Serie A: Ac Milan vs Torino

[Haroon]

Good game. Good result. I think we can come in second although we have to watch out as we have some tough games coming up.

DM is not negative. It is an outspoken place where people don't hold back because over here there are no browny points for kissing the ass of the Milan management. 5-1 is a very good result. We also have to look at the long run and the broader picture which is where this team stands right now compared to the rest of the European teams like Utd., Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Arsenal and Real etc.

The vision can't be restricted to Serie A [Inter, Juve] only as Serie A is a very weak league nowadays with lots of catching up required compared to EPL and La Liga.

Yesterday's result changes nothing for us. We would have qualified in third and we will qualify in second. The important thing is to be prepared next season as UCL is no joke. We can get through to the group stage but you don't want to be eliminated at the hands of Villareal in the Round of 16. Everybody needs to remember that Werder Bremen took us out at home when we had that game and tie in our hands.

It is very good to thrash a weak opposition like Torino but that is hardly a benchmark of how good the team really is. Whenever this team was called upon to rise this season it failed on all but one occasion (The first derby) and that is not a good sign seeing that Serie A is weak.

It's not about being negative. It's about calling a spade a spade and keeping your feet on the ground rather than getting wet with excitement because we steam-rolled mighty Torino at home.

The fans need to raise their standards as well. We compromise on so little that it is not even funny.

[Call Me 7 Cups]

the last 4 games are terrible + one of the next 2 (Milan-Palermo they did 2-2 vs Inter and many goals yesterday)



4/5 terrible games ( Juve Roma Fiorentina, Udinese away? )


we have failed vs Inter
we have failed vs Juventus (first match)
we have failed the scudetto

it's time NOW to give a sense to our season with this intense ending of Serie A.

[Dario]

These days I find myself agreeing with almost everything Haroon writes!

If we can't bitch in here, where can we bitch?! My wife isn't going to listen, that's for sure!!

PS Dida has been pretty good since he took over for Abbiati... But we are all waiting for his first BIG mistake!

Its interesting to compare him with the Chelsea goalkeeper. He was great until he had that head injury, now he has turned shit. Same with Dida - he was great until the incident with the firework. He just hasn't been the same since...

[brickeberg]

As for the negativity, well you could say it is negative or you could say people are speaking the truth. You've got to admit that management have made many wrong decisions in the past few years and we are now paying the price. Until management prove they have ambition people will, rightly, criticise. We could always bury our heads in the sand and say because we're second everything is fine, but that would be boring

I agree. But during a game there is nothing the management can do, well nobody except Carlo can. I was just surprised to see people talk about the bad things in the game instead of Flamini being great as wingback, Beckham working his ass off, assisting and even running back when we were leading 4-0 to help the defense, Pippo scoring his tenth hat trick while being 35, Pato not taking a single shot but still showing what a wonderful player he is, Kaká making great runs to give space to other players, Ronaldinho's assist to Pippo, Senderos and Maldini being surprisingly solid at the back and so on.

You guys are right in your critique and so far it has been warranted. But yesterday I didn't see the need for any, so I wanted to comment on that

Haroon, this team is a very different one that the one that played against Werder, Juve and Palermo. It looks like the guys are running more, working for each other and well just playing more motivated.

And we would be a very different team if we didn't have so many injuries, but that's on the management. You can't have an old injury prone squad and then stand and cry about the injuries in April. Especially seeing how we did nothing during the January mercato when we could've fixed some things.

Even though it was "just" Torino I still take a huge joy seeing Milan play as Milan. It's just such a shame that we couldn't find some consistency I mean 7 draws and 6 loses isn't exactly Scudetto material and yet we're only 10p behind.

[Qasá]

Our Home form this year surprisingly has been fantastic. 13 wins, and only 8 goals conceded. Encouraging stuff. With a couple of less draws we would be pushing Inter further. And maybe even to a point where they could crack.

6 games left, 10 points behind. Well its too far to dream so far, but stranger things HAVE happened. This team needs a couple of more acquisitons, Everyone fit. But having Thiago for next year is already a great step, that needs to be built on.

Borriello coming back for May will be a big Bonus against Roma and Fiorentina. Hopefully he will be able to give a good foil and make a telling contribution.

