Suso has arrived early after we agreed a nominal fee with Liverpool. Though typically referred to as a winger by most papers who have discussed his potential transfer I would not be surprised to see him function in our midfield three at times in much the same way as Bonaventura depending on Inzaghi's desired balance, taking the space Saponara might have filled as his reserve if trusted more by our coach. Very capable technically and a decent passer, I do have reservations about his lack of acceleration that I can forsee limiting his ability to consistently impact games from the wing in much the same way as Honda however he may well add some welcome ability in the middle of the park in the future.

Welcome Suso!

We have some nice depth going on in the wings
SES, Menez, Cerci, Bonaventura, Honda, Suso, and Niang...

/notbad

Very good news. Welcome Suso

Inzaghi also spoke about using Suso in the midfield 3 , if he must . I hope he settles down well , i don't know his game very well but seems capable and talented. Red Alert says he's a poor man's Silva , if i understood correctly.

If you ask me though , we could still do with an alternative CF but i guess that's off the list right now , especially if Pazzini and Niang are staying. ffs Pazzini scores one goal in the cup after a year or so and Milan forgets it all.. Niang is the 7th choice or i don't know what and he's still in Milan . You only have to look at Saponara . Couldn't stand not playing and now look at Niang . Milan has all kind of better players than him and Niang is just chilling , still around .

#Niangster#YawBeaches#FreeMoneys#LivingTheLyfe#Ballon O'Hype#Niang+Bench=B.F.F.E



" You're learning lad "

Welcome Suso!!! Finally a young and technical player for a change
Really hope he is utilised.. I've heard good things about him.. He's technical, can pass but lacks pace.. Rumors have it he will be another wing option for us but I'm concerned about his lack of pace

To those who have followed him, where do you think would be his best position?

I hope he gets to play at Milan. He's got talent, but never got a proper chance at Liverpool. I wouldn't call him a winger based on what I saw of him at Liverpool, though.

dat sweater :

thought this was a loan move, great buy for us. the few times i have seen him for almeria i really liked what i saw

Having Cerci/Suso/Honda on the RW may be a bit too congested..

Inzaghi will have to find a way to accommodate the forwards he has (4-2-3-1), or someone will leave in the summer window..

El Shaarawy wrote:Having Cerci/Suso/Honda on the RW may be a bit too congested..

Inzaghi will have to find a way to accommodate the forwards he has (4-2-3-1), or someone will leave in the summer window..

my secret hope is he's waiting to fix that defence before he goes 4-2-3-1 , because our roster and a 4-2-3-1 is a match made in heaven with Suso and with Honda back .

4-3-3 , there's no way he keeps every one happy and all of them at their best. It's just not possible .

IMO , Honda and Suso must play as AMFs , at their preffered position , in a 4-2-3-1 . This way no position will be congested , we will have options to choose from as well as depth . Elsewise i am really curious to see how he will take full advantage of Ses-Menez-Cerci-Honda-Bonaventura-Suso-Pazzini-Niang . Let's not forget if he goes on with the 4-3-3 then at the very least one of Honda or Bonaventura will have to drop in the midfield , in which case said player will be clogging the midfielders instead of the forwards . Which means , less playing time for Poli , or Van Ginkel , because Muntari and his soul mate Essien will keep playing when they must.

So yeah , 4-2-3-1 . Either fix that 4-3-3 and show true managerial skills and also deal with the players who will be playing much less than now , or 4-2-3-1 .

Menez (Pazzini)

Ses(Jack) - Honda(Suso) - Cerci(Honda-Suso#fkNiang)

Montolivo(Poli) - De Jong(Muntari)

Organised , properly set up and you have 2 options for every position given that certain of our players are versatile , such as Jack , Honda , Suso , Poli , they can fill in if the sub-player in question isn't available. Muntari-Essien benched too . However , the overall defensive quality remains an issue i guess. I can't think of any other reason why he shouldn't do it , it's one thing to have your ideas and prefferences and quite another when something must be done.

