What is your First Choice Midfield?

With the additions of Aquilani and Nocerino, there are plenty of options in midfield. I can see up to six different players slotting into the attacking midfield role at some point this season (Boateng, Cassano, Robinho, El Shaarawy, Aquilani, Seedorf)! Who would you choose as your first choice?

Will you go for creativity and passing?


or perhaps you prefer strength and steel?


These are merely examples. Please tell me who you would play and why!

well see....

imo it should be


Robinho
Seedorf/Boa-MVB-Aquilani

Second choice midfield would be

The DREAM formation would be

I really hope the Pharaoh gets a good run in Serie A, because he's not in the CL team.

My formation would be:


-----------Cassano-----------

Aquilani - V. Bommel - Boateng


...but it would be flexible, depending on who we're against.

An alternative formation, using none of the above players...


----------Robinho------------

Seedorf - Ambrosini - Nocerino


OR


------------El Shaarawy-----------

Emanuelson - Gattuso - Flamini (inj)


We have great depth this year!

Like I posted in mercato thread, anything that looks like

Nocerino/kpb-MVB-Aquaman
Cassano/binho

What I expect our midfield to boil down to in important games:


This is of course assuming that Aquilani adapts well to the position on the left to replace Seedorf in the first team line-up. There's no need to play Gattuso against the likes of Siena in my eyes, however he can still contribute this year when he's up to a standard of fitness that we're satisfied with. It's also possible that Ambrosini might be played on the side of Van Bommel against top opposition.

Boateng working in central midfield will be dependent on whether he develops his positional sense, it's the only real obstacle however it still exists.

Boa---------van bommel------aquilani--------seedorf
-----------------------robinho------------------------------

idk why but i have high high hopes for noccerino.. believe me or not he gave me more hope than aquilani.. i just dnt knw why,, i dnt even knw him so well... and wat rose my hopes even more was the fact he scored a debut goal for me in fifa 11

boateng van bommel aquilani
cassano

------------------------Cassano

--------------Aquilani--------------Prince
------------------------Van Bommel

---------------------------------Cassano

---------------Prince-------Van Bommel------Aquilani

OR
--------------------------------------Binho
-------------------Nocerino------Ambro--------Seedorf

Two great lineups IMO. I'm liking our depth!

Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ganso wrote:Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ya but we all know he can't play every single game and retain his game-changing effect. At least Prince and Aquilani can provide bursts of creativity.

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ya but we all know he can't play every single game and retain his game-changing effect. At least Prince and Aquilani can provide bursts of creativity.

i know,but he should start on big games.Maybe a rotation with Aquilani.Boateng has 0 creativity,so he shouldnt be a replacement for seedorf,just a b2b cm

Aquilani
Seedorf-MVB-Boateng

when seedorf is tired:

Robinho
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng

Ganso wrote:

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ya but we all know he can't play every single game and retain his game-changing effect. At least Prince and Aquilani can provide bursts of creativity.

i know,but he should start on big games.Maybe a rotation with Aquilani.Boateng has 0 creativity,so he shouldnt be a replacement for seedorf,just a b2b cm

Aquilani
Seedorf-MVB-Boateng

when seedorf is tired:

Robinho
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng

No offense, but your first mid is suicide IMO.

In small matches:
Cassano
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng
In important matches:
Cassano
Seedorf-MVB-KPB
OR
Binho
Seedorf-MVB-KPB

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ya but we all know he can't play every single game and retain his game-changing effect. At least Prince and Aquilani can provide bursts of creativity.

i know,but he should start on big games.Maybe a rotation with Aquilani.Boateng has 0 creativity,so he shouldnt be a replacement for seedorf,just a b2b cm

Aquilani
Seedorf-MVB-Boateng

when seedorf is tired:

Robinho
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng

No offense, but your first mid is suicide IMO.

In small matches:
Cassano
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng
In important matches:
Cassano
Seedorf-MVB-KPB
OR
Binho
Seedorf-MVB-KPB

why suicide?Your options are pretty much the same as mine lol

the only difference is who gets the CAM role,in which i doubt cassano will play

Ganso wrote:

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:

ACMRox wrote:

Ganso wrote:Man i really dont want seedorf to get benched...hes like our only creative midfielder

Ya but we all know he can't play every single game and retain his game-changing effect. At least Prince and Aquilani can provide bursts of creativity.

i know,but he should start on big games.Maybe a rotation with Aquilani.Boateng has 0 creativity,so he shouldnt be a replacement for seedorf,just a b2b cm

Aquilani
Seedorf-MVB-Boateng

when seedorf is tired:

Robinho
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng

No offense, but your first mid is suicide IMO.

