AC MILAN FANATIC

3 Goals For Ronnie( AC Milan 4-0 Siena)

2010-01-18T04:16:00.000-08:00

A hat-trick from Ronaldinho guided AC Milan to a 4-0 home win over 10-man Siena on Sunday, moving Leonardo's side to within six points of Serie A league leader Inter Milan.
Ronaldinho converted a 12th minute penalty following a red card for Siena goalkeeper Gianluca Curci and Marco Borriello hit his seventh goal of the season before the Brazilian struck two more goals after the break to seal Milan's win.
"Ronaldinho scored a great goal, one of rare beauty," Leonardo said, referring to his fellow Brazilian's curling shot past Siena's substitute keeper Gianluca Pegolo from the edge of the area.
"But that's what he's like, a player who does fantastic things. It all comes down to him. If he is in the mood and determined, then he does things no one else in the world can."
Inter is top with 46 points following its 2-2 draw with Bari on Saturday. Milan is second on 40, but has a game in hand and meets Inter in the Milan derby next week.
"Now for the derby," Leonardo said. "It is an important game, but not decisive. Of course, the fact that the two teams are six points apart in the league gives it an extra edge."
AS Roma is third with 35 points after a 3-0 win at home to Genoa, Napoli moved up to fourth on 34 after 0-0 draw with Palermo, while Juventus lost 1-0 at mid-table Chievo Verona and slipped to fifth, one point further back.
Italy striker Luca Toni scored his first goals since joining Roma on loan from Bayern Munich after Simone Perrotta had opened the scoring in the 17th minute.
In the late match, Napoli missed the chance to move into third with its draw at home to Palermo. Napoli needed goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis to save a first half penalty from Fabio Miccoli to help secure the point.
At San Siro, Milan started brightly and came close to scoring in the third minute when Alessandro Nesta crossed from the right and Ronaldinho volleyed the ball narrowly over.
However, the Brazilian made no mistake from the penalty spot just nine minutes later.
Siena defender Brandao dithered with the ball in the area, Borriello stole it and rounded Curci who brought him down. After the referee sent off Curci, Ronaldinho beat substitute Pegolo from the spot.
Siena striker Massimo Maccarone missed a great chance to level in the 26th when he forced his way through the Milan defence, but fired over with only goalkeeper Dida to beat.
Borriello made Siena pay for the miss when he volleyed in Andrea Pirlo's cross two minutes later.
Milan continued to dominate after halftime, with Ronaldinho heading home a corner taken by David Beckham in the 72nd minute and then scoring his third a minute from time.
"Today we won and we had a great game because we prepared for every eventuality," Leonardo said. "We were conscious that Siena could cause us problems and we prepared every detail for this match.

Juve 0-3 AC Milan ( As We Should Do To Man Utd)

2010-01-11T01:05:00.000-08:00

AC Milan kept up the pressure on table-toppers and city rivals Inter Milan with a 3-0 win away to Juventus - a result which turns the heat firmly on home coach Ciro Ferrara.
Alessandro Nesta put Milan ahead in the 29th minute with Ronaldinho adding a second in the 72nd minute as Juve struggled to produce a performance that would ease the calls for Ferrara's head.

Another goal from Ronaldinho two minutes from time came amid protests from the home fans, who shrouded the field with smoke by burning any item possible, and sealed the win for Milan, who move within eight points of Inter with a game in hand.
Juve started well with Diego looking lively and taking the game to Milan.
He had the first opportunity in the 13th minute when he cut in from the left and curled a shot just wide of the far post.

Milan, who played with the same players and formation that had defeated Genoa 5-2 in midweek, were struggling to find the same rhythm with loanee David Beckham struggling to make an impact.
But the Rossoneri still went ahead with their first chance of the game in the 29th minute, Nesta taking advantage of a defensive mix-up to pounce onto an Alessandro Pirlo corner.

Christian Poulsen and Felipe Melo both failed to clear the corner at the near post and the ball filtered through to the former Italy defender, who had the simplest of tap-ins to open the scoring.
A lucky break at the other end gave Giorgio Chiellini the chance to level for the Bianconeri, but his shot at full stretch was collected at the second attempt by Milan goalkeeper Dida, who was in for a quiet night at the Stadio Olimpico.
Alexander Manninger was the busier of the two goalkeepers at the other end and he was forced into a full-stretch save to turn Thiago Silva's rasping 35-yard effort wide.
From the resulting corner from Beckham, Ronaldinho's header deflected off his compatriot Amauri to go over the crossbar.

Juve's greatest threat came from their central defender Chiellini, who again came close at full stretch just a minute into the second half.
There seemed to be a bit more urgency about Juve at the start of the second half, but just like in the first 45 minutes, they conceded when they were looking at their strongest.

Another Pirlo set-piece was the source of the danger and the slightest of flicks from Ronaldinho, which took a greater, unintended deflection of Zdenek Grygera, diverted the ball past Manninger and into the back of the Juve goal.
The goal prompted protests from the already irate Juve fans, whose patience with their team - and in particular their coach - reached boiling point.
Playing in a fog created by the home fans' burning of fireworks, as well as a few burning seats behind Manninger's goal, Ronaldinho's second and Milan's third goal almost went unnoticed.
It was Beckham who provided the cross to the Brazilian, who was given all the time in the world at the far post to stroke the ball home and complete another resounding win for the Rossoneri.

Milan 3-0 Sampdoria (The Race To End Serie A Title Drought )

2009-12-06T01:46:00.000-08:00

The Blucerchiati were staring defeat in the face from the get-go as Marco Borrielo put the ahead in the first minute of the match before Clarence Seedorf adding a second in the 21st minute.
Ronaldinho was in inspired form, creating the first two goals, and fellow Brazilian Alexandre Pato completed Milan's fifth straight win in the 23rd minute to pile the misery on the Luigi Del Neri's side.
The visitors have now lost three games in the last week following a 3-0 reverse in the Genoa derby last Saturday and their elimination from the Coppa Italia at the hands of Livorno in midweekMilan got off to a flying start when former Genoa striker Borriello nodded in the opener

Antonio Cassano's weak pass was cut out by Luca Antonini, who raced forwards before spreading the ball wide to Ronaldinho.
His cross was lifted right between Sampdoria's two central defenders where Borriello was on hand to head in from seven yards out.
Ronaldinho was at the heart of every Milan attack, and looked a threat every time he touched the ball.
It was the former Barcelona man's pass in the 21st minute which led to the second goal.

He threaded the ball between two Samp defenders and into the path of Seedorf, who provided an emphatic finish to leave Luca Castellazzi with no chance as the ball flashed past him.
It was the Dutchman's 50th goal in Serie A - and surely one of his best.
Two minutes later Pato's determination earned him his seventh goal of the season.
He latched onto a Borriello header and, although his first shot was saved by Castellazzi, the ball fell kindly for him to place a shot into the net to end Samp's hopes with only a quarter of the match gone.

Milan coach Leonardo allowed himself the luxury of withdrawing Ronaldinho 10 minutes before half-time as the Brazilian felt a slight muscle twinge.
Ignazio Abate was introduced as Leonardo preferred not to risk perhaps his most important player ahead of Tuesday's decisive Champions League game away to FC Zurich.But there appeared to be no respite for Samp.
Abate sent in a cross which provided Pato with the chance to make it four, but his shot hit the back of Daniele Gastaldello from eight yards.

Another Abate cross almost gave Borriello his second goal, but Gastaldello again intervened to take the ball off the Milan striker's head.
Samp tried to respond and Antonio Cassano's long cross found Reto Ziegler at the far post, but the Swiss midfielder's shot was blocked.
It was the only shot of note Samp had all match as Milan defended their lead with ease and without having to expend too much energy ahead of Tuesday's match.

Hunterlaar Hits 2

2009-11-30T02:06:00.000-08:00

In a tense and largely tame encounter at the Stadio Massimino, only Ronaldinho really managed to perform at the kind of level Milan fans have become used to from their side in recent weeks.
Catania failed to muster even one shot on goal, but they still deserved a point which was cruelly taken from them in stoppage time by Huntelaar, who broke the home fans' hearts with two goals to take Milan to within seven points of league leaders Inter Milan.
With Juve losing at Cagliari earlier today, Milan knew that a win in Sicily would take them up to second in the table and make them the nearest challenger to Inter.
But tiredness in the legs after being made to run for the full 90 minutes of their Champions League tie with Marseille on Wednesday meant they were not quite as sharp as usual.
Apart from Ronaldinho.

The Brazilian has recently found his best form since joining the Rossoneri from Barcelona almost 18 months ago and he single-handedly led Milan's search for three points.
His new-found confidence was illustrated by a number of skilful tricks, but the problem was finding team mates who could keep up with him when it came to providing the killer ball.
Clarence Seedorf offered himself as often as possible, but he was always a step behind the Brazilian playmaker and was restricted to shooting from distance by a Catania defence who constructed a wall around their penalty area.
The Dutchman found the side-netting with his first shot while his second was a few feet over the crossbar.

