2014/2015 Line-up: what do you think?

honda doesn't fit our system. he's not a cm, also sucks on the wing.

Rossonero23 wrote:honda doesn't fit our system. he's not a cm, also sucks on the wing.

one of my biggest worries with honda was that he is kind of a player who really does well in open play but in serie a that is difficult and it requires lot of technique and skills to break down the defense in serie a.

uzonero wrote:I think Honda is one player who can provide assist regularly if we could find the right system to suit him

I have also heard Bonaventura is a midfielder who is good with the ball and makes lots of assist as well as scoring goals.. We should snap him up if he possesses such qualities

this season or even first half of the season could be last straw for honda. normally he is kind of guy like i mentioned who really flourish in open play but in serie a its difficult.

well i hope he does well because right now milan is important and there are other many forwards like menez or potentially douglas costa cerci or new recruit competiting for his position.

bonaventura on the other hand is possibly atalanta's most important player but he is AM but i assume that atalanta wont let him go and if they do they will also hold out on really high fee.

I want to see Honda tried as a LCM. Perhaps in a role similar to Kroos, where we can make use of his distribution.

What position did Honda play before he arrived at Milan? Wasn't he a CAM for the most part?

It was.

He's a CAM, that is by far his best position. We don't play with one though.

Why are Milan constantly buying square players and trying to fit them into a circle shape? It's like we never make signings that fit our team. Either the player is available on the cheap/free, or is not wanted by his current club. There is no identity at Milan and it doesn't help when we can't stick with a manager.

Honda unfortunately by Clarence "I will play everyone in their optimal position" Seedorf was deployed consistently in the right-sided attacking midfielder role to which forced Keisuke to primarily cut into his left foot since that is his preferred foot to use. The mistake here was that Honda does not care to exploit wide spaces or inevitable cuts inside as drifting inside was a perilous issue given our already lack of width. You don't have a purely central player being pegged into a hole to which does not fit his circumference and continually attempt to hammer him until he adjusts.

Of course, the resident Twitter/Forum kneejerk one-track critics failed to see that:
-That was not his position but only one side of a story exists to them i.e "What I see is what I will comment in despite having 0 exposition on its exhibition"
-Keisuke just came off a full season in Russia, which makes a tank reserve empty for a player.
-Some players regardless of changes DO need time to adapt.
-Honda is not one-footed by any means yet does prefer his stronger foot, as he is not ambidextrous such as Kaká, El Shaarawy, Cassano, etc were to cut inside and continually use both feet.
-Few times he was played central and did not impress these same people said "SSEE HE IZ BIDONE CAUSE HE PLAYED CENTRALE SO I WAS RIGHT SHIT PLAYER IS SHIT" yet failed to realize the tactical deviations such as not being afforded true wide players, stop-gap change in positional prolonging adaption time and the fact that our complete lack of pace and midfield transition did not allow to compliment Honda, the latter cases the same with Kaká who was by FAR our finest in attack yet criticised for inconsistencies down more to tactical deficiencies than his own actual navigation of the situation.

Pippo, hopefully will not see Honda as some quasi-inside forward and actually use him as our Central Attacking Midfielder to which banked his success on.

Jesp-San I know what you are thinking that he CAN play wide yet look at the width differences in contrast from Blue Samurai's to Milan and you'll know what I am talking about. There is a reason some drivers succeed with one F1 set-up than another.

If it were up to me I'd still say play a 4-3-3, but a more unorthodox 4-3-3. It just depends if Honda can play that deep I hear he used to a a deeper role early in his career. Basic idea is to have De Jong and Montolivo sit while Honda distributes in front of them, kind of like a 4-2-3-1 but Honda will be further back, not like a second striker. If they aren't trying it now, they just don't like him that deep.

------------------------Diego Lopez
De Sciglio------------Rami----------Alex-----------Armero

---------------------De Jong-----Montolivo
----------------------------Honda

----RW/Menez-------------------------------------SES
-----------------------------Balo

What I want to see:

What we will see:

And in that 2nd lineup the only players we spent money on would be Rami (4M), Taarabt (4M), Balo (25M) and SES (10M). Everyone else free.

At CSKA they made him play almost as a DPL for many games I remember as him and his agent were complaining .

Honda's only hope now is that he can deputise for Monty in the latter's absence.

redblack88 wrote:Inzaghi will most certaintly play with a 4-3-3 like this:

Abbiati (Agazzi)

Abate (Bonera) Rami (Mexes) Alex (Zapata) De Sciglio (Constant)

Montolivo (Poli) De Jong (Essien/Cristante) Saponara (Muntari)

Mexes (Honda) Balo (Pazzini) Elsha (Niang/Mastour)

What do you think of this team? What should we do to improve it? Where are we strongest and where weakest?

I think the real problem is the middle line. De Jong is good, i like him, but the others sucks.
Also, we need 2 players that can play LB and RB (selling Bonera/Zaccardo).

