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.