Back to Carletto for a moment, a few weeks ago his supposed “summer wish list” went public. It was nothing extravagant, it had some big name strikers on their with Eto being prominent, but also some youngish Italian type players like Nocerino, a big surprise, and Palombo, who Carletto still seems to have an eye for. Now I don’t know how much I believe the list, especially consider that it is after the fact and burn on Uncle Fester, you can’t help but feel for a guy who is proverbially “playing someone else’s cards.” On a smaller scale, I pick and coach my own players for my team, I fit them into a nice neat little puzzle of eleven and then I chose my ten subs accordingly, if I fail it rests on me. If Carletto fails, he needs to shoulder some blame, but we also have to consider his selections he is working with, not even beginning to consider the injuries he has had to endure. As a whole the Milan roster contains very specialized players for specific inclusions and situation, Pirlo plays deep that’s it, Gattuso plays towards the right, Janks on the left, Ronaldinho stands still on the left half way between the end line and half line, Kaka roams free towards the box, and Becks plays the right period. So what happens when injuries strike, or poor form hits, and you are left with tasks/roles that go unfulfilled and players not versatile enough to fill those roles, it causes big problems, and Carletto, Milan, and the tifosi are knee deep in these problems right now. Case in point, we have dropped points late, and oddly enough Carletto has made moves that make you scratch your head why Dinho and not Flamini, why Favalli and not Pippo. These are blames that rest solely on his shoulders, but as a fan we don’t know what the mood, feel, or even discourse of a certain players at the time of the sub so we make assumptions. The big issue I find though is that these are professional footballers, and they are “old” enough (I guess meant the pun there) to know that the situation calls for a specific function be it possession, dragging the ball to the corner, lateral and backward passes, and so on. If we are up one goal, and Pippo is brought on board, he should know he has to bring the ball to corner and possess, he shouldn’t attempt ten step overs and be disposed for a counter, correct? Go ahead and apply that logic to others, I don’t mind, I just wanted to show that it could be spread around…

So yes we can lambast Carletto, call for his head, but in the end are we that much better off. Maybe we need to clamor for Fester to listen to his coach or to spend money the right way. Maybe we need Berlu to step in and say enough is enough, but neither is looking all that likely. Rijkaard is not the answer, and his soap opera with Dinho will only cause us more problems. Leonardo, Baresi, and Costacurta are not even close to the level needed at Milan, and the last you want is a coach with growing pains in charge. Coaching the Rossoneri is a pressure cooker, and no average Joe can take on that job, you have to succeed, and I would much rather a man that can, that a man that never has…at this point and time I am frustrated with Carletto, the players, and more importantly Uncle Fester. But in the end I am a Rossonero Tifosi and I am not going to quit on them now, and I am not going to quit on Carletto either. We can’t go through a coaching carousel like we did from 96-2001 before Carletto again. I mean we can, I just prefer not to, let’s ride this out, focus on top three, and get behind this guy he has given us far too much to give up that quickly.

FYI, I am doing my best to crank out posts, and do so close to the theme of the comments, but lately there has been so much to digest. Your discussions are excellent, and if I miss points or you want to take something further please shoot me an email acmilan[at}theoffside.com and I will wrap a post around it. Also the next two months I am completing my coaching certification classes and have to attend and run many training sessions to gain my certificate, if I fall off the face of the earth here or there I apologize, but I promise to always have a match post, Maldini Monday and recap post. The inbetween may be up to you, and you guys are already stellar at it. Thanks again.

Last night was painfully obvious that this Milan lacks real depth, it is present in the players, as we have plenty, but their quality is really lacking at the moment. Emerson and Cafu could not even work together, let alone with another 8 field players. As we discussed in the past a lineup containing Brocchi and Emerson is a lineup that will not score, will not playing exciting football, and just plain will not win.

