Arquitecto wrote:

BhritanniaBhlue wrote:Typical Italian coach using the same old static tactics

Quite obvious you didn't see his Cagliari side.

Or our 2nd half of last season where we played some attractive football.

i think most of the forum members (including me) are biased to some extent. the football Milan or most other serie A club plays (baring some games) can't be cited as attacking or mouthwatering. slow and static with all those age old tacticians still storming the ground in serie a... i'm a die hard Serie A , and Roma, Milan fan and i have been watching games for the past 10 years... little have changed during that period... we are lagging far behind the leading EPL and La Liga clubs in terms of entertainment. i can debate thousand hours in favor of serie a clubs, but deep inside i know the truth. AS Roma have brought a fresh mentality to Serie A recently, and i hope most of the teams follow the suit including Allegri's Milan

BhritanniaBhlue wrote:

Arquitecto wrote:

BhritanniaBhlue wrote:Typical Italian coach using the same old static tactics

Quite obvious you didn't see his Cagliari side.

Or our 2nd half of last season where we played some attractive football.

Just because he had the stones to try something new when he was at Cagliari doesnt erase the fact that hes done nothing but conform to Italian coaching stereotypes since joining his first big side

3/4 dms and hoof it to your attackers who are free from defensive responsibilities...he's really shattering the mould there

Your original thesis to describe Allegri is the same old static tactician that is common in Italia these days.

You also say we play 3 DMs along with hoofing the ball to our attack.

Also, you state our attackers have no defensive responsibility.


So therefore you either pick up these assumptions from:

1. Knee-Jerking Milan fans who whinge and complain (like gravid)
2. Assumptions based on 2-3 games
3. RM fans on chat who dictate everything on other teams without knowing jack shit about it.

Its funny how you deride him as a static and provincial manager considering in his time with Grosetto, his renowned Sassuolo and Cagliari he concentrated purely on flowing attacking football in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 which was the complete opposite of how you put it. If anything, he was criticized for being TOO flexible and adaptive which caused his Grosetto sacking. He was patronized by some staunch critics for being too modern and naive in bring his ultra attacking game to his previous 3 teams. See where I'm going here?

In he came to Milan with the same approach. We played 4-3-3 and while we produced some fine attacking and free flowing displays, we ultimately lost out due to our bad defensive cover. Allegri then scrapped Ronaldinho and Pirlo who despite their skill and vision, our less fortunate teammates became to reliant on them as Ronaldinho eventually was benched due to his lack of discipline within the pitch and Pirlo due to his mobility and ability to be marked out easily at his age.

Allegri then created a system to provide a defensive shield for the developing backline with a improving Abate, but a incompetent Antonini. You say we play 3+ DMs, whereas our starting line-up is composed of Aquilani, MvB and Nocerino. The latter, who despite the common misconception is NOT A DM and never was. Allegri plays him as a LCM/mez'zala role, Ambrosini, who is currently in place of Aquilani due to injury plays the same side midfield role as Nocerino. Want proof? MvB is our only true DM and doesn't venture forward while Nocerino and Ambro continuously venture forward box to box and clearly do not play as our DMs. Your probably wondering Allegri plays such a functional system in the midfield? Well thats because Allegri has little say in the purchases of Milan while Galliani either continuously buys forwards, and other cheap and sub-standard purchases. Galliani bought Emanuelsson who he THOUGHT is a LB but barely played that role in Ajax, so therefore a winger is useless in his system. He bought Nocerino who apparently is the new gattuso while he just is an average box-to box attacker with little defensive skill. Ambrosini who plays because he is our captain and has the benifit of the doubt due to a few solid performances. Merkel, who was being played regularly is now ALSO injured. So who else do we really have aside from the options? KpB, who also didn't suit Allegri's system, was seamlessly integrated in the team to play him into a what is quite an innovative role. Seedorf cannot play more than once a week and even then he is slow as molasses.

