AC Milan vs Fiorentina

Fiorentina tends to be a very annoying team for us but their form is bad and their best players are injured so I expect a win at home. Let's do this. Also Honda to score, 3 day avatar bet.

M99

Now we're gonna lose with you as the topic creator

pls go

http://www.goallegacy.net/t34469-coppa-italia-spezia

http://www.goallegacy.net/t34111-must-not-lose

Hopefully you're right

Need Honda-sama to Bloodbend the defenders to immobilize them for Torres. Though, i think Honda needs to airbend the ball to get Torres' some goals lol

Never a better time to face Fiorentina who despite remaining tactically strong under Montella, are incredulously out of depth in their roster given a multitude of injuries in the form of Pizzaro, Mario Gomez and Beppe Rossi. That leaves an under performing front line of Insert name here:___________ & here: _________.

San Siro has been reinvigorated to an extent despite the drop in seasonal tickets yet hopefully we can use this element against Fiorentina, who though home or away against us have been very troubling vs Milan.

Yet in an opportune moment such as this in a Fiorentina out of their usual element, I expect nothing less than 3 points and hope to see further growth in this promising team.

My line-up: 4-3-3

Abbiati
GODbate-Rami-Alex-De Sciglio
Poli-de Jong-Bonaventura
Honda-Torres-El Shaarawy.

Abbiati is obvious since Diego Lopez is continuing to fake an injury.

Backline is obvious.

Midfield I enjoy Poli's understated work for us while Bonaventura even though not tactically inclined that deep and in a midfield 3, is 10000000000x better than Muntari in any role.


Front 3 is obvious.

Fiorentina are definitely our bogey team, but we are a level above them on paper and I think we will show that.

one of the things i am afraid is that, our midfield battle would be lost with fiorentina... against theirs..


borja valero, aquilani, cuadrado against poli de jong and muntari....

thats very weak they could out do us in midfield...

I agree with Arq's line up only on the assumption that the statement the front 3 is obvious is made due to Menez' fitness concerns as I otherwise see him as a certain member of our starting eleven currently.

Fiorentina have a strong record against us at the San Siro in the past few years, however they have come up against us at home when we have been going through unusually poor patches of form. Whenever we've had a full roster our greater quality has shone through and I expect to win this match.

Fiorentina played European football during the week however they rotated 9 players so I do not expect fatigue to be an issue for them, which is a pity given our tendency to fade still during the last half an hour. We've consistently put up excellent efforts in the opening half this season and it is integral that we once more impose ourselves from the beginning. Fiorentina will be missing Pizarro in addition to their star strikers being absent, however in Babacar and Bernadeschi they have two attackers with excellent shots both in and around the box and great physical gifts, whilst Cuadrado's quality is well known to us. I want to see the same aggression and desperation in defence as we saw against Lazio, ensuring that even should mistakes occur, a man is always there to back up his team mate. Fiorentina have a vulnerable defence and we need to make sure we take our early chances as I am concerned that we will once more suffer during the final twenty minutes of the game. Despite their struggles, Fiorentina raise their game against the bigger teams and they have plenty of individuals who can make the difference even when their collective fails. As Inzaghi has often stressed, the first step is we need to be the team who wants it more. The rest will come naturally.

Jesp, Cuadrado doesn't really occupy the middle, I don't think it's fair to include his name, whilst Aquilani's no better than any of our names.

Part of me wants to see 4-2-4 Fantasia with Honda, Menez, Torres and SES upfront lol

Zapata starting

El Shaarawy wrote:Zapata starting

Got an assist

Pls go, and stop putting words in my mouth

missed opportunity...

i knew midfield is a problem, and its not going to be first time.

A positive performance overall but a disappointing result. I think it's important to first focus on the positive aspects of the game. Defensively we were solid throughout and whilst we were certainly put under more pressure in the second half, our back four stood firm for the most part.

We controlled the tempo of the game against a Fiorentina side content to sit back and soak up pressure for the most part, seeking to play a direct game. They sought to put their attackers into 1v1 duels by going long or using the pace of Cuadrado or Alonso but due to our discipline and work ethic we were adept at crowding out such attacks and forcing Fiorentina to rely on fairly risky balls which seldom were successful. In the first half, Abbiati might as well have been asleep as they were reduced to long hopeful pot shots from outside the box as we were able to either usher the ball out of play or affect a tackle when they did push forward. The second half however saw us punished for a lack of composure in possession, with Fiorentina's best moments coming not from moves initiated from their own half but from our careless surrender of possession around 40-60 yards from goal. De Sciglio's poor pass ultimately presented Ilicic with the chance to strike a fine shot into our goal whilst similar lapses from Bonaventura and others could have seen us throw away a result in a game where we were still the better team over 90 minutes.

The major concern to arise from this game however was our use of the ball in attack, particularly given the time we were often given to play through Fiorentina. Too often during the first half we were encouraged to maintain possession in areas where we could not threaten the Viola backline with De Jong the only deep lying player who has the capacity to advance the ball without dribbling. That Menez and El Shaarawy both ended up drifting deep to collect the ball at times and initiate attacks was a timely reminder of our reliance on Montolivo and the importance of his return from injury should we maintain our challenge for the Champions League spots.

