Here is the summary:

Injuries such as Ibra, Robinho, Prince, Taiwo, have severely limited us and once again we had to come into a midweek match which clearly is our achilles heal considering the age of our players. An aging and tired MVB, Seedorf, and Nesta all came into the match already showing signs of fatigue as today wasn't any different.

Once again we started the match with to forwards who are most useful when playing off a CF as this was clearly evident as Pato and Cassano both lacked chemistry once again showed signs of need for a CF to build their play around with. Both were hesitant to incise into the box. Pato sadly shows his injury woes as a young and eager El Sharawaay came in. Throughout the first half it was clear we were lacking in confidence as for 2 reasons. One reason is we haven't had a win for the beginning of the season as the result against Napoli damaged the teams confidence. That showed in the first half as the team chemistry was hesitant and the pace of our players didn't help. The other reason is that Milan knows how weak they are against counter-attacking sides this season as this was clear in the San Paulo. Udinese is just as good on the counter attack and the hesitance also came from the fullbacks being extremely cautious onto hold an oncoming counter while the mid was deep as well, sensing the intention of Udine to absorb the pressure and attack. Then obviously came Abbiati's dida-esque blunder which subdued our confidence even further.

2nd half came as we bloomed due to Allegri asking the fullbacks to press and overlap while the CBs (especially Nesta) ventured forward and licensed the Mid the attack while Seedorf looked more lively then in the first. I'll save the individual notes for below. The ES-92 goal not only was his debut goal but it shattered that layer of self doubt and hesitance as after that we unleashed whatever we could at them and created many plays and chances as some were squandered by certain individuals. It doens't help that the ref was blind on not to call Pippo's penalty. Enough about the summary though.

-People don't realize that its not Allegri, but simply the lack of pace, youth, energy and even quality in our team that is holding us back at times. For every recovered ball, a 2nd player was to slow to recover it. For every overlap between fullback and midfielder, another player was too slow to set himself up. The transition between midfield and final 3rd is simply too slow.

Allegri has his tactics right believe it or not. The positioning and movement is spot on, the set up between the lines and between the players is also spot on as is the formation and the integral core of the system. Yet, it is the lack of pace, movement, and energy that is severely hindering the system. I have been one of the critics of our summer mercato in which we brought reinforced the defense well enough (to an extent) but only reinforced with the inconsistent Aquilani.

Here is the reason why its down to the players deficiencies and not Allegri.

-Fullbacks: Abate isn't exactly known as an attacking fullback as although he possesses good crossing and great tactical sense in the final 3rd with his link up and decisions, he simply doesn't have the dribbling prowess to bomb forward, although to be fair he looks to timid to attack as it seems an injection of confidence in attack can help.

Then there is Zambro, who is solid in defense yet he doesn't possess the pace nor the attacking ability anymore to provide support to overlap and cross in.

How does anyone expect us to gain any width when we don't have any substantial attacking power in our FB area?

Midfield: I noticed with MVB, he is essentially the fulcrum of our midfield and demands much possession. He is superb in his leadership, short passing to open up space in the centre, and positional sense to make up for his lack of pace. But what if we did have, lets say Scwiensteiger, or any other superstar midfielder as promised as this would have made a worlds of a difference. MVB still is great for us but his position has to much potential to be have him named perfect in as if we had an all rounded CM with pace, passing, vision and dynamism there, it would make the difference. Then comes Seedorf, who also came into this match fatigued as his incredibly slow pace and ability to reach balls within the link up cost us many chances to expand upon the build up. Imagine if we had a younger seedorf with the ability to actually follow through with his ideas that aren't hindered by his pace? Then there is Nocerino who isn't convincing although he has the tenacity and decent tactical sense, his lack of quality is proving to be a liability and cost us many prospects in midfield ideas. It proves how much Gattuso actually contributes as he consistently wins balls and tackles while the flaminis and nocerinos only seem to run.

Aquilani does not fit in the TQ position as its clear he likes a deep overview of the midfield and like a typical regista, thrives on making passes all round him rather then the direct passes of a TQ. He needs to be dropped deep.

Emaneulsson will not be of use to us unless we play a wing attack, as otherwise he is a limited player with his lack of right foot and wastefulness and he had me screaming at the tv with his idiotic decision making to cost us vital chances near the end.