Simply put, we DO NOT have the midfield to play to Allegri's attacking ideas only because of its complete lack of pace and mobility aside from Nocerino and KPB who do not exactly scream creativity and guile.

That leaves Allegri with an old and slow midfield while Aquilani and Merkel are continuously injured while the rest simply do not match up to standard.

This is why Allegri has deployed Ibra into a number 10 role where he drops deep to assist the midfield as Cassano before his injury was the creative output in the box. Then we have Pato who cannot link up with Ibra due to his lack of tactical sense. Robinho is deployed for his dynamism, playmaking and skill.

Notice something? Since Galliani obviously does not provide what we actually need, Allegri has adapted to make the frontline where most of the free form magic happens. Which is why his Milan is known to be so composed in the box while the in the current injury crisis (which is all the time) can only provide defensive cover but disciplined box to box help.

You say we hoof the ball while that was only the case in the first half of the season while Allegri sorted out his system. 2nd half of the season with Ibra's absences we played Pato, Robinho and Cassano as our front attack and did not rely on him a single bit. If anything, we played better. This season we do not hoof either as the few times we do, that is evidently because our midfield has the complete lack of pace to move the ball forward to the attack. So therefore the ball is hoofed, Ibra brings it back in the midfield by dropping deep, while the mezzala's move towards the box and link up with the forwards.

By your logic on calling Allegri static and provincial, Mourinho was the same thing considering his first season ACTUALLY involved hoofing to Ibra the whole damn season. See how I feel here?

You also say our attackers have no defensive responsibility, which also shows you are assuming, while the common fact is that ALL attackers are required to track back. You will see Ibra doing this, you will also surprisingly see Robinho doing it, the only exception is Pato is relieved of that duty due to his injury proneness.

Which is why he is known for his rigorous and intense diet and exercise schedule to compensate for the lack of technicality.

Conclusively, its quite obvious you haven't seen that our team essentially works as one functional unit who don't rely on one specific player which is why we didn't need Ronaldinho (a big game flop) and Pirlo who couldn't be integrated and hurt the system.

In essence, he has adapted superbly to what little resources he has had with the age old and mobility lacking midfield, and inconsistent frontline. Our backline, Abate was seamlessly integrated to link up so that he can attack but lacks that cutting edge, while Mesbah is the first stable LB we have had in years. Allegri's 4-3-1-2 requires wingbacks to provide width but that isn't possible considering both our fullbacks are not offensive fullbacks at all.

So therefore he has to stick to the 4-3-1-2 and 4-1-2-1-2 (and occasionally the 4-4-1-1) until he is provided with the players needed for his system.

I don't even have to mention his superb in game and during the moment tactics which have caused us to win many games big and small.

Point being, it doesn't really matter to me whether you rate him or not as I only wanted to wipe away the myths and misconceptions. Too much blame is put on him and too less on Galliani, our players(and their age) and too some extent, the massive injury list accrued each year.

Once he is actually provided with at least one proper 10 role player or at least another regista, then his desired system will truly come into effect. Excuses no? Just analysis of how his system caters to attack yet is compromised by the midfield and other areas not provided despite his tactics being named spot on.

What he really needs to improve upon is his big game motivation. Also he needs to stick to the system which works at times as sometimes he pulls a Bielsa and changes things up a bit.

Is he stubborn? Yes. Static, provincial, typical? Not a chance.

Arquitecto wrote:Your original thesis to describe Allegri is the same old static tactician that is common in Italia these days.

You also say we play 3 DMs along with hoofing the ball to our attack.

Also, you state our attackers have no defensive responsibility.


So therefore you either pick up these assumptions from:

1. Knee-Jerking Milan fans who whinge and complain (like gravid)
2. Assumptions based on 2-3 games
3. RM fans on chat who dictate everything on other teams without knowing jack shit about it.

