Milan v Roma

Grooverider wrote:overshadowed by todays FA Cup Final

danyjr wrote:To be honest Milan are on a superb run and they are playing at San Siro (not sure why you call it Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, being an AC Milan fan and all).

Relatively easy win for Milan I'd say.

M99 wrote:Bradley - Pjanic - Florenzi bitch pls do they even lift?

Great preview Forza, though Roma are confirmed to be without De Rossi and Balzaretti, whilst Pjanic is carrying a knock.

Here is Roma's squad for the Milan match: Bradley, Burdisso, Castan, Destro, Dodo, Florenzi, Goicoechea, Lamela, Lobont, Lopez, Lucca, Marquinho, Marquinhos, Osvaldo, Perrotta, Piris, Pjanic, Romagnoli, Svedkauskas, Tachtsidis, Taddei, Torosidis, Totti

Despite these absences, this is a fixture which always poses danger to us. Whilst we broke a streak of negative results against Roma with two victories last season, they remain a team that cause us extreme difficulty.

One can certainly not expect the game to pan out in the same manner as our previous meeting however, as Andreazzoli is prepared to play a far more conservative, pragmatic style than Zeman, whose aggressive approach successfully overwhelmed us in December but which carries obvious risks.

Last game, Boateng was used as a false nine with Nocerino often attempting to make the run in behind a very high line as Roma pressed high, however Roma's pressure on Montolivo through Bradley stifled our ability to strike on the counter, with the Roma midfield instead preferring to funnel our play through Ambrosini who struggled to launch attacks with the same precision and regularity as Riccardo. The key to the match however lay in the intensity shown by the forwards. Our right flank was overwhelmed last match as we were consistently caught a man down as Robinho failed to track Balzaretti's attacks down the left, leaving De Sciglio and Montolivo outnumbered against the trio of Balza, Totti and Bradley as Roma struck quickly and decisively from the quality deliveries arriving down their left flank. Totti was the undoubted man of the match, dropping into midfield and dictating the direction of Roma's attacks, whilst Bradley was tremendous and midfield, with Osvaldo and Lamela expertly taking their chances. It was Totti's defensive diligance however, doggedly tracking De Sciglio and stifling his ability to contribute to the attack almost entirely which encapsulated Roma's intensive approach and made Robinho's absence defensively so demonstrative of everything that went wrong for us in that game.

Moving into our penultimate fixture, a number of personnel changes can be expected in defence compared to our last outing, with Abate and Zapata absent from our humbling in December. Montolivo's absence will be crucial however, first creatively in our ability to control possession and spread the play, but also in ensuring that our first pass does not go to waste. Against such a potent and technically able side, one can not afford to lose the ball having just won it. Last time around, Roma stifled our transition from offence to defence, resulting in the turnover of possession and the launching of another attack before our lines in defence and midfield could adjust and re-establish themselves. Limiting these opportunities will be crucial and if Roma are to score, we must ensure that they earn their chances through good play.

A key change however shall be the use of a true centre forward, either Balotelli or Pazzini if he is absent through illness, will aid our attacking game by giving us a genuine hold-up game when playing out from defence to enable our side to control the ball and push Roma back, as well as allowing us to attack Roma's aerial weakness in the box.

At the very least, we must ensure that we do not lose this match, however I am hoping to sneak a victory. This will be one of our toughest games all year however, of that one can be almost certain.

marottalad wrote:I think roma will steamroll milan in this game, milan just have absolutley no creativity in the midfield at all, 3-1 roma