Notes: Midfield until January should be:

KPB-MVB-Aquilani
Robinho/Cassano

There can be many variations here as you'd like it along with the players you'd think which would be better.

My conclusion is that it is simply the lack of energy, pace and in some areas, quality that is holding the system back as the 2 positive points are that Winter transfer is usually more prioritized then in summer as whats needed is A Scwiensteiger type all-rounded CM, and Montolivo and of course the most vital puzzle piece which is that spark which is needed as this is in the mold of a number 10. Eriksen would be perfect as already we missed out on Lamela and Ganso is to slow and injury prone. Look what Ozil did to the stale Real Madrid mid as that need for creativity in the final 3rd is needed.

-Also, consider the injuries of today as KPB, Robinho, Ibra and Taiwo would have been massive for us today as the lack of CF (ibra) lack of flair (robinho) lack of energy and dynamism (Prince) and of course no threat from fullbacks in which Taiwo would have helped. Its evident we lack fitness due to us rarely scoring a late goal is another example.

The case as i've always pointed out is that our squad is far from complete with the imbalance of youth and age and not really much middle ground is frustrating as the sqaud must be CONSIDERABLY refreshed in the winter or else the CL is out and the Serie A will be a struggle.


I'll have the Allegri haters coming in blasting me but is quite clear that his system is simply held back by injuries, age, and not enough quality to fit his system which is why he has to compromise with putting so many defensive players to compensate for the lack of flair as they're is not enough balance.

I am confident with Robinho and Co. returning that we will be back to our winning ways as these players returning will carry us well onto the season until Winter where we will hopefully reinforce. Criticizing Allegri is stupid as already know the redundant responses I will receive here.

In the end, the concept, the idea, the system is in fact right, but more is needed from the Milan board to help us get there.

@Arquitecto you are funny, sound just like a Real Madrid fan, on the 'Allegris tactics thread, you said that Aqui is developing well and will soon cement his TQ role, now he does not fit the role...it was due to Allegri that we bloomed in the second half because according to you he told the left backs to attack and overlap...why did he wait till the 2nd half...didn't he notice that in the 1st half..men I don't blame Allegri for the results, we suck as a team. hopefully when we recover our injured we will be better. Forza Milan!!!

Milanchenko wrote:@Arquitecto you are funny, sound just like a Real Madrid fan, on the 'Allegris tactics thread, you said that Aqui is developing well and will soon cement his TQ role, now he does not fit the role...it was due to Allegri that we bloomed in the second half because according to you he told the left backs to attack and overlap...why did he wait till the 2nd half...didn't he notice that in the 1st half..men I don't blame Allegri for the results, we suck as a team. hopefully when we recover our injured we will be better. Forza Milan!!!

On the Aquilani factor, he can play as TQ and once forming his chemistry with team-mates, he can be a revelation there but ATM is is best that he reinforces the midfield and drops back as this match showed how much he prefers to drop back and dictate from there as a direct game is not in his preference.

In the first half Allegri's idea clearly was to possess the ball and find chances through short passes and incricate link ups but that clearly didn't work due to the lack of chemistry. In the 2nd half it was relatively the same, but he realized the dire need to score and pushed the defence up quite a lot although this was risky due to the counter-attacking nature of they took advantage of it at times.

@ Milanchenko - Serie A is very much a tactical battlefield. The first half will always involve slow build up, each team prodding the other for weaknesses. An Italian game always opens up more and more as the game progresses. Allegri sends his squad out with specific instructions in the first half. He can't start throwing numbers forward recklessly from the technical area until he has halftime to talk things over.

We should have won 1-0, if not for Abiatti's horrible blunder, though the performance is concerning. The team was not creating, they were forcing. Udinese did not see much of the ball, yet looked very threatening when they did have it (see: Napoli)




I've said it before, I'll say it again. Aquilani was not our fabled Mister X. I think we lost out on signing somebody better (Montolivo, Eriksen), and Aquilani was meant to come as a squad player. Now we are stuck with a mediocre starter until January. He was an embarrassment today.

A slow tactical game such as this needed a Robinho to take on defenders, or a Zlatan to work the attack around. We desperately need them back considering Pato's poor form and Cassano's inability to take his chance in the first team.

