Reinforcements are a must, but they do not need to be massive or even expensive, they merely need to fit in the tactical system. Simply add cogs to the machine and further the efficiency going forward. Adiyah is a great start; he can play the attacking wing and spell Dinho and Pato if needed. Beckham works as well, he has a goal, and that is to play for England in WC10, and he will work damn hard to achieve it and if it means roaming up and down the right mid spot he will do it. So where does that leave us? In the end the immediate and very real reaction is to add a fullback, sure it works, it is a the prototypical workhorse spot, but is it really what we need right now?

So before you go into uproar hear me out. If the RB position is manned by Abate and Oddo and the LB spot is manned by Antonini and Zambro, that leaves Nesta, Kaladze, Silva, Favalli, and Bonera at CB with a few of those guys able to move to the flanks if needed. If the 4-3-3 works as it is supposed to the width is provided by wing players be it the attacking wing, mid wing, or even defensive wing. This is all based upon personnel. Pato and Oddo interchange nicely on the right flank allowing Ambrosini to tuck in centrally and block counters. This same system does not seem to work on the left, with Dinho moving centrally and Zambro rarely seeming to take up as much space he once he did. So basically we need width on the left, if Seedorf plays he also shades central, and the 4-3-3 suddenly leaves holes in places that are dangerous for other teams. Teams are more often than not right side dominate their attack typically forms from that side and if that flank is weak opponents, especially better opponents will exploit it.

So how do you fix it? Easily, really, and his name is Pasquale Foggia:

So hear me out, if Foggia is brought in, then he and Becks can provide width and a DM can be employed in the middle to disrupt attacks, and frankly we are team with a handful of them in Rino, Flamini, and Ambro. This gives Pirlo and Seedorf a much needed chance for rest, and also gives Leo tactical flexibility in how he employs his formation. Worried about the counter? Start Seedorf and Pirlo. A more open game and Foggia and Becks can get a run. By reinforcing the midfield with a creative player it allows the defenders to defend and the width to come from midfielders instead of fullbacks. Now Dinho can move more central and Pato and Borriello can go one on one with the CB’s making the team even more formidable than it has now become.

Does it have to be Foggia? Of course not, but a LM type player is really the only thing needed to move this team forward, sure it doesn’t solve the future, but this team is built for the here and now, so ask yourself do you want a youth movement and a season of growing pains, much like September, or do we throw caution to the wind and push the issue here and now…

Oddo: defensively a plus, but this is only when he decided to defend. Many times he was nowhere to be found on the track back and was bailed out by Rino and Silva on many occasions. Offensively he was dreadful, with acres of room he never made good on his delivery. He had one good cross that Pato nearly nodded in but the rest were forgettable and laughable; expect Abate to get the start vs Madrid if healthy.

Silva: I am willing to argue that Silva is one of the best additions Milan have had in recent memory. He has been a stable and reliable CB all season long and his poise for such a young CB is remarkable. A proud addition to a historic Milan defense, his tackling is top class and his occasional burst forward is a joy to watch. A goal for him today would have been well deserved.

Kaladze: at times I barely knew he was there, a plus for a CB. The less we here about Kaladze the better he has played. Find by me as he filled and for Nesta, really can’t complain about his use as a backup.

Antonini: he frustrates me beyond belief. Excellent movement into the attack, great one two passing, but the injury was disheartening. When he is out of options he forces a pass to Dinho which requires him to defend, he can improve his patience and get the ball working laterally as well. Defensively did well, but Parma prefers to attack down the middle instead of the flanks so the pressure was more on the CBs than the wing backs.

Gattuso: a solid match, tackled when needed and did what is expected. Should start midweek against Madrid.

Pirlo: atrocious and borderline hard to watch. Looks slow and disinterested, and his passing choice was the worse I have seen it in a long time. As I mentioned yesterday this nightmare will continue unless takes on the role of playmaker, until then I hope to see less of this Pirlo and more of this one:

Seedorf: almost as bad as Pirlo, but seemed willing to run a bit more. Also gets caught in traffic on the left flank especially when Dinho and Antonini were both present in that spot. Should shift inside a bit more, and shouldn’t be afraid to interchange with Pirlo as needed. Bottom line he doesn’t seem comfortable so deep, but will have to make due as the system of tactics is yielding results.

Pato: heavily marked, and given little to no breathing room. It is games like these that will define his benefits to Milan or any club he plays for that matter. Parma was clearly preoccupied with him allowing Borriello more room than normal, in that sense Pato can keep his feet moving and create even more room for his strike partner. What bothered me was his loss of interest and aggression following the PK claim, as I tell the boys I coach, this game gives you 90 minutes to make good on a bad call or mistake, get over it, move on and keep working usually your fortunes will turn.

Borriello: an epic two goal effort from Marco. He looked hungry and driven for goal, he made some mistakes but his work rate was high and kept finding room to operate. Linked nicely with Dinho and proved dangerous on the pass as he tried to setup Antonini and Silva. Is a revelation after watching KJH putz around and should be a fixture in the leading attacking line.