Gourcuff may have played his way out of the Rossoneri with a loan or sale. He really tried to do to much last night, shooting when he should have passed, and trying to maintain possession when he could have loosened some pressure on himself. He did have a few top class, his header for example was Zidanesque, but his choices of shot and passes showed that he still has A LOT to learn, and the San Siro is not ready to teach him. If a commitment was made to get him quality minutes, surrounded by good players, he would improve, but why hurt a player with a potential with lack of playing time and even more lack of supporting cast. He is not Kaka, and cannot command an offense on his own, he needs coddling and with that he will grow.

That leaves me with one last man to really question, and that is Gila. I have supported Gila time and time again, but after watching yesterday I just wonder if he is in over his head. He suffers from some of the same problems as Gourcuff, he lacks support from the line ups he is slotted into. He looks lost when he is alone up front but Carletto perseveres to play him that way. I hate to say but it appears there is very little for Gila at Milan, and quite frankly that is a shame. To let a World Cup winning, and Seria A goal king walk away without a real opportunity to play game in and game out with no criticism or fear of being benched for a half fit Ronaldo is only the fault of the Rossoneri brass. To me it stinks of lack of commitment to a talented individual, and I am not happy about it. Gila will do fine somewhere else, especially Fiorentina, where he will once again be a king, and we will only be able to reminisce about what could have been.

Congrats to Paloschi for working very hard last night and putting himself on the map for another club to purchase, as we will probably put him up for sale or loan in not time. My mood is not as high as it was this weekend, and with an upcoming trip to Udinese this weekend I do not feel that it will get any better. With Fab Quags and Toto DiNatale lurking around the corner we may need another five goal victory to earn three points this weekend. Look for Ro-Ka-Pa to start again, and the return of a fit non suspend Rino Gattuso should give us a fighting a chance.

-Former diavolo, Marco Borriello, who is now stomping goals in the net at Genoa, has stated that he would not mind making a return to the San Siro. He bagged a brace on Sunday and has proven that he can really score; I would take him back, heck he wouldn’t. He would make a great addition if a big name striker was not added, or if Ronaldo left.

-Speaking of Ronaldo, friend of the blog, and faithful commenter Ro has figured how to keep Ronaldo moving as quickly possible. Check it out after the jump.

-I have finally settled down after Sunday’s fantastic win over Napoli, and the first of the season on San Siro soil. It was really great to see the team really unify around Pato and working extremely hard to make sure he got his first goal in the Serie A. The game was not without fault though and the 5-2 score line glosses over the loss of a lead on two separate occasions. Lavezzi is a really amazing player and you have to say that his ability to attack the goal is very, very, very good so one goal, or the creation of one is hard to defend against. But allowing Sosa, who has had an abysmal season, score virtually unmarked is a pretty serious issue in my opinion. Bonera did much, much better in the second half with better performances he will continue to earn time in Serie A fixtures. Kaladze was also a bit lost for much of the first half, both covering for Maldini, who has high in the attack, and covering his own space as well. The offense looks great, let’s have the defense follow suit.

-With a fair amount of matches coming up with CL, Coppa Italia, and Serie A; it is very important for everyone to be firing on all cylinders and Carletto to have a ton of players at his disposable. Gila, Pippo, Brocchi, Gourcuff, and even Emerson (GOD I HOPE NOT) will see plenty of action and I hope Carletto keeps a watchful and plays the hot hands in games to come. Imagine a line up looking like close to this.

Gila, Pato, Kaka, Ambro/Seedorf/Gourcuff, Pirlo, Rino, Janks/Maldini, Bonera/Kaladze, Nesta, Cafu/Oddo with Simic and even Gourcuff worked in. If we are not going to get better we may as well season what we have got. Better to lose with your best, than to rest them on the bench if you ask me.

Your brother sucks, you have worked wonders for us in the front, but in your brother’s small chance in the winning eleven he gave up two goals, and made a ton of gaffers. If you were not in top form, and a huge piece of the Milan puzzle, as of late, he would be flipping hamburgers.

Love,

Your Favorite Milanista Gianfranco

I will post a game recap, and Inter preview tomorrow, I am to angry to even watch the rest of this game right now so I have turned it off, poured me an adult beverage, and am sitting quietly with my thoughts.