As wonderful a fix as 4-2-3-1 is on paper, I'm still concerned with the idea of Monty in a double pivot. The best double pivots we've seen in recent years consist of a disciplined defensive player and a b2b cm that can defend well. Schweini-Javi Martinez is a perfect example from Bayern's treble year. Montolivo is many things, but a b2b cm he is not, something we saw last year with Seedorf.

I honestly think, our strange abundance of wingers aside, 4-3-3 is just the best fit for the players we have.

Well, it depends on the overall system you're using imo, part of the reason why Bayern were so successful that year was the cohesion and transition of the whole team. You could see Ribery and Robben track back and aid in defense, something which Seedorf lacked in his team. SES, Bonaventura and Honda have great defensive workrate, to pull off a successful 4-2-3-1 with the team that we have, we need forwards that can track back and press instead of leaving the midfield to be burned.

ACMRox wrote:As wonderful a fix as 4-2-3-1 is on paper, I'm still concerned with the idea of Monty in a double pivot. The best double pivots we've seen in recent years consist of a disciplined defensive player and a b2b cm that can defend well. Schweini-Javi Martinez is a perfect example from Bayern's treble year. Montolivo is many things, but a b2b cm he is not, something we saw last year with Seedorf.

I honestly think, our strange abundance of wingers aside, 4-3-3 is just the best fit for the players we have.

whilst i don't necessarily disagree , i find it a bit difficult to draw legit conclusions from a lot of things last season. It was all such a mess . I also agree with ES , he makes a good point . In any case , i really think Montolivo has what it takes , not particularly to play 25 year old Muntari-kind B2B .. i do think however he has both the quality and experience to decide where he will contribute up front when asked.

He did this exceptionally well in the 2nd part of 12-13 and he was playing regista , not even B2B . Not the same example , of course .. but Montolivo had no problems dealing with it all and he had a much more strict role.

In any case , ideally i want Montolivo as a regista , in front of the defence , let alone the rest. With the 4-2-3-1 , he can play in the area he feels best.. De Jong can always back him up or share the load , especially today , without the abundance of issues of last season . I think the 4-2-3-1 would work much better today , tbh.

I could be wrong.. i hope we find out , at least. I am all in for 4-3-3 too , tbh , i don't really mind .. either Inzaghi fixes the 4-3-3 and plays it properly , or what he wants and what we have , point towards a 4-2-3-1. at least that's how i see it

I liked him a lot. Wish we'd used him more as I think he's really talented. He'll thrive in Serie A I think.

P.S. Also his passing is way way way better than just good.

EDIT: Also here

All Suso Career Goals:

Almeria:
1. vs Levante H
2. vs Celta A
3. vs Espanyol A

Liverpool:
4. vs Middlesbrough H

Extras:
vs Preston NE [Preseason]
vs AC Milan [Preseason]
Assist vs Getafe
Assist vs Sevilla
Assist vs Valladolid
Assist vs Villarreal
Assist vs Getafe 2
Assist vs Valencia

TBH Montolivo played in the double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 with Fiorentina and was one of the best midfielders in Italy and he was dominating Bayern's and Lyon's midfield in CL. He started all games in WC 2010 and Euro 2012 for Italy and that was before his move to Milan.

He's very versatile so he can play anywhere in midfield, but like Dante pointed out his best and prefered position is the playmaker role like in the second half of the 12/13 season and aforementioned Fiorentina's years


As for Suso he's talented, but I don't think he'll have an immediate impact or force a tactical overhaul, Pippo will use him in the beginning as Jack's back-up for his CM role and depth on the wings.

For the 4-2-3-1 I'd wait for when Honda comes back, SES and Cerci gain form and Suso settles in so that with Jack there are going to be too many players for just two players in the 4-3-2-1/4-3-3

Suso will wear the number 8 . Quite excited to see what he can do , his passing seems very good and also has vision , seems to know his football

We have players like Honda , Suso , El Shaarawy , Bonaventura and Montolivo , players who can pass the ball behind enemy lines , but with the way we play , the way our 4-3-3 operates , doesn't allow their quality to become a weapon for us. Certainly not at an acceptable rate as to say Milan is exploiting their full potential . Or , as to say we usually play good football.