The closest he and either side came was in the 77th minute with his 25-yard effort just inches over the crossbar.
Catania were unable to test Milan goalkeeper Dida, but he still had to be alert in the 15th minute when Jorge Martinez was just inches away from making contact with a low cross.
Nicolas Spolli wasted a good chance to trouble Dida when he chose to just help a long ball forward rather than taking it down when he had time to do so after beating the Milan offside trap in the 71st minute.

Ronaldinho was one of the few players on the field not to show any tired legs late on and he came within millimetres of giving Milan the lead with a corner which landed directly on the top of the crossbar.
And just as it seemed like both sides had settled for a point, Milan substitute Huntelaar volleyed in his first goal for the club from edge of the area, although Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar will have to explain how he let the ball squirm under his body.
The goal lifted a huge burden from the Dutchman's shoulders and he added his and Milan's second moments later, lobbing Andujar from just inside the area with a goal that Ronaldinho would have been proud of.

AC Milan 1--1 Marseille( Now The Real Milan Will Be Tested)

2009-11-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

AC Milan dropped to second in Group C of the Champions League on Wednesday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Marseille at the San Siro.

Marco Borriello scored 10 minutes into the match for Milan, but his opener was canceled out six minutes later by Lucho Gonzalez.

Marseille then had two chances to win the match in the second half when Brandao struck the crossbar from close range, while Souleymane Diawara nodded the ball off the post with four minutes to play.

The result, combined with Real Madrid's 1-0 win over FC Zurich on Wednesday, leaves Milan two points back of the Spanish side, while Marseille is third, three points behind Real.

Milan nearly scored six minutes into the match when Gianluca Zambrotta was denied at close range by Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, but Mandanda was unable to keep out Borriello's effort four minutes later.

The Milan striker took a pass inside the box on the right, and after beating a defender, he drove the ball underneath the keeper from a tight angle.

It took Marseille six minutes to respond, however, as Mamadou Niang got to the end line and crossed the ball towards the front of goal. Milan goalkeeper Dida got his hand to the cross, but it ended up on the foot of Gonzalez, who smashed the ball into the empty net.

Mandanda needed to make a good save on Borriello midway through the opening half, while Pato chipped the keeper from the top of the box and the ball ended up on the roof of the net.

The home side controlled the early part of the second half, but they were fortunate not to fall behind in the 65th minute when Niang's cross was met in front of goal by Brandao, who somehow shot first-time off the crossbar from six yards.

A Marseille corner kick with four minutes to play nearly won the match for the French side as Diawara's header beat Dida but came back off the far post.

The Great Form Continues..Milan 4-3 Cagliari

2009-11-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

Ronaldinho scored the game-winner on a penalty kick and AC Milan edged Cagliari, 4-3 on Sunday for its third straight win and fifth in its last six to climb to third in Italy's Serie A.
AC Milan won just two of its first seven league games this season, and dropped a Champions League match to Zurich in late September at the San Siro, but is unbeaten since in nine straight in all competitions.
Milan's run includes a 3-2 win at Real Madrid in the Champions League, and has the 17-time Italian champions within seven points of first-place Inter Milan.

AC Milan scored at least twice for the eighth time during its nine-game streak and Sunday's outburst was the first time the club has scored four goals this season.
Clarence Seedorf and Marco Borriello combined on the opener in the fifth, with Seedorf finishing from the center of the area to beat Cagliari goalie Federico Marchetti.
Alessandro Matri answered for Cagliari in the ninth, and Andrea Lazzari fired past Dida to hand the visitors the lead in the 30th before Milan scored three straight.

Pato helped set up Milan's third goal when he forced Marchetti to make a save, and Borriello was in the right place to head the rebound into the net in the 39th.
Pato found the net himself two minutes later, accepting a pass from Ronaldinho before shooting into the top corner.
Borriello drew a penalty in the 62nd that Ronaldinho converted to put AC Milan up two goals but Nene's 69th-minute goal for Cagliari left the result in doubt up to the final whistle.

It has been a fun of good result for Milan and great form showed by some of the players.Kaladze is totally ruin the chance given by Leo to him and put the most pathetic defending last night,with Nesta out injured it clearly show us how vulnerable we will be when the best in world isn't there to protect the defend.Thiago is looking nervous without Nesta guidance too and it also show how vital Nesta is to us.

With Ronnie,Pato and Boriello in superb form we manage to take this one in good attacking fashion.Dida is looking slightly shaky in the first with some unconvincing saves,but he redeem himself with a superb 2nd half.Something we should be focusing is Leo's act by introducing Strasser and Abate and refuse to slow down the pace of the match and intent to keep attacking and playing good football.Strasser come on to the surprise of us,Leo prove he is wiser in managing the youth players that we have by giving them a chance to at least show some of their ability.

A good run of great form by us and something we should continue come the Champions League Clash with Marseille in 2 days.Lets cheer forza Milan to them and hope for the great to not stopping till the end of season!!

Lazio 1-2 AC Milan

2009-11-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

Thiago Silva put the Milan ahead in the 21st minute before Alexandre Pato extended his team's lead before the break.
Lazio reduced the arrears in the 64th minute when Silva deflected Mauro Zarate's strike into his own goal.
The hosts had chances to level the score but Milan held on to claim all three points.
The outcome means it is four wins in the last five league games for Leonardo's Milan while Lazio are still searching for their first triumph since August 30.
The hosts went into the game on the back of a 4-1 midweek humiliation at Villarreal in the Europa League.

Davide Ballardini's men enjoyed a good start and should have taken an early lead.
Roberto Baronio's pass found an unmarked Tommaso Rocchi inside the area and he fired wide.
Shortly after, Aleksandar Kolarov's left-footed strike forced Dida to make a good save.
At the other end, Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera did well to keep out Massimo Oddo's strike from the edge of the area.
There was little Muslera could do to prevent the Rossoneri taking the lead as Silva latched onto a free-kick by Andrea Pirlo and nodded past Muslera.

The Rossoneri maintained the pressure and almost doubled their advantage soon after.
Pato did well to get behind Pirlo's cross from the right but his weak header proved an easy catch for Muslera.
The home side reacted and almost levelled the score on the half-hour mark when Zarate smashed in a powerful free-kick that Dida managed to palm over the bar.
Ten minutes before half-time and Pato made it 2-0.
Ronaldinho's cross found his fellow Brazilian inside the area and Pato's header went inside the top right-hand corner of the goal.

Dida made sure his team went into the break with a 2-0 lead, diving to his right to parry away Matuzalem's stinging drive from distance.
Ballardini made his first substitution after the re-start, with Julio Cruz replacing Stefano Mauri, but Milan's dominance continued in the second half.
Pirlo's curled free-kick went just over the bar.

Shortly after, Marco Borriello did well to control Pirlo's pass inside the area but was unable to fire on target.
On the hour mark, Massimo Ambrosini made a crucial clearance inside the area with Cruz ready to strike from close range.
Lazio reduced the deficit soon after, with Dida having no chance to save Zarate's deflected shot.

The goal inspired the hosts, who surged forward looking for an equaliser.
They were almost rewarded with 15 minutes remaining.
Meghni's cross from the left found Rocchi inside the area but his header went wide.
The visitors dominated the closing stages of the game.
Muslera made a great save to deny Flamini while the Lazio keeper was forced to fully stretch to clear Pato's bullet strike from the edge of the area in what was the last chance of the game.

Milan 1-1 Madrid

2009-11-04T01:27:00.000-08:00

Karim Benzema gave Real the lead in the 29th minute, but Ronaldinho replied with a penalty ten minutes before the break.

Alexandre Pato had a goal controversially disallowed moments later before Dida denied Raul a late winner in a dramatic game at the San Siro.

Both coaches chose form over tradition with their team selections. Filippo Inzaghi, just one goal short of Gerd Muller's all-time record of 69 goals in European competition, was left on the Milan bench with Leonardo preferring Marco Borriello, who scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Parma at the weekend.

And Raul, who is just one goal behind Inzaghi on 67, was also benched as Real coach Manuel Pellegrini keeping his faith in Gonzalo Higuain, whose brace earned three points against Getafe.

Kaka was given a warm reception on his return to the San Siro but, after he inspired Real to a bright start, that applause soon turned to jeers.

Sergio Ramos and Benzema both sent shots inches wide of the post, with keeper Dida clearly beaten on both occasions. Milan threatened against the run of play when Clarence Seedorf sent Pato clear on Iker Casillas, but the Real goalkeeper kept his composure to save with his right hand.

Real then took a deserved lead in the 29th minute when Kaka skipped past Seedorf, who practically invited him to shoot. His effort took a slight deflection off Thiago Silva, which probably did enough to prevent Dida from holding onto the ball. It spilled into the path of Benzema, who shot into the far corner from a tight angle.