This team is still built around Zlatan. We struggle without a big target up front. What's great, is that he possesses amazingly technical feet, especially for a big man, and his playmaking is as good as a true 10. He is the complete player.

I defended Cassano for a while now. After today (call it a knee jerk, whatever), I'm convinced we would be better off with a Vice-Ibrahimovic. A Target man with strength and good feet to rest Zlatan and cover for his injuries.

PinePHresh wrote:@ Milanchenko - Serie A is very much a tactical battlefield. The first half will always involve slow build up, each team prodding the other for weaknesses. An Italian game always opens up more and more as the game progresses. Allegri sends his squad out with specific instructions in the first half. He can't start throwing numbers forward recklessly from the technical area until he has halftime to talk things over.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Aquilani was not our fabled Mister X. I think we lost out on signing somebody better (Montolivo, Eriksen), and Aquilani was meant to come as a squad player. Now we are stuck with a mediocre starter until January. He was an embarrassment today.

A slow tactical game such as this needed a Robinho to take on defenders, or a Zlatan to work the attack around. We desperately need them back considering Pato's poor form and Cassano's inability to take his chance in the first team.

Some good points Pine.

As for Aquilani, he has always been a Regista as he prefers to overlook the midfield and dictate from there. But keep in mind it is players in his position that take the longest to adapt as the whole system goes through his position and I'd say this was his only bad game while the rest were relatively decent for a man in a new club and system.

He'll thrive when he adapts chemistry and plays with the full squad.

And yes, despite what the board says, he wasn't mister x as I'm sure Galliani will make it up in the winter.

Some people expect us to boss with all these injuries and tired Zambrotta and Seedorf in main team Allegri not at fault, however some of his line up choices I do not understand (e.g. Seedorf-yes he gives creativity, but mind he is 36 ffs).

I will stand by my point that Aquilani and Nocerino are simply depth. The first one inconsistent as hell+doesnt have enough 'presence' in midfield and becomes a ghost by second half, the second is just a workhorse.

To sum up, we ll drastically improve when Ibra, Boa, Robinho and Taiwo return. The first one is a Chris Paul of our club, makes everyone around him better. The fixture list is one of the toughest I ve seen for Milan since I've started watching football.

Grande_Milano wrote:Some people expect us to boss with all these injuries and tired Zambrotta and Seedorf in main team Allegri not at fault, however some of his line up choices I do not understand (e.g. Seedorf-yes he gives creativity, but mind he is 36 ffs).

I will stand by my point that Aquilani and Nocerino are simply depth. The first one inconsistent as hell+doesnt have enough 'presence' in midfield and becomes a ghost by second half, the second is just a workhorse.

To sum up, we ll drastically improve when Ibra, Boa, Robinho and Taiwo return. The first one is a Chris Paul of our club, makes everyone around him better. The fixture list is one of the toughest I ve seen for Milan since I've started watching football.

More like a D Wills

Allegri likes to keep Bonera and Antonini both match fit for some reason. Antonini and Zambrotta should be the main backups at fullback. Yepes and Mexes at centerback.

Why he started Seedorf is a mystery. We all knew he wouldn't have the legs for another 90 minutes. /how can he hit a perfectly weighted pass with such tired legs?





would have been a better choice imo

Yeah, I am also confused why they let one of the most promising Spanish fullbacks Vila go on loan. Why being afraid to play him when we have only Zambrotta and average Antonini as fullback back ups (I know thats enough for fullback cover, but I think Vila could ve been a choice ahead of Antonini).

Also letting Strasser and Merkel go with all these mdfield problems was stupid. At least one of them shoud ve stayed.

@Arquitecto,
I would love your posts much more if you did'nt try hard to "hold the stick from the middle" man just say your opinion as it could be right or wrong it doeasnt matter, just say it. Aquillani is good as TQ but this and that, Allegri is at fault but not really, etc....

We have injuries and Allegri is aware of that, a smart tactician will plan his tactics according to AVAILABLE players not injured ones.
Given the circumstances I would have much prefered and respected Allegri if we started defencive minded and tried our luck with counters trying to make use of Pato's speed. We all knew Udi. will resort to counters so why play their game instead of dragging them to play ours, all last season and this season can you mention 5 goals for Udi. that did'nt come from counters (dont count penalties).

