Milan-Juventus 20/09/2014

Forza wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:

Forza wrote:Absolutely. A win here and we're back in the big time. A loss and we risk being labelled as a team that can beat the mid-table, but can't compete for the title.

Forza wrote:Nah, you need momentum and winning mentality. One loss can damage team confidence significantly.

If that's not suggesting that Milan practically need to take points off of Juventus then I don't know what is.

Should it not be our ambition to take points of every team we face? Or have I drifted into the bizarro world where the team with the least points at the end of the season wins the title?

Why do you think you signed Torres?

Kick wrote:

Forza wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:


If that's not suggesting that Milan practically need to take points off of Juventus then I don't know what is.

Should it not be our ambition to take points of every team we face? Or have I drifted into the bizarro world where the team with the least points at the end of the season wins the title?

Why do you think you signed Torres?

Does bizarro Torres scores goals? Or were Chelsea in the bizarro world?

Forza wrote:

Kick wrote:

Forza wrote:
Should it not be our ambition to take points of every team we face? Or have I drifted into the bizarro world where the team with the least points at the end of the season wins the title?

Why do you think you signed Torres?

Does bizarro Torres scores goals? Or were Chelsea in the bizarro world?

He does, but you'll still lose every match

On a serious note, with Menez in such good form, should we start Torres if he's back from injury?

We shouldn't, I'd rather play SES-Menez-Honda in attack for that game. With Menez form atm he should be an absolute starter, but if inzaghi wants to risk it I'd bench Honda for Torres and play menez as RW.

Despite a good showing Bonaventura should start on the bench, I like him alot but he still needs time to gel in. I wanna see Van Ginkel get some minutes tho. He's a Poli type of player from what I've seen so he can rotate with poli no problem.

Main concern is Defence honestly.. the parma game showed we're careless in defense(not new lolol). Alex, Lopez and Bonera won't be available. That Leaves us if Abbiati, Rami and Zapata as CBs. On the fullbacks, Abate is in great form too, shouldn't be touched, De Sciglio had an awful game(even without the own goal) I would think twice before fielding him as starter. I like Armero, but it can also be a gamble since he hasn't started for us before..We'll see.

There's a difference between wanting points and fully expecting points

You didn't see me demand we smashed Inter when our team consisted of absolute scrubs.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:There's a difference between wanting points and fully expecting points

You didn't see me demand we smashed Inter when our team consisted of absolute scrubs.

That's because you were probably an Inter fan then

M99 wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:There's a difference between wanting points and fully expecting points

You didn't see me demand we smashed Inter when our team consisted of absolute scrubs.

That's because you are my hero Tom

gonna be a tough game, this is not Conte here, Allegri better not be considering 3-5-2 in Milan, hopefully we go 4-3-2-1 and destroy Milan.....

however Milan are in good form too..... hopefully we win

M99 you're being too unfair on Tom, he's a loyal Juve/Milan/Roma/PSG/United/Spurs/City/Liverpool fan, he'd never support Inter.

I'm very strongly with Dante in that we must continue to view this as simply another game. Whether we win, draw or lose, humility and hard work to take the same approach to each game and provide a consistent effort is what is important at this stage of the season. Any strong performance will do a lot for our confidence, however resilience and the ability to bounce back is even more important than momentum.

At the beginning of the season and playing at home, anything can happen. Despite our defensive issues against Parma, I don't believe we'll see a particularly high scoring game as even when playing poorly we tend to bring higher levels of concentration to such games, though I expect fatigue to come back to haunt us late in the game.

Given the form shown by Menez I would be reticent to give Torres his debut from the start, rather I would pursue a mobile forward line of El Shaarawy---Menez---Honda to pressure Juve's backline and support our midfield to break up Allegri's possession game. Juventus' wingbacks are still vitally important at this stage in their evolution and overloading their flanks by having Menez drift can provide a terrific avenue to opening up space against a well organised, well drilled side. If Torres can arrive and help to provide relief as the team tires as a reference point from which to build the play and maintain possession or to attack space as he likes to do if the game opens up then it will be a satisfactory debut.

I agree with Dost and Dante, while a win would be huge for our momentum, i think a loss wouldn't hurt us a lot. It'd give us a chance to see how the team will bounce back, and see the kind of mentality the team will have. Obviously i don't want us to lose, but it won't be the end of our season if we did.

Dosto nailed it

I have never supported Inter. I barely support 40 teams ffs.

Tomwin Lannister wrote:There's a difference between wanting points and fully expecting points

You didn't see me demand we smashed Inter when our team consisted of absolute scrubs.

