Barcelona vs AC Milan

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Milan are going to need a wall like this one

Really should have bothered to paragraph that post.

I am highly critical of Allegri's decision to bench Balotelli for Robinho. Whilst the decision is defendable should he not have been putting in the necessary effort in training or as a response to his current form, it was an inexplicable oversight to do so without readjusting our midfield. Without a clear reference point up front it was imperative that we instead offer a threat on the wings, however the lack of a player to drive Barcelona back down the flank left our team aimless on the counter. Unable to establish possession through the centre given the competent job done by Barcelona to marshal Robinho, pressure was put upon Poli in a wide role that he was understandably unable to escape. The first half was a period of exceptional waste on the ball and to suffer a 45 minute handicap was unacceptable. As soon as Balotelli was introduced, he gave us the ability to hold the play on the flank and bring the likes of Kaka, Poli and Muntari into the game and we were able to work to the top of the box. As I stated in my post before the match, the most important work that someone such as Balotelli could do was to get to the ball before the central defenders around the half way line and let us escape Barcelona's half. It was unfortunate that after an encouraging twenty or so minutes the team began to tire significantly and could no longer use Balotelli as effectively, however it is hopefully a lesson learnt for Allegri.

Barcelona's focus on playing through Neymar to the detriment of Sanchez provided an excellent avenue to switch the play on the counter as the game became compressed within the right side of the pitch throughout the second half and Emanuelson proved an excellent overlapping threat when given such space to run into, however it was an option we didn't make enough use of, though there were several wasteful crossfield balls that went looking in search of this avenue. Abbiati was heroic at times tonight, an excellent showing particularly his stops on Sanchez and Iniesta in the second half. Badly let down by his defence tonight, though every player had his highs and lows. Whilst the camera work means I haven't seen the full penalty incident even still, Abate's action for the penalty was clumsy and dangerous in a European match and I have no complaints, whilst not only he but Mexes and Zapata were made to look ridiculous by Neymar at one stage. Abate though, to his credit, also had three superb moments coming in from behind to protect the central defenders and one great tackle on Neymar, whilst Mexes had an epic tackle on Messi to boast of. All in all though, whilst I am looking for positives, it was a poor show from our defence, exemplified by the goal conceded at a set-piece. That Barcelona didn't even need to score from open play to win tonight was a tragic indictment on our levels of concentration.

I could go through each player's performance, however I'd rather just move on from an inevitable loss and focus on the league. If we don't play Barcelona again for ten years it will be too soon for me.

well summarized dostovsky.

another point is that i hate how allegri made our team play super defensive, with just kaka and robinho upfront alone. robinho did nothing anyway, and kaka was the only threat in which barcelona knew it too well and it was too easy for pique mascherano busquet to marshall him alone.

abbiati fumbling ball over and over again in first half showed how weak the mentality was. i hated how much montolivo just passes to nowhere and gave them the ball away. mexes was so shaky. i am surprized zapata did pretty well today.

in second half it was much better game even though we risked more at the back but we were showing good signs of attack and only if we had more competent players than muntari, we would have done so much damage, and only if we have started like that bit earlier in first half.

i dont understand to this day. if we are going to be super intimidated thinking oh its barcelona they are the best, they have messi they will destroy us if we dont defendd with 10 men...
the way i see it there is nothing to be scared or intimidated about barcelona. yes they have best attack and midfield but if we play our own game with concentration and confidence, we can win it. sure players like muntari,zapata, mexes, emanuelson, robinho is not going to cut it but nevertheless. thats where management needs to realize their mistake.

but allegri could have done better,and this is nothing new from allegri, we have been saying this for past 3 years allegri could have done better here, there, with subs with tactics with direction...

we conceded those goalS BECAUSe OF OUR OWN DOING, much so than because of Barcelona's brilliance!

1st goal: Neymar dive, Messi penalty.
2nd goal: Neymar dive, Xavi freekick, Busquets offside header.

I'd also like to say that the greatest disappointment in my eyes is that Muntari's attempted overhead kick from an overhead assist by Mexes didn't come off, it would have been the goal of the century.