What are you on about? These aren't assumptions, anyone who watches Milan for 2 games or just glances at the damn team sheet can see that I'm right

Emmanuelson, Van Bommel, Nocerino, Boateng behind Pato and Ibra, I can't wait to see the flowing creativity and quick tiki taka passing that such a midfield undoubtedly displays

Arquitecto wrote:Its funny how you deride him as a static and provincial manager considering in his time with Grosetto, his renowned Sassuolo and Cagliari he concentrated purely on flowing attacking football in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 which was the complete opposite of how you put it. If anything, he was criticized for being TOO flexible and adaptive which caused his Grosetto sacking. He was patronized by some staunch critics for being too modern and naive in bring his ultra attacking game to his previous 3 teams. See where I'm going here?

Yes, but you clearly didn't see where I'm going, because I already said that just because he has the balls to try something new when at a small side like Cagliari means f*ck all seeing as how he immediately retreated back into the same old shell that all typical Italian coaches do when he finally got to his first big club....

Arquitecto wrote:In he came to Milan with the same approach. We played 4-3-3 and while we produced some fine attacking and free flowing displays, we ultimately lost out due to our bad defensive cover.

See above...

Arquitecto wrote:Allegri then created a system to provide a defensive shield for the developing backline with a improving Abate, but a incompetent Antonini.

"Created a system" ?? He didnt create ANYTHING, he used the exact same system that oh so many Italian sides have been using for more than a decade now...

Arquitecto wrote:You say we play 3+ DMs, whereas our starting line-up is composed of Aquilani, MvB and Nocerino. The latter, who despite the common misconception is NOT A DM and never was. Allegri plays him as a LCM/mez'zala role, Ambrosini, who is currently in place of Aquilani due to injury plays the same side midfield role as Nocerino. Want proof? MvB is our only true DM and doesn't venture forward while Nocerino and Ambro continuously venture forward box to box and clearly do not play as our DMs.

Come on man....don't try to argue that Nocerino and Ambrosini (or Gattuso and Flamini last year) aren't defensive minded players....you're above that

Arquitecto wrote:Simply put, we DO NOT have the midfield to play to Allegri's attacking ideas only because of its complete lack of pace and mobility aside from Nocerino and KPB who do not exactly scream creativity and guile.

You just said yourself that he got rid of Pirlo? You cant claim that getting rid of Pirlo was a great move Allegri had to do to "create" some new system and then complain that Milan doesn't have the type of player needed to play his preferred attacking style

So which is it? It has to be one or the other, can't be both..

Arquitecto wrote:You say we hoof the ball while that was only the case in the first half of the season while Allegri sorted out his system. 2nd half of the season with Ibra's absences we played Pato, Robinho and Cassano as our front attack and did not rely on him a single bit.

I didn't say you hoofed it to Ibra, I said you hoofed it to your attackers....Ibra isn't your only attacker - Cassano has always wanted the ball hoofed to him just as much as Ibra does

Arquitecto wrote:By your logic on calling Allegri static and provincial, Mourinho was the same thing considering his first season ACTUALLY involved hoofing to Ibra the whole damn season. See how I feel here?

Never denied he did that...but he also sold Ibra following that first season and wound up changing formations and playing style entirely..

Arquitecto wrote:You also say our attackers have no defensive responsibility, which also shows you are assuming, while the common fact is that ALL attackers are required to track back. You will see Ibra doing this, you will also surprisingly see Robinho doing it, the only exception is Pato is relieved of that duty due to his injury proneness.

First you're trying to argue that Ambrosini and Nocerino aren't defensive minded players and now you're saying Robinho and Ibra have defensive responsibilities?

Give me a break man...I'd like to keep going with this but I've got class

Cheers

Thats a great point

You dont get rid of Pirlo and then complain about Allegri not having any creative player in his midfield.

Sure he will not be as defensively good as a pure DM but the fact still stands that he got rid of his single world class creative player for MOAR defense.

Juve are doing more than fine with Pirlo,actually he is their best player despite not getting as much protection he got from Milan.

Arq vs Bhends


SHIT JUST GOT REAL

The only thing that got my interest is the RM fans dictating chat and having an opinion for just about every club apparently. Why those bastards just leave well enough alone...