Milan responded and were gifted the chance to equalise when Gianluca Zambrotta's cross hit the arm of Pepe, just a yard away from him, inside the penalty area. Referee Felix Brych pointed to the penalty spot and Ronaldinho blasted the ball into the roof of the net.

The game was transformed and Milan looked to capitalise with Pato scoring what looked like a perfectly valid goal, but Brych saw something he did not like in the build-up and ruled it out.

There had been such a pace to the first half that the second 45 minutes simply could not carry on in the same manner, and so it was that the game lost its way slightly.

The best chance for Milan was squandered by Inzaghi - who, like Raul, was sent on as a final throw of the dice.

He was on the end of an inviting cross from Massimo Oddo in the 84th minute, but Pepe did just enough to unsettle the Milan striker, who lifted the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range. And Dida saved Milan in the 89th minute with a fine reflex save to turn Raul's shot behind for a corner when it looked like the Spaniards were going to steal victory.

Boriello Time To Shine!!

2009-11-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Marco Borriello netted both goals as AC Milan moved up to fourth in Serie A with victory over Parma at the San Siro.
Borriello was the Rossoneri's hero in a lacklustre clash between two sides who showed more tiredness than lucidity in their third game in six days.
Borriello opened the scoring in the 12th minute and added the winner in stoppage time to give Milan the best possible result in preparation for the visit of Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Milan perhaps had an eye on that clash but that did not tempt coach Leonardo into making any unnecessary changes to his team.
The in-form Ronaldinho kept his place in attack, where Borriello replaced Filippo Inzaghi with Luca Antonini in for the suspended Ignazio Abate.
Parma lined up with Paloschi, who is half-owned by Milan, leading their attack alongside Valeri Bojinov.

And Paloschi had the first chance of the game in the 10th minute with a fine dipping shot from 25 yards that needed a fingertip save from Dida to divert onto the crossbar.

Milan went ahead from their first attack of the game two minutes later, with Ronaldinho given the freedom to cover 50 yards before threading the ball, via a deflection, into the path of Borriello, who placed his shot between the legs of Antonio Mirante.

Parma still looked dangerous, with Bojinov forcing a fine save out of Dida to keep the Rossoneri ahead in the 23rd minute.
Pato should have doubled Milan's lead after half an hour but he lacked the conviction to reach Massimo Oddo's cross from eight yards out and his tame header went wide of the far post.

Daniele Galloppa should have done better at the other end when he was found himself free in the penalty area but his shot was weak and straight at Dida.
It seemed like nobody was really determined to score as Borriello allowed the next chance to go begging when he just stood pondering his options rather than shooting with only Mirante to beat after he was found by Ronaldinho.

Milan should have had a penalty in the 69th minute when Pato slipped the ball between two Parma defenders and was tripped by Francesco Lunardini as he tried to follow the ball through but the referee waved play on.
That decision almost proved costly for Milan, who saw Paloschi break through at the other end and volley just wide.

But Parma simply did not have the ideas or the strength to make a game of it in a tedious second half in which Milan looked to conserve energy for their midweek Champions League game and Parma showed they are not used to having to play three games in a week.

Thiago Silva almost wrapped up the win three minutes from time when he headed against the crossbar from point-blank range.
Borriello did seal the win in stoppage time with a scissor-kick goal from another Ronaldinho assist.

Kaka Who? Who Cares When We Have Pato!!!

2009-10-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

Its the richest vs the poor,the striving vs the problematic,the stars vs the old legs but who cares?
at the end, it felt like a classic but mostly it had not been. Sixteen European Cups, two European Footballers of the Year, over a thousand European goals, and hundreds of millions worth of signings and yet for long periods this was a game defined by two goalkeeping errors. But two wonderful strikes and a final 15 minutes played in increasingly wide spaces led to a dramatic 88th-minute winner from Alexandre Pato that elevated the game to a status fitting of its billing as the “Derby of Europe”.

By the time the whistle went mistakes from Iker Casillas and, especially, Dida were forgotten. A wonderful goal from Andrea Pirlo had equalised Madrid’s opener.

A superb strike from Royston Drenthe equalised the goal that put Milan in the lead, to set up a rousing finish and a huge victory for Milan. Madrid had one disallowed for offside; so, more mysteriously, did Milan. And then, in the final minute, Pato volleyed home to make it 3-2.

After 15 minutes Gianluca Zambrotta appeared to go through Karim Benzema’s legs to challenge for the ball as the Frenchman closed in on the six-yard box. It looked like a penalty, but the Belgian referee Frank de Bleeckere signalled a goal-kick.

The decision bought whistles from the stands but Madrid did not need to wait long for the opening goal. It came on 19 minutes, thanks to an extraordinary mistake from Dida.

He easily got behind a weak shot from Esteban Granero, patted the ball down on to the turf and took a step forward only for the ball to hit his thigh and drop loose. Fifteen years and 711 Real Madrid games later, Raul’s legs may be slower, but there is nothing wrong with his mind and he dashed in to apply the finish for his 66th European Cup goal.

Watching Ronaldinho grow increasingly frustrated, unable to produce the magic he once could was a sad sight; Milan’s impotence looked complete. And then, suddenly, incredibly, just after the hour they were level. Pirlo collected the ball from a throw-in 35 yards out and took aim and the ball dipped and whistled past Casillas at his right-hand post. The silence spoke of surprise. It was only Milan’s second shot on target.

Their third came only four minutes later and with the same outcome. Ambrosini’s curling ball dropped beyond the hesitating Raul Albiol, Casillas came for it and misjudged it, allowing it to skid beyond him. Pato maintained his balance to roll it into an empty net.

We Are Back!!

2009-10-18T23:48:00.001-07:00

Ronaldinho inspired 10-man AC Milan to only their third win of the season with a come-from-behind 2-1 success against AS Roma at the San Siro.While the first half in Milan belonged to Roma's French winger Jeremy Menez, it was Ronaldinho who starred after the break, scoring one and creating the other -- and quite possibly saving countryman Leonardo's job as coach -- before captain Massimo Ambrosini was sent off late on.

The result moved Milan up to eighth in the Serie A table with Roma dropping to 11th.Roma, and Menez in particular, tore Milan apart in the first half.But it was with a helping hand from Milan centre-back Thiago Silva that the visitors went in front as Menez pounced on his fluffed back pass on three minutes and shrugged off the Brazilian's shirt pulling before beating goalkeeper Dida.A minute later Menez surged into the box again but this time his angle was more difficult and he shot straight at Dida.On 20 minutes he was in behind the defence a third time, however under pressure from Silva he shot wide as he fell.Moments later Daniele De Rossi drove forward unchallenged from midfield and brought a fine one-handed stop out of Dida.Menez burst into life again on 38 minutes as he teed up Mirko Vucinic, whose first touch was sublime to take him past Alessandro Nesta but he then hesitated and Dida blocked his weak shot.

Finally Milan created something on the counter-attack a minute later and Roma goalkeeper Doni had to tip a shot from Clarence Seedorf onto the post after the Dutchman benefited from a fortunate ricochet in the box.Leonardo had to react and he did by bringing on evergreen striker Filippo Inzaghi for midfielder Ignazio Abate and within two minutes Inzaghi's header from an Andrea Pirlo corner had been cleared off the line by David Pizarro.
Milan needed a helping hand to get back into the match and they got it with a highly contentious penalty award after Nesta crumbled under Nicolas Burdisso's challenge in the box.
Ronaldinho despatched the penalty on 56 minutes and the winner came from a moment of quality on 67 minutes as Ronaldinho's long diagonal ball found Pato, whose control on his chest was sublime and took John Arne Riise out of play before he rounded Doni and slotted home.

Its Ronaldinho night for sure,with Nesta as strong as ever we manage to overcome tough challenge from Roma.Pato,Abate,Thiago and Seedorf is at top form for this match too and its add to a more confidence display from Milan.
A step to the big clash with Real and i must say its a promising look comeback from the international week.
Some players is still looking doubtful but with Leo guide lets pray and hope for a big win and great showmanship in the match to come!!

Its The Pippo Factor!!

2009-09-16T00:11:00.000-07:00

Filippo Inzaghi scored twice, including the match-winner in the 74th minute, helping AC Milan pick up a huge road win Tuesday in its return to Champions League play, 2-1 at Marseille.
AC Milan missed the Champions League last season, but Inzaghi returned to form with his 67th and 68th career goals in European competitions.
Inzaghi scored the opener at the rainy Stade Velodrome, and shocked the French side with his second goal midway through the second half - which Marseille had dominated.
Gabriel Heinze scored Marseille's goal in the 49th, but now the French club is in a big hole in Group C, which also features Real Madrid.