How many times does Cassano have to let us all down for him to start realizing he is not what we need.

Aquillani all through his career has never been a one man midfielder, the guy just cant control the mid all on his own, by giving him those duties you are pushing him towards failure.

Seedorf, I just wish he did'nt put up that wonderful 60 mins against Barca, it seems it has seriously blinded Allegri, and he is still seeing Seedorf with the long "hair". And to top that he still plays him on the left which is Zambrotta's side, what kind of support would you expect from him?

Nesta is clearly fatigued yet he is played for the third game in a spam of a week against Barca, Napoli, and now Udin, and to make things worst you push him up high.

Whats the point of playing Noccerino if he is given more attacking duties than deffencive ones?

The way I expect a pro tactician to prepare for any game will be sitting down and looking at his available player, the opponents strenghs and weakness, to try to nutralize as much as possible of thei strengths and expose their weaknesses with the AVAILABLE solutions, and we did exactly the opposite. We played for the opponents strenghts and against our weaknesses.

Lazio-Barca-Napoli-Udinenese......lets give our players a break,they did the hardest which was not losing against Barca,we have a whole season to recover serie a points,and i know we will

im happy for this injury crisis were in atm shows what the players are capable of and what we need to do to remedy the situation should it arise again....nesta seems to be on form aswell 4 tough matches in a row and still carrying to ball up field and such didnt think he had the stamina for that.

PinePHresh wrote:

Abiatti
Abate - Nesta - Thiago Silva - Zambrotta
Nocerino - van Bommel - Emaunuelson
El Shaarawy
Pato - Cassano

would have been a better choice imo

for this game i definitely wouldve liked to see urby start ahead of seedorf, altho seedorf did have a decent first half i feel. urby has never really got the chance to show what hes got in milan yet, well he hasnt done anything to really push allegri to give him that much more time, but given our injury crisis right now, id def like to see more out of him

i wouldve liked to see el shaarawy to start, but i think the most logical choice before todays game at least was starting aquilani.

now given todays performance, id say for cesena's game


For bonera: I KNOW I KNOW, but god needs rest too

in the second half bring depending on how the game has gone, put in seedorf or nocerino for inzaghi (or any young players we might call up)

this is just abt the least important game out of the first 8 or so games, so definitely should capitalize on rotation here. (BUT AT THE SAME TIME DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE TEAM THAT KILLED US 2-0 EARLY LAST SEASON) we want reveennnngeeee

I must make a relevant point in the discussions between Arquitecto and Baresi.

It is very true that our lack of pace and stamina is a hindrance to Allegri's 4-3-1-2 (it would be to any system). However, I do not think a lack of pace at fullback is relevant here. You see, the reason why nobody in Italy plays wide with wingers, is because every defense is set up to stand off and defend deep. Wingers become less and less effective when they have less space to work in (deep defensive line = less space to the byline, also add narrow fields of play and wingers are useless in Italy). Additionally, Ambrosini and Ibrahimovic are the only players we have who are good in the air. It makes sense that we play the 'Italian way': slow, controlled, and through the middle.

It is the lack of stamina that hurt us here. In the second half, Cassano and Aquilani were completely static. I saw very little movement from the forwards. A lack of off the ball movement has been a problem for some time. This is when it is useful to have a target man (Ibra) or someone willing to take on defenders (Robinho). As I said earlier, there is a difference between creating chances and looking for chances. Cassano and Aquilani were poor today, hence, we were looking for chances, not creating them.

It is true that the coach should tailor his tactics to the squad available. This team is clearly tailored to work around Ibrahimovic in attack. The players and the coach need to find a way to play without this traditional target man. The team simply weren't good enough in the final third. They looked lost, devoid of ideas. If Cassano's work rate continues to be this atrocious, he should be considered 4th or even 5th choice at striker as soon as everyone is fit. He could have been the difference in Ibra's absence. We were really counting on him.

@ Baresi -

Given the circumstances I would have much prefered and respected Allegri if we started defencive minded and tried our luck with counters trying to make use of Pato's speed. We all knew Udi. will resort to counters so why play their game instead of dragging them to play ours, all last season and this season can you mention 5 goals for Udi. that did'nt come from counters (dont count penalties).