What are you on about? These aren't assumptions, anyone who watches Milan for 2 games or just glances at the damn team sheet can see that I'm right

Emmanuelson, Van Bommel, Nocerino, Boateng behind Pato and Ibra, I can't wait to see the flowing creativity and quick tiki taka passing that such a midfield undoubtedly displays

Your sticking to your original point where you accused Allegri of using 3 DMs. Now in your point above you include Urby and Nocerino, both who don't play DMs for us. I already mentioned that our starting line-up and core system does NOT involves 3 DMs let alone 2. I don't see the sarcasm needed for the "tiki taka" displays considering I wasn't even touching upon the point that we play free flowing football. Only countering your point that we play 3 DMs.

Yes, but you clearly didn't see where I'm going, because I already said that just because he has the balls to try something new when at a small side like Cagliari means f*ck all seeing as how he immediately retreated back into the same old shell that all typical Italian coaches do when he finally got to his first big club....

"Typical Italian coach using the same old static tactics"

Your labeling him as a typical italian manager with old static tactics. You don't mention a big club but you describe Allegri as a whole. So I guess just by his Milan career with the compromises he has had to make you label him a typical Italian manager, while neglecting his actual system that he intends to play. Why does he intend but cannot do so? As mentioned, we don't have the resources to follow suit.

I cannot see how you ignored my point on how the best possible system he can play with our decrepit midfield is the exact same system he is using.

See above...

No, this was simply because it was highly inadvisable to play such a attacking and free form system with such an immobile and slow midfield. Doesn't have anything to do with balls, just being sensible.

"Created a system" ?? He didnt create ANYTHING, he used the exact same system that oh so many Italian sides have been using for more than a decade now...

Created a system as in context to scrapping his original plan to improvise based on the resource available. Hence, creating what was best for Milan.

Come on man....don't try to argue that Nocerino and Ambrosini (or Gattuso and Flamini last year) aren't defensive minded players....you're above that

Who said they aren't? I'm only speaking on the role that is given to them and their actions on the field. They do not perform the actions such as our standard DM (MvB) as both of them despite being inclined more towards being defensive minded players, Allegri simply has situated them for playing as Mezzali. Keep in mind Ambrosini isn't even a starter anymore as Merkel and Aquilani both are ahead of him now. While Nocerino as I explained, is simply not even close to a DM despite having the ability to track back and provide cover. Yet his role is situated for attack. Even then, Seedorf is in picking order ahead of him.

Flamini? He barely played last year. Gattuso did yes but was rarely paired up with MvB and came on mostly as a substitute when MvB came into Milan.

Point is, Allegri won't be seen and rarely was putting 2 DMs as this was only when Pirlo was on field since he needs the DMs to cover him.

You just said yourself that he got rid of Pirlo? You cant claim that getting rid of Pirlo was a great move Allegri had to do to "create" some new system and then complain that Milan doesn't have the type of player needed to play his preferred attacking style

So which is it? It has to be one or the other, can't be both..

My mistake as I also forgot to mention one of two prime reasons Pirlo was released was due to his wages which Galliani refused to pay unless he lowered it. Something Allegri had 0 say on.

On the field it was a tricky situation. When he played, he played very well, yet the problem was due to Pirlo's increasingly deduced mobility we needed to implement 2 DMs to cover him. Fine. But the bigger problem was in European stages or against faster and more counter-attacking opponents Pirlo was exposed when properly marked out as within the game our plan would be essentially useless since we have no one else really to create if we didn't let him go. Allegri's plan clearly was to build a team free of the reliance on Pirlo as we worked more as a cohesive unit eventually without him. Juve? They look toothless without him and have two young fresh and skilled players in the form of Vidal and Marchisio. We sadly dont.

Now, what I said is we needed a star regista with pace and mobility. Aquilani is a solid player but doesn't exactly have pace or mobility along with the fact that he doesn't control the game or dictate it in a world class manner. Which is why us fans for opting for Schwiensteiger or Fabregas. Not only because they are star players but simply because we truly needed someone like them. A true AM also was needed but some fans argue a regista is more.