Milan got control of the first half in the 28th when Inzaghi, an Italian World Cup winner, managed to stay onside before latching onto a perfect cross to the right post from Clarence Seedorf. Inzaghi placed a right-footed shot from just a few yards out inside the right post for his 67th goal in European play.
Marseille nearly answered before half, but AC Milan goalie Marco Storari made his only save in the opening 45 minutes to deny Benoit Cheyrou. The Marseille midfielder found enough space at the top of the area to unleash a left-footed shot, but Storari dove to his right to knock the ball wide.
The French side took control less than five minutes after the break, though, when Heinze headed a free kick from Cheyrou through Storari's legs in the 49th minute.

Lucho Gonzalez, who nearly leveled seconds earlier, earned a free kick on the right side and Cheyrou delivered a perfect pass to Heinze. The Argentine raced away from AC Milan defender Massimo Oddo and used the pace of the pass to snap a header down and past Storari.
Heinze's goal ignited the sold out crowd in Marseille, and the energy was also apparent on the field as the home side continued to pressure Milan in the hard soaking rain.
Cheyrou had one of the better chances in the following 10 minutes but his shot from the right, that was dipping inside the far post, was saved by Storari.

Although Marseille dominated the first 30 minutes of the second half, AC Milan created a quick scoring chance in the 74th and Inzaghi buried his second goal. Off a short free kick on the left, Milan found Seedorf on the top left edge of the area, and he chipped a quick pass to the far post to a charging Inzaghi.
Inzaghi slid in just in front of a Marseille player and poked the ball toward the left post from 10 yards out, hitting the back of the net for the 68th goal of his career in European competitions.
AC Milan held on the for the win, and sits behind Real on goal differential.

Fucking Bad Sign!!

2009-09-12T23:58:00.001-07:00

AC Milan were held to a dull 0-0 draw at promoted Livorno.

Leonardo's side, hammered 4-0 by Inter Milan in the derby before the international break, gave a first start to former Real Madrid striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar with Marco Borriello injured but they could not break down an organised defence.

Milan, who won their opening encounter at Siena, lacked creativity early on with Andrea Pirlo spending the first half on the bench after recent exertions for Italy.

He came on for the again ineffective Ronaldinho early in the second period and soon hit the bar with a free kick but it was the closest the visitors came. Huntelaar was also replaced by Filippo Inzaghi.

Livorno, who had two players with their names spelt incorrectly on the back of their shirt, threatened sporadically and could easily have won.

Stuttering Milan must now prepare for their return to the Champions League in the clash at Marseille on Tuesday.

This game resemble how bad things are for us now,The lack of idea,creativity,pace and penetration nearly cause us badly.Livorno is at the same level with us at every position,we failed to work it as what the hype before the season started that Leo will play an attractive type football.

If this is the attractive way of playing football perhaps we should quit staying up(for asian) just to see such an disgraceful display from the team.
Imagine if we dont have Thiago Silva to conduct the defend,we would have lose this match easily.Ronnie dont show any improvement(still bullshitting on the pitch)the wingbacks is horrible the midfield is jaded the striker lacks confidence.

The question is how long can we rely on this kind of form and hope to conquered Serie A and UCL?
Theres big problem from the top to the bottom of AC Milan but who is the one to blame??

Its 4-0 Defeat!!

2009-08-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

Inter Milan made clear their intention to retain the Serie A title, drubbing AC Milan 4-0 Saturday in a city derby that the Devils played for the most part with 10 men.
Brazilian Thiago Motta and Argentine Diego Milito, two arrivals from Genoa, had already put Inter up two goals when Gennaro Gattuso was sent off with a second yellow card.
A third goal sank the Devils' hopes before the break as Brazil defender Douglas Maicon beat Marco Storari off a Milito assist.

The win was secured in a matter of 15 minutes through an impressive display of offensive power that made Inter fans forget the embarrassing 1-1 home draw against promoted Bari that they had to watch a week earlier.
Milan had produced a good pressing in the first 20 minutes, threatening with a spurt from Frenchman Mathieu Flamini, while Brazilian Ronaldinho misfired off a precious feed from his fast compatriot Pato.
A further threat forced Inter's Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar to slap a dangerous cross to prevent Marco Borriello's close-range flick, but Inter gradually improved their game and secured the outcome before the break.

Motta opened the scoring on 29 minutes, stunning Storari with a classy volley off a piercing assist from Milito, who on 36 minutes converted a spot kick after Gattuso floored Samuel Eto'o as he headed for the goal off a long Maicon feed.
Inter's win was virtually secured 10 minutes later with the dismissal of Gattuso, who received a second yellow card for downing Dutch newcomer Wesley Sneijder.
With Milan on the ropes, Brazil defender Lucio had a tight-angle shot blocked by Storari before Maicon's third goal off yet another great assist from Milito.
There was little thrill in a second half that saw Inter control the game and beef up their tally through a
smashing long-range shot drilled by Serb Dejan Stankovic in the top right corner.

Its 11 vs 10(evev when 11 vs 11 we are pretty much pork shit),Some players looks a bit lost,Pirlo was not the creative head he always be,Borriello is stuck in upfront,Ronnie shows his unconsistant display once again.Flamini is the reason to smile for our midfield.The central defend lead by Nesta and Thiago looks steady but Janku is bullshitting out there on the pitch,perhaps now the baldie is starting to regret his decision to not buying any wingback this transfer season,Leonardo's early worries have come true thats his demand for Berlu to get a rock solid attacking wingbacks,as usual Berlu will deny his request and this first 2 match peformence by the wingbacks is a total disgrace.Theres a weakness in Milan's squad and no doubt about that but the 4-0 beating is a NIGHTMARE but if i can give a comfort word to us,i'll say we lose because Gattuso wasn't there(bad comforting words).2nd match and its the early sign of the bad beating to come through out the season.Pray for the last minutes buy Milanista. (^_^)

First Game..First Win..First Step

2009-08-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Alexandre Pato scored twice, each time set up by Ronaldinho, as We opened our Italian Serie A season with a 2-1 win at Siena on Saturday.
Pato opened the scoring in the 29th off a direct assist from fellow Brazilian Ronaldinho and added the game-winner early off an assist from Mathieu Flamini, who easily set up Pato after a brilliant pass from Ronaldinho.

We have lost the former FIFA World Player of the Year Kaka to Real Madrid, handed new coach Leonardo a win in his debut.
Milan had a few chances early, with Ronaldinho setting up Pato in the 29th on a perfect pass to open the scoring. Ronaldinho delivered a pass to the right side of the box for Pato, who picked out the left side and drove a shot off the hands of Siena goalie Gianluca Curci and into the left side of the net.

Our defensive players should be the one to blamed as Abdelkader Ghezzal tied the match just five minutes later. Lukas Jarolim set up the easy goal with a hard blast, which AC Milan goalie Marco Storari could only knock down in front of the net. Ghezzal slid in at the right post and drilled the rebound into the net.
Milan regrouped at halftime and regained the lead in the 47th when Ronaldinho set up Flamini and he provided Pato with an easy finish for his second goal of the match.

Massimo Maccarone had Siena's first scoring chance of the second half, but hit a shot well wide from just eight yards out.
Ronaldinho continued to display his vintage form in the 68th, settling a pass at the top of the area with his right leg and, with his back go goal, got off a bicycle kick that Curci had to knock away from the upper corner.

The first match that signified how comfortable Ronnie is as the Trequartista for us,his always sharp passing technique have made a clear different towards the match outcome.Pato's maturity is so vital and he have certainly shows the kinda result as we expected from him since the departure of Kaka.Pato have bring the sweet memory of watching the old Sheva,the passion and the awareness that he puts on is the reason we should not even think about selling him,the most lively player of the game.
Thiago Silva is the one that caught my eyes and his contribution last night brings a little bit of hope to out defensive line up and his strong display significantly improve the quality of the weaken backline of Milan.Nesta have been a little bit off form since he is just back from bad injury and is not looking good at the preseason game too.
The midfields is a little bit frustrating to see with Gattuso looking shaky and so do the Pirlo of all people but Flamini gave the most impression with the best match he have play for us,hardworking as ever and the engine behind Ronnie.Goodbye to seedorf if he continue playing like this and consistently making milan more and more steady at the midfield.

We have the players and the wise Leo to ensure a wonderful season ahead,but doesn't the squad look a little bit lacking in terms of subs if the Ronnie,Pato and Thiago get injured?

Huntelaar For Us..

2009-08-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

AC Milan reached a deal with Real Madrid to sign striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, ending the player's unhappy eight-month spell with the Spanish club.
The Dutch forward arrived in Milan Thursday to sign his new contract, and the club said he would have his medical exam on Friday.

"We have a deal with Real Madrid," Milan vice president Adriano Galliani told Italy's Sky Sport 24 TV channel. "All that's missing is the player's medical exams and the economic agreement with the player."

AC Milan and the city of Milan "hold a special place for us Dutch," the Italian news agency Apcom quoted Huntelaar as saying after he arrived at Malpensa airport.

"I know Marco Van Basten. He was my trainer at Ajax as well as for the national team," Huntelaar said, referring to the former Netherlands striker who spent much of his career with Milan in the late 1980s and early 90s.

