Time for Trip to the Motherland
By: Gianfranco | May 9th, 2008
This weekend the Rossoneri travel to an old time foe, which still holds a place in my heart, after all I am Napolitano. Place in my heart or not, I don’t care about anything but a Milan victory this weekend, because with the way the table stands six points punches Milan’s ticket to the Champions League. Wish is that easy.
Only one team have taken a points from the Stadio San Paolo this season and that is Roma, but who can remember what happened when Napoli visited the San Siro. Pato anyone?
It was a great game with tons of fireworks, but I do remember that Milan pulled away late but was twice put back on their heels by Napoli’s new Argentine, Lavezzi. The defense will have its hands full, no doubt. But it is the midfield that really worries me. Pirlo is out with yellow card suspension and more than few Milan players; Ambro and Rino, are one away from a suspension in the last game of the season. This puts Carletto in a bit of a predicament because of the lack of a creative player in the midfield, this really makes you contemplate where the reinforcements are needed, and also makes you wonder what is Carletto going to do? My vote, as it has been most of the season is on Gourcuff, with Seedorf in the Pirlo role. But Carletto never heeds my advice, instead he will most likely slot Brocchi alongside Rino and Ambro, or worse he will defrost old man Emerson and throw him in the mix. I do believe that like the rest of the Brazilians on the team, Emerson is injured in some way or another.
The usual suspects will line up on defense with Il Capitano still out injured with very little news on his return or his next season. Bonera will be the man to watch as he was on good form before the Juve match and really hopes to regain that in the closing matches of the season. He seems to play well in the first 60 minutes or so but then falls apart in the last 30. Carletto, if you are subbing a defender in the second half maybe he is your man.
With the Pirlo out Carletto can always opt for two strikers and who better than Pippo and Pato or even Gila. It really doesn’t matter who, it only matters that Pippo is on fire and will do his best to keep scoring goals at will. It is hard to believe Milan can’t take three points if Pippo can bag a brace, then again most teams don’t lost if anyone bags a brace, but Milan have been in worse positions as of late.
The bottom line as I stated earlier is a win, it is a must here to stay in the top four and finish this season strong. A lot depends on Milan’s qualification including transfers, Serie A’s success in UEFA (more on this later), and IL Capitano’s future. This is not just three points anymore, it’s the season.
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moka… we were like them… just a couple of years ago… every team has its cycles…
Posted from
United States
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We are along way 4m the 96 season. I hope we move away 4m the xmas tree as its easily xposd if we are missn a key playr.
Posted from
United Kingdom -
Are you kidding me?
3-1?
seriously?
fucks sake…
and fiorentina won…Posted from
United States -
but also, if I recall, I said that Siena would force Inter to draw, and THEY DID.
Posted from
United States -
let’s hope we don’t lose to the Zebrette next week, even if la viola get the 4th place which they rightfully deserve, I hope Milan close the season with a win because I can’t cry every weekend i ‘m tired of it. I so wanna shot them all right now. i remember when we were every teams worst nightmare, I mean teams like Man u, real madrid,barca, you name it, and now we lose to Napoli.
Posted from
United States -
Guys, I failed as the good luck charm! I think it’s because I had to sit in the MIDDLE OF THE NAPOLI ULTRAS. It was heartbreaking to see our team down and not playing well and not be able to lament in public. Luckily for me every Napolitano around me assumed I knew nothing about calcio and it was my first match ever.
Um, observations. First of all, never have I been to a match and observed so little football. Mad props to the Napoli fans, I understand why they have such a good home record, that stadium was frigging intimidating as hell. OK, so Gattuso was not great this match, Nesta was awesome until he gave away the penalty, Ambro was right pissed most of the time, Pippo was invisible for the first half, we sorely missed Pirlo. Oh, but awesomeness of awesomeness was when an arguement broke out between players and everyone had to pull Kaka away from fighting, it was amazing (Oh, and girls, totally hot)!
I’m quite depressed and a little drunk, so hopefully it fills in about the match. I’ll be watching the Udinese match from Rome, and hopefully celebrating Milan in the CL and Roma winning the Scudetto next weekend!
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United States -
I have been in hiding today, and rightfully so. Napoli embarrassed the Rossoneri and I am sour about it. This is just plain and simple a lack of motiviation from the top down, this game and next dictate your season and if you can’t get riled up and play for that then I have no answer.
As for Channel 4 and Pato, I agree with them but only a bit, I also agree with Fetyani. Pato should score, that is the reason he is here, but he is put into some of the most high pressure situations and we look for him to answer. He is just a baby in terms of football and he needs to be worked in through experience. Yes he should score, and score often but he must be learn to score from the bottom up, not from the top down. I will be back with a recap when the soreness fades…
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United States -
oh, k sorry 2 tell u this, but even if rino gets fired up 4 next week’s game it wouldn’t matter since he is SUSPENDED. and so is nesta unfortunately
i still believe were gonna get 4th spot… even though it’s sad 4 me 2 admit that fiorentina (based on the entire serie a season) do deserve it more than us. whoa! i’m getting all teary-eyed admitting thatPosted from
United States -
we really need that CL spot, because otherwise flamini will be getting a whole lot of stick from d english press :s even more so than he’s getting already.