I didn't say you hoofed it to Ibra, I said you hoofed it to your attackers....Ibra isn't your only attacker - Cassano has always wanted the ball hoofed to him just as much as Ibra does

My mistake as I was carried away by the common accusation that we hoof to Ibra. Cassano rarely has the ball hoofed to him as it is though. Point being that the hoofing has been near eliminated since we have a system that is catered to opening spaces within the midfield to deliver passes, more possession, Ibra's even deeper role and the higher pressure and pressing.

You will see hoofing not from the system, but when our slow and dreary midfield is being overrun by pace and mobility. Nothing else.

Never denied he did that...but he also sold Ibra following that first season and wound up changing formations and playing style entirely..

Yes but Mourinho was actually reimbursed for his efforts was he not? With Eto, Milito, Motta, Lucio, and of course, Sneijder coming in.

Allegri on the other hand with the only player worth mentioning is Aquilani but even then his signing was supposed to be someone world class. Motta? He was a vital player to Inter treble season was he not? And of course Sneijder, the archetypal player we needed to connect our midfield with our attack.

As is the case, Allegri is left stranded again by Galliani who is busy balancing his checkbooks. Mourinho had the players in his 2nd season to expand and augment his system, Allegri is still yearning until he acquires the technical (not physical) players that we need.

First you're trying to argue that Ambrosini and Nocerino aren't defensive minded players and now you're saying Robinho and Ibra have defensive responsibilities?

No, this pertains to the point where you said our attacker have no defensive responsibility while the case actually is that they track back more than usual. Just correcting you here.

As for Noce and Ambro not being defensive minded players, keep in mind my debate point above.


Look I don't want to annoy you any further as its clear this is the case, so I'll conclude for the sake of brevity.

Allegri has many ideas (and attacking ones) in mind, yet they simply have not been translated why? Its a combination of injuries, dis balance and unneeded signings, and of course not being provided with the requirements needed to fulfill his ambitious system ideas. This cannot be argued against.

Until then, he improvised, adapted and formulated the system that was optimized for the situation, until he could be provided with the necessary requirements. I'm repeating myself here, but this is sadly the case which is why he is relying on youth players more than ever now with his call-ups. The squad has been in decline since 2007 and our board is not addressing that.

And thats that.

Arquitecto wrote:
Your sticking to your original point where you accused Allegri of using 3 DMs. Now in your point above you include Urby and Nocerino, both who don't play DMs for us. I already mentioned that our starting line-up and core system does NOT involves 3 DMs let alone 2

No point in arguing in circles about what Nocerino is, so Lets take a poll: Do you consider Nocerino a defensive minded midfielder? and we'll see who wins...

arquitecto wrote:I don't see the sarcasm needed for the "tiki taka" displays considering I wasn't even touching upon the point that we play free flowing football

"Quite obvious you didn't see his Cagliari side."

"his renowned Sassuolo and Cagliari he concentrated purely on flowing attacking football in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 which was the complete opposite of how you put it. If anything, he was criticized for being TOO flexible and adaptive which caused his Grosetto sacking."

arquitecto wrote:Your labeling him as a typical italian manager with old static tactics. You don't mention a big club but you describe Allegri as a whole. So I guess just by his Milan career with the compromises he has had to make you label him a typical Italian manager, while neglecting his actual system that he intends to play. Why does he intend but cannot do so? As mentioned, we don't have the resources to follow suit.

Neither of us knows what system he actually "intends to play" unless there are some quotes from him that I haven't seen, so trying to claim that he intends to break the stereotype of Italian coaches when his time in Milan so far completely goes against that theory is nothing but conjecture...

Arquitecto wrote:I cannot see how you ignored my point on how the best possible system he can play with our decrepit midfield is the exact same system he is using.