De Sciglio had a poor game on the ball, lacking the pace to take on his man, with Cuadrado in particular representing an insurmountable obstacle after he switched to the right after quarter of an hour. Mattia too often showed too much of the ball to his opponent, however it should be noted that he was either able to recover in time or either El Sha or Muntari were able to cover for him. The separation between this trio however does present some issues to our attacking play. Sulley's lack of ability in advancing the ball and maintaining possession under possession adversely affects the height at which Mattia can play. Our slow tempo and lack of confidence on the ball means that MDS will always be reluctant to advance too far beyond the ball - one may note that when Jack Allegri played LCM we saw him becoming more aggressive with his movement up the pitch - and it greatly affects our width and the space afforded to SES. One can see the difference compared to our right flank where Abate is quite willing to make a run twenty yards ahead of the ball and the attempts made to not simply run the ball forward but play it into space down the right. It is even more imperative given that De Sciglio lacks Ignazio's physical gifts that we ensure he has space to run into or at least allow him to attack his man with some momentum as he's rarely going to beat someone from a standing start. The situation is compounded by the fact that is naturally inclined to cut in, encroaching on SES' space, however I think this is a problem that can be overcome with time and effort.

Though we scored from a set piece, we did manage to play through Fiorentina's backline at times, with chances for Menez and El Shaarawy standing out in my mind. It should be remembered though that Fiorentina played a disciplined game and are a strong side, however it was disappointing not to test Neto more often. I certainly hope SES can find the net soon to remove the burden of his goal drought from his shoulders as his shooting is clearly tentative and uncertain currently.

Overall though, we should focus on the positives moving forward. We've at the very least maintained a five point advantage over Fiorentina, put in a defensive performance in which we restricted the clear cut opportunities given to our opponents, though carelessly conceding from a counter within our own half. I will also take this opportunity to praise De Jong and Abate in particular who both continued their fine veins of form and who were the standouts in my opinion from the side.

Also this needs to be posted.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/5666C88B961138270923594596352_3eda8ae35dc.0.1.7576429622239907458.mp4?versionId=6L2UPCmwc1AeEEYAiXLQi9Wre8q92ayM

dostoevsky wrote:Also this needs to be posted.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/5666C88B961138270923594596352_3eda8ae35dc.0.1.7576429622239907458.mp4?versionId=6L2UPCmwc1AeEEYAiXLQi9Wre8q92ayM

Anybody else getting annoyed by Menez? The guy's decision making is even worse than Taarabt's.

He was frustrating last match, took too much time make a decision, needs to react fast

ACMRox wrote:

dostoevsky wrote:Also this needs to be posted.

https://mtc.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/5666C88B961138270923594596352_3eda8ae35dc.0.1.7576429622239907458.mp4?versionId=6L2UPCmwc1AeEEYAiXLQi9Wre8q92ayM

That one two.

menez has been increasingly becoming a problem to attack. we already have honda who is not fast, but menez is just showboating of late and just holding up to make our attack too slow.

and that midfield.... like zvonimir bovan says... that midfield cant create anything.

not just create anything but cant dictate gameplay or orchestrate build up play. this has been happening ever since seedorf and pirlo left.

even montolivo will not solve this isssue i can see this happening for years to come unless management is willing to change it. they seems to be indifferent...


and de sciglio.?????

this will not be end of it and i will say again, this midfield or set of players will have will take us nowhere. if this squad finished in even UEFA spot, then it would have overachieved it.

there are only 4-5 players worthy of milan...



even muntari is playing better now than him.

“Generally speaking, during the game, I think there were too many mistaken passes because there wasn’t a lot of quality on the pitch.” says ambrosini on fiorentina game.

boban echoed the same problem

Ambro and Boban spreading the negativity like true Milanisti

http://www.football-italia.net/57851/berlusconi-wants-torres-playing

Fernando Torres is likely to start for Milan in their trip to Cagliari - after an intervention by club President Silvio Berlusconi.

The Spain international has made four starts since his move to San Siro on a two-year loan from Chelsea, managing one goal.

However, according to reports, Silvio Berlusconi has told Inzaghi that he wants the former Liverpool man to be Milan’s main striker.

The Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Berlusconi spoke to Inzaghi at half-time during the Rossoneri’s 1-1 draw with Fiorentina on Thursday, explaining that he’d like to see the team play with an out-and-out striker, rather than with Jeremy Menez as a ‘false nine’.

Torres came on as a second-half substitute, but only played for 10 minutes. However, the Gazzetta believes that the World Cup winner will start at the Sant’Elia, with Menez dropping to the bench.

Torres reiterated his desire to make an impact in his time at San Siro, telling Onda Cero: “I didn’t come to Milan to pass the time, I want to make my mark.”

-------------------------------------------------

So it begins. Whilst I agree with the comments regarding Menez' recent performances, I don't like to see such moves come in response to intervention from above. I'm happy to see rotation though given the depth we have in attack.

Torres goes from being the scrub flop who gets in the team via club owners interference, to flopping anyway yet again.

Now he finds himself in a new country, with a new president who also wants to interfere and have him in the team no matter what

Torres is the luckiest scrub alive.