I think it's important we give more importance to the quality of these players in attack and not just base everything on how quickly we can get the ball to their goalkeeper. Most of the time it's just ugly stuff , or simply doesn't work , worst of all it's both at the same time . I am not saying we should reject counter attacks , but you can't expect our players to be most always succesful and showing quality on the counter .

Counter is mostly chaos , if through the use of positional play you have 1s or under 1s to think what to do , through a counter attack you don't think , you just run and risk . I think we are using players that can play better football when tasked to dominate through siege , rather than pure explosion .. At the very least , we should be using both strategies , because when counters don't work , we seem like sad fks sprinting to give the ball to the other team .

With the arrival of Suso and Honda's return , with players like Jack and Ses and midfielders like Montolivo , Van Ginkel and Poli , we have the ability both to use quality passing that breaks 'walls' and also use that speed on the counter through the same notion , if only Inzaghi allowed the foundation for it . It will be a shame not to allow more central play for those players . Inzaghi wants the players to keep the ball as little as possible and also pass it always forward . Which is good ! : however , when that happens without support from the back , the ball reaches the forward way too quickly with no room to opperate , if he can't counter attack , thus leading to bottlenecks or simply loss of the ball.

We can't just ALWAYS counter attack . And we can't just ALWAYS pass it so quickly without deciding by the moment and circumstances , it doesn't work every time , not with the quality we have shown so far at least... Sometimes we have to lay siege to and use these players quality passing to break defences. I don't see that happening and a good reason for this is our midfield , which is tasked to destroy and invite pressure.

I believe for this to happen , we either must adopt 4-2-3-1 with an agressive aproach , as to be able to force attacks and also counter attack often at the risk of defence , or simply use proper positional play in the 4-3-3 and counter attack only when forced to do. I can't stand to watch these pathetic bs anymore , making our lives goal to be attacked just so we can do anything . We are friggin Milan , we cannot and should not give the ball to the Atalantas and Sassuolos of this world , JUST SO we can answer back. And often fail to even exercise more than a couple legit counter attacks , or having friggin Torino dominate us . That's unacceptable BS , we don't have a worse team , why should we allow that?? Do that against Roma , or Juventus if you must , against Torino? get out of here

Here's hoping Suso becomes a vital player of our team and thus underline the need and importance of quality on the ball . Speed and counter reaction are necessary values , but we have players that frankly can create so much more , than just the need to play as little and as fast as possible .

I think when Honda comes back , the need of an attacking midfielder will become evident , it will be just a shame to restrict ourselves . Otherwise , reform that pathetic midfield and change our mentality on what to do with the ball . Make Monty the regist and play Bonaventura and Honda in the middle , all three at the same time. We must play good football to take results , imho .Rather than live in fear of our weakness , we should work toward enhancing our potential and power on the ball. I am sure we will win more games like that and also have more enjoyable 90m for all of us.

Personally speaking , my judgement on Inzaghi will continue based on such subjects and less on the result , since it's almost evident to me dreams about CL are better left aside for the time being. Even the EL is a welcomed notion at this point , tbh currently we are at best EL material .

Good to see a promising young player arrive for a reasonable fee. I hope he puts some scrubs into retirement.

Suso: 'Ready for Milan debut'
Tuesday January 20 2015

Football Italia wrote:Suso reveals his idol was Ricky Kaka and he is ready to make his Milan debut against Lazio on Saturday.

The winger completed a transfer from Liverpool and had his first training session with his new teammates today.

“I am happy to be here and to be part of this squad,” Suso told Milan Channel.

“I trained with the group today. I spoke to Diego Lopez, but also the others, and I am settling in well.

“It was great to visit the Museum and see the whole history of Milan. When I was a kid my idol was Kaka. Shirt number 8 was available and I took it, it’s good for a midfielder.