Thats opinion though ...MVB-Pirlo-KPB is a better midfield than the one you posted, but apparently getting rid of Pirlo was a "great move" needed for his "new system"

Arquitecto wrote:No, this was simply because it was highly inadvisable to play such a attacking and free form system with such an immobile and slow midfield. Doesn't have anything to do with balls, just being sensible.

Exactly, he's being sensible.......by retreating to typical Italian tactics

Arquitecto wrote:Flamini? He barely played last year. Gattuso did yes but was rarely paired up with MvB and came on mostly as a substitute when MvB came into Milan.

Not saying he was first choice XI but he played in at least half your games last year, so "barely played" is stretching it to say the least

Arquitecto wrote:On the field it was a tricky situation. When he played, he played very well, yet the problem was due to Pirlo's increasingly deduced mobility we needed to implement 2 DMs to cover him. Fine. But the bigger problem was in European stages or against faster and more counter-attacking opponents Pirlo was exposed when properly marked out as within the game our plan would be essentially useless since we have no one else really to create if we didn't let him go. Allegri's plan clearly was to build a team free of the reliance on Pirlo as we worked more as a cohesive unit eventually without him.

I agree with this mostly, but you wound up getting goose-egged by Spurs anyway, so clearly Allegri's plan didn't fair any better than Pirlo would have...

Arquitecto wrote:Yes but Mourinho was actually reimbursed for his efforts was he not? With Eto, Milito, Motta, Lucio, and of course, Sneijder coming in.

All those players combined cost less than Robinho-Ibra....

Arquitecto wrote:As is the case, Allegri is left stranded again by Galliani who is busy balancing his checkbooks. Mourinho had the players in his 2nd season to expand and augment his system, Allegri is still yearning until he acquires the technical (not physical) players that we need.

Mou had less money spent on players than Allegri has gotten so you can hardly use "money" as the reason why Mou was able to do it and Allegri isn't...you can argue that Branca did a far superior job than Galliani but thats a different debate for a different day

Arquitecto wrote:Allegri has many ideas (and attacking ones) in mind, yet they simply have not been translated why? Its a combination of injuries, dis balance and unneeded signings, and of course not being provided with the requirements needed to fulfill his ambitious system ideas. This cannot be argued against.

There's not any evidence of that...thats just your opinion

Until he comes out and says otherwise or makes some dramatic shift in the way his team plays saying something like that is just conjecture...

[quote="Arquitecto"]

On the field it was a tricky situation. When he played, he played very well, yet the problem was due to Pirlo's increasingly deduced mobility we needed to implement 2 DMs to cover him. Fine. But the bigger problem was in European stages or against faster and more counter-attacking opponents Pirlo was exposed when properly marked out as within the game our plan would be essentially useless since we have no one else really to create if we didn't let him go. Allegri's plan clearly was to build a team free of the reliance on Pirlo as we worked more as a cohesive unit eventually without him. Juve? They look toothless without him and have two young fresh and skilled players in the form of Vidal and Marchisio. We sadly dont.

How so bro? We've only played one game without Pirlo this season.

That's just your speculation.

And I'll have to agree with Bhends on the other points..

Allegri is a great coach who has eliminated milans dependency on Pirlo which IMO is a very big step that i don't think other coaches would even think about and who cares if he hasn't been a offensive minded coach i dont see many that would play offensive football with the midfield he has at his disposal.

Im not trying to imply that Allegri is a bad coach...just that he's a typical Italian coach so he has a glass ceiling of sorts over his head unless he learns to adapt

Whats one of the main differences between Mou, Pep, SAF and most Italian coaches? Flexibility. The former have it, the latter.....not so much

Spaletti seems to have it, Capello had it (although he seems to basically be treating his current job as a retirement gig) and Conte has shown significant signs of flexibility, but its still too early for judgement on him yet

poor man's mick mccarthy

andiii wrote:poor man's mick mccarthy

Poor man's Tony Pulis

No point in arguing in circles about what Nocerino is, so Lets take a poll: Do you consider Nocerino a defensive minded midfielder? and we'll see who wins...

