AC Milan vs Napoli

Players called up: Abbiati, Donnarumma, Lopez; Alex, Antonelli, Calabria, De Sciglio, Ely, Zapata; Bertolacci, Bonaventura, De Jong, Jose Mauri, Kucka, Montolivo, Nocerino, Poli, Suso; Bacca, Cerci, Honda, Luiz Adriano.

Notable absentees: Balotelli (muscle injury), Abate, Romagnoli (suspended)

What I want to see:
----------------------------------DL
-------Calabria-----------Alex-------Ely---------MDS
-------------------------------Montolivo
-------------------------Kucka----------Jack
--------------------------------Bertolacci

-------------------------Bacca-----------Luiz Adriano

I'm almost certain we'll lose, just hoping to see us go toe to toe and not completely embarrass ourselves.

I agree with your line up mostly, though I expect we'll see MDS moved to the right and Antonelli return down the left. I would like to see Bertolacci tested behind the strikers though, even if I don't see it as his ideal position.

As regards to the game, we're getting trounced.

Highly concerned with how Jack is going to cope defensively in midfield tracking Allan who has fit into Sarri's side superbly, not simply in recovering the ball but breaking forward into the box with his endless work rate.

Napoli are still very much a work in progress and are not yet truly accustomed to Sarri's style which so effectively troubled us at Empoli, however they're improving each week. One issue they had from the beginning was a lack of width when Sarri was persisting with the 4-3-1-2 as he no longer had Mario Rui single handedly controlling the left flank on the ball anymore but the transition to 4-3-3 and the reintroduction of Ghoulam has addressed this issue of balance to an extent.

Insigne is having the season of his life and already looks a much better player. Sarri has him making movements I've never seen him complete before on the pitch, he's getting into more dangerous areas with the ball, he's no longer predictable in cutting inside constantly and he's starting to finish his chances. For this reason I'd be concerned that Calabria is too inexperienced to go with him however MDS has hardly covered himself with glory defensively this season in any case.

We've been able to craft quiet a few chances this season from forcing turnovers in the final third and this is certainly an avenue we should continue to pursue against Napoli. Sarri has somehow managed to give Koulibaly the confidence of Beckenbauer on the ball to dribble and pass out from the back but both he and Albiol have the potential to slip us straight through on goal, particularly with the dogged approach of Bacca and Adriano.

This is probably our greatest test yet, a side with the best attack in the league who will look to dominate us in midfield and starve us of the ball. We've struggled to keep a clean sheet and to play a full 90 minute match thus far, we're going to need to bring the same level of concentration as in the derby in order to succeed here. This side has shown that we can rise to the occasion and Napoli are far from invincible but I'm unsure we have overcome our mental issues. Here's hoping.

I think this match is harder than derby. Napoli look in good shape technically they are very sound and probably have one of best attack in series A. Insigne is key man for them

Not expecting much , a good and organised disciplined game is what i expect at max at the moment.

Peppe di stefano (sky) claims we'll use a 4-4-2 lol

Nothing I despise more than playing a 4-4-2 with CMs on the flanks.

Also other reports suggest Reina might not be fit, which means Gabriel may start. Watch him have the game of his life against us. Perhaps we'll get lucky though and he'll knock out one of our players in the box, forgetting he's no longer on our side.

Really hope the defense limits Higgy on the ball (kinda like last year's home match), if we played like that i think we can pull a cheeky 1-0.

But yeah, i fully expect Higgy to tear us a new one

Want to limit Higuain limit Insigne problem solved

2-0 Napoli

I'm getting this dark feeling, like something terrible is imminent

I'm not the only one then.

That was just pathetic from Zapata.

Is there a way we can stop Zapata from getting the ball?

El Shaarawy wrote:Is there a way we can stop Zapata from getting the ball?

Not having him on the field would be a start.

My avatar is very relevant now.

Lets predict what place we will get by the end of the season, I say 8th

If we continue to defend like this, then somewhere around 8-10 seems reasonable.

Hoping for another game of two halves.

This team is so poor in attack, constantly rely on Kucka/MDS crosses to get half chances or corners. I'm starting to think the recent wins we had were fake wins

Yeah, this team isn't a contender for a European spot

Disgusting. There is a reason why Milan forums are so negative. Performances reflect fans mentality.

wow!!


3-0,

need to say more?

fire galliani , bring serious sporting director and technical director to assess our squad top to bottom.

I can see milan loosing lot more games this season. this half season alone i can see them loosing another 4-5 games

there was some rumors that it takes 30-40 million to get rid of galliani, if this was ever true, i think it makes more sense to pay 40 million and get rid of galliani, than spending close to 100 million and failing this season, or loosing excess of 70-80 million a year for not qualifying in CL.

LMAO de scligio, eli... zapata kucka.... oh boy, this is getting very interesting...

lol even napoli players didnt celebrate much on that goal

One of the most embarrassing days in the club's history.

0-4 are you *bleep* *bleep* kidding me

hmmmmm

well , this is awkward

fml