Posted from
United States -
Who was kaka fighting with? He is peaceful most of the time. Lucky you, I would love to be in Italy right now. Forza milan, cheer up guys, this too shall pass. Who knows what will happen next week, I was sad earlier, but not anymore. Keep hope alive, oh God I sound like carlo.
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United States -
hope is definitely what we have 2 hold on to. all we can do next week is WIN. i jus pray that we get 4th spot… whatever happens i’ll be supporting my team, whether it be CL or uefa cup. i still pray that it’ll be the CL though
Posted from
United States -
“Oh, but awesomeness of awesomeness was when an arguement broke out between players and everyone had to pull Kaka away from fighting, it was amazing (Oh, and girls, totally hot)!”
Bonnie, I LOVE you. This has been the worst day in a very very long while, even with Milan aside. I spent a good minute or so laughing at your statement (And totally imagning it in my head. Totally sounds hot. I really hope there’s a video or a photo somewhere) I’m sorry about having to sit with all the Napoli people…isn’t there some area where away fans are supposed to sit? Thanks mucho for the match recap though.
Nina, I’m not surprised in the slightest. There was a time when I thought our sweet little Ricky would NEVER start a fight with someone else. And then we faced ManU in the Cl last year and Ricky was about to murder Ryan Giggs during the first leg, as shown here: http://www.theoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/kaka-giggs-choke.jpg
Yup, our resident good guy can be pretty intense.
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United States -
Fetyani, way to keep the faith. I’m with you 100% in terms of being optimistic, but I’ve resigned myself and accepted our probable fate. I think everyone here agrees 100% about our Duckie. He’s gone far, far and beyond my expectations of him. Considering he’s only 18 and playing European football for the first time, his debut season has been phenomenal and I’m proud of him. I’m really excited to see him grow during the next couple of years. He has a lovely bunch to learn from.
Um yeah. Netting one experienced striker and one rising phenom would be lovely in terms of our striker department. It really is sad that we have to depend on two 18 year olds, as incredible as they are for their age, for regular goals (I’m omitting SuperPippo because even though he’s been possessed the last couple of matches, he’s incredibly inconsistent, as much as we love him. And EmoGila…erm. Yeah.)
Posted from
United States -
k wow there’s a lot of girls here analyzing soccer and i think that’s HOT.. girls + soccer = hot.. so way to go girls..
.. and if you actually play soccer that’s even hotter.. the idea of it is just hot.. k haha enough hot talk.. 
back to milan.. yea i still believe, but i don’t think we’ll make it.. i think we’ll do well in the last game, but fiorentina won’t find trouble getting 3 points from torino.. soo i’m accepting the idea of uefa..
and besides, if we make CL, you think the team is capable of actually going far with the likes of man utd, chelsea, barca around??.. even with flamini and another striker AND another defender, we’re still lack the depth man utd, chelsea have..
in other words, milan need to set up a long term plan.. again, emphasis on the fact that our starting 11 are CLASS, but we lack the bench players who can come on and make a difference.. or the sub players that can fill the starters boots.. to achieve that we need at least 6 new players..
Posted from
United States -
i think we need : 1 new goalkeeper (Frey), 1 new full-back (preferrably someone consistent and determined, not Zambrotta), 1 new center-back (e.g. Zapata or Barzagli), 1 new attacking mid (someone established that Ancelotti can trust and let play.. sub for Seedorf or Kaka when tired), 1 new striker (primary striker, so gotta be world class).. that’s 5 players.. i think if they do that, we can end up with some silverware..
frey; bonera, nesta, new center-back, new full-back; gattuso, pirlo, flamini; kaka; pato, new striker
subs: kalac, oddo, kaladze, ambrosini, seedorf, new attacking mid, pippo
then there’s janks, gourcuff, paloschi..
Posted from
United States -
forgot team brazil; dida, cafu, serginho, emerson, ronaldo.. from which only ronaldo should stay..
Posted from
United States -
I’m starting to feel better after the horrendous game…hopefully they’ll realize that milan needs an overhaul…and will do it…not just sit around hoping that the young kids (pato and paloschi) will be able to help…because as good as they are they can’t have that type of responsibility thrown at them…they need time to grow and learn.
Kaka my love was he fighting with the other players?!?! MY GOD HE MUST BE SICK! :p lol
Posted from
United States -
The question on my mind most at the moment is regarding one incredible Andrea Pirlo. He is the key to any decent formation we have. What happens when he is injured or suspended? We play like crap. The end. I seriously can’t remember any match in recent history when we’ve played without Pirlo and won. Correct me if I’m wrong.