Once again, you omit my point. Whether or not you think he is a DM (in which he clearly is not), the point being is that Allegri DOES NOT use him as a DM.

I don't see the sarcasm needed for the "tiki taka" displays considering I wasn't even touching upon the point that we play free flowing football

"Quite obvious you didn't see his Cagliari side."

"his renowned Sassuolo and Cagliari he concentrated purely on flowing attacking football in a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 which was the complete opposite of how you put it. If anything, he was criticized for being TOO flexible and adaptive which caused his Grosetto sacking."

Your ignoring the context. That quote of mine pertains to how I state my debate point on how he isn't actually a typical Italian manager as hopefully you are keeping mind how I summarized how he was criticized for being to adventurous and naive at times before his Milan career. Maybe you should have stated that he is being a typical italian manager at MILAN and not him himself as you clearly labeled it. The letter in red ('we) refers to Milan and not his other sides. How are you getting this mixed up?

Notes from him that I haven't seen, so trying to claim that he intends to break the stereotype of Italian coaches when his time in Milan so far completely goes against that theory is nothing but conjecture...either of us knows what system he actually "intends to play" unless there are some qu

He intends to break it as evidenced once again by his coaching career before Milan. Hopefully at this point you still keep in mind on how I summarized the acclaim/criticism on him along with his coaching philosophies. Quotes? I honestly cannot provide you with specified quotes yet I distinctly do not see the point of conjuring the ideas of the manager without actually knowing it as otherwise why would I spend 2 pages going on and on about his coaching method if he didn't actually have it? As then wouldn't I agree with you?




I cannot further provide concrete evidence on his coaching philosophies simply because you are susceptible not well-informed enough on this as of now. There is a reason on why we bought him as it was for his attacking and out of the box philosophies. Coming back to the point of application of those methods (for the several time), it HAD to be scrapped, simply because it was highly inadvisable to play such a way with the overall midfield and fullbacks. What 'way' am I talking about? Simply put, the 4-3-3 Allegri used for 1-2 months when he came to Milan yet it while it proved to be ultra attacking and pleasing to the eye, it essentially cost us points as other tactical methods to alter it would prove near futile since his 4-3-3 (and his system) was based mostly on free-form play which focuses little on pragmatic-ism and heavy sophisticated tactics like many Italian managers tend to do. Which is why he came to play the more rigid, disciplined and blend of silk and steel. Isn't that evidence enough? I surely hope you remember or at least heard of his initial system used in Milan.

Thats opinion though ...MVB-Pirlo-KPB is a better midfield than the one you posted, but apparently getting rid of Pirlo was a "great move" needed for his "new system"

No, it is not. I explained already on Pirlo. KPB? I guess you haven't heard that KPB has rarely if not ever performed as a LCM/Mezzala which is why Allegri had to create the makeshift position in the 'modern TQ' for KPB in which he has moderate success in. Pirlo and MvB combination on the otherhand would be absolutely disastrous due to the complete lack of pace and mobility within these two. Actually, it did prove to be within the games these two played together while another attack-minded midfielder was fielded alongside them. Your choice was KPB, it doesn't work. What was my midfield? I already told you the staring line-up essentially would be Aquilani-MvB- Nocerino/Merkel/Seedorf with KPB as TQ. While not as good on paper, it has actually worked better only because Allegri's progressive tactics made it work and keeping into account the moderate mobility of Aquilani and Merkel. Seedorf is an anomaly and performs only when rested or motivated.

Exactly, he's being sensible.......by retreating to typical Italian tactics

See above, his objective was to come in and win while gradually developing his system. In espana they teach managers that you cannot adhere to your attacking system, start from ground up and start from defense and then move on to attack. Taking into account the similar passage above, he had to compromise his for the reason stated, and formed the system in which would be optimal to the resource available.

