Pre-season 2015

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CIW5lJmWcAA75YP.png

Excellent schedule, Galliani can negotiate for Lacazette, Kovacic, Isco and Thiago in turn.

well that's optimistic ,

nothing about the inevitable and humiliating rekt that's coming ?

Trying to avoid thinking about it.

Then again, we thumped Real Madrid when they were on their record breaking run as the greatest side the world has ever seen, who's to say we can't wallop them all in pre-season then crash back to reality harder than an Inzaghi-led January.

I still remember that game . Real couldn't give two shits before they conceded the 2nd one

Niang assisting Pazzini to score on the counter for the 4-1 against Real , you don't come up with this stuff

And crashing harder than an Inzahi-led January would be me taking a break from football really , no reason to watch Milan fight to stay in Serie A

Watching our game against Legnano and Abate's gone down clutching his ankle after 8 minutes...and as I switch back to determine the damage we concede.

We're using Mauri in front of the back four which I think is a good move, we need a third choice anchor and it will be positive for his development as a young player we can still very much mould.

Calabria coming on for Abate, glad to see he's getting plenty of time early on in our pre-season.

The defending on that goal

Suso is playing as our 10 but he, Mastour and Niang are drifting a lot, fullbacks are pushing high when the ball comes down their flank and sitting equal depth as Mauri in midfield when it's on the opposite side, who is probably about 10 yards behind Poli and Bona in the centre and acting as a simple release for the back pass. It's really more of a 4-1-3-2 when we have the ball.

Also if Hans is reading, forget Bellerin, Calabria's the real stud.

Mauri's simply not a great passer but I'm liking the decisions he's making, his execution is just flawed but it can be fixed. Suso is begging for an attacking LB out there, Albertazzi simply doesn't have the aggression and mobility to support him and when he picks the ball up deep on the left he has no one to combine with. He can drive in to the midfield with ease against this type of opposition but that same trick isn't going to cut it in a real game. We're not moving the ball quickly enough at times but at least we appear to have some semblance of a game plan.

Calabria continuing the tradition of RBs that struggle to cross

Abby on for DL

We're releasing Calabria down the right but we've got no real presence in the box to give us any real shot at benefitting. Niang has next to no physical presence as a lone target man and the likes of Mastour, Suso and Jack are too busy trying to get the ball to feet to get into the box and make a run.

As I type this we finally get men in the box and Calabria sends in a lovely cross after Jack's cross field ball but it's headed wide.

Abbiati coming on.

Nearly a nice goal from Niango, good work to open up space for the shot.

Beautiful play from Mastour and Niang, shame no goal

El Shaarawy wrote:Calabria continuing the tradition of RBs that struggle to cross

A lot of the struggles of our fullbacks come down to our consistency in getting multiple targets in the box that let them target a zone rather than a single man. It's no coincidence that Abate suddenly picked up a myriad of assists at the start of last season when we were regularly getting a man to the front post, one to the back post and incoming runners on the edge of the box during our initial experiments with attacking football. He knew if he aimed for a particular area, someone would make the run. We can't rely on scoring off perfect crosses, we need to be there not simply for the first header but for the knock on and the clearance. This isn't to say that our fullbacks are technically proficient crossers but their success has more to do with the team than their individual skill.

Poli 1-1

Poli gets his second goal of pre-season tucking in a set piece from two yards, 1-1.

Niang dances through the centre and blasts over, beautiful play, deserved a goal. We worked that well in the build up, purposeful passing.

It says so much about Inzaghi's tenure that I'm watching us play Legnano at nearly 3am just to see what we're like under a new coach.

Alex scores from the resulting corner, 2-1.

True Dost, Calabria looks promising enough based on this match, though i hope to see how he fares against the big boys (Inter, Real, etc)

Alex 2-1

3-1, Mastour unleashes a fierce shot from outside the box.

dostoevsky wrote:

It says so much about Inzaghi's tenure that I'm watching us play Legnano at nearly 3am just to see what we're like under a new coach.

Mastour 3-1 with a rocket strike

I don't get how Poli still doesn't know how to tackle. He still subscribes to the Aquilani school of "grab his jersey and swing a leg." What do these muppets do in training?

HT: 3-1

Somewhat promising stuff, from a youth XI. Everyone has been having 2-3 touches, like Sinisa mentioned recently

Hopefully we get to see Donnarumma, Pessina, Cutrone and Bertolacci in the second half, don't think there's anyone else interesting on the bench. I imagine Sinisa will bring Cerci on but I hope Mastour gets to continue. I'd give Jack a break and put Suso into CM for a bit.

Good chance from Cerci to Bert, unfortunately he skies it