"I really want to train and to begin a real adventure," Huntelaar said.
Galliani did not disclose details of the deal with Madrid, saying only that Huntelaar would not be on loan but would transfer permanently to Milan.
Madrid also confirmed Huntelaar's transfer on its Web site.

Spanish sports daily Marca reported Thursday that Milan was prepared to pay between euro15 million (C$23 million) and euro18 million (C$27.8 million) for Huntelaar in a deal welcomed by Madrid, which is keen to offload players before the start of the season.

Madrid has spent euro254 million ($392 million) on eight players including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka since Florentino Perez returned to the club presidency in June
So far, the club has raised a reported euro15 million (C$23 million) through the sales of Javier Saviola and Javi Garcia to Benfica and Daniel Parejo to Getafe.
Expected to follow Huntelaar out of Madrid is his compatriot Rafael van der Vaart.

There are doubts over the futures of three more Dutchmen - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder - together with Mali's Mahamadou Diarra.
Huntelaar, who turns 26 next week, made only 13 first-team starts after joining Madrid from Ajax for euro20 million (C$30.9 million) in December when Ramon Calderon was the Spanish club's president.

However, a miscalculation by Madrid meant Huntelaar was ineligible to play in the second stage of the Champions League. Madrid was unaware that clubs could only field one new player who had played in European competition earlier in the season. Midfielder Lassana Diarra, the team's other transfer window signing, was picked instead.

Madrid recently agreed to transfer Huntelaar to Stuttgart for a reported fee of euro18 million (C$27.8 million) but the Netherlands' striker rejected the move and the deal collapsed.

Dzeko Is Milan's Primary Target

2009-06-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

The Rossoneri have money to spend following their record-breaking sale of Brazilian superstar Kaka to Real Madrid.

While they are unlikely to reinvest all of the cash generated from that departure, they are keen to ensure that an adequate replacement is acquired.

Wolfsburg frontman Dzeko has been indentified as a suitable option and Milan are keen to step up their interest in the talented 23-year-old.

"We are still hopeful of getting him," said Milan general manager Adriano Galliani.

"The man himself should have a say about his future.

"It is difficult to keep a player who is unhappy, that is a rule which applies to everybody and is the law of the market."

THANKS PAOLO,THANKS CARLETTO AND THANK YOU GUYS

2009-05-31T21:24:00.000-07:00

AC Milan clinched the third automatic Champions League place after comfortably winning 2-0 at fourth-placed Fiorentina on a day of goodbyes for Serie A on Sunday.
Brazilians Kaka and Alexandre Pato netted in the second half in Paolo Maldini's last game before retirement and the final match in charge for Carlo Ancelotti, who is now widely expected to join Chelsea.

"Today is the moment to say thanks because this club has given me eight splendid years," Ancelotti told reporters.
The match was also David Beckham's last for Milan until at least the end of the year. He plans to return to the San Siro from parent club Los Angeles Galaxy if a deal is reached.
Fiorentina could have snatched third spot with a handsome win, which would have put them level with Milan but with a better head-to-head record, but instead they will have to settle for the Champions League qualifiers next term

Final season for Maldini and Carletto,overall the season's achievement have been quite hard to rate.The season first expectation is we will be fighting hard and won back the Serie A with the addition of RONALDINHO to Milan's line up,the other expectation is to won the Uefa Cup and claim the least silverware the europe can offer us.Tactics of our coach Carletto have been question again and again through out the season,so its not surprising for so many Ultras who have voice their dissapointment over the mix strategy and confusion Carletto have brought this season.

The injury of key players such as Nesta and Gattuso have gave the most negatif impact to Milan's progress in each cup we are fighting for,not to forget the shortage of power in upfront where Milan have not been impressive with the injury to Marco Borriello.
The up and down of players performence is something that i found very wierd in a way where the perform brilliantly for one match and failed to did the same in the folllowing weekend.Seedorf,Favvalli,Ambro,Pirlo,Ronnie,Sheva and even Kaka have sometimes failed to keep the good form going to even better.This have cause us the Uefa cup and Serie A.

The debate about the total clean up for Milan for the young players to get us back to winning form is still going hot.The decision to bring back the youth that we have loan out is the one the fans have welcome the most.The Becks factor have made us arguing of whether he will be a player worth wearing the Rossoneri jersey but he have us wrong with a consistent performence and gave milan the most critical help at the very critical time for us.I say he should dump Galaxy and come to Milan to play his last gasp of footie action before he call it quits.

The Kaka transfer saga to Man.city have gave us a few points to look at to.The interest Berlu have show in the money Man.city have put on the table and the keen Kaka and his family have show also made us become a little bit concern of how the outcome would be for us.He then decides to stay and pledge his future to Milan.Now we have finished 3rd and will be compiting in the Champions League.It will not going to be easy as what the Itallian have suffer this season.The new players the new look the new style the new philosophy will be add as Carletto bids farewell.

Carletoo,Thanks for many wonderful season that have make me cry in joy and pain.Thanks for the Serie A,Thanks for bringing in The champions league,Thanks for the sacrifise.Thank You Carletto.
Thanks To Il Capitano,Paolo will always be remebered as the best player ever in the history of the football,not even Pele and Marradonna can achieve such things as what he have contribute to Italy,Milan and the footballing world directly or indirectly.
Thanks friends for wonderful season of football from us,thanks for giving the very best comment and tagging the best videos,displaying the best and funniest photos and cheering the Forza Milan for so many days this season.

Your Truly
Mohammad 'Acu' Shukri

AC MILAN 2-3 AS ROMA(LET'S KILL THE REF!!)

2009-05-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Paolo Maldini's final Serie A appearance at the San Siro ended on a losing note as AC Milan slipped to a 3-2 defeat against Roma in a thrilling match.
The visitors twice lost the lead as Massimo Ambrosini scored a second-half brace before being sent off after Francesco Totti's 85th-minute winner.
The result seals Roma's place in the Europa League, while Milan are all-but certain of securing a spot in the Champions League group stages due to a vastly superior goal difference to Fiorentina, who go into the final round of matches three points adrift of a place in the top three.

Full-back John Arne Riise and French forward Jeremy Menez scored Roma's first two.
Pre-match talk revolved around Maldini's impending retirement and the continued speculation regarding manager Carlo Ancelotti's potential move to Chelsea and perhaps unsurprisingly it was Roma who started the game more focused.
With five minutes gone the lively Totti spotted a gap and drilled a shot just wide from 35 yards, before teeing up Philippe Mexes four minutes later, only for the centre-half to miss with a speculative attempt.

Totti continued to try his luck, again shooting from range as the home defence sat a little deep.
While his first attempts had been hopeful, the Italy striker made Rossoneri goalkeeper Dida work after half an hour, forcing a smart save from the Brazilian.
With nine minutes to go before the break, Riise went one better, burying a left-footed free-kick into the top corner from 30 yards.

With fans protesting loudly against owner Silvio Berlusconi and Milan continuing to suffer stage fright on Maldini's big day, things were close to getting even worse, with Mirko Vucinic unlucky not to make it 2-0 seconds before half-time.
Clarence Seedorf replaced David Beckham at the interval but the second half started slowly and it was not until the hour mark that the game truly cranked into gear, Andrea Pirlo lashing a right-footed drive just wide of the post.

Nevertheless, it was not until 15 minutes from time that the second goal was scored, Filippo Inzaghi laying the ball to Ambrosini for him to blast home from the centre of the box.
Parity lasted only five minutes with Menez collecting a Riise pass before burying the ball in the bottom corner.
By now, the action had sped up considerably and it was 2-2 within a minute.

Kaka was the provider this time, with Ambrosini again providing the finish.
The scene was set for Totti, perhaps unfortunate not to already on the scoreboard, and he gleefully claimed it, hammering home a free-kick with five minutes left to seal victory.
Ambrosini, meanwhile, blotted his copy book somewhat when he was sent off in the 88th minute

Never Stop Believing Milanistas

2009-05-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

Second-placed Milan failed to close the gap on Inter after going down to European-chasing Udinese to give Inter their fourth straight Scudetto and Jose Mourinho's first in charge.
Gaetano D'Agostino gave Udinese the lead on 31 minutes from the penalty spot after Paolo Maldini in his 900th appearance for Milan felled Antonio Floro Flores inside the box.

Things got worse for the visitors when Cristian Zapata doubled Udinese's lead three minutes after the break with a close-range volley.
Massimo Ambrosini pulled a goal back for AC Milan in the closing seconds, but it was too little too late for the Rossoneri as city rivals secured their 17th Serie A title.

Thats sum up the dull season of Serie A football,the winner is a team full of bullshit including the players,backroom staff and the owner.Now its the fight for the 2nd spot and by losing to Udinese,we have to compete with another merda to capture the automatic spot for The Champions League.

We the Milanistas want the proper transfer strategy to ensure next season's success,of course it will be the same battle between the merda and us but we have to be the scary team to play next season not like yesterday when Carletto said that Udinese is a tough team to play.