Not saying he was first choice XI but he played in at least half your games last year, so "barely played" is stretching it to say the least

Ok he didn't barely play. But he wasn't a sure-starter for Milan as he was only deployed in smaller games, and Coppa Italia matches as the only exception of the big game is against Tottenham. Taking this into account, when he played with Ambrosini, Ambro played as b2b, yet while playing with Gattuso alongside, Flamini himself played as b2b yet clearly did not thrive in the role. The passage stated refers to how many true DM roles are deployed.

I agree with this mostly, but you wound up getting goose-egged by Spurs anyway, so clearly Allegri's plan didn't fair any better than Pirlo would have...

In 1st leg we did as we had an even less mobile player in the form of Seedorf playing while Pirlo had his 7 month injury. As mentioned, Spurs overcame us in San Siro due to the complete lack of mobility and pace. But....did you see the 2nd leg? Ask anyone on how we dominated Spurs completely in their own park, only to be disappointed by 2 open misses by Robinho and miraculous defending by Tottenham. This is almost irrelevant but i'm only referring you how you have exaggerated here on the tottenham lose.

All those players combined cost less than Robinho-Ibra

Wrong.

Ibra was based on a purchase of installments which accrues to 22 mil euro in 4 years. Robinho cost 18 mil euro.

Thats essentially 5.5 a year for Ibra while the a total sum of 40 mil over 4 years roughly speaking.

Motta and Milito total combined sum cost 30 million euro.

Wesley Sniejder cost 17 euro. Do the math here.

Yet how is this relevant? Its not because its not a debate of who is better in transfer. Even then Milan essentially spent less money not only in total fee, but did so with the shrewd transfer of Ibra, and of course the well priced and last minute buy of Robinho. Comparing the prices of the lesser football players in price would be useless as we speak of only key transfers no? Coming back to relevance. Its not relevant because did not exactly Robinho, we needed a midfielder. You guys got the missing link as an anchor in Motta, you guys got Sneijder, we only bought forwards. I don't really have to elaborate here do I? Cause I thought we are speaking of Allegri and not Galliani vs Braida.

Mou had less money spent on players than Allegri has gotten so you can hardly use "money" as the reason why Mou was able to do it and Allegri isn't...you can argue that Branca did a far superior job than Galliani but thats a different debate for a different day

Did he? Mou had say in transfers, Allegri didn't. Mou spent far more in his 2nd year than Allegri has while Galliani has only bought bosmans and below 6 million priced transfers while Mou spent quite well and deservedly so on his 2nd year. I don't need to go further here either as quite frankly our 2nd year with Allegri in transfer has been pathetic as compared to the first year in which money was moderately spent, yet mostly not on the players needed.

There's not any evidence of that...thats just your opinion

Until he comes out and says otherwise or makes some dramatic shift in the way his team plays saying something like that is just conjecture...

See above and keep that in mind. Enough drastic changes had/have been made over the course of his Milan career to suggest and lay out how he does prefer to stick to his attacking philosophy. I don't really need to go in depth on how his minute tactical changes within games suggest that as well do I? As if we go back to point 1 with flexibility, I will once again have to repeat myself on how many times he has shown flexibility in out of compromise, out of the players available or any other factor. Flexibility doesn't only fall down to formations as it also does so in minor to macro changes within the system which have been substantially changed within Allegri's Milan tenure. As for formations, I already stated the change of formations as this has to be taken into account as well.

As mentioned, there is a difference between inflexibility and being stubborn, Allegri is the latter as this is frequently confused with inflexibility or lack of tactical variance. If he didn't have that or if he WAS the manager that you think he is, I really really really wouldn't want him here. Thankfully, at the age of 43 while consistently adapting, learning from mistakes and showing his talent, he just isn't, which is why I, many Milan fans and the managers who I named who have praise for him are held in high regard. Its why Italians are less appreciative of him than the European press or football watchers who follow Milan. Aside from that I never really saw anything so wrong with the typical Italian style despite some of their annoyances. But thats a story for another day.

Will he field a 3 DM set up or play with at least 1 creative player in midfield ?