“I can play in the middle of the pitch, primarily on the right, but I can play where the Coach needs me. I have good technique, especially in attack.

“I am already available for the game against Lazio, as I’m training and feel good. I will always try to give my all for this jersey.”

Let's see where Inzaghi uses Suso and how he does . He obviously wants to play in 4-3-3 , on the right side of midfield . Tbh , what real wingers do we have ? It's Cerci and El Shaarawy , really and even Ses isn't your traditional winger.

I would like to see this against Lazio , with Suso coming in on the 2nd half in Poli's place .


 

Rami is out for yellow card accumulation , De Jong had a minor injury . I believe the above line up can play good football and win against Lazio . Instead , we will probably see a midfield of either



or

With De Jong out I'd certainly like to see the lineup you mentioned Dante, but I am almost certain we'll get one of your two predicted midfields. If Jack and Poli prove themselves a capable pairing ahead of Montolivo (although I doubt they will even play) though, then I would certainly be in favor of dropping De Jong, because frankly anything is better than what we have now.

In any case, it all comes down to the quality of football, and as long as Suso doesn't become another Didac Vila I think he can improve it. Certainly we are desperately in need of another player comfortable on the ball.

He's an ok player. Could be a good player in the future, Menez is an excellent forward to play behind.

Can't have enough quality passers and brains around if you ask me. For this reason i am excited about Suso , without having illusions of greatness or what have you atm. Excited yes , but grounded .

ACMRox yeah as for the midfiled , well , i don't expect to see it this way , although i would really like to . I think it would underline some serious matters that we should have never allowed at this rate , such as choosing to give the ball to inferior teams than take the initiative ourselves , thus inviting all kinds of pressure and dangers , which 'ideas' have cost us already too much.

If we want to play better football we must count on players that can actually play good football , just counting on 3 forwards to base our entire idea of good football and creativity in general is hilariously idiotic . When we must defend at all costs , we can always make alterations in the midfield , but we don't have to oblige to this all the time.

We don't have to sit back against Atalanta at home .. or have De Jong to offer zero creativity and meaningfull play there.. no we must attack , when it comes to that. Play De Jong and Muntari away against Roma and Juventus , or away against Inter and Napoli . Not everywhere all the time , we can't play football ffs.

We need to have a midfield that can play football most of the time , that's what i really want. Wanting pressure and to be attacked has proved without a shred of a doubt to be hurting us . We should change , or we will not get even EL i am afraid.

We need to play well and win to get european football , we can't defend our way into EL/CL .

Can't wait for Suso and SES to play together.

With Pippo's track record that might be later than you think...

Cruijf

I am also eager to watch Suso and Ses on the pitch , but yes , not particularly sure about when that is happening , because who knows what Inzaghi will be doing , really . At this point i doubt even if himself knows any better. And if we are to trust in reports , well then , that would be half his staff arguing how Milan should dominate opponents and the other how Milan should be countering opponents .   

Tis crystal clear which half of our dear and unbeknownst to us divided staff is winning this delicate debate

Tis also needless to underline the illuminating importance on how winning this delicate debate has been translated into so many winning games this far

Also to keep in mind , in most away games this season , Inzaghi has a nack on benching Ses . Because that too has been working out so well for him . Knowing this , and knowing Inzaghi's 2/3 of his substitutions are defensive in nature , i'd say the chances of watching them both against Lazio are pretty slim . Based on the above criteria and also other we can gather but i am not going to point out for space reasons , watching Ses-Suso playing at the same time in the next 3 games is about 5-15% , according to my scientificaly fully-half-arsed estimations .

Establishing a solid partnership that could potentialy result into the core of our attack , based on this current unofficial anarchy on and off the field , i'd say there's pretty much zero chance for this to happen this season .

Ses-Suso will be found on the pitch , pretty much and more or less , i call 5-6 times for the rest half of the season , if Inzaghi goes on like he has so far.

Where is he? Has he played yet?