Dinho: better, and frankly is improving every match. I made a point to tally the amount of times he had his arms up in protest to the ref in the first half, sadly I counted twelve. That means twelve times he was too busy whining than tracking back or trying to win back possession. Frankly I don’t remember this trait at Barca, but he also rarely made mistakes or hawked for calls. He needs to further simplify and evolve his game to be effective. Milan do not need him to dribble four players and score, they do need him to work passes and create space, which he did well today. Let’s focus on the aspect and build on it, and the rest should progress nicely.

I want to take a minute and talk about the near deal for 20 year old Ghanian striker Dominic Adiyiah. The deal is nearly complete, but knowing what we know about infamous Milan medicals I wouldn’t seal the deal quite yet. I watched the U20 World Cup final against Brazil which ended in a very cagey draw that saw a ten man Ghana forced to defend for the entirety of the match rendering Adiyiah rather unnoticeable. He did show excellent movement and comfort on the ball and as the match wore on seemed to find his legs. Hard to tell what type of striker he will be based on the match, and immediately you want to invoke comparisons to Weah, Eto, and Drogba, but it is far too early. In the end the move is a step in the right direction for Milan and I would expect an official announcement at some point today or tomorrow.

Some highlights from the aforementioned WC:

Many people want a youth movement and evolution from the veterans, and while it is much needed it is players like Clarence, Pirlo, Nesta, Ambro and even Dinho who remain calm and keep the team moving forward despite the scoreboard. While the attacks were poor, rarely dangerous, and often east to west the possession tipped in Milan’s favor and things started looking up. I have to admit that the 4-4-2 was a bad choice, it gave the squad width but for little to no reason, and in contrast gave Menez a fair amount of space to operate in between the midfield and defensive line. For as bad as the formation was Leo did well to move Dinho in a more advanced position relieving him of much of his “running” duties. Granted all this does is hide a glaring fault in Dinho’s game but it puts him in a more advanced position. I will take more about Dinho shortly.

In the second half Leo brought on Pippo in place of Abate, hopefully Abate is not injured, and Leo was just throwing strikers at the one goal disadvantage. Pippo made an instant impact with a header cleared off the line that many a Roma fan will forget as we touch on the next point of the match. Had Pippo scored this goal, there would be no crying and complaining and Roma fans would not have the chance to cry about their plight of bad calls and “oh how the ref’s hate us!” Nesta was brought down in the box by Burdisso and Rossetti called it, and Dinho buried it. If you want to read about a team not being accountable for their shortcomings and playing the blame game, visit the Roma blog, but I will keep my hard line as I always have, these things all even out in the end. I bet Roma fans would champion Menez for his diving antics if he won a penalty, yet they call me a hypocrite. Ambro got a red, did he deserve it? I dunno, but you don’t see me crying about it…

Following the goal Milan had the momentum and suddenly Ronaldinho looked briefly liked his old self. He was fervent, aggressive, and intense. His hard work was rewarded as he found Pato on an excellent run for a quality finish and a one goal lead…FINALLY…Dinho to Pato the link up we had all be waiting for since week 1. Following this play Dinho even made a cameo on the defensive end and won a tackle to boot, truly amazing stuff. He worked so hard he earned himself a rest and surely a deserved round of applause.

The fact of the matter is Milan did not have a stand out performance today. Instead they hung with it, grinded it out and got a win against team with building momentum, but not necessarily full of class. It was the type of win you build of off, you think of this as an effort in hard work and determination and hope the positives aspects come forward in the next match and the negatives disappear. It would be great to see this resiliency and the movement forward from the second half against Real Madrid, but in the same vain we need more out of Dinho and Pato, much more, and Pirlo and Seedorf have to work that much harder to keep the ball moving around the park. All our problems are not solved, but it sure feels good to get a win and I will enjoy it least for a day or two!

This may be the breaking point for Leonardo who should have used this International break to reassess and revaluate the direction of this club on the pitch. In terms of players his options are limited and the never ending questions surrounding whether Ronaldinho should play or shouldn’t, start or shouldn’t, will most definitely continue. Evidence for or against is completely inclusive; we suck with him we suck without him! So his playing time will most likely be a game time decision.

In the midfield expect to see Pirlo flanked by his country mates Ambro and Rino, with Nesta hopefully returning in defense, and Silva still trying to find fitness to return to the starting lineup. Abate should get the start at RB and Zambro most likely on the left, which will probably open the flood gates for Roma to attack Zambro. Vucinic is always dangerous at the San Siro and this match will be no exception, he is a on a goal drought and will be hungry to beat Storari a feat that is harder than we all expected.

I would almost push for Milan to play defensively and counter a weak defense that has the potential for leaking goals, but we all know it takes pace to counter and it will be funny to watch Abate tear up the right with Pato in tow while Dinho and Seedorf hoof it up the park. Ideally Leo will play Dinho up top with Seedorf behind the two strikers and let the other seven players sort it out defensively with Seedorf applying pressure in the attacking third…at this point there is little left to lose and anything is better than the status quo.