As a result, Sleepy just doesn’t catch a break unless it’s because he’s injured or suspended. Which is ridiculous and leads to his insane burnout that we’ve seen this season. I’m not saying that not having him in the match today was the only reason we lost, because it sure isn’t, but I think it was one of the major contributers…especially because we had no creativity and no link to our striker(s).
There’s only one Andrea, but keeping his burnout in mind, isn’t it logical to invest in another playmaker so that he’ll be fresh (and oh my, can actually have a decent sub for once!) next season, especially after the ordeal that is Euros? I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on this and on possible solutions, including possible players, other formations, etc. Because really, this has been a huge issue this season, especially in the second half. Watching his deterioration during the second half of this season has not been a fun ride for any of us.
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United States -
I totally agree about Pirlo. Our reliance on him is stupid. The moment I realized we were going to have no Pirlo for this game, I knew we were doomed. We’re turning into AC Pirlo. No matter how badly Milan is when Pirlo is having a bad game, we’re about a million times worse without him. No creativity, no flow, no rhythm, shambolic in both attack and defense.
The problem is….I don’t think it’ll be easy to replace him. Players who are good enough to be vice-Pirlos for us wouldn’t want to sit on the bench. I mean, do you really think players like Hamsik, Cigarini and Montolivo (my favorite options) would jeopardize their own development and future? I’d hate to say this, but our treatment of Yoann is going to screw us over. Lots of young players will be looking at his fate as a cautionary tale. I mean, we do give lots of young players chances - Pato, Paloschi, Kaka and Pirlo (back in the day), but for some reason, the Gourcuff case seems to erase all of that. o.O
Those who are ok with sitting on the bench probably aren’t good enough for us. Look at Brocchi - model professional who never complains about being benched. But he’s useless
Posted from
Canada -
In the case of Andrea Pirlo, to be honest with you guys I’m more worried for the azzurri than for ac Milan. I’m sorry I love Milan, but with the euro starting next month, and the death group which we have been placed in, the azzurri comes first. The way andrea was worn out throughout the season makes me happy that he got suspended. He even said in an interview that he was tired and this was after Milan had a week or few days of rest I can’t remember where I read it, but it was recent. Gourcuff should be given more chances, but I heard he was injured for the Napoli game. He made couple of assists this season, and can improve with more play time.
Moka, I wouldn’t play rino and have ambro on the bench, he has been one of the Milan’s best players in many ways this season.what I love about ambro is his fighting spirit, he never gives up, and he is everywhere, defending, helping the attack, winning high balls, I just don’t think he should sit on the bench unless he is injured, or suspended (knock on wood)Posted from
United States -
nina, yea that works too.. he’s also our new captain.. so yea, i’d agree he should play instead of gattuso..
and agreed about pirlo.. i really like montolivo, but the thing is, i see him as a replacement for seedorf, not quite for pirlo, mainly b/c he’s more attacking minded from what i’ve seen.. it’s very very difficult to find a pirlo replacement.. hard to find a defensive-midfielder with as much creativity as him.. perhaps xavi or inniesta.. but those are impossible targets.. cigarini? from what i’ve seen he has a lot of potential.. wouldn’t mind getting him but not so sure he’ll reach pirlo’s level.. and don’t forget pirlo’s importance in set pieces..
for the azzurri, yea i admit i’m a bit worried too.. it’s in 27 days, i think.. but lets hope he’s at his best.. if he’s not, like andrea said, then the team is gonna struggle.. he contributed a lot in the wc..
gourcuff had so much potential when he first came.. touted as the new zidane and everything.. he does have potential.. but ancelottii doesn’t get that and we’re all particulary frustrated at that..
Posted from
United States -
*like nina said
Posted from
United States -
I’m not sure what happened with Gourcuff to be honest. It’s not like Ancelotti never had any confidence in him ever since the beginning. I remember Gourcuff’s debut was a START in a CL game. He also got quite a bit of playing time and started a few other important matches. Then for some mysterious reason, Ancelotti lost ALL trust in him, leading to Gourcuff’s lack of confidence and dismal performances. Now even Brocchi gets more playing time than he does. If things can somehow work out between Milan and Gourcuff, then I believe we have our vice-Pirlo.
Posted from
Canada -
moka, our beloved Pirlo did start off as an attacking mid and it wasnt until Carletto’s reign when the deep-lying playmaker position was created and Pirlo slotted to it. I’m sure we could do that with someone else too. The only question is can we get a good enough playmaker to replace Pirlo since the new guy (Cigarini, Montolivo etc.) wouldn’t get nearly as much responsibility as they do in their current clubs. Is someone as talented as they willing to be benched and to be “next in line” after Pirlo? I wish they would..
Posted from
United States -
We are AC Milan. That’s all I can say at the moment.
Posted from
Malaysia
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