From this to

Diego Lopez(Abbiati/Agazzi)

Abate (Bonera/Alebeterazi) Rami (Mexes) Alex (Zapata) De Sciglio (Armero)

Montolivo (Van Ginkel) De Jong (Essien) Bonaventura (Muntari/Saponara)

Menez(Honda) Torres (Pazzini) Elsha (Niang/Mastour)

I say we have improved alot. Especially the midfield have become more stable.

whatever happens im praying muntari essien gets less time... especially the quality of players we have disposal now...

Now that the summer is over , i can finally post in this thread.

I think , apart from El Shaarawy , De Sciglio , Diego Lopez , De Jong , Montolivo and depending on how he does Torres , nobody is guaranteed anything . There's no standard formation , there's no definite way of playing (like Inzaghi says) , there's no 11 , is what i am saying.

This is the 14-15 lineup :

1.The game at hand is god

2.Who's in form

3.Our best players

That's our lineup . There's no lineup.

Dante wrote:Now that the summer is over , i can finally post in this thread.

I think , apart from El Shaarawy , De Sciglio , Diego Lopez , De Jong , Montolivo and depending on how he does Torres , nobody is guaranteed anything . There's no standard formation , there's no definite way of playing (like Inzaghi says) , there's no 11 , is what i am saying.

This is the 14-15 lineup :

1.The game at hand is god

2.Who's in form

3.Our best players

That's our lineup . There's no lineup.

I agree, i think that Inzaghi has too many good options off the bench not to rotate a lot throughout the season. He'll look to impose a certain style but not necessarily with the same players week in week out

This year, we have players with differing qualities and this is a great advantage. We can do very well this year provided that our players maintain a good form.

El Shaarawy wrote:

I agree, i think that Inzaghi has too many good options off the bench not to rotate a lot throughout the season. He'll look to impose a certain style but not necessarily with the same players week in week out

Pretty much agreed. Every game is different and he always speaks about how basically nothing is set in stone. I think that's great to hear. He will make mistakes on the road obviously , but i think how he prepares the team for the game at hand is much more important. Even the best lineups lose . Obviously , our best players will play as much as possible , but you get the essense of it.

I think the players already love him , they know they all can be usefull and needed under him , they feel appreciated for this and it already showed. With an emphatic display . A fine start to his coaching career .

His phrase ,(paraphrasing) we're going to lose games but not because the other teams wanted it more , but because they played better , is all i ever wanted to hear to be convinced. It's obvious he knows what he's doing and the players believe in him.

On the subject of Bonaventura: Pippo said in preseason that he wants a Di Maria sort of player in midfield, thats why he opted to use Saponara there. I don't know if Bonaventura fits the profile as i haven't seen him enough to judge, but does he possess the characteristics to maybe do what Di Maria does midfield?

El Shaarawy wrote:On the subject of Bonaventura: Pippo said in preseason that he wants a Di Maria sort of player in midfield, thats why he opted to use Saponara there. I don't know if Bonaventura fits the profile as i haven't seen him enough to judge, but does he possess the characteristics to maybe do what Di Maria does midfield?

at atalanta he was attacking minded player although against big teams that he has played against I saw him doing some good defensive work too and helping in build up play.

i would say no i havent just seen anything yet that resembles that of di maria characteristics but i think Bonaventura can adapt. He is motivated so the more he adapts into different roles the better its for pippo and for himself to get more playing opportunities.

i think he could be a good alternative to either el shaarawy or honda/menez.

Somehow i doubt it. Like he said , he's an attacking midfielder , albeit versatile , i don't think he could bring nearly the same aptitude and force Di Maria is able to . Let's not forget the player Di Maria before his introduction to central midfield ; the very fact of his menacing displays on the wings , his CV previous job if you will , made him capable for the job. Bonaventura doing the same.. idk and within a much weaker team than Real Madrid . I am sure he will prove creative and will actually be a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Muntari and Essien , but Di Maria like? I could not tell if that is the case.

Di Maria is extremely hard working for a start , it's not just his long runs and dribbling quality that makes him so valuable there , which is something maybe Bonaventura can vouch for , but i can hardly envision him producing similar results. From what i remember since last season , Bonaventura has a knack trying to get past players too and produce an opening , but he's not nearly as fast as Di Maria , nor as good a dribbler as him . He's good enough though , definitely.

His technique on the ball is clearly not your next midfielder and he has an eye for goal too. He's not particularly fast but likes the pace in his play , at least from what i recall. He's a very good passer of the ball and i can see him doing nice things in time , but if we are to expect him to do a similar job to Di Maria , then he has a lot to prove.

What i like is the options . Bonaventura and Van Ginkel were surprisingly good additions to a midfield which screamed for need of creativity. We have players like De Jong and Montolivo who can play in any game , then there's Muntari and Essien who know well to destroy and interupt and then , there's Poli who is quite a balanced player and then Van Ginkel and Bonaventura , players that know how to create , force themselves uppon the opposition , they know how to attack from the midfield. We can make many 3-man midfields depending on the occasion and all being viable and effective.