Good thing Ajax won.

As for the game . It's pointless to blame the ref for the result when
we bench our best striker for "the good of Milan & himself" ,
we made so many mistakes ,
and with a few words , we wouldn't win or even draw last night with what we showed anyway. Ok , there were some dubious / suspect calls , but Barcelona also had some wrong calls against them this time . It's not an even out thing , it's just the fact that despite the refs decisions against both teams , Barcelona were clearly the better team on the field.

Even if they hadn't scored 2 goals in the first half and we scored the way we did , 2nd half we should have conceded at least 3 goals. Imo , when we don't show some standards and requirements in games , we cannot complain about refs. There at Milan they talk & talk about improving... sadly , nothing ever happens for real.

What makes me want to rage , is how many mistakes we manage in games. Although i realise it's almost impossible not to make any mistake , ok , the fact is i've seen "worse" teams than Milan finish game after game with maybe 1-2 really noticable/important/couldhavebeensomething mistake.

We do these all day , all night , every week , twice on sunday . We may not be anything special these days , but come on. We shouldn't be that bad either. And when a team makes so many mistakes , at least half of that goes to the manager. It's not only quality that's in question , it's also what the coach asks of them or how he has set them up to do what he asked them to.

I like Allegri and i always knew he is the least of our problems , we either accept it or not it is simply the truth. We cannot just throw everything against him when we don't have the means to be competitive , at least how Milan is meant to be competitive. But it's obvious to me the players are getting tired of his ideas and orders , they don't have fun anymore and want to attack teams in more adventurous ways. Even Kaka hinted something close to that , albeit gently. Anyway ,

playing Celtic away feels like a hard game for this Milan. Let's hope we have at least done some steps till the next champions league game . Although there were a few good signs , it's embarrasing to fall like that , even against Barcelona in Camp Nou.

And the only reason i say that , with all honesty , it's because we don't give our very best , we don't give everything we have as a team. When we do this , nobody can complain even when we lose . But when you lose and you don't give your best , that's frustrating and pathetic and it's very difficult for the fans to accept , somebody should remind them of that . The critisicm they get , from everywhere , is much deserved .

Good thing we're still second in the group. Win the game at Celtic, and we're through to the group stages. Just like we expected.

I just hope we have improved some bits by then . Celtic away is going to be a very tough game , of this i have no doubt . And to be honest , we haven't shown signs in order to be positive , especially if we continue on this road.

I know we can win if the real Milan shows up by then , but that's just a huge if atm. My last hope is El Shaarawy & De Sciglio . Pls don't miss another game untill you retire , pls

I'm quite content to finish third and have a run in the Euro League. Zero hope of us getting past round of 16 in CL. Unless we see a major revolution in the winter.

Not even a revolution will help us in CL, cup tied players and shit.

arabprince wrote:I'm quite content to finish third and have a run in the Euro League. Zero hope of us getting past round of 16 in CL. Unless we see a major revolution in the winter.

I have to disagree. This will simply mean the doom . If by any chance we miss the round of 16 and we fall into the Europa League , not only we are going to lose some much needed financial boost , but most importantly , if we have let's say 3 to 5 % chances to make the CL next season given we go out as early as the 16 and then try all we have left in Serie A , going into the Europa League automaticaly means going from that to 1-0 % and i won't even talk about financial boost , with everything that goes with.

Because in the EL , we are bound to play some matches more even if it's just two more , no matter how bad we are . At least two more than the CL . It doesn't worth it , like at all , it will be a burden and it will definitely hinder our matches in the league. I preffer to give everything we have left in order to have the slightest of hopes to reach the next CL , rather than play Europa League and do better but definitely miss the next CL. The consequenses are big and the benefits of the EL do not worth the risk .

We should find ourselves in the 16 , which is the minimum goal , absolutely the least we can expect from Milan in every year , no matter how bad we are . And i know it is silly to have any kind of expectations when looking at Milan so far , but it's football. Anything can happen , as long as we give it our all , impossible is trully nothing.

And besides. We are probably going to play EL next season , no need to rush it :looocas: