What I saw vs Barcelona

2-2 draw - It was not pretty, but I am delighted to have taken something from this away match.

Barcelona can beat any La Liga side 5-0, but they struggled in the final third to break down Italy's best defense.

I am a bit concerned with the mentality we showed in the midfield area. Let me explain...

Barcelona clearly have the best collective first touch in any one team I have ever seen. It is very hard to win the ball back from them if you are not forceful in the challenge. Our zonal marking system is unbeatable when we are properly organized at the back, but in midfield too many players were simply locked in their zones while watching the ball, as the Barcelona players made runs in behind them. Too often were the midfielders standing idly, while a pass would be played right between two men. Allegri clearly wanted to play it safe tonight with a very stand offish style. This is justified, as our midfield does not match up to Barcelona's in terms of stamina and work rate. However, we must give more than one look defensively. At times the team must sustain pressure as one fluid unit. It is the only way to win the ball high up the pitch and take advantage of the resulting counter attacking opportunities. Barcelona always play an audaciously high defensive line which can be exploited with the right team mentality.

There were many frustrating moments for me, when I saw the likes of Xavi, Keita, Abidal stand over a non moving ball in midfield with absolutely no pressure being applied.

I believe Allegri and the players will enter the return leg with a much higher pressing game and more determination in front of the home fans.

Abate's work rate was tremendous! FORZA MILAN

one thing id like to note is after pep put abidal on pato chest to chest, pato could not have been any less effective, something to figure out. abidal for me was the best player for barca tonight, with messi behind him

We need Ibra to take away 2 defender, then Pato can run freer. Also, we miss Robinho in attack.

I'm not to sure your criticism can be warranted. What exactly were you not happy about? The zonal marking system worked to perfection. I think you shouldn't break it up into defense and midfield because today they were one unit, working together for 94 minutes. It worked perfectly and I am sure Allegri will be pleased with how effectively his players were able to employ the tactic he wanted to see.

Milanista-1899 wrote:I'm not to sure your criticism can be warranted. What exactly were you not happy about? The zonal marking system worked to perfection. I think you shouldn't break it up into defense and midfield because today they were one unit, working together for 94 minutes. It worked perfectly and I am sure Allegri will be pleased with how effectively his players were able to employ the tactic he wanted to see.

I do not refer to our defensive system in the final third, rather to the times when the ball was around the halfway line and our midfield was higher up the pitch. Did you not notice this?

Hi everyone i have been coming to this forum for a while now and even back when there was the one on goal.com. As a Milan fan i can say that the topics and discussions on this forum are great. After todays draw against Barcelona i feel that now is the right time to register and contribute to this fantastic forum. I don't have time to give my opinion on the match but all in all it was a great hard fought match showing that we are still a great team in world football. Forza Milan!

Milanista-1899 wrote:I'm not to sure your criticism can be warranted. What exactly were you not happy about? The zonal marking system worked to perfection. I think you shouldn't break it up into defense and midfield because today they were one unit, working together for 94 minutes. It worked perfectly and I am sure Allegri will be pleased with how effectively his players were able to employ the tactic he wanted to see.

yeah, that's right but the same tactics won't work against them in milan, we can't afford to let them have the ball the whole game and just wait for slip ups, we must apply pressure on them score a couple of goals then park the buss and play counter, just like mourinho's inter did against them two years ago..

Fadi wrote:

Milanista-1899 wrote:I'm not to sure your criticism can be warranted. What exactly were you not happy about? The zonal marking system worked to perfection. I think you shouldn't break it up into defense and midfield because today they were one unit, working together for 94 minutes. It worked perfectly and I am sure Allegri will be pleased with how effectively his players were able to employ the tactic he wanted to see.

yeah, that's right but the same tactics won't work against them in milan, we can't afford to let them have the ball the whole game and just wait for slip ups, we must apply pressure on them score a couple of goals then park the buss and play counter, just like mourinho's inter did against them two years ago..

Correct, which is why I will be ever more interested in what Allegri will do that game than this one. Will be a true test of wit and character.

what i saw against barca.... allegri's subpar decisions... his sub for ambrosini was just one of the stupid decision ever.

allegri maybe a good coach but sometimes i dont understand his substitutions... like today... playing with 3 defensive midfielders against , xavi fabregas messi.

another thing was that cassano was ineffective, he was just walking. zambrotta was so slow, ambrosini came and he couldnt do anything. i dont even remember him possessing ball.

and its evident, that the midfield department is the weakest and i m praying that milan do something about it, buy world class midfielder in january and not settle for free agent or cheap midfielders.

milan can get better next year when old players like seedorf, gattuso and ambrosini leaves next year, it would depend though if milan makes appropriate replacements.

if it wasnt for pato or thiago silva goal, or great performance by abate, silva and nesta milan would have lost by large margin, we were very lucky today.

hope to see good game in san siro with ibra robinho all fit.

It seems most don't understand the brilliant Allegri.

Everyone throughout most of his career at Milan with Allegri's decision making


Allegri the whole time.



End result:

What I saw:

Great Defence as a unit and individually.