We tired of being second best in everything and making the best out of the transfer season by making WORLD CLASS purchased will only do goods for us not the opposite.
Lets pray for a better last few games and pray for a better next season.
Like my friend Vitmaver use to say..
Never Stop Believing...

AC MILAN 1-1 JUVENTUS(THE DREAM IS OVER)

2009-05-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

AC Milan failed to take advantage of city rivals Inter's slip-up at Chievo earlier on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Juventus.
Clarence Seedorf put the Rossoneri ahead in the 57th minute, but an equaliser three minutes later from Vincenzo Iaquinta meant Milan recovered only a point on Inter, who can now clinch their fourth Scudetto next Sunday regardless of Milan's result at Udinese 24 hours earlier.
And Milan ended the game with 10 men as Giuseppe Favalli was shown a second yellow card five minutes from time, while David Beckham will also miss the trip to Udine after picking up his fifth yellow card.
Mauro Camoranesi missed the first chance of the game in the 12th minute, volleying over the crossbar from 15 yards after Marco Marchionni's cross was headed down to him by Iaquinta.
Camoranesi was involved in the build-up to the Bianconeri's next chance in the 18th minute as he exchanged passes with Amauri before playing the ball into the path of Marchionni, but Mathieu Flamini did enough to put the Juve midfielder off with a desperate lunge at his feet.
Flamini once again saved the day for Milan as he got his body in between Iaquinta and the goal after Paolo Maldini had lost the Juve forward.
Milan had shown very little in attack with Filippo Inzaghi caught offside more than once, but he showed how dangerous he can be when he turned Giorgio Chiellini to volley over from Seedorf's lobbed pass.

Juve continued to keep Milan at a safe distance from their goal with Kaka forced to try his luck from distance and, although his 29th-minute shot moved a lot in the air, it was still easy pickings for Gianluigi Buffon.
Christian Poulsen then missed the first big chance of the game in the 36th minute, pulling his shot wide of the post from 20 yards out with his weaker left foot.
Inzaghi should have put the Rossoneri ahead early in the second half when he reached Beckham's corner unmarked just in front of the goal, but he did not make the best of contact with his head and the ball soared harmlessly wide of the post.

An equally good chance went begging at the other end as Amauri failed to score when Iaquinta's shot was fumbled by Zeljko Kalac, but once again Flamini was in close attendance and just did enough to put Amauri off.
The game came to life just after Seedorf missed a gilt-edged chance with a path opening up in front of him, but the Dutchman sliced his shot embarrassingly wide.
He had reason to celebrate in the 57th minute, though, when he put Milan ahead.
Inzaghi this time could not be offside as he started his run forward from inside his own half before pulling the ball back to Massimo Ambrosini, whose sliced shot landed right in front of Seedorf and this time he really could not miss from just a few yards out.

Milan's lead lasted just three minutes before Iaquinta headed Juve level, showing great bravery and determination to hold off Flamini and meet Camoranesi's cross just in front of Kalac.
The home side were unable to pick up the reins to the game again, despite their coach Carlo Ancelotti sending Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho on for Beckham and Inzaghi while they ended the game with 10 men when Favalli picked up his second yellow card for a foul from behind on Alessandro Del Piero.
The result leaves second-placed Milan four points clear of their opponents, but seven behind Inter.

AC MILAN 2-0 CATANIA

2009-05-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

AC Milan kept its title hopes alive on Sunday with a comfortable 2-0 win over Catania at Stadio Angelo Massimino.
Filippo Inzaghi scored midway through the opening half and Kaka added a second goal shortly after the restart, while the final margin could have been more if not for the woodwork.
The win moves Milan to within seven points of leader Inter Milan, with Catania staying in 15th, 11 points above the drop.

Milan dodged an early bullet from a Catania corner kick seven minutes into the game as the ball was played to the back post and nodded towards the front of goal by Jorge Andres Martinez.
Milan's Giuseppe Favalli tried to head the ball away, but he instead turned it towards goal, watching it crash off the post and stay out.
The Rossoneri came close to scoring from their own corner kick four minutes later as David Beckham lofted a high ball into the center of the box for Paolo Maldini, who sent a looping header over the head of goalkeeper Tomas Kosicky, only for the ball to be cleared off the line by Mariano Izco.

The breakthrough came midway through the half after a Catania turnover in midfield allowed Kaka to carry the ball down the right and cut towards the top of the box. He then slipped a pass between two defenders to Inzaghi, who stabbed the ball into the bottom right corner.
The Italian striker had a chance to add to his tally five minutes before the break when Andrea Pirlo got to the end line and drew the keeper before lobbing a cross to the far post for Inzaghi, whose header from a few yards failed to hit the empty net.
The second half started well for Catania as substitute Giacomo Tedesco went close with a 25-yard effort, while Giuseppe Mascara shot well over from a free kick.
However, Milan added a second goal in the 52nd minute when Massimo Ambrosini's left-wing cross was headed on goal by Beckham, and although Kosicky was able to make the stop, he could only parry the ball into the path of Kaka, who was left with an easy finish from three yards.
Marek Jankulovski then floated a shot on goal from the left side of the box that forced Kosicky to tip the ball over the crossbar, while Kaka set up Inzaghi with a great chance from right in front of goal, but he put it over the net from four yards.
Inzaghi was denied a second goal in the 66th minute when his shot was deflected off the post by the keeper, while a brilliant effort from Kaka one minute later came back off the woodwork.
The home side had no way back into the match despite being let off by some poor Milan finishing and they have now dropped four of their last five games

2009-04-26T22:40:00.001-07:00

AC MILAN 3-0 PALERMO

AC Milan opened up an advantage on third-placed Juventus with a comfortable 3-0 win over 10-man Palermo at the San Siro.
A penalty from Kaka and a header from Filippo Inzaghi ensured Milan were already firmly in control before Cesare Bovo received his marching orders three minutes into the second half.
Kaka, who seemed back to his best after an injury-plagued few months, slotted home another penalty eight minutes later to seal the victory.
It was sweet revenge for Milan who were humiliated 3-1 at Palermo earlier in the year, and it leaves them two points above Juve who drew 2-2 at Reggina today.
Palermo barely had a sight of goal and remain three points behind sixth-place Roma who occupy the last Europa League berth.
Milan might have deserved the three points but Palermo will feel aggrieved at their 10th-minute opener as it seemed a harsh decision to award a penalty when Mattia Cassani caught Luca Ambrosini as he leapt up in an attempt to reach David Beckham's long ball.
Kaka stepped up to lash home a good penalty which squeezed in between Marco Amelia and his left post, leaving the Palermo goalkeeper no chance.
The hosts doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Kaka produced a great flick over the Palermo defence to Ambrosini who crossed in for Inzaghi to head home his 150th Serie A goal.
Palermo's best chance of the half came in the 32nd minute when a powerful Fabrizio Miccoli free-kick flew just wide from 35 yards.
The visitors also went close six minutes later but Milan goalkeeper Dida was well placed to save Giulio Migliaccio's close-range header.
A swift counter-attack was almost finished by Inzaghi who would have gone clear on goal but for a good tackle by Bovo.

However, the Palermo defender swiftly went from hero to villain after a rash tackle on Kaka earned him a second yellow card.
That did not bode well for the visitors with Milan boasting the best attacking record of the season so far and Palermo were forced to play even more defensively. Indeed, they had only three shots on goal - and all off target - for the rest of the match.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors in the 56th minute when Milan were awarded a second penalty when Federico Balzaretti held back Kaka in the area.
The Milan playmaker stepped up to the spot once again and fired a powerful shot straight down the middle.
The Rossoneri came close to increasing the scoreline on several occasions with the most notable being a lovely shot from Andrea Pirlo which flew just wide and an impressive effort from Ronaldinho which substitute goalkeeper Samir Ujkani did well to save.
Milan almost capped a good day with a spectacular goal four minutes from time when a clever one-two between Kaka and Ronaldinho resulted in the latter flicking the ball into the area to Gianluca Zambrotta who dribbled past three defenders before unleashing a shot but Ujkani pulled off another good save.

CEASARE MALDINI: "MILAN ARE MONITORING PALERMO'S YOUTH SIMON KJAER"

Palermo pay visit to AC Milan this afternoon and the Stadio San Siro crowd will have a chance to take a closer look at central defender Simon Kjaer, who has often been associated with a move to the Lombardy giants in recent weeks.
The 20-year-old has made quite an impact since arriving in Italy last summer and several top European sides are said to be keeping tabs on him.
Milan are also rumoured to be in the frame and Rossoneri scout and former Italy boss Cesare Maldini believes Kjaer has what it takes to cut the mustard at the highest level.
“He is an excellent defender,” Maldini enthused in an interview with Il Giornale di Sicilia.
“He is very strong and Milan are closely following him, just like they are following other players. Kjaer is dynamic, fast and elegant, but is also very aggressive and precise.
“He is a classic centre-back and I advise Palermo to keep hold of him for a long time.”

