Milan vs Udinese, Wednesday 21/09/2011, 20:45 CET

[ElMago99]

The only somewhat comforting thing is that other teams have dropped points in our league, and seeing Barcelona struggle is also interesting. Napoli is the best team in Serie A so far, but their issue is lack of depth. With so many games to play, they will tire, I promise.

I have been tough on my Milan for a few years now. This midfield doesn't play the way I want it to. They don't move the ball fast, they don't move off the ball, there's a lack of energy, and counter-attacking play is slow.

We have many players out so I can't judge too hard. Robinho, Boateng & Ibra are probably our 3 best attacking players. I don't understand this lack of chemistry between Pato & Cassano. One plays as a finisher (Pato) & the other is a creator and very technical (Cassano). I'm confused why this doesn't work....can somewhat care to explain in depth....?

I don't think Urby's style suits us, & Pato's injuries are concerning. Great goal from El Shaaraway. Lastly, say what you want about Abbiati's mistake, but he also saved us the point by making 3-4 stunning saves...he made up for it IMO.

Let's hope for a win this weekend because we need it...

[Revolver]

I haven't saw the game, but as bad as our team is performing lately, I'm afraid the same thing will happen to us as at the end of last century when our coach was Zaccheroni, when we won the title in Serie A with pretty weak team and then we failed to reinforce for the next season and it ended in total rebuild of our squad 3-4 years after that. Of course we won nothing during that 3-4 years.

The main reason why I was suggesting that we need a complete midfielder (Schweinsteiger) is because (as seen by now) every position in our midfield can be the problem. If Van Bommel performs bad, we're fucked, as simple as that. And he's just too old to count on him to always perform good.

[ACMILAN1983]

It's easy to assume the worst looking at the result of this game in relation to our other results this season, but doing so would be twisting the reality of our situation. I want to say the result isn't great, a draw means we've only gotten 2 points out of a possible 9, even if other teams dropping points means we're actually only 5 points from the top (not ideal, but could be worse).

As for the performance, we can't expect particularly spectacular games when our first 3 choice forwards are all injured and half our midfield is missing too (we're talking about at least 4-5 normal starters out injured). What I did see though, was probably the most positive and uplifting performance from the team I've seen all this season, and something much closer to last year's level of performances.

Against Lazio, we showed a lack of concentration which made us extremely vulnerable. Against Barca, we were dominated in possession, and our attack was muted with poor technical qualities. Against Napoli, our concentration and lack of tactical discipline again hurt us dearly when hit on the break. Basically, after that game facing another counter attack specialist like Udinese could have resulted in us facing a dire situation, especially when considering Udinese are arguably the best performing side in Italy right now.

Instead, I saw a side that was concentrated for the full 95 minutes, and one where we pressed intelligently to prevent counters desperately hurting us. We also controlled the tempo of the game, meaning it was difficult for Udinese to get any real rhythm in their game.

The game was essentially broken up into segments. We started relatively well and looked to control the tempo and possession, with Udinese looking to counter behind our fullbacks with Torje and Di Natale. During this part, they never really created anything and neither did we, but it set out a pattern for the match. Unfortunately, Pato pulled his hamstring and then minutes later Abbiati made a blunder of epic proportions, resulting in us conceding. Given we played without strikers, it was easy to think that we'd lack any bite and Udinese would go onto win comfortably. Instead, we played until halftime and Allegri regrouped, although didn't change the gameplan much.

The second half was all us, we pressed, we totally dominated possession and rightfully we got our equaliser. The game thereafter opened up and both teams had chances with the game stretched, with the draw probably a fair result, although Udinese will consider themselves unlucky hitting the post (so did we), while we can consider ourselves unfortunate given we dominated.

Overall though, we should consider this performance positive. We dominated against probably the most in form team in Serie A right now and against a system which usually causes nightmares. We weren't brilliant and we did lack some quality in the final third, but this is to be expected in our current predicament.

Players...