Blending all that into the gameplan and we actually have a viable midfield , comprised of different qualities which can be applied in many situations when needed. It's all comforting to witness after the horrors of previous seasons

No Traore , no Nocerino , no Urby midfield.. even Essien will rot in the bench now , i can see him going in January when Montolivo gets back. He must be like , the last one in line surely

Nice turn of events for a change.

Dante wrote:Somehow i doubt it. Like he said , he's an attacking midfielder , albeit versatile , i don't think he could bring nearly the same aptitude and force Di Maria is able to . Let's not forget the player Di Maria before his introduction to central midfield ; the very fact of his menacing displays on the wings , his CV previous job if you will , made him capable for the job. Bonaventura doing the same.. idk and within a much weaker team than Real Madrid . I am sure he will prove creative and will actually be a breath of fresh air compared to the likes of Muntari and Essien , but Di Maria like? I could not tell if that is the case.

Di Maria is extremely hard working for a start , it's not just his long runs and dribbling quality that makes him so valuable there , which is something maybe Bonaventura can vouch for , but i can hardly envision him producing similar results. From what i remember since last season , Bonaventura has a knack trying to get past players too and produce an opening , but he's not nearly as fast as Di Maria , nor as good a dribbler as him . He's good enough though , definitely.

His technique on the ball is clearly not your next midfielder and he has an eye for goal too. He's not particularly fast but likes the pace in his play , at least from what i recall. He's a very good passer of the ball and i can see him doing nice things in time , but if we are to expect him to do a similar job to Di Maria , then he has a lot to prove.

What i like is the options . Bonaventura and Van Ginkel were surprisingly good additions to a midfield which screamed for need of creativity. We have players like De Jong and Montolivo who can play in any game , then there's Muntari and Essien who know well to destroy and interupt and then , there's Poli who is quite a balanced player and then Van Ginkel and Bonaventura , players that know how to create , force themselves uppon the opposition , they know how to attack from the midfield. We can make many 3-man midfields depending on the occasion and all being viable and effective.

Blending all that into the gameplan and we actually have a viable midfield , comprised of different qualities which can be applied in many situations when needed. It's all comforting to witness after the horrors of previous seasons

No Traore , no Nocerino , no Urby midfield.. even Essien will rot in the bench now , i can see him going in January when Montolivo gets back. He must be like , the last one in line surely

Nice turn of events for a change.

i agree. no we have some good quality option for midfield. and i agree completely on bonaventura thoughts. his passing abilities and eyes for goals will be asset. if you guys are well aware of Cristiano Doni of Atalanta.... he is exactly a replica of Doni


anyway, its super exciting to see quality options now. Van Ginkel is a great energetic player with great defensive and offensive qualities, a good passer. I watched all of his pre season appearance last year and he was amazing!! it was pity he was injured throughout the season... i am not surprised why chelsea was very reluctant to put buy out clause on him.

and we have poli, and we cant wait to have montolivo back. we finally have a better quality players. but the main players like de jong montolivo at front el shaawary needs to be protected, protected i mean, that they need to be care of fitness wise, match the play, amount of runnings, workrate, physical challenge they face because I am not looking forward to another long term injury for any of our main players.

Good points Jesp . But i hope he's not exactly a replica of Doni , Doni couldn't even run in his last seasons lol

Doni was a quality player though , not your typical star quality player but an asset nonetheless. His workrate belonged in the late 80s to mid 90s however , but still , he was impressive on his day. Bonaventura is clearly faster than Doni ever was and more.. adventurous. Still , i doubt he can match Doni's eye for the goal scoring chance , but let's see.

Doni never played for a club like Milan , at least i do not remember him playing for a big club. Maybe Bonaventura can do better than him . There are similarities between them for sure , but Bonaventura seems a lot more agile and fluent than Doni , well from the last years of his career that is , which is natural of course..i dont remember his days in early 00s at all.

Anyhow , generally speaking , it may seem like Bonaventura who , but.. he can be a really good player for Milan. I don't necessarily expect him to have a Nocerino first season at Milan to be honest , where he banged goals here and there , but he will help us a lot , that i am confident he will.

As for how many goals he could score.. i don't think he will score much at all bare the occasional great shot at goal , but this will be because he will be feeding others most of the time , which is arguably better for our strikers and much more suitable & reassuring .

And on the bonus side of things , we got 6m for Cristante and paid 7 for Bonaventura. We got him for 1m , in a sense.

watching van ginkel U21 game against Georgia... very very impressive... i think we got serious talent in our hand guys....

it would be gutting if he performs and we couldnt get him for term... he is really really good

He is a top talent, I really hope he gets a significant amount of minutes and takes Milan back into the CL.