WHO DOES MILAN REALLY NEED?

I begin this article by apologising to all those who follow my blog for Milan match previews. I am really sorry for not updating for several weeks and not fulfilling earlier promises. I promise next season will be far better.

Milan have started well in the transfer market though It hasn’t opened officially. Getting the likes of Taiwo from Marseille and Mexes from Roma both for free has done justice to our defence all thanks to the brilliant work of Galliani! But with Pirlo leaving, the focus has shifted to the midfield. In this article, I lay down my opinions on who we should sign. Pirlo’s style wasn’t what Allegri wanted so that means we are not really signing a Pirlo replacement. We are signing a midfielder suited to Allegri’s needs!

From Ganso to Lamela to Pastore to Fabregas to Montolivo to Schweinsteiger, Milan are linked to a lot of targets both realistic and unrealistic. But who do we really need? Allegri says he needs a left midfielder. So what does he intend to do with Emanuelson? The truth is that we need a playmaker more than a left sided midfielder. Allegri’s plan to employ Boateng as a trequartista is not a good one. Boateng would be better off supporting or flanking Van Bommel in midfield. He lacks some crucial qualities of a trequartista that is really evident. His shots are way below excellent, he doesn’t have an eye for exceptional passes that can split defences and his physicality will be much more useful in midfield. We need a trequartista with these qualities! Cassano could have made a good one but Allegri persists in fielding him as a striker. Also hearing rumours that Seedorf will be the starting trequartista. That is a recipe for disaster! As I wrote earlier, Galliani has confirmed that Allegri needs a left sided midfielder. This has cooled down the Ganso Trequartista rumours. Names like Kwadwo Asamoah, Montolivo, Schweinsteiger etc. are now making the headlines. If I were to pick out of these three, I would choose Montolivo. Montolivo would serve as a good Pirlo replacement and I reckon would do well in Left midfield. Asamoah is also great as the left midfield position is his role. His exploits last season also weren’t unnoticed. Schweinsteiger just signed a new contract with Bayern so any move from Bayern will require a lot of money which Milan don’t have. You could say Berlusconi has promised the Milan fans a big signing but I would rather want that big signing to be a Trequartista. Pastore would be excellent but his current valuation could pose a great obstacle. Ganso has shown that he’s injury prone. Fabregas is fantasy for now. If he is to leave Arsenal, he’s certainly heading to Spain. Let’s leave Fabregas alone. Though latest rumours say Galliani is still in England because of him, I don’t really buy the idea of signing him. If he eventually comes, no problem. I would really love Pastore in Milan! After watching Pastore in last night’s Inter Coppa Italia win over Palermo, I am fully convinced Pastore is what Milan need. A short description of him is simply an Argentine version of Kaka and the fact that he’s just 21 years of age makes him more attractive. He has a great eye for goal, possesses identical passing to Kaka and his frame means he isn’t the type to be bullied. He has also acquired valuable experience in Serie A. I can't imagine how deadly his patnership with Pato and Ibrahimovic would be! If Milan sign him, I would be the happiest man in the world! Hamsik? I don’t think Milan really need him.

                Aside that, I think we really need an Ibrahimovic backup. The Robinho-Pato strike patnership is one that is vulnerable to 'bullying' by opposition defenders. There are rumours of Klose arriving. I think we could use him as he has carved a niche for himself in the scoring department. That’s excluding his famous miss against Stuttgart earlier in the season.        

                The transfer window will soon open, all we can do as Milan fans is to fold our arms and hope Milan do well in it considering our close rivals are already making good moves in it. One thing is sure: For Milan to become competitive again in the Uefa Champions League, we need to sign the right players!
              This is strictly my opinion though. What do you think?
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MILAN2-2PALERMO COPPA ITALIA SEMIFINAL 1ST LEG MATCH REVIEW IN THE MILAN PLAYERS' PERSPECTIVE

Amelia: As far as I am concerned, he gave in a performance of a good back up. Wasn't to blame for any of the Palermo goals. Prevented Pastore from adding a second with a great block in a one-on-one situation at the latter stage of the match.

Antonini: Did considerably well as he wasn’t really threatened in his position.  The fact still remains that he isn’t Milan class.

Sokratis: Was the flop of the match. He single handedly caused the two Palermo goals as he was easily outwitted by Pastore on both occasions. He never should have started as it was glaring that he wasn’t match fit.

Oddo: Gave in a good performance. Was good defensively but his crosses were ‘bitter-sweet.’ That is, he had almost equal number of good and bad crosses. As we all know Oddo for, he kept on swinging crosses even though they weren’t needed all the time.

Silva: Was as solid as ever. Made crucial blocks and tackles. In short, he was PERFECT. As far as I am concerned, he is the best centre back in Europe if not in the world right now. Without him, maybe we might have conceded 4 goals!

Flamini: Was hardworking as usual. Ran a lot and his overall work rate was high. The truth though is that  he is not ‘Milan class.’ His shots were very poor!

Andrea Pirlo: Considering he was only returning from injury, he gave a good performance. What I liked in particular was that his crosses were a threat to the Palermo defence, something Milan have been lacking in his absence.

Boateng: Could have done better. His shots were poor and he didn’t have as much influence as he normally does in Milan games. I can say his performance was above average.

Seedorf: Was very hardworking. He sure did his best as he shouldn’t be starting any more games for Milan. I was impressed by his agility! I mustn’t hear the description ‘slowdorf’ again!

