Pre-Season 2014

Brace urselves

#weareacherpderp lol

Milan Coach Pippo Inzaghi has revealed who Rossoneri fans can expect to see starting the club’s first match of pre-season.

The San Siro giants will take on Lega Pro outfit Renate tomorrow and, speaking at a Press conference, the new boss stated who he intends to send out onto the field.

“I hope I see what I saw on Sunday, our play and the solutions that we tried,” Inzaghi told the assembled media. “We need to try and give our all.

“At the moment I don’t know how we will line up or how many players I will have available.

“Tomorrow, more or less everyone will play one half. If they are in shape, El Shaarawy, Pazzini and Menez will play up front and Robinho, Niang and Mastour will come on.

“The defence will be Zaccardo, Bonera, Alex and Constant and we will see Rami. In midfield, Piccinocchi will play with Poli and Saponara.”

Inzaghi also said he was realistic about what Milan can hope to achieve this season.

“I always think about winning but I am a realist and I know that a team that finishes eighth cannot win every game.

“I’m basing it on the group and I think they are becoming a strong group. This Milan will never give up.”

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Source: http://www.football-italia.net/52122/inzaghi-reveals-line

The midfield remains the greatest point of interest as an observer at this stage of the season, even if they are just friendlies against lower division sides. I'm most curious about Saponara's ability to adapt to a deeper role as it may be his only way of succeeding at Milan. Whether he can learn when to come deep to collect the ball, how to move to find himself space and provide options for his team mates and how he defends as part of a unit are all elements that can be seen in games like these, so I'm hoping it's an experiment that continues throughout pre-season.

Out of interest though, does anyone know if Cristante is injured currently?

I don't think so Dost, his last injury was the one he had in January iirc. I've also seen some pics of him on vacation.

Though i am not 100% sure

Cristante is the new Didac Vila.

Didac was a poor man's Digao

OFFICIAL line-up vs. Monza (4-3-3): Abbiati; Zaccardo, Bonera, Alex, Constant; Poli, Cristante, Saponara; Niang, Pazzini, El Shaarawy.

Milan's bench vs. Monza: Agazzi, Gabriel, Robinho, Rami, Albertazzi, Mastalli, Pinato, Benedicic, Di Molfetta, Modic, Simic, Mastour.

My thoughts on the Monza match

Defense was good, Zaccardo and Alex being the standout from the first half. God knows why Constant is taking corner kicks now. Rami looked a bit shaky when he was subbed on the second hlaf, decent match from them.

The midfield's setup was a bit hectic, Poli looked a bit nervous in the match but later on improved. Cristante needs to work on his defensive duties imo, though he made some great passes throughout the game. Saponara was our best midfielder imo, not only contributing in attack but also in defense by making some crucial tackles.

The forwards had a hard time in attack today, SES was lively in the first half and could've gotten a goal but dropped off later in the game. I felt Pazzini could've done more this game, he had some really good chances. Niang was frustrating thoughout the whole game blasting the ball over the bar or sideways, bar his penalty, he needs to improve his skills in the final 1/3. Mastour was great after he was subbed in, driving the ball up to the box and topping it off with a nice assist. Hope to see more of the same from him.

Mastour

Milan’s pre-season tour of the United States will reportedly bring in as much as €3.5m in revenue, more than Inter and Roma.

The Rossoneri fly out to the States on Tuesday afternoon from Malpensa to commence a four-game tour of the country, starting with Thursday’s friendly with Olympiacos in Toronto.

Then, meetings with Manchester City in Pittsburgh and Liverpool in Charlotte, North Carolina follow, before the tour is closed out in Housten against Mexican side Chivas.

The first three games are part of Milan’s participation in the International Champions Cup and includes the prospect of a potential fourth match to close out that pre-season competition, two days before the meeting with Chivas.

The Gazzetta dello Sport have run through the figures and suggest that the whole tour is worth as much as €3.5m to the Rossoneri in revenue.

The publication assert this is more than Inter and Roma, also taking part in the International Champions Cup, are expected to earn from similar tours in the US.

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Making it rain.

El Shaarawy wrote:My thoughts on the Monza match

Defense was good, Zaccardo and Alex being the standout from the first half. God knows why Constant is taking corner kicks now. Rami looked a bit shaky when he was subbed on the second hlaf, decent match from them.

The midfield's setup was a bit hectic, Poli looked a bit nervous in the match but later on improved. Cristante needs to work on his defensive duties imo, though he made some great passes throughout the game. Saponara was our best midfielder imo, not only contributing in attack but also in defense by making some crucial tackles.

The forwards had a hard time in attack today, SES was lively in the first half and could've gotten a goal but dropped off later in the game. I felt Pazzini could've done more this game, he had some really good chances. Niang was frustrating thoughout the whole game blasting the ball over the bar or sideways, bar his penalty, he needs to improve his skills in the final 1/3. Mastour was great after he was subbed in, driving the ball up to the box and topping it off with a nice assist. Hope to see more of the same from him.

The Kraken awakes.

Thanks for the summary ES, I appreciate it as I was unaware we were even playing Monza that day. Good to hear that Saponara was contributing during the defensive phase. If he can demonstrate to Inzaghi that he can operate in central midfield over the next month and a half then I would be content to not sign another midfielder and avoid the inevitable squad bloat and the correspondingly crippling wage bill.

Savor these moments where we see our youngsters in the starting line up.

Olympiacos 1-0 lol

Albertazzi LB wtf, thought he was a CB

Albertazzi doesn't look too good at LB, misplaced passes, not good enough positioning.

I like how we are set up, the individuals just aren't doing enough though, specially in attack.

Zaccardo and Bonera at fault there

Zaccardo and Albertazzi on the sides, pace anyone? Jesus

Bonera, Rami, Alex, Mexes, slowest defence in history of football

Insane goal

What a lucky shot that third was

MDS doing more in 4 mins than Zaccardo in 70

Cant expect to to anything with that defense tbh.

When I saw on twitter all the pictures of Milan here in Toronto, I was beating myself up for not buying tickets when I had the chance. After seeing the scoreline, I'm glad Milan is still the Milan I know and love

getting beaten by Olympiacos is not surprising but i didnt imagine that margin. in fact having watched highlights, milan's finishing was piss poor and in fact Olympiacos could have 5-6 goals. pazzini and niang looked so poor.

i still dont get it.... bonera constant zaccardo, etc all the players we had problems with.. they have been here for years now and I still cant believe that club like Milan refuses to get rid of them or even don't make an effort to seriously revise the squad and get rid of all the problems...

it will remain a problem for years to come.


why the f.. k bonera is still a Milan player is beyond me. club should be doing whats best for them... and that is winning at all cost!!! especially club like Milan.

How is Essien still at Milan?

yea essien even muntari should be out, wasnt he responsible for the goal?? i know muntari is always a liability in loosing ball and making horrible passes..

how the hell bonera constant muntari zaccardo are still there is beyond me...


cristante played better. he should be monto's replacement for time being. with de jong and poli in lineup

and niang shows lot of potential but he sucks at finishing and making chances..