"I Want My Elephant": Catania Calcio vs AC Milan

Calm down people it was Catania with 10 men lol. Still, massive improvement from the Chievo horror show. We are facing Inter and Roma this month, moment of truth for Allegri.

uzonero wrote:Pls can anyone be kind enough to post a video with the highlights here?

http://footyroom.com/catania-1-3-ac-milan-2-2013-12/

Milan31 wrote:

uzonero wrote:Pls can anyone be kind enough to post a video with the highlights here?

http://footyroom.com/catania-1-3-ac-milan-2-2013-12/

thanks bro

I am pretty scared of vsing milan if u guys have a fully fit team el-sha and kaka behind balotelli is devistating and your'e midfield of de jong poli and monty is almost as good as any others. Although i don't no if you will qualify for cl this season as you are allready so far behind you basically cannot afford to lose 1 more match all season and due to the signings of honda and rami coming in you guys are looking devistating on paper. I was also a fan of your'e posession football vs catania it was easy on the eye and nice to watch

Last Year  Milan rose exactly during this period after having won 1-3 in Catania ...
I consider the Milan for an European place too ... I  think we'll see a similar climb

We are much too far back this season. Let's just say that Juve finish 1st. That means we need all but one of Roma, Napoli, Inter, Fio, Verona, Genoa & Lazio to drop more points than us for the rest of the season. I'm hopeful, but it's very unlikely.

Forza wrote:We are much too far back this season. Let's just say that Juve finish 1st. That means we need all but one of Roma, Napoli, Inter, Fio, Verona, Genoa & Lazio to drop more points than us for the rest of the season. I'm hopeful, but it's very unlikely.

I think juve and napoli are allready there. it will be between roma, fiorentina and you guys. Honestly a fully fit milan side is probably the second best side on paper after Juventus so theoretically you should be able to make up the points. It will not be good for italian football if milan isn't in the cl next season because they are actually a very capable side that have just been unlucky with injuries. Also if you fail to qualify you perhaps would haveto sell a top player to have good finances and if someone like el sha or balo left a huge hole in the team will be there

marottalad wrote:

Forza wrote:We are much too far back this season. Let's just say that Juve finish 1st. That means we need all but one of Roma, Napoli, Inter, Fio, Verona, Genoa & Lazio to drop more points than us for the rest of the season. I'm hopeful, but it's very unlikely.

I think juve and napoli are allready there. it will be between roma, fiorentina and you guys. Honestly a fully fit milan side is probably the second best side on paper after Juventus so theoretically you should be able to make up the points. It will not be good for italian football if milan isn't in the cl next season because they are actually a very capable side that have just been unlucky with injuries. Also if you fail to qualify you perhaps would haveto sell a top player to have good finances and if someone like el sha or balo left a huge hole in the team will be there

juve is probably there, not sure about napoli. We have big games against roma & inter coming up. It's vital we get 3 points from both.

Gabriel keeps on impressing me; IMO, he has a bright future with us provided that we don't sign Perin. For me, he is like the gattuso of goalkeepers; he is not afraid to go into tackles.

Perin is not needed if Gabriel is performing well. We are better off spending our $ on another CB.

That is true, we need to add quality back up players to our midfield (like Koke) and concentrate on our defence. We are set up front once El Shaarawy and Pazzini are back to full fitness. In midfield, we have very good starting players but bad back up players.

I am hoping that in the winter window, we get rid of some players and replace them with decent back ups.\

Basically, we need one midfielder and one centre back and we are set for a comeback, like last year, if luck is in our favour.

It was a very nice game . I was pleased with a lot of things , but more than anything to see El Shaarawy back in the game. It's safe to say he will take some time to reach optimal form after all this time away from the pitch , but i am confident he will gradualy improve game after game.

For climbing up the table , well , it's mostly on our hands but then again , i doubt the same notion in the first place. We could break Roma's winning streak record and still not find ourselves in the top 3 by then. Matchdays like this one must happen more than once and if we are to expect anything , we have to be winning as much as we can . Which isn't easy , obviously..

As for Gabriel. I like him and although he has conceded a lot so far , most of the goals he conceded weren't at all his fault. With a solid defence in front of him , he can become a really superb GK in time . Because , the only way great GK are made , is by having a great defence in front of him . And that's the thing : Perin never had a great defence in front of him and he's still amazing. In fact , going by stats at least , he's the best in the league as of now.

I like Gabriel and if he's to become our n1 gk i won't have any problem actually , but if Milan could sign Perin , that would be even better , he's better than Gabriel . Seeing as Abbiati is going to retire and Amelia is going to GTFO , perhaps it would be wise to sign Perin anyway and let them fight it over . No keeper will arrive in January though , so that should be concerning us in the summer , not right now.

For the winter break , i believe at least one player from all 3 departments in our roster we leave : at least one defender , at least one midfielder and at least one striker. Maybe these will be Zaccardo-Nocerino-Robinho? not sure , but after Rami and Honda join , we will be surplass to requirements. And since we are going to player 4-3-2-1 , not sure what will happen with Niang too. He can't play 10 by any means and he's 4th choice right now . Niango didn't want to leave on loan last time and i doubt he will now either . He may cost us peanuts to have him sit in the bench , but that doesn't actually help anyone.

