this is a must win game, as the coppa might be the only way milan will play in europe next year. hope they take it seriously and perform well.
honestly, do we want to play in the EL next season? or would you rather play 12 or so fewer games throughout the year and be able to focus solely on the league?
EL is better than nothing. easier way to raise our club coefficient. plus, serie A is boring. i like watching milan play against teams from different countries. we're a big club, participating in two competitions has never been a problem..
do you think we'd be sitting 11th right now if we hadn't had 8 extra games this fall? it's like mourinho said about liverpool this season. they have a whole week to prepare for their game on saturday. players have extra time to recover. coaches have extra time to game plan. milan are clearly in a rebuilding phase. our attacking players look promising. our midfield needs work. our defense and goalkeeping need major overhauls. combine that with a new manager coming in, and it's going to be a trying season. that being said, with a thin squad and a team adjusting to a new boss, i wouldn't be crushed to only have one game per week to get the most out of our first 11.
not playing in europe means that you won't attract talent though, as most good players want to play in the CL or at least the EL. plus with the club being so cheap it never hurts to have some added income from playing in a continental tournament. if we don't qualify i can already hear galliani saying that since we won't be in europe we won't be able to afford anyone. and free transfers will go to teams most ready to suit their needs. i think to keep milan in the conversation of "top" teams, the team needs to qualify for the EL.
i don't buy that. players want to play in the champions league. i don't think they give a fart about the EL, at least the players we want on our team. players will come to milan because it's milan even if we are out of the CL next year because they will expect a bounce back and to qualify for the CL in 2015-16. it will become a problem if we go 2 or 3 years without qualifying for the CL regardless of if we're in the EL or not.
maybe you're right about players and the EL. but going to a team that says they have no money, in a league that is known to be in a decline, and not even being able to qualify to the EL in that league would raise some eye brows. if this were an english team, i'm sure players would say that the league is difficult or we'd have the finance to bounce back. but we can't afford quality, we have to attract it. and to attract it the team has to do everything in its power to prove it is still a world power. that includes being able to at least qualify to europe every single year
Probable formation: MILAN ( 4-3-2-1 ): Abbiati; Rami, Silvestre, Bonera, De Sciglio; Poli, Montolivo, Cristante, Honda, Robinho, Pazzini.
i'm curious to see how a poli, montolivo, cristante midfield does. i was expecting to see a midfield similar to what we've normally seen, but i guess it was allegri and not tassotti that was the conservative one. i also like the rami and honda starts. seems like a "pretty strong" line-up, but i suppose this is a must win game. i do like the fact that kaka and balotelli have been rested though. hopefully the players step up!
Coppa Italia RECAP -> AC Milan 3-1 Spezia - Scorers: Robinho 28 (M), Pazzini 31 (M), Honda 47 (M), Ferrari 91 (S) Milan: Abbiati; Zaccardo, Mexes, Rami, De Sciglio; Poli, Montolivo, Cristante; Honda (Birsa 64), Robinho (Nocerino 78); Pazzini (Petagna 70) Spezia: Leali; Baldanzeddu, Bianchetti, Lisuzzo, Migliore; Seymur, Bovo; Schiattarella (Culina 61), Catellani (Orsic 84), Rivas (Ciurria 76); Ferrari http://www.football-italia.net/43883/coppa-seedorf-watches-milan-win - .
COPPA ITALIA Fixtures / Results - football-italia Round 5 Milan 3-0 Spezia on 1/15/14 Quarter-Finals Milan ^-^ Udinese on 1/22/14 Player - Goals Robinho 1 , Pazzini 1, Honda 1 .
1-1 at half. balo scored early, but udinese leveled with a penalty late in the half. is anyone watching?
Same story. They're defending with their whole team and hitting us on counter. No real threatening attack until Urby decided to pull down one of their players in the box, I think it was Heurtaux to get them back into it. Rami had looked ok. Mexes is on. He came on for an injured Zapata, I think.
im watching, was an open 1st half, hopefully the 2nd is the same, udinese have some right selfish bitches
The game is opening up in the 2nd with Udinese coming forward more. They've been the better team this half.