So here we are, at home, underdogs to a team that arguably is worse off than we are economically and personnel wise, with little or no chance to win…oh how we have fallen…

In the beginning, there was Super Pippo. Through him all goals were scored, and without him there was nothing. He was the one player to light up Italian football’s darkness. And it sometimes feels as if he has been answering our prayers since the beginning of time.

Realistically speaking making it out of the group stages would be a gift. Two games against our old boy Kaka, a trip to Marseille, and a relative unknown in FC Zurich. Second place will not be as easy as we make it out to be. Will Real Madrid find the chemistry to be a good team, will Olympique Marseille be the bad CL omen it always has been, and can we take 6 a must points from FC Zurich in order to allow a drop elsewhere? There are plenty of what-if’s in this CL group and as the action unfolds we can finally answer if Milan is truly a team built for the CL as history has shown time and time again.

Carletto, a CL genius in his own right with two titles to his name, has left for Stamford Bridge where he tries to bring that magic to a team that is obsessed with old big ears almost as much is Milan, too bad we already have seven. The squad still has players who have lifted the trophy in the Rossoneri in Clarence, Rino, Ambro, Nesta , Pippo and Pirlo and it is those players that Leo should lean on and rely on to calm the nerves of the new players like Abate, Pato, and Silva. Can we win the CL, I don’t believe so, but this team can honor the place of AC Milan in the tournament and make me forget that I wish they had never qualified at all.

It was a good easily his most solid in the shirt, but the same way many of you chosen to reserve judgment until deeper in the season, I will also do the same. Consistency is the need and the key to make this team move forward. Lost in Dinho’s and Pato’s performance was the work rate and effort of Marco Borriello.
Borriello was involved in both goals and moving the ball into his Brazilian line mates, but his effort to pressure the ball and move in and out of space allowed room for Pato to operate. The score sheet will never show this type of effort, and it will be interesting to see if KJH is willing to get that down and dirty in the offensive third for the good of the colors.

The play of the wingbacks, Zambro and Janks, was not as bad as anticipated, with Zambro being the more disappointing of the two. He seemed extremely lost and unable to find the game for ninety minutes, while Janks worked hard in the offensive third but not so much in the defensive third. Thankfully Flamini and Rino cleaned up when needed and facilitated solid defensive play for the few attacks on the Milan goal. Storari did well with a few great reaction saves, but Abbiati should not be concerned awaiting his return. It was disappointing to see the goal conceded once again with poor marking, an ailment that seemed to continue to linger on the Milan defense, but with some chemistry building I hope it can be remedied.

It is a good building block to push this team forward and help forget a terrible summer. With the derby looming this confidence boost is welcomed, but it is important to not blow this win out of proportion because Inter will come in hungry and farm more difficult than Siena.
Leo has his work cut out for him and Dinho will need to build off this game to continue to gain confidence in my eyes and many of yours.

It is even harder to have this discussion not knowing if Leo wants to play 4-3-3 or 4-1-2-1-2, which makes this all the more frustrating, frankly with the personnel we have on hand, I wouldn’t even venture a guess on what to do. A lack of creativity, width, and hell a lack of everything has left me wondering how many more players can we lose without replacing them and still make this all work. Move Pirlo, but do it right, get some value. If it means Kalou to fill the striker spot GREAT, if it means a guy like Belleti or Ferreira to add width and team depth than fine, but don’t take Pizarro just for the sake of getting a player, do we really need more Chelsea failures?

-Cesc Fabregas has been tossed around as a potential Milan target and considering his age and ability this move would certainly be welcome. We have the defensive midfielders so a guy that can operate around the center circle and forward would be a plus. He may cost a bit more than Milan want to pay, but his upside is tremendous. He would grow with the youth around him and if Milan wants to settle themselves present and future this is a good way to start. As Avia mentioned earlier it would also free Dinho to move up and to the left adding width, and let Leo use his 4-3-3 formation. Sure it is a pipe dream, but a little optimism in my doom and gloom is probably good for everyone.

-Personally I am not sold on Hernanes, Brazilianness aside, he has done little to prove his worth or cost. Succeeding in Brazil does not always guarantee success and playing in Europe is a shock to any player. Historically speaking Milan have not been all that successful with these type of purchases directly into the first team. Recent young Brazilians like Kaka, Pato, and Silva were given time to acclimate and learn the system prior to first team football, and if Hernanes was purchased I would hope he would be afforded the same luxury.

-The defensive flanks still look pretty bad and based on preseason performances I would say this is the where the most help is needed. Talks have been on and off for De Silvestri has been given the green light to leave Lazio and sending Oddo back to his club of origin may help in luring the young RB to Milan. He would be welcome addition to a club that has boasted some of the World’s best at the positions and his move would greatly benefit his own chances of going to WC10, a player hungry to prove himself is a plus no matter the squad or position. With Inter boasting Santon, shouldn’t we have our own wingback in the mix?

-In the next few hours Fester, Berlu, and Leo will have a heart to heart, this little meeting represents the turning point of our preseason. If Leo can assert himself and demand what he needs to succeed he will gain valuable leadership points and credibility. If he comes out of this meeting with nothing to show in the way of transfers than he is in fact a yes man and we dead before the ship even sank!