I don't know what will happen , but at least one of the forwards will have to leave. I'd say outside of Balotelli and El Shaarawy , not even Pazzini is safe to stay , with Robinho being n1 suspect to depart.

Watching Bonera and Silvestre defend

Perhaps the most pleasing thing to come from this game is that for the first time in a long time we responded well to adversity, showing hunger and drive to get back into the game after yet again falling behind in unfortunate circumstances.

Catania's goal was typical of our team's fortunes this season in that it arrived after ten minutes of almost total dominance on the ball as the fielding of seven midfielders allowed us to effectively recycle possession and control the ball in the middle of the park with heightened fluidity. Typically though, the goal could have been avoided by effective intervention on multiple occasions during the move. Instead, a shot that Gabriel almost certainly had covered was sent into the net by the well meaning desperation of Bonera.

The resulting response was more akin to the form we displayed in the second half of last season than that of the past few months. Rather than allowing Catania to disrupt our dominance in the middle and grow in stature thanks to their advantage we continued in the same manner and didn't drop our heads. Central to this effort were the performances of Montolivo and De Jong in midfield. Riccardo in particular was sterling, breaking up counter-attacks and proving dynamic in attack. Though he ended up with a goal and an assist these numbers do not do justice to his influence on our attack in this game, whether it be the delicate cross lifted onto Balotelli's head or his combinations with Birsa and Poli on the edge of the box.

Our fullback combination did their duties in a competent and professional manner which belied the fact that neither can rightfully lay claim to being a defender. Whilst the lack of pace down the right was evident all game, progress was still made through patient probing in possession and the dogged determination to win the ball back high up the field. Poli in the end wasn't called on much defensively but a handful of occasions aside his positioning was stable and he did not look out of place, though it was clear that his offensive potential was being wasted. He also picks up an award for the least subtle shirt grab of this decade. Emanuelson meanwhile provided an excellent cross for Montolivo whilst generally offering width and a secure pair of feet, though his one dimensional attempts to get past his man fooled no one. He was well complemented by Nocerino who covered a lot of ground and often provided a wide option in possession. This habit of Nocerino however is essentially a destructive one to our play against more accomplished teams. Against PSV in the away tie he essentially forced El Shaarawy into central midfield by occupying the spaces that Stephan requires to operate and he did so again here, forcing Kaka deeper in the pitch. Ricky did a good job across the pitch and against the likes of Catania it may not affect our play a great deal, however it's an issue that concerns me, particularly if he is to get game time against the likes of Roma and Inter.

Bonera and Silvestre were responsible for some simply terrifying moments in the first half when Catania were counter-attacking, however it was a solid game for the partnership overall, particularly considering that they have essentially had no time together as a partnership and are both just returning from injury. I was very concerned that they would be a liability at set pieces but the entire team stood strong in this regard and whilst not brilliant, they were relatively stable. Bonera's decision to ignore Urby for 15 seconds when he was open down the left before then attempting to play him in when pressure had arrived, leading to the pass being blocked on his own foot and seeing Catania stream down our left flank though can not go unmentioned. Our ability as a team to turn a free kick for us into a wonderful opportunity for the opposition never ceases to amaze me.

This was a game in which Balotelli was not on the ball often enough and such isolation never does him well. He was frustrating at times in the first half, particularly when he needs to be determined to keep his feet and see moves through. His ability on the ball as a reference point is excellent however too often this potential is not seen for entire matches and it is imperative that he does not become so easily isolated in the 4-3-2-1. He responded to an awful miss from Montolivo's ball though with an excellent free kick which will no doubt give him needed confidence.

The return of El Shaarawy was truly wonderful news and I'm eagre to see how he strikes up a partnership with Kaka and Balotelli. Whilst Birsa has been stable in his time at Milan thus far, it is clear that his influence is at its greatest when he is played centrally as he lacks the acceleration and skill on the ball to test a defence from the flank. As such it has limited his influence when fielded at the same time as Kaka. El Shaarawy however will not be suffocated by Ricky's presence and he will also crucially bring much needed movement in behind the defence back into our game. With Stephan out, we've had no player who regularly makes these sorts of diagonal runs in behind the back four and given the players operating in our final third this ability will surely not go to waste. He did well to fight for chances in his time on the pitch but he will naturally be rusty for a few matches and mustn't be rushed or overplayed.

It was rather worrying to see how the team dealt with Catania's pressure having taken the lead. It must be said that their team did immeasurably better with ten men than with eleven as if driven by rage. As against Fiorentina last year, we failed to make our numerical advantage tell on the pitch, however whilst we no longer had as much control over the game we were effective on the counter in opening up Catania as they were forced to try and salvage a result, thanks to a truly amazing strike on the angle from Ricky.

All in all, this was not outstanding match but a solid result, the sort that we've lacked this season. A game that was much about resolve as it was our fine play, let us hope that we have started a winning habit that will stick around for much longer.

P.S. Ninja Saving that for my gif folder.