I WILL STAY IF MILAN ACCEPT MY WISHLIST

2009-04-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

Carlo Ancelotti is ready to stay with AC Milan - if they're prepared to accept his shopping list.
While an offer from Chelsea remains on the table, Ancelotti has assured Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani he's prepared to stay next season if they make the right signings.
La Repubblica says in their summit last week, Ancelotti demanded three big money signings - a centre-forward, along with two defenders.
Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor tops the attacking shortlist, while Lille youngster Adi Rami is also regarded highly by Ancelotti.
A new 12-month contract extension is also being drawn up for Ancelotti, which would see him through to 2011.

Hell yeah,we still need Carletto at Milan and by making good buy it will not only benefited the club but the owner as well.Enough of the useless players we have at our disposal,now its time to look forward and buing the right players according to Carletto's planning.
Stop buy the old legs too,Maldini will retire and the one who should replace him is not another old player.
The time have come,Milanistas is waiting for a change.Big change.

MILAN 5(STARS)-1 TORINO

2009-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

AC Milan leapt above Juventus into second place in Serie A thanks to an impressive 5-1 win over Torino.
Filippo Inzaghi was Milan's hero with a hat-trick, aided twice by the vision and skill of David Beckham.
Kaka added a fourth from the penalty spot in a one-sided game before Ivan Franceschini claimed a consolation goal 10 minutes from time.
But Massimo Ambrosini restored Milan's four-goal advantage with the last kick of the game as Carlo Ancelotti's side joined Juve on 64 points, 10 behind runaway leaders Inter Milan.
Beckham was back in the starting XI after sitting out Milan's last two Serie A matches and he made an immediate impact.
His free-kick was headed in by Inzaghi, but the goal was ruled out for a clear offside.
However, the same combination tore through the Torino defence with ease and regularity and there could be no doubt that Inzaghi's second goal, from a Beckham corner, was valid in the 13th minute.
Another accurate, long ball from Beckham again found Inzaghi, whose header this time lacked the required power to cause Matteo Sereni any problems in the Torino goal.
Kaka then turned provider for Inzaghi's next chance in the 28th minute, but again he could not get enough power on his shot, this time with his foot.

Moments later, Alexandre Pato got caught in two minds whether to shoot or play the ball square to Inzaghi after being found by Andrea Pirlo and the result was neither as his weak volley cleared the crossbar.
Inzaghi scored his second in the 37th minute with much of the credit again going to Beckham.
The England international could himself
have shot from 20 yards out and that is what the Torino defence expected, but he instead lifted the ball right onto the head of Inzaghi, who simply diverted it into the top corner of Sereni's goal.
Beckham had transformed a Milan side which had struggled to narrow wins over Lecce and Chievo in recent weeks.
There seemed to be no stopping the Rossoneri in this game and Inzaghi soon completed his hat-trick.

This time it was half-time substitute Ronaldinho who provided the assist for Milan's number nine, who netted his 11th goal of the season, his second hat-trick, by lifting the ball delicately over a forlorn, defenceless Sereni.
Inzaghi was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by Andriy Shevchenko in the 65th minute after making his telling contribution to help lift Milan up to second place.
But there was more to come even without Inzaghi.
Ambrosini earned a penalty when he was fouled by Sereni and Kaka converted the penalty in the 68th minute.
Franceschini then grabbed a consolation for Torino with practically their first chance of the evening in the 81st minute before Ambrosini capped another perfect team move with the finish to make it 5-1 and lift Milan above Juventus into second place.

ANOTHER ADEBAYOR RUMORS

2009-04-19T06:36:00.000-07:00

Serie A giants AC Milan are set to reignite their interest in Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor by opening negotiations with the Premier League club, with Rossoneri owner Silvio Berlusconi ready to step in should the deal become complicated, according to the Daily Mail.
The Milanese club had tried to lure Togolese International Adebayor away from the Emirates Stadium last summer. It understood that the Gunners demanded £35million for the striker, which caused the interest to bring Adebayor to the San Siro to cool.
Barcelona had also been interested in 25-year-old Adebayor last summer, but also pulled out of the running after meeting with the striker, who is believed to have demanded huge personal terms to leave Arsenal for the Blaugrana.

Now it is said that Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti is still keen on recruiting Adebayor to the San Siro, with an offer in the region of €35million being mooted. Ancelotti wants to pair Adebayor with young Brazilian Alexandre Pato and has Berlusconi onside to provide the financial clout if needed.
Under contract at the Emirates until the summer of 2012, having put pen to paper on a new deal at the Gunners last summer. Adebayor has scored 62 goals in 137 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions since his arrival from Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2006.
However, with Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claiming recently that the Rossoneri would not be spending huge sums of money in the summer. It remains to be seen if Ancelotti, will land Adebayor, who is believed to have many fans within the San Siro.

SEEDORF'S STUNNER

2009-04-12T02:26:00.000-07:00

Clarence Seedorf rounded off a glorious team goal to sink struggling Chievo 1-0 and strengthen AC Milan's bid for Champions League qualification.
The veteran Dutchman guided the ball past Stefano Sorrentino early in the second half after Marek Jankulovski and Filippo Inzaghi had both turned down shooting chances to set him up.
Milan did not have it all their own way, though, and boss Carlo Ancelotti had to watch most of the game from the stands after protesting too much over a first-half free-kick.
And he was forced to endure a nervous finish, Sergio Pellissier seeing what would have been an equaliser ruled out for offside and Dida brilliantly saving from Giuseppe Colucci.
Chievo started brightly and Philippe Senderos had to be alert to cut out Giampiero Pinzi's pass before it found Pellissier closing in on goal after just four minutes.
At the other end Inzaghi reacted quickest after Andrea Pirlo's free-kick deflected off the wall, but his header was off target.
Dida made his first crucial contribution to push Pinzi's header from Pellissier's cross over the bar before Ancelotti was sent from the touchline in the 37th minute.
He almost saw his side go ahead six minutes later when Sorrentino dropped Gianluca Zambrotta's cross amid a crowd of players, Santiago Morero hacking the ball away for a corner.
Milan were starting to find their rhythm and fine play from Kaka earned them a free-kick five minutes after the break.
Pirlo took the set-piece and forced an excellent low save from Sorrentino.
The Chievo goalkeeper was powerless to prevent a picture-book Milan opener in the 53rd minute, though.
Alexandre Pato raced down the left wing before passing to Jankulovski, who decided against shooting and passed to Inzaghi at the far post.
The evergreen frontman also opted not to pull the trigger, instead pulling the ball back to Seedorf on the edge of the area whose precise shot beat Sorrentino.
Chievo showed real spirit in their attempts to get back on level terms and Giuseppe Favalli had to clear hurriedly after Dida had spilt a Colucci shot.
Pellissier then found the net from a free-kick in the 66th minute, but the effort was disallowed as both Santiago Morero and Erjon Bogdani were in offside positions.
Andrea Mantovani kept Chievo in the contest when he cut out Kaka's cross, heading the ball narrowly over his own crossbar with Sorrentino nowhere.
And that intervention might have proved crucial were it not for a splendid late save from Dida.
Four minutes after Pellissier had fired a left-footed shot just over his crossbar, the Brazilian did superbly to deny Colucci after the Chievo man had found himself in space on the edge of the area.
But that chance with 12 minutes remaining was Chievo's last of the game as Milan closed out the win and strengthened their grip on third place.

LATE GOALS SAVES OUR BUTT

2009-04-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

Two late goals broke Lecce hearts as AC Milan cemented their grip on third place in Serie A with a last-gasp 2-0 win at the San Siro.
Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi scored in second-half stoppage time to move Milan to within five points of second-placed Juventus, who were held to a draw earlier in the day.
Lecce arguably had the better chances of a lacklustre contest which only came to life when the 90 minutes were up, but the visitors nevertheless left beaten and still mired in the bottom three.
David Beckham was named on the bench for the first time since joining Milan in January with Kaka returning to the starting XI.
Beckham sat alongside Ronaldinho and Andriy Shevchenko on a star-studded bench but it was the latter pair who saw action as the England international stayed on the sidelines for the full 90 minutes.
Milan lacked creativity up front with Alexandre Pato and Inzaghi failing to spark.
There were even fewer chances at the other end as Lecce rarely managed to break free. The closest they came to scoring in the opening period was from Simone Tiribocchi's speculative volley after 10 minutes.
It was perhaps a sign of desperation that Pato tried his luck from fully 30 yards in the 34th minute, although the effort surprised Lecce goalkeeper Francesco Benussi who had to scurry across his line as the ball curled just inches wide.
Pato almost put the home side ahead with a determined run from deep late in the first half but he fired wide of the far post with only Benussi to beat.