Abbiati - Shocking mistake on their goal, but the odd good save towards the end. Didn't inspire confidence as he normally does though.
Abate - Struggled at times at RB, but generally did ok.
Nesta - Excellent at the back, he didn't look exposed as he did in previous matches.
Thiago - Excellent along with Nesta, he was always alert throughout.
Zambrotta - A decent performance where he worked hard. A big improvement over Bonera and Antonini.
Nocerino - Consistent throughout and tactically disciplined, this was his best game so far in a Milan shirt. Shame about his missed chance though.
Van Bommel - Much improved over the Napoli game defensively, although he still wasn't great on the ball.
Seedorf - Our greatest creative source as he moved pretty well and played some great passes.
Aquilani - Poor game as he never really got space to do anything.
Cassano - The biggest source of frustration all match as he tried to do too much often giving the ball away with his little flicks.
Pato - Injured after 20 minutes with his usual pulled hamstring. Something needs to be done about this.
El Sharaawy - A potentially great player, we saw glimpses of his ability and a great goal. Looked a little weak against his opponents, but that's normal at 18.
Urby - He did well after coming on and got into good positions. May have won himself a starting spot for Saturday.
Pippo - Caused a few problems to Udinese's backline, but little time to do much.

[GeoTav]

I see some people start to complain about the way the team performs ... What do you expect with 12 injured players ? Everyday, there is a new injury. While our defence hasn't been too much touched by injuries (I cross my fingers), we almost lost all our starters from midfield to attack (the most touched part of the team).

Actually, what I hope is that we manage not to drop too many points in the next few games, we manage to win our CL game, and then, against Palermo for example, with some of our starters back, we win that game ...

The main threat for us will be the game against Juventus. If we don't recover some players and if we lose that game, then the whole season will be wasted (because it will be very difficult to come back) because of these weird injuries and we'll have to hope for an hypothetic 2nd or 3rd place ...

[ZvonimirBoban]

I see some people start to complain about the way the team performs ... What do you expect with 12 injured players ? Everyday, there is a new injury. While our defence hasn't been too much touched by injuries (I cross my fingers), we almost lost all our starters from midfield to attack (the most touched part of the team).

we dont give a sh!t about merda last year, when their conditions were similar. I only hope that 12 players injured won't necessarily mean we're out of title race.

[GeoTav]

I see some people start to complain about the way the team performs ... What do you expect with 12 injured players ? Everyday, there is a new injury. While our defence hasn't been too much touched by injuries (I cross my fingers), we almost lost all our starters from midfield to attack (the most touched part of the team).

we dont give a sh!t about merda last year, when their conditions were similar. I only hope that 12 players injured won't necessarily mean we're out of title race.

12 injured players + Nesta, like last year, not being really good in the start of the season + Abbiati doing some weird mistakes ...

I do hope too that we won't be out of the Scudetto race, but if the situation keeps being bad for 2-3 more weeks, the only thing we'll be able to do is crying ... Anyway, let's not forget we're in such a bad situation because we have many injuries AND a tough schedule.

[ACMILAN1983]

We shouldn't panic yet and worry about losing the scudetto, it's very early days yet. Instead, we need to keep working down the path we have done and work towards getting a win or two to boost confidence. I think the next week will be vital for this as we have two winnable games to kickstart the season.

[Kaka1899]

i guess luckily the next game vs Cesena on paper is an easy one compared to Napoli and Udinese, hopefully they can be out Lecce, we can bag some goals and regain some confidence.

[ACM2023]

We shouldn't panic yet and worry about losing the scudetto, it's very early days yet. Instead, we need to keep working down the path we have done and work towards getting a win or two to boost confidence. I think the next week will be vital for this as we have two winnable games to kickstart the season.

I believe that you meant the league game and the mid-week CL game, right? Somehow, I just keep remembering our home game against Zurich FC a few seasons back. That's some strange feeling.

Two wins is all I ask for.

[ACMILAN1983]

We shouldn't panic yet and worry about losing the scudetto, it's very early days yet. Instead, we need to keep working down the path we have done and work towards getting a win or two to boost confidence. I think the next week will be vital for this as we have two winnable games to kickstart the season.

I believe that you meant the league game and the mid-week CL game, right? Somehow, I just keep remembering our home game against Zurich FC a few seasons back. That's some strange feeling.

Two wins is all I ask for.

Yeah, those are the games I meant. I do think we'll win both though, simply because the players must be motivated to get the season going.