Cassano: Gave in a lazy performance. Robinho did far much better!

Ibrahimovic: Scored the opener for Milan in fine fashion from a long pass. Was also involved in the second goal. Good performance all in all by The Swede. He should shave his moustache though!

                        SUBSTITUTIONS

Emanuelson: Came in for Cassano to score the equalizer for Milan. He injected much energy and Pace to the Milan attack. Almost got the winner!

Robinho: Together with Emanuelson, came in to inject more pace and energy to the Milan attack. Hardworking as usual.

Gattuso: He didn’t really make an impact in the game. His hair style though made much of an impact!

4′ Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Javier Pastore 14′

76′ Urby Emanuelson

Abel Mathías Hernández 53′

 

Milan3-0Sampdoria(WEEK 33)

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Milan 3 - 0 Sampdoria

Seedorf 20 (M), Cassano pen 54 (M), Robinho 61 (M)

FIORENTINA1-2MILAN (WEEK 32)

Seedorf 9 (M), Pato 41 (M), Vargas 80 (F)

Stadio Franchi

MILAN3-0INTER(WEEK 31)

Pato 1, 62 (M), Cassano pen 89 (M)

PALERMO1-0MILAN(WEEK 30) MATCH REVIEW IN THE MILAN PLAYERS' PERSPECTIVE.

Palermo 1 - 0 Milan Goian 9 (P)

Palermo: Sirigu; Munoz, Goian, Migliaccio; Darmian, Bacinovic (Acquah 69), Nocerino, Balzaretti; Pastore (Miccoli 73); Pinilla (Hernandez 88), IlicicMilan: Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Jankulovski (Antonini 16); Gattuso, Van Bommel (Boateng 53), Flamini; Seedorf; Pato (Robinho 63), CassanoAbbiati:Did reasonably well for the duration of the match and made a couple of good saves to keep the score at 1-0. Shown that he is the most consistent of keepers that we have. Fully deserving of his place in the starting lineup.

Nesta and Silva: Both did well throughout the duration of the match. Did their best to keep the Palermo attackers from not inflicting further damage. More credit goes to Silva though for his strong play both defensively and attackingly. Solid play I must say from the Brazilian centre back.

Jankulovski: Had to leave the pitch prematurely due to injury. Didn't see much of him due to this injury. He did well though for the duration of time he spent on the pitch.

Antonini: Came in for Jankulovski. Almost completely neglected his defensive duties by constantly attacking down the left flank. Unbelievably missed a great chance to equalise in such bad manner. Surely not Milan class.

Abate: Made good use of the right flank without neglecting his defensive duties. Floated too many crosses into the box of the opposing team without really getting a Milan player. Should have stopped when it became obvious that his crossses were of no good to the Milan team. Good performance though by him.

Van Bommel: Was the main culprit in the Palermo goal as he spent too much time protesting for an offside call without dedicating any time to close up the unmarked scorer. Should have done much better as he had 'all the time in the world' to stop the scorer. Couple of misplaced passes by him but was hardworking as usual.

Gattuso: Was as 'Gattuso' as ever and gave in his best for the Milan team. An integral part of this Milan squad he is.

Flamini: Was hardworking as usual but his contribution overall to the cause was low. His constant shots were terrible! He had ONE sensible shot though which drew a great save from Sirigu. Aside from that, I'm beginning to think that he is not Milan class.

Seedorf: Gave in the best he could. Shouln't be starting anymore for Milan.

Cassano: I liked him for his good movements with the ball and his hardwork. His shots just like those of Flamini were not up to standard but not as frequent as the French man's. Missed a great chance to equalise For Milan when sent free by a Seeedorf through ball. Not a bad performance by the former Sampdoria man.

Pato and Robinho: Tried the best he could considering the circumstances as Palermo's centrebacks were out for him. Closed the young Brazilian down in any chance they could. His sizzling runs though caused a lot of problems for the Palermo defence. Was forced out of the pitch due to injury problems.His replacement, Robinho was an idle figre on the pitch compared to what we know him for. Lost the ball easily and gave a couple of misplaced passes in crucial positions. Bad performance I must say from the Brazilian. He has shown himself to be very inconsistent.

HOW IBRA'S DISMISSAL AGAINST BARI COULD BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE FOR MILAN

To cap off a dismal display against Bari, Ibrahimovic received a straight red card following a lunge on a Bari player. After his dismissal, i noticed that the Milan game really improved. There was no more a 'Henry'(Thierry Henry in his days at Arsenal) figure on the pitch in which all the play was directed at. The Milan players worked for each other a lot more and finally a goal arrived. Another two might even have been added if not for the persistence of bad luck.
    Ibra has certainly attained a 'Henry' status at Milan in which all his team mates have that 'instinct' or better still, tendency to pass to him than to other team mates. When with the ball now Ibra is slow to think and loses the ball easily while trying to do some virtually 'impossible' moves with the ball. His 'Henry' status has not made things easier as he is most times with the ball in counterattack situations in which he eventually terminates the effort of his team mates.   
    His offside statistics now is something that worries me. He is always offside one way or the other as he is easily beaten by the opposing defenders in the offside trap.A three match break will once again, give him that rest he is always clamouring for.
     The final part of this hidden blessing could come out of the fact that once back, we could see the Ibra that we knew in the first half of the season, ready to spearhead Milan's quest for the scudetto! GO IBRA! FORZAMILAN!