Kaká coming back to full fitness, Beckham, Pirlo clicking well Flamini finding his feet. Milan historically always have a flying April. Lets continue that through until May!

Inter have been a bit off colour recently. They play Napoli away next week. They could lose that one. It is a tough place to play. It is a strange world. Should i get chastised for believing that there could still be another twist?

All i know is that Palermo too is a tough place to go and we NEED to win that one, and have Napoli play there part, then who knows, -7/8 with 5 games left sounds a lot more fallible...and with the likes of Juve Roma and Fiorentina to play. If we are around 6 points behind Inter with 3 games left, well who the hell are Roma and Fiorentina?

Its a big ask to see Inter dropping 10 points in 6 games, but heck, its upto Milan to make it as hard as possible, and even though the league is all but wrapped up. It would be a great boost to the teams confidence, if we could take 16/18 points from the end of the season, and pile through the pretenders like Roma Juve and Fiorentina and highlight Milans genuine intention of being the main contenders next year

[artan]

it was just Torino. beat Inter or Juve with 5-1 and then tell that we are a great team. Still positive that Seedorf didnt feature and Flamini can be utilized as RB if and when needed.
great pippo and becks performance also.

[Walker]

No Seedorf, No Problem!!!! Good win, but nothing to loose the pants about… Our season must be judged on how we fulfilled the pre season expectations and not on one game scoring spree against Torino at home.

Having said that, it was a good game from us with lots of running and determination. At least I did not fall asleep this time….

[Haroon]

Haroon, this team is a very different one that the one that played against Werder, Juve and Palermo. It looks like the guys are running more, working for each other and well just playing more motivated.

And we would be a very different team if we didn't have so many injuries, but that's on the management. You can't have an old injury prone squad and then stand and cry about the injuries in April. Especially seeing how we did nothing during the January mercato when we could've fixed some things.

Even though it was "just" Torino I still take a huge joy seeing Milan play as Milan. It's just such a shame that we couldn't find some consistency I mean 7 draws and 6 loses isn't exactly Scudetto material and yet we're only 10p behind.

Brick,
I am sorry for not sounding ecstatic because I am not ecstatic. I am happy for the result but this is not Milan thrashing the life out of Manchester United in the second leg of the SF or taking Bayern to the cleaners with a clinical 0-2 win in the second leg of the QF in Munich.

This is Milan steam-rolling a deadbeat Torino. There is a difference. One must remain very rational in the whole scenario. We saw a different Milan to the one against Werder, Juve and Palermo because:

1. Those teams are stronger than Torino. It can be argued that they are much stronger but we know for a fact that this season all those sides are stronger than Torino.

2. Milan, especially a Milan that doesn't reach expectations usually has a good run in the last few weeks of the season. The reason behind it is that some players on fringe want to save face and want to remain for one more season at the club. I am not surprised by this because only a fortnight ago I said that don't be surprised if some players are sprightly and start to perform because they want to remain at Milan and we should not be fooled by this. If you want to judge the fringe players then evaluate what they did from September to March before the final run in.

Second position in the table being 10 pts behind despite 6 losses and 7 draws just stresses forward the point that Serie A is much weaker nowadays. We must all remember that the Serie A leaders Inter couldn't get into the QF of the UCL and they are supposed to be run-away leaders. Obviously, Milan is a totally different beast in Europe and I would still wager that we can do better than them but any reasonable person knows that we are some way from standing shoulder to shoulder to some of Europe's in-form teams because we are not that strong on paper or on the pitch.

Absolutely nothing changes for us right now. What is important is to not get blinded by these types of results right now and start getting emotional about some players who will perform from now till the end but didn't do squat during the season.

There are tougher games coming up this season. We will see what our team does. I am feeling slightly awkward and ironic calling them tough games seeing as they are tough teams in Serie A but on a continental stage we have a lot of work to do. My worry at this point is to plan it out very carefully for the UCL next season so as to not get humbled by a Galatasaray and go out in the group stage!

Injuries is no excuse. That is the reason a team is comprised of a squad. Good teams pull through injuries. Great teams win despite injuries. All you should know this. Milan was not even at full strength when we won in Athens [1994]. Milan was not at full strength when we defeated Capello's Roma in Rome. There is a list of examples. Injuries is being used as an excuse quite blatantly to hide the weaknesses and divert attention. I'm not buying this kool-aid of injuries.