chances against a team like Livorno, and I'm sure that sharp Huntelaar would score at least two of them.

Huntelaar moves better then Marco on crosses and through passes, but he is not sharp right now. Everyone who played something knows the feeling.

I'd play:

--------------------Abbiatti--------------
-Zambro-----Nesta?-----Thiago--Antonini------
-------------Beckham----Ambrosini------
--------------------Pirlo--------
-------Mancini------------Dinho--------
--------------------Hunter------------

If all the people I choose are ok nad fit.

mrki for the first time i can remember im going to agree with your negative ass. I love this line up for the game. New, diffrent, but would work in my opinion

yeah
should be really interesting to see Zambrotta/Abate, Beckham, & Mancini all on one flank

I think Pirlo is still out for this match. Also I hope Flamini starts, he was excellent before being taken off against Livorno.

Just wondering, if Fiorentina ends up outside of CL competitions but manages to win the CL and lets say Napoli finishes at number 4 in the league. Does that mean Napoli will not be playing CL or Fiorentina will not be playing CL?

Originally Posted by Gabriel489

Just wondering, if Fiorentina ends up outside of CL competitions but manages to win the CL and lets say Napoli finishes at number 4 in the league. Does that mean Napoli will not be playing CL or Fiorentina will not be playing CL?

Fiorentina eill not be playing CL..thats the rule imposed after 2005 and Liverpool participating even though they didnt qualify but were winner.

Belive gabriel..if fiorentina win it...they would not have much problems with the issue of not participating next year

You mean they WILL be playing right? I thought the winner would qualify at the expense of the fourth place team so that they would have a chance to defend their title.