The Youth

I promised another writer and here he is. This is his first piece.
His a fanatic Italian-Romanian friend and I have worked with him on other projects and wrote with him on soccerfanbase.com in the past.
Second to none, he has fanatic knowledge of all the European Leagues , even the lesser known ones such as Turkey & Romania!
I have great confidence in his writing ability and he will bring a new perspective on Italian & Milan football.
Balo is a personal friend of mine and has a great wealth of information about football so let’s all appreciate what he has to say.
Thank you.

 Azz

Milan is obviously one of the most successful clubs in the world. No other club has more Club World Cups than we do, and only Real Madrid have more Champions League titles.

But only until recently, things have been grim for the rossoneri. We lost 15 top class players in the summer; some due to our balance sheet, and others due to age. The new system Allegri and Berlusconi have begun to impose is similar to Barcelona's La Masia. We are trying to produce our own top players instead of buying them; developing a world class youth academy where any player could turn into the next Messi or Ronaldo.

Our best youth product (in the current first team) is surely Mattia De Sciglio. He is one of the best defensive prospects in Italy. While we do have several other top young players like El Shaarawy, Balotelli, and Niang, we haven't actually had many of our academy products turn into world class players (in recent times). But with a lot of investment of both time and effort, we can have an academy of the same quality as Barcelona's, and possibly even better.

 The signs of improvement have already begun to show - not only have we beaten Barca in the Champions League with several young players, but our academy players have also shown their quality in the Viareggio Cup by reaching the final this year. They also have impressed Italy's youth national team scouts with their displays. The biggest names to watch out for, in my opinion, include Saponara, Valoti, Ganz, Fossati, Prosenik, Cristante, Lora, Petagna, and Ferreira.

If we continue to invest time and money into developing a world class youth system similar to La Masia's, then we may soon very well on top of the world again, without having to spend huge amounts of cash on big name signings from other clubs. We'd also have the option of selling some of these youth at high prices. So hopefully, Berlusconi, Allegri, Pippo Inzaghi (the youth team coach) & co. will continue their hard work in the youth department and make us a legendary team again with these new strategies in mind.

Written by Balo.

Debacle Of Robinho

As of writing this, Robinho has undoubtedly achieved a lot of great thing in his career, his record for playing for the top teams such as Madrid, City,Brazil  & now AC Milan are testament to this. However, I think we can all agree he is not the man he was said to be by Pele, whom personally picked him to be his heir apparent, in other word's Brazils answer for Argentina's Messi.
We can all agree that is not him.

He came to us under a question mark, no we did not question if he was a quality player, we knew he was, but wether he would live up to his potential. He left City after being sent back firstly a homeloan to Santos where he performed admirably. Now he had arrived at our gates. Robinho was a very talented player in his first season managing to bag 14 goals in a forwardline that boasted Pato,Il Ibra,Cassano & "European Champion" Inzaghi . He worked brilliantly as a defensive forward whom could contribute to the attack.

However sadly,after his first season he begun to start missing shots, which cost us games. As much as his defensive pressure was great for us, he was a forward player, his role was to score goals. He could only manage a measly 10 goals from a return of 40 plus games and even though his scoring rate wasn't that much lower, his missing rate was far too high.

This season it's been more of the same for him,  having scored only 2 goals in 13 games before the transfer window. Now this is where the problem really began. I believe Robinho was told he would be sold back to Brazil in the window and he got have some leave of absence. In this leave however he did not train and has become fat , worse unfit.Galliani said they would get rid of him this summer, instead he is still here, out of form unfit & fat , nursing his sorrows having been holidaying in brazil.Sadly, bargaining power is completely with Santos in this one. Maybe Galliani should try some more of the clever PR he's doing. Keep announcing that Robinho will sign for Santos, get the Santos fans' hopes up and create a little pressure on the Santos management that way.

Now at 29 his past the point of where his going to improve this  Milan line up, especially with El Shaarawy's sudden burst of improvement as he plays in his preferred position. This has completely knocked Robinho out of the line up for good. In half a season  El Shaarawy has completed outperformed the former City player who could not handle manchester.

There is no doubt he has some good to great assests to bring to a team such as ;
-his defensive efforts as a forward player
-ability to drag opposing defenders from the forward line
-his trickery & showmastery
-great goal play assists

However despite bringing us the title not so long ago, I feel he is now past his best for Milan, his stayed here for one season too long. He isn't going to battle out his other teammates for a position in the line up and it's best for him to move away, though now it will be interesting to see whom will want such a player.

I've always thought of him as a mercenary type which is far too harsh, I just simply believe  he is no longer good enough for the current Milan project. His deplorable finishing in recent times has costs us a game too many and now we must acknowledge what he has achieved but make some money off him before it's too late.  As a Milan fan, I don't think anyone will ever forget his best game at the San Siro against ASSenal , his brace in the 4-0 win was fantastic. Hopefully he will find a club he can perform great at.
THANK YOU, but GOODBYE!

 

Derby Della Madonnina

Inter 1  AC Milan 1

This was a very unique match. Milan in the first half started off a wave of momentum and attack consistently down the left flank through De Sciglio due to El Shaarawy running infield taking Nagamato with him freeing up that left wing. Super Mario was dangerous as well connecting on the end of passes but his final product left him down.   Early on about 20 minutes in, Milan won the ball back in the middle and through a Boateng assist to El Shaarawy , he cut through two of the Inter defenders and shot with the outside of his shoe past the keeper into the back of the net. Milan would have piled upon more goals but their final product let them down. By the end of the first half Inter's defence were shambles and Milan could have been 3-4 nil up.

The second half started interestingly with a vast amount of fog covering the pitch and making it difficult for both the spectators and the players to see.All you would need is one good long ball come through the fog and either keeper would have been left stranded. The tackles started flying in a scrappy affair with Cambiasso being the main instigator.  Inter had the sense to switch full backs and Zanetti proved a much better counterpart  for De Sciglio to get past, whom had nearly zero of the impact he had made in the first half.Milan had lost their dominance and suddenly it was a game open for Inter.  Both teams played very scrappily and Inter made a great sub former Atlanta winger Schelotto who within two minutes beat out Mexes and scored a great goal. Both teams then went for the jugular before finally slowly down in the final ten minutes.


Final Thoughts
* Handanovic was brilliant and was the difference in the first half for Milan NOT scoring 4 goals.
*Muntari is continuing his brilliant form this month
*In the final 30 minutes Milan looked tired from the Barca game
* Ranocchia shys away from his responsibility too often and forced Guain to come back to act as a CB at times.
* Milan must remain more disciplined or they will be punished in the future
* Still undefeated in 2013!



Milan's Best
3.Boateng : Everytime I looked he was setting up passes, running back to intercept, tackling ,in general worked really hard and set up the goal.
2.Muntari: An absolute beast, ran into everything and worked superbly.  Unlucky to not get a few goals himself.
1.El Shaarawy: Faultless offensively and defensively tonight. Pulled Nagamato back infield and left the wing area of Inter's exposed. Then became a counter attacking threat . Used his great pace to score.

THE MILAN DERBY 24th Feb!

LET THE WAR BEGIN!

Well , well ,well , the Milan derby is upon us. It could not have come at a greater time for AC fans and such a bad time for Inter fans. Super Mario gets to reunite with his old team, to go to battle against his former teammates, but he won't be the only one, Muntari & Pazzini will be joining him.

This win will be important for both teams as they vie for control of the Europe's prestige competition, the Champions League.  Though Milan should not underestimate their counterparts, who only  trail them by a singular point.This makes this match so much more important.

Stramaccioni has also been guilty of tinkering too much with formations this term. While his tactical versatility is undoubtedly one of his strengths (his decision to play three up front against Juve was inspired), it has also proven something of a weakness, as Inter still look nothing like a settled side. Though his surviving ability has lead to Inter being undefeated in their past ten home games.




Formations:

INTER Handanovic Zanetti, Chivu, Juan, Nagatomo Kuzmanovic, Kovacic, Cambiasso Guarin Palacio, Cassano

AC MILAN Abbiati Abate, Zapata, Mexes, Constant Boaten,Montolivo, , Muntari Bojan, Balotelli, El Shaarawy

Milan hold the upper hand in terms of derby wins, boasting 81 triumphs to their arch-rival's 77. BUT this alone won't be enough to help them, Inter will lift for this derby game as they always do and despite their lack of form, it will be a close match.  Though Milan to ride it out 2-0 winners.

AC Milan 2 vs Barcelona 0 20/02/2013

Even at this age , miracles do happen.
We should not have even come close, this was the Barcelona dream team, we were merely the worst Milan fielded in over 20 years.
Yet somehow today I saw the passion of 11 players on the pitch, wanting to take down this giant.
Barcelona only had one shot on target all game. This must be some kind of record as they have never played this bad before. Milan marked out every player Messi had never look more lost in a game in recent times.


Ironically , it was a former pair of Portsmouth players, Ghana players that slayed the mighty beast, of Barcelona but every player played the game of their lives. This was the only reason we came as close as we did.The first goal came through a Montolivo free kick which riccishaded against Zapata's hand and into the path of Prince whom did not wait for a whistle and blasted it past Valdes.
Barca became impatient and begun fadding away from the game as Milan mustered terrific counters.
 Milan played like kings today and deservedly slayed
 
Final Thoughts
Pique never beat milan.Great dad!
Ambrosini is a big game player
Stephan is truly class, he performed defenisvley well for a forward
Abbiati barely touch the Ball!
Possibly Messi's worst match in a long time

Milan's Best
*Note: This was not easy, nearly every player on the pitch could have gotten a vote*
3.Prince: Scored a great goal, defensivley superb in midfield and contributed to the attack
2.Montolivo : Helped Milan hold onto the ball when they had it.Organised the attacks for them.
1. El Sharaaway: His best performance this season and he didn't even score a goal. Though he did have the chance early on. He defendedly beauitfuly when  needed and was always leading the counter attack.




We still have a long way to go in the 2nd leg, but I have never been more proud of the boys.

AC Milan 2-1 Parma

Milan dominated proceedings early, pushing Parma back into their own defensive half. Constant nearly broke Super Mario in early through excellent movement through the midfield and a killer pass to Super Mario but his effort was deflected for a corner. Despite Milan's early dominance they only scored through an own goal from Gabriel Paletta and appeared to really lack the creativity in the final third. The first half was a real slow slog for Milan.

Throughout the second Riccardo looked a more complete player with his presence starting to take an impact upon the Parma's midfield. Milan pressed more as it's passes began to become more fluid and dangerous. Balotelli's presence was begining to take it's toll on the Parma defence. Balotelli played in Boateng on the left of the 18-yard box with a perfectly weighted reverse pass as the Milan midfielder played across the box, but could not pick out the outstretched leg of M'Baye Niang at the far post. With 15 minutes remaining, Balotelli ensured the points were secured after firing a free kick past Pavarini and from 30 yards out, doubling his side's advantage.  Montolivo nearly added a third late in the game to only be deflected into the path of Super Mario whom failed to score. Parma scored late in the last dying minutes but it meant nothing.

Final Thoughts
*Consilation goal from Parma showed bad signs that the Milan team aren't fully switched on.on mentality.
*30 points in 13 matches of 4-3-3
*Super Mario can take great freekicks!
* Won last 6 games at home!
*Super Mario is impossible to stop in his home nation!
* High chance of us staying 3rd if Lazio & Inter draw or worse!

Milan's Best
3.Montolivo : Pulled all the strings in midfield and helped Milan rise above Parma.Huge presence.
2.Boateng: Very lively performance, defended when needed and attacked with purpose.
1.Balotelli: Always involved in the teams attacking movements and scored the vital needed goal.