We did start out defensive. Not playing for the counter attack, but solid at the back with restrained fullbacks and a much more disciplined van Bommel and Aquilani. If two teams both look to play on the counter, then the game will simply be midfield vs midfield fighting to win balls, then isolated attackers attempting to score vs complete defenses. We were the home side and took the initiative to win, which was the correct approach.




side note - Van Bommel has been caught out in defense a few times so far this year. It is odd, because he is moving forward much more regularly this season. I'm not sure if this is Allegri's instructions or MVB's lack of discipline due to the frustrating scorelines.

Pato was right El shaarawy will do better than him!~and please get rid of Zambro he is like a handicapped person,even Antonini is better than him we dont need three center backs he contributes nothing in the attackin department!

red&blacklegion wrote:Pato was right El shaarawy will do better than him!~and please get rid of Zambro he is like a handicapped person,even Antonini is better than him we dont need three center backs he contributes nothing in the attackin department!

Antonini gets drilled by everyone
Zambrotta gets drilled by only half as many

It was a fair result, considering that we had to fill our bench with primavera players.

Abbi never was a WC golkeeper, he can do WC saves and at the same time can make those errors.
We lost 2 points today because if him, yes he's saves were great, but it doesn't make up for this error.
He's becoming a little bit shaky.

I'm happy about Pharaoh, great debut. Hope this gives him a confidence.
Attack is pretty useless without good finisher and without someone who can fight and win in the air.

Nocerino is a great "work horse", but also useless in sutiations like this, when we need to score, but what a choise did we have?
Milan are definitely missing Robinho's movement and Boateng's dynamism. Aqua was inconsistent again after 2 good matches against Lazio and Napoli. (kinda reminds me his days in Juve).

I was stunned by Zeedorf, really good game (considering 3 in a row for).

But there are a few positive things:
1) The gap between Juve-only 5 points
2) We've already played with uncomfortable rivals.
3) And we will do much better with Ibra and Robi

P.S Don't understand this Urbi fetish. The guy is useless and the only reason he is in Milan couse he was cheap and Gal was opportunistic as always.

GDS

Nocerino shouldn't be relied upon to make a huge impact
He is purely a fill in for Flamini

Arquitecto wrote:

Milanchenko wrote:@Arquitecto you are funny, sound just like a Real Madrid fan, on the 'Allegris tactics thread, you said that Aqui is developing well and will soon cement his TQ role, now he does not fit the role...it was due to Allegri that we bloomed in the second half because according to you he told the left backs to attack and overlap...why did he wait till the 2nd half...didn't he notice that in the 1st half..men I don't blame Allegri for the results, we suck as a team. hopefully when we recover our injured we will be better. Forza Milan!!!

On the Aquilani factor, he can play as TQ and once forming his chemistry with team-mates, he can be a revelation there but ATM is is best that he reinforces the midfield and drops back as this match showed how much he prefers to drop back and dictate from there as a direct game is not in his preference.

In the first half Allegri's idea clearly was to possess the ball and find chances through short passes and incricate link ups but that clearly didn't work due to the lack of chemistry. In the 2nd half it was relatively the same, but he realized the dire need to score and pushed the defence up quite a lot although this was risky due to the counter-attacking nature of they took advantage of it at times.

Aquilani has shown that he lacks the quality to be our main creative force in the LCM position . Apart from lacking the technical ability to handle such role, he doesn't have the composure to hold on to the ball and dictate the play and the pace of the game just like seedorf does. As shown last night, he always panicked when the ball comes his way, thereby playing a meaningless through ball to no one, or simply playing an awful short pass. Another factor is the manner in which he fizzles out of games. Now I know the reason why liverpool was eager to off load him and juve wasn't ready to pay cause he is just not a quality player.
I hope B&G realize that top notch quality can't be acquired by signing a bunch of free and on loan players

Chagur wrote:
P.S Don't understand this Urbi fetish. The guy is useless and the only reason he is in Milan couse he was cheap and Gal was opportunistic as always.

Dont think hes class or anything, but I thought he can give seedorf the rest as we really dont have any other options at the moment, and i havent seen him play much before milan, and he hardly played any significant minutes, i see him making good runs without ball to great positions sometimes, so maybe he is good enough for a depth player.