Sooo , you think our team consists of absolute scrubs then ?

elm_baraja_shaman wrote:gonna be a tough game, this is not Conte here, Allegri better not be considering 3-5-2 in Milan, hopefully we go 4-3-2-1 and destroy Milan.....

however Milan are in good form too..... hopefully we win

be carefull not to destroy us too much please , i know Allegri's teams are known for how much they destroy their opponents but still

Especially after i saw how you absolutely decimated Malme .. i sit nervously uppon my poop just thinking about it right now

Half the team, yeah. But that's not the point. I'm not literally comparing each and every tiny detail to our 7th place side. But the point remains the exact same. When our team was undeniably miles behind the best the country had to offer I did not fully expect to take anything from the games. I would not be dreading dropped points against a vastly superior team. Obviously I wanted the win, but I was realistic.

This Milan side after a pathetic season should not be judged on it's inability to take points off of Juve/Roma is that is indeed the case.

Oh i read well then , ok

Honestly , i think you are underestimating our quality , limited as it may seem. Of course there are scrubs like Niang , Bonera and Essien , or Abbiati and Agazzi , but they are hardly a majority now , quite the opposite. We are quite interestingly filled with good and capable players right now , even though nowhere near the best of the league.

Why i am confident however , isn't about the individuals , but how we play. And there's nothing scrub to that , with an exception to Lopez brain fart moments . This Milan and how we play is a whole different beast to last season's parody Milan AND bereft of enough fodder.

In the end however , i definitely agree with your last sentence and basically the premise of your post . We shouldn't and we cannot be judged by it . I'd say even if we did win Roma/Juventus next game we shouldn't .

If Milan win, Milan will sit alone at the top of the table with only Roma on equal points (assuming they win). As has been said, this isn't huge in the context of a 38 game season, but I think the psychological value of defeating the reigning titleholders after such a horrid season last year is being underrated here.

I know what you're saying , i remember how huge it was for Juventus their win in San Siro in the 11-12 season. If they were confident before the game , after the game they took the league by storm .

I am not rejecting or neglecting the importance of the win . I am trying to be strictly realistic and neutral on this . I simply cannot go past that notion that it would still be just the 3rd game of the season. This is indeed a new Milan and i don't know what to expect. I can't tell how we will fare and if we are capable of competing for the title , one game may foreshadow that perhaps Milan has the credentials to fight for it , the rest 35 games may show otherwise.

35 games . Ok title holders. Let's not forget , for the last 3 years. What can they discover with 3 points that they didn't know themselves already. I'd say it's your classical derby game and that's more or less it.. GET HYPE if you win , bummer and pick the pieces up if you lose . Still the 3rd game.

I am much more concerned with the next day than with the night of the derby , obviously wishing we win them with whatever it takes. Yet even with a defeat , we can still go on unscathed , better even .

I just can't agree with the premise that a win against the title holders will mean anything definite , or defining for Milan . This is indeed a new Milan and only the road will tell for sure. Hell , i don't ever draw conclusion before the 6-7th match each season , let alone this season with all the backstory of the previous one , clouded with the confidence of the first games.

Having said all that . I want you to be right in what you say . Not denying it can't turn out like that. I just don't think it will.

im just hoping for a win for the confidence. right now the team confidence is high so the win plays in hands perfectly for next game.

and it would be a self belief for all players maybe that they have what it takes to win the next game too.

Looking forward to seeing which coach turns up. Secret Agent Max or Sexllegri.

Obviously from a points perspective this game is like any other, and seeing as how early it is there would be absolutely no surprises if the loser of this game wins the league.

Nevertheless, the confidence we would get from 3 wins out of 3, one of them coming from the reigning champions, cannot be understated. It would give us belief that we actually do have what it takes to win the league, and even though I don't see that as very likely, I would love to have us up and challenging once again.

As for the actual game I'm hoping to see Torres and SES on the field at the same time for bit and see how they work together.

Massively excited for this one though!

Counting on Allegri to sabotage Juventus for his son Bonaventura.

Blood runs thicker than water

Allegri knows where his loyalties reside

most important match of the season for Milan....
Nothing other than win. a conviencing now performance wise, good news no Bonera

1-0 would be lovely

M99 wrote:

Tomwin Lannister wrote:There's a difference between wanting points and fully expecting points

You didn't see me demand we smashed Inter when our team consisted of absolute scrubs.

That's because you were probably an Inter fan then

Im quite worried Juve is going to take Milan down hard tomorrow...Conceding 4 against Parma (I realize one was a silly own goal) really worries me. Juventus built their title winning squad around a solid defense and Roma did the same last year to be the top contender...So IMO its far too soon to mention Milan in any title race, regardless of the result tomorrow. It took Roma 14 rounds to concede 4 goals last season, and they still struggled hard that first game against Juve. I think a positive result for Milan tomorrow will be conceding 2 goals or less, win or lose.

Official 11: Abbiati; Abate, Zapata, Rami, MDS; Poli, NDJ, Muntari; Honda, Menez, SES