AC Milan v Parma

Unbeaten in the league in 2013, the hosts are eyeing a share of third place in Serie A as they build towards next week’s showdown with Barcelona in the Champions League. This will make the fixture very interesting to see whom the Rosseneri rest before the big game .

Parma however have been struggling all season and seem to have a major problem in scoring (3 goals in past 5 matches), this making them the worst offensive side in Serie A this term. The hosts best chances of victory is to field a team that can ride over them like the match against Cagiliari.

Midfielder Riccardo Montolivo returns to the Milan squad after serving a one-match ban on Sunday against Cagliari.
Giampaolo Pazzini has still been struggling with a muscle strain
Left-back Kevin Constant is also unlikely to feature due to an ankle problem
Daniele Bonera is also set to miss out with a niggling muscle problem.
Zaccardo could make his offical debut against his former club

AC Milan can't afford not to win this game, they need to claim third position this season to make the Champions League and though this match may effect the outcome of the Barca game, I can't see it making our result against them change. Parma may be tenth by the skin of their ass, but it would be hard to see them beating the hosts.
I predict 2-0 victory.

Predicted Line Up
                      Abbiati
Zaccardo, Zapata, Mexes, De Sciglio
       Flamini, Nocerino, Montolivo      Niang, Balotelli, El Shaarawy

Cagliari 1 vs 1 AC Milan

As I predicted a very dangerous match was in store for Milan.

The Rossoneri dominated majority of possession and the game but the home side was as happy to sit back behind their wall and defend relentlessley and then take their breaks on the counter attack. Víctor Ibarbo attacked and was soon fouled by Abate who the then headed the opening goal from the freekick just before the half had ended.

Second term began much like the first except the home side lost their counterattacking threat and soon Milan ran over them with Super Mario firing long shot after long shot at Cagilaris seemingly superhuman goalkeeper ,Agazzi  . It was through a former Milan player, Astori whom conceeded a penalty very late in the game. Then stepped up Super Mario, having never missed a penalty he wasn't going to now. He salavaged Milan a much needed point.

Final Thoughts
*Flamini, Ambrosini & Muntari must never be fielded in the same team again. Despite heavy possession these guys are the "leg breakers"  of the team and offered no creativity whatsoever.
*El Shaarawy looked really tired in this game and should be rested before the Barca match. *gulp*
* This was not a pretty game to watch
* HUGE OPPORTUNITY MISSED! We should have won this game
* We were playing a crossing game despite us not having any target men or reasonable players capable of a cross. WHAT ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH!?

Milan's Best
3. Flamini : How he didn't break anyone's legs during the match is beyond me. Forget about a yellow card, he was fortunate not to get a red. Ran all game like crazy.
2.Balotelli : Was the driving force up front , constantly trying to create something. Saved our asses.
1. De Sciglio : Not near his best, but still better than everyone else. It was that type of game.

Current Best Player Standings
5.Balotelli
3.Flamini
2.Montolivo
1.De Sciglio
1.Niang



Next Fixtures
AC Milan v Parma
Roma v Juventus
Napoli v Sampdoria
Fiorentina v Inter
Lazio v Siena

Cagilari vs AC Milan

Week 24: Cagliari vs AC Milan 10/02/2013
Riding the momentum of Super Mario, Milan need to win this next game to give them one last chance for the title. The Rosseneri have been storming up the table in their recent triumph run ,Milan were sitting in 12th place in Week 13 in Serie A. Since then, they have picked up 25 points from a possible 30 to go joint-fourth and are the form team in Italy.But with Juventus winning again , nows not the time to falter.

The Rossoblu may have won their appeal to play at Stadio Is Arenas after Lega Serie A had deemed it unsafe, but the task will not be made any easier against formidable opponents

This match won't be no walk over for Milan though, Montoilivo is suspended with the formidable De Jong, Il Capitano & Muntari are all out injured. Though perhaps Montilivos injury is a little blessing in disguise. he probably wouldn't have been rested and now he gets a rest vs a weaker opponent where we SHOULD win even without him. We will definitely need him vs inter and during a possible Barca miracle.  This however leaves the CDM position in a mini crisis. Flamini has been to reckless.

