So we're playing a friendly against San Lorenzo tonight in which we welcome back Mario Yepes to the San Siro. De Jong, Abate, Zapata and Muntari have been given a rest from the match day squad. The starting elevens have already been confirmed ahead of the match. Mastour is expected to make an appearance in the second half.

Milan line-up: Abbiati; Bonera, Rami, Mexes, Armero; Van Ginkel, Essien, Poli; Niang, Pazzini, El Shaarawy.

Milan bench: Agazzi, Diego Lopez; Albertazzi, De Sciglio; Saponara, Bonaventura; Honda, Menez, Mastour, Torres

San Lorenzo line-up: Leo Franco; Prosperi, Fontanini, Yepes, Mas; Ortigoza, Kalinski, Barrientos; Blandi, Matos, Villalba.

Prosper

fountain

Yepes

bland

Mata

vlilililblba


too much star power.

Is this Mastour's debut in the 1st team?

He's played friendlies with the first team before so it's nothing new, it's just nice to get another look at him and how Inzaghi uses him.

OMG!!! Is mastour playing?

2-0 win with goals from Pazzini and Bonaventura in addition to inexplicable misses from both sides. Mastour came on as a substitute after 64 minutes, replacing El Shaarawy.

wow .. never in my life have seen empty stadium like that... even lower division clubs dont have that.

that just shows how fans have started to give up hopes.

friendly or not this stadium should be packed!!!


its a disgrace to the club and the management... the club is in free fall to all time low...

How did mastour perform?

JespSwe wrote:wow .. never in my life have seen empty stadium like that... even lower division clubs dont have that.

that just shows how fans have started to give up hopes.

friendly or not this stadium should be packed!!!


its a disgrace to the club and the management... the club is in free fall to all time low...

Let's be sensible about this. Milan just played a midweek friendly with a second string team against a club with a low profile.

Forza wrote:

JespSwe wrote:wow .. never in my life have seen empty stadium like that... even lower division clubs dont have that.

that just shows how fans have started to give up hopes.

friendly or not this stadium should be packed!!!


its a disgrace to the club and the management... the club is in free fall to all time low...

Let's be sensible about this. Milan just played a midweek friendly with a second string team against a club with a low profile.

yea but still just mere few thousands... should have had atleast 15000...

but stil.. it was just ridiculous... i almost felt as if i am watching empty stadium.

on positive note, very fluid gameplay from the likes of saponara van ginkel niang, and when mastour came iin. it looked as if they had so many options to explore in attack, was very fluid.

its just a friendly but i wish we could translate this to our matchday games.

on the other note, i heard news that Chelsea are very angry with less playing time for Van Ginkel and would rather have him back.

well he got injured sure, but he gotta get some games now he is fit. i hope inzaghi seems a potential in him... it was very impressive midfield of us today when he played.

and i have to say mastour should see some games too. i dont think at his age he is too young.. he is just right at his age to play couple of games just like el shaarawy did in his first term..

Just watched the second half, I may watch the first half if I have time tomorrow to see how Saponara did but I was mostly interested in Mastour.

He was brought on after 65 minutes for El Shaarawy and was stuck to the left wing for the first ten minutes or so. Miscontrolled one long ball, won a freekick near the edge of the box and worked hard in defence but was a bit isolated as we'd lost some control of the ball and San Lorenzo were having their best period of the half. After this he was shifted to the right, with Niang occupying the left flank in his stead. After this switch he often drifted into the centre and his understanding of space was very evident, he occupied the space in between the lines and offered himself willingly to receive the ball. Drove the ball forward a few times after receiving the ball and turning well whilst coming deep towards the half way line and earnt a few more freekicks though he let one chance slip trying to run too far. Harassed his fullback and did stay right at times but drifted inside to the width of the box when the ball reached the final third down the left and could have been played in with some better final passes. It wasn't an outstanding performance but I see no reason why he shouldn't get 15 minutes at the end of games we've already won. He's certainly not a liability whether on the ball or defensively, he just needs to get used to playing against sides where his opponents will use their physicality to block him and make him the target of professional fouls if he does get past them and adjust to the tempo of the senior game.

As for our other players, Niang did well. His set piece delivery caused trouble for San Lorenzo, he struck the post with one great long shot and was involved in some lovely play down both the right and left, with a one-two with Bonaventura coming to mind in particular in which he demonstrated his excellent feet and speed of thought. Outside the box his general play is often impressive when he actually has opportunities to combine with others - though he remains poor when isolated and forced to go alone. Inside the box he remains skittish though but he deserves more time. Inzaghi has spoken of his intentions to use him during January when Honda is winning the Asian Cup but he should be seeing the pitch sooner than that. Keisuke has been excellent overall but he's clearly being overplayed and we need to rotate more to avoid fatigue, particularly when we have a midweek Serie A game.

On a final note, Van Ginkel did well in the anchor position. Used the ball sensibly, displaying a nice passing range at times but most importantly when pressured his first instinct is to play himself out of trouble rather than giving it away cheaply. He shields the ball effectively with his body and his technique is sufficient to escape attention from a single individual, though I'm not sure how he'd stand up against a well organised press but it's still a positive to take from the game. He also contests the ball well in the air. I'd like to see him get regular game time in our midfield rotation, whether beside De Jong or in his place to give him some rest before Montolivo returns. It would be pointless to lose him back to Chelsea in January to just bring in another alternative like Illaramendi from loan instead who similarly won't play.