Need for trequartista

Pato's decision making

Milanista-1899 wrote:

Fadi wrote:

Milanista-1899 wrote:I'm not to sure your criticism can be warranted. What exactly were you not happy about? The zonal marking system worked to perfection. I think you shouldn't break it up into defense and midfield because today they were one unit, working together for 94 minutes. It worked perfectly and I am sure Allegri will be pleased with how effectively his players were able to employ the tactic he wanted to see.

yeah, that's right but the same tactics won't work against them in milan, we can't afford to let them have the ball the whole game and just wait for slip ups, we must apply pressure on them score a couple of goals then park the buss and play counter, just like mourinho's inter did against them two years ago..

Correct, which is why I will be ever more interested in what Allegri will do that game than this one. Will be a true test of wit and character.

I do not understand your posts here. Should we or shouldn't we apply pressure at times? We were standing off all game no matter where the ball was. That was my point.

It's very encouraging to see the progress between the match vs Lazio and this one.

Milan today were a little unfortunate to draw with Barca after conceding a free kick and a scrappy goal.

The team is widely touted as the best in the world and in terms of fitness and match readiness they are also streets ahead. The game was away- in a very off putting atmosphere. The new signings appear to have settled somewhat and Milan also have injury problems.

As I've heard before here- if it bleeds it can be killed- and at San Siro- with a fitter, more prepared squad with less injuries it is very possible.

I hope you do it!

An Interista

JespSwe wrote:what i saw against barca.... allegri's subpar decisions... his sub for ambrosini was just one of the stupid decision ever.

allegri maybe a good coach but sometimes i dont understand his substitutions... like today... playing with 3 defensive midfielders against , xavi fabregas messi.

another thing was that cassano was ineffective, he was just walking. zambrotta was so slow, ambrosini came and he couldnt do anything. i dont even remember him possessing ball.

and its evident, that the midfield department is the weakest and i m praying that milan do something about it, buy world class midfielder in january and not settle for free agent or cheap midfielders.

milan can get better next year when old players like seedorf, gattuso and ambrosini leaves next year, it would depend though if milan makes appropriate replacements.

if it wasnt for pato or thiago silva goal, or great performance by abate, silva and nesta milan would have lost by large margin, we were very lucky today.

hope to see good game in san siro with ibra robinho all fit.

Really? I thought Allegri mostly did well today. Aquilani's absence in the starting 11 was unforgivable, but other than that, he didn't make any major mistakes IMO. On the Ambrosini-Prince substitution, I'm pretty sure Prince picked up a slight injury or something... You'd have to be brain-dead to sub him otherwise.

Pato needs to be helped!!! they played scared

Allegri was ok,bu that Ambro-Boa switch was utter fail,should have been aqua or urby

Well here we got cornered in Boateng's sub. No Flam, no Gattuso, bearing in mind Allegri wanted to keep defensive game.

Boateng-subb was absolutely a horrible move. What did Ambrosini do when he came in? Looked shaky as hell with horror-show touches. Had Allegri been brave he would have taken Noccerino for Aquilani.

Im pleased as hell with 2-2 against the best team in recent time, so I cant really attack Allegri on that.

It will get even better when we get Taiwo back in shape, as Zambrotta is starting to get problems with the pace. Mexes should also be an important figure.

Yeah, I am not jumping on Allegri bandwagon yet. But he is not a bad manager either. Just want to see him boss with better mids

Allegri is a greatst manager in Serie A. Also, a great future, he is young.

I think that Allegri actually aimed for a draw from the start.

Also, I sort of noticed that Milan played a much better game (i.e. getting possession and actually use them) after the introduction of Aquilani. Where a good hour before, Milan is just content with sitting deep and absorb everything Barca threw.

Is that because Barca has tired off (given that I saw around 60-70th mins mark that Barca covered a few more kms than Milan) or it's just the shift in tactics from absorbing the pressure -> searching for an equalizer?

Cassano is getting all the criticism after this game, but we need to realize that he has no support. Without a player to link the midfield to attack effectively, Cassano's talent is wasting. Boateng is a good player, but not an AM. The need for an AM showed more than ever tonight as Pato and Cassano were loners up top. IMO robinho as the AM compliments Cassano as the SS well, as Cassano's strength in vision, creativity and passing is taken advantage of by Robinho's running into spaces, skills and flicks, and always being an open option.
But besides this, playing Ambrosini in a game like this is suicidal. I know he is our captain and we all of respect for him, but the only times he should be playing is when we are resting Van Bommel against smaller teams in the Serie A or Coppa

well,Cassano was the one supposed to feed Pato in the first place,he wasnt playing as a striker.He looked very lazy and couldnt make a single pass or dribble....

You can't blame cassano man. Trying to create and look for one man against 5 Barca players, with no other attacking options to involve... Not much he can do.

Cassano was pretty much a spectator against Barca and the few moments when he did receive the ball he lost it or gave it away. This was due to him being very isolated and also to barcas pressure, Ibra should start the game at San Siro. Ibra can hold the ball better and allow for other players to push forward and contribute to the attack. I like cassano but today's formation, tactics and opponents negated his influence.