AC Milan News ‏@Milanello
Allegri: "Abate will probably be rested. De Sciglio will play from the start vs. Cagliari tomorrow."  This is probaly because Max doesn't feel like he can trust DES to play at his best against a giant team like Barcelona.Constant is also apperently injured the day before leaving this Milan team very thin.

I believe with have enough quality to win this game, but it's not going to be as easy as we think and Cagliari have enough potential to really hurt us with our recent line up. The Rosseneri's current winning streak should allow them to navigate this one over with , 0-1 victory.

Predicted Line Up

                   Abbiati

De Sciglio, Zapata, Yepes, Antonini

      Nocerino, Flamini, Boateng
     Niang, Balotelli, El Shaarawy

Changes

As you can see I have recently , reopended this blog of mine.
Like all living organisms on this planet, to survive and thrive, we must evolve.
I have my own ideas currently on changes to make for the forum,  for the new.

If you have any suggestions, please by all means, Message me.

AC Milan 2-1 Udinese

A typical Italian drama. There were penalties,freekicks,feigning injuries and the presence of a superstar, Super Mario.

Straight from the opening we knew this wouldn't be a normal match, Abbiati withdrawn for Amelia as of his flu while Pazzini pulled up sore leaving Mario took make his offical debut. And what a start he had, nearly scoring in  the first 35 seconds after rounding one defender and shooting through the legs of another.

Through the supreme dominance of Milan's opening of their swift attacks, Udinese was forced to swap from a 3 man backline to a 4 man.  Milan were dominat  in the first half , keeping Udinese pinned back and passing all over the pitch. Abate & Niang partnership was paying diviends, while the latter kept tracking back excellently to help out with the defence. El Shaarawy may not have made as such as an impact as Niang had, but everytime he got the ball, he set up a  cruical attack such as how he tightly squeezed a cross in which to Mario whom stood back unlike the defenders travelling, was able to then snap it into the back of the net.

Luckily for them, Udinese were still in the game at the second half and brought the match to Milan. Manhandling their players and subduing the influence of Montilvo & forcing Nocerino to defend for his life. The Zebretta caught Milan on the counter attack where Di Natalie beat Bonera in a header and found Constant out of position allowing Pinzi to slide in amongst acres of space and finish it past Amelia . The game then turned into a 50-50 contest with both sides going for the jugular and poor Niang was unfortunate to miss after smashing the ball into the crossbar on the 75th minute.
 With the game all but finished after some fierce attacking moves, Thomas Heurtaux illegally twin footed tackled El Shaarawy  which lead to the penalty. With no more time left, all eyes on him, in his debutant,  Super Mario lined up and scored the winning penalty!

NOTES
*Udinese were very clever and waited for the right moments to strike. And they would have won with better decision-making from Basta and Muriel couple of times.
*Bojan was terribly disapointing and wasteful, was unable to deliver a proper pass or shot and even failed to capaltise on great balls presented to him. Balotelli with experience will learn what a player Bojan is and he will then resist to pass to him

* Milan's attacking trio will need some more time to gel, but it has certainly the potential to rule Italy at the least.

Milans Best Votes
3.  Mario Balotelli : Superb, best player on the pitch, all eyes were on him tonight and did not disapoint, scored a brilliant double tonight.
2. Riccardo Montolivo : Tracked back , set up plays all over the pitch, even ripped through with a few shots. Could ask no more of the talent midfielder, future captain.
1.L.Niang :  Lively forward was attacking from the opening play. Kept trying to make something out of nothing, brilliantly teamed well with Super Mario, harshly done by not to leave with at least an assist or goal.

Next Game:
Juventus v Fiorentina
Lazio v Napoli
Cagliari v AC Milan

Here we come 3rd place