In small matches:
Cassano
Aquilani-MVB-Boateng
In important matches:
Cassano
Seedorf-MVB-KPB
OR
Binho
Seedorf-MVB-KPB

why suicide?Your options are pretty much the same as mine lol

the only difference is who gets the CAM role,in which i doubt cassano will play

Aquilani as CAM=Suicide

I thought he could play as a CAM(never seen him play)

Aquilani-Van Bommel-Prince
-Cassano-

There is no doubt that Van Bommel is one of the best defensive anchors out there. His distribution and awareness are impeccable. I have not seen any lineups here that do not include him at the heart of midfield.

In the biggest matches (i.e. vs Inter, Barcelona), I still prefer Allegri's first choice from the tail end of last year


The only problem I forsee vs Barcelona would be that Seedorf and Gattuso would need to be subbed at some point (Gattuso for picking up the eventual caution and Seedorf for tired legs). Perhaps Aquilani could start and we use Seedorf later as our super sub. Gattuso cannot play the first 4 UCL matches. Ambrosini or Nocerino can be used at RCM in the Nou Camp.

Gattuso and Seedorf are still our best choices for either side when fully fit. We need Gattuso to provide the sort of positional cover that is necessary to play versus a technical midfield such as Barcelona. His tenacity and leadership are intangible qualities that are essential in a team game. Seedorf is miles above Aquilani, but can not play every week.

Boateng's work rate and stamina are valuable traits that many attacking midfielders do not have. He makes the 3 min midfield really a 4 man midfield. He MUST play there vs Barcelona. We would lose a great deal running by playing Robinho or Cassano. His positional sense and decision making in his runs forward must improve before he can be deployed as a box to box player.

When we face certain teams against whom we are confident of retaining possession, we can inject some creativity into the lineup. This midfield should be preferred when we have the chance to rest Seedorf and Gattuso:

playing gattuso against barca is suicide,as i said before.Anyone who follows barca knows that the teams who had the best performances against them had players with some technical skills and that can get off pressure easily and have good/fast passing,the opposite of gattuso.Aquilani and Seedorf should def start against farca with MVB being iniesta's shadow

Yes it is true that the teams that have fought fire with fire have done well vs Barcelona. I think of teams such as Arsenal, Real Madrid, and Villarreal. However, I do not think we can pass the ball with the likes of those teams. Barcelona's high pressing will be a nuisance to our creative players. Our lack of constant off the ball movement, lack of stamina in the midfield area, and the fact that we have 2 strikers constantly forward would make an overly creative midfield a bad idea. It simply does not suit our style of play. If you haven't noticed, Milan have a rather rigid approach when compared to Barcelona's fluid 4-3-3. We will play our game, and they will play their game. There is no need to change what we do best just because we are facing Barcelona.

yes perhaps.....but we need at least seedorf to play so the ball can get to ibra and pato.(i hope pato has a vs madrid performance)

I have four formations that I would like to see in three specific situations.

Against top Attacking opposition;

------------- KVP -------------
------Aquilani------------- Gattuso------
------------- MVB------------- -------

KPB tracks back and hence is more useful in defence than Robinho or Cassano.
Aquilani: If he rediscovers his best form.
Gattuso: A full fit Gattuso is still badass, his passion in the middle is useful for the whole team.
MVB: Easily our best linchpin, creative and with steel to boot.

Against top Defending opposition:

------------- Robinho-------------
------Aquilani--------KPB--------
------------- MVB-----------------

Now we have a more attacking AMF. and a more dynamic player than Gattuso.

Against Regular opposition:

------------- Robinho-------------
------Aquilani--------KPB--------
------------- Nocerino------------

Just like the above, but Nocerino instead of MVB for him to get experiance.

Against Stubborn opposition:

------------- Cassano-------------
------Seedorf--------KPB--------
------------- Aquilani-------------

Cassano has a habit of playing well against those kind of teams.
Seedorf can still pick a killer pass, while Aquilani plays creatively as well