Mathieu Flamini missed the first opportunity of the second half for Milan, coach Carlo Ancelotti rang the changes by brining on Ronaldinho for the ineffective Clarence Seedorf.
Ronaldinho was soon into the action and it was his crossfield ball to Gianluca Zambrotta which was the starting point for Milan's best chance of the half as the Italy full-back crossed for Pato who fluffed his lines from eight yards.
Gianni Munari forced Milan goalkeeper Dida into a good stop from a Tiziano Polenghi cross in the 62nd minute before Munari turned provider for Tiribocchi to head a glorious chance wide.
Benussi made a spectacular save to push a Ronaldinho free-kick away three minutes from time, but he could do little about the breakthrough goal from the Brazilian moments later.
Philippe Senderos was unlucky not to be the man celebrating the goal for Milan as his goal-bound header nicked off the head of Ronaldinho and into the net.
Just to rub salt into Lecce's wounds, Inzaghi added a second for the hosts moments later, heading in a cross from Shevchenko to seal the win.
Late winner no more than another doubtful performence from us and with Genoa is edging closer and closer,we should have put a more convinsing display.
A win is awin but the top three finished is a must and slipping out from the top three is an absolute embarassment and should not be allowed to happened.
http://acmilan-fanatic.blogspot.com

Straight talk with Daniele Massaro,The lowdown on A.C. Milan versus Inter, and the future of Italian soccer

2009-04-03T01:30:00.000-07:00

Straight talk with Daniele Massaro
The lowdown on A.C. Milan versus Inter, and the future of Italian soccer

“Santon is the next Maldini and should be playing on the National team right away. Lippi should focus on youth, and try to improve the play of his squad, because it is unthinkable that they could win another World Cup playing the way they did in 2006.”
This is according to former Italian soccer player Daniele Massaro, who is now in charge of public relations for A.C. Milan and is a commentator on the Italian soccer TV program La giostra del gol. Massaro is currently in Canada for the inauguration of the Milan Sports Centre, and his visit was an opportunity for Corriere Canadese/Tandem to talk to him about the future of soccer in Italy, and about Italy’s famous rivals: A.C. Milan and Inter Milan.
When it comes to Inter, Mazzaro admits that, “barring any unforeseen circumstances, [A.C. Milan] will once again take home the scudetto this season.” He also admits to having a soft spot for Inter’s new star player Davide Santon, whose style of play reminds him of some of the greatest Italian soccer players ever, from Facchetti to Baresi, up to and including his A.C. Milan captain Paolo Maldini.

Let’s begin with the Italian league. The big teams are out of the Champions League. Is it true that Italian soccer is on the decline?
“Our [league] is going through a unique period. Although many stars have played in Serie A, we’re not currently playing the role of protagonist in Europe. In Italy in the past few years, we’ve been sort of sitting back to watch Inter – a superpower on paper and sometimes on the pitch – in their conquests of the scudetto. They are a team that depend a lot on the feats of their striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.”
What can Italian soccer do in order to win on international pitches?
“The only solution is to win. When I played, we often faced teams with superior skills. Now, apart from the odd young player who’s at the top of his game, we don’t have a great amount of quality. The problems are due to various reasons but a contributing factor has been that many stars have gone to Spain or England rather than to Italy. The job of team directors will now have to be to acquire players who can make a difference, while taking into account the bottom line. It’s sort of what Milan did with Pato a few years ago.”In an interview last year, you said that Inter made the best acquisition when they brought on Jose Mourinho as manager. Do you still hold the same opinion after his negative comments about the team?
“In some regards, yes, because having a specific plan and discipline has benefited this team. It should also be mentioned that people change, and he has changed a lot. But it’s not just his fault. The media has created the persona, and he has allowed himself to exaggerate and say strong words about Italian soccer and about some of our important personnel.”
In terms of players, who has impressed you most?
“I’ve seen many good players, from the rebirth of Pazzini to Motta, from the bursting onto the scene of Santon - who I think will have a career like Facchetti, Baresi, and like Maldini. I see 20 years of stardom for him because he has the right attitude, the humility, and he realizes he has been given a great opportunity.”
Does it anger you that Maldini’s heir plays for Inter?
“He’s a good player – a valid outside back who so far has displayed talent and good offensive skills. And he’s improving greatly on defense as well. I’ve seen him face very strong opposition without any hesitation, and he has always moved well. Seeing someone like that playing for Inter isn’t pleasing, but [A.C. Milan] also have a strong 19-year-old destined to become one of the top players in the world: Pato.”
What about Balotelli? He’s a huge talent, but do you think he’s still too immature, character-wise, to prove himself at the top levels?
“Everyone gets his or her chances. I think Balotelli has understood that having skills doesn’t mean one is a superstar. To become a determining player, one must be a star both on and off the pitch. For now, he has displayed some good skills, but to prove himself, he has to get produce some good results and leave aside some of that behaviour that his coach is very familiar with.”
And what can you tell us about Milan? It’s been a strange – and very unlucky – season“It has certainly not been the best season of the Berlusconi era. The minimum objective now is to finish third and qualify for the Champions League. Then we’ll decide about the future. The team needs to be rebuilt, and there will surely be changes and some important acquisitions.”
For defense, you acquired Thiago Silva. Is that enough, considering Nesta’s recurring injuries?
“I’d say no, given that next season we’ll be playing more games and we will need a larger roster. Let’s not forget that just this year, we’ve been decimated by injuries. And in the long run, not having our best players has taken its toll.”
Will the future continue to be with Carlo Ancelotti?
“I think so. He still has a year left on his contract with Milan and I think it’s right to stay with him.”
Let’s talk about the national team. You were very young when you debuted with the blue jersey. If you were Lippi, would you take a chance on the youth?
“There are young players who made an appearance and then disappeared. There are others, though, who deserve to play even now. Santon, for example, has been playing well for some time now and is a sure thing. I would include him on the Azzurri roster.”
And what do you think of Cassano?
“Each time players are summoned to the national team, the talk is about who isn’t there – about Amauri, about Cassano, and even Santon. I think that Lippi considers the young Inter defenseman one of the best potentials and is keeping an eye on him for the next World Cup. Over the next few months, Lippi will have time to experiment and test the quality and consistency of players such as Motta who until a few months ago, was a sub on Udinese. Santon has more experience and is not a gamble but a guarantee.”
Can this national team aspire to great achievements, or will it suffer the way our club teams have?
“They certainly cannot hope to regain a World Cup playing the way they did the last one. They will have to play better, considering that the other national teams are improving. We can’t hope to win again, thanks to luck and a good style of play that in 2006 was only evident in flashes, unfortunately.”

WORLD'S RICHEST FOOTBALLER

2009-03-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

1. David Beckham (Milan): £30.1m

2. Lionel Messi (Barcelona): £26.6m

3. Ronaldinho (Milan): £18.2m

4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United): £17.02m

5. Thierry Henry (Barcelona): £15.82m

6. Kaka (Milan): £13.07m

7. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter): £13.03

8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United): £12.56

9. Frank Lampard (Chelsea): £12.10

10. John Terry (Chelsea): £10.89

£35 MILLION FOR ADEBAYOR?

2009-03-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

AC Milan are hatching a plan to lure Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor to Italy, according to reports. Il Corriere Dello Sport claims Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, who also has Gunners left back Gael Clichy on his radar, is devising a master plan to convince Arsene Wenger to part with the £35million-rated Adebayor.But the striker signed a long-term contract with Arsenal last summer after fervent transfer speculation, which was reported to have doubled his wages to £80,000-a-week. Adebayor, 25, is currently in Accra, Ghana, with the Togo squad ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Cameroon. Togo coach, Jean Thissen, risks sparking a club versus country row with Wenger by playing Adebayor in the match, as the striker has been out of action since the start of February with a hamstring problem.

Thissen said: 'Ade did not come here for nothing, he is here to play against Cameroon.

'He is the main man for the national team. He is my captain, the nation can count on him.

'He has always given his best for the country so he will be a boost to the squad. He is a wonderful player.'

Milan are poised to launch a spectacular £12million summer swoop for Clichy - after the Frenchman hinted he could be interested in a move to Italy.Ancelotti is understood to have identified the 23-year-old as Paolo Maldini's long-term replacement.Although Clichy insists he is enjoying life at Emirates Stadium, his appreciation of Milan's interest has left the door open for a bid.

'I am very happy at Arsenal,' Clichy said. 'It is true AC Milan are a great club. It is flattering to know you are followed by such a team.'

Clichy would join former England captain David Beckham at the San Siro if the France star completed the move to Italy. Former Manchester United hero Becks has secured a bizarre 'time-share' loan agreement between U.S. club LA Galaxy and AC Milan which has allowed him to remain in Italy.The Gunners, who lost Mathieu Flamini to the Italian giants last year, may also have to fend off interest in midfielder Amaury Bischoff, who has struggled to break into the first team following his move from Werder Bremen last summer.Pascal Granier, Bischoff's agent, said: 'We have clubs interested in Amaury, there are plenty of clubs in Europe interested in my players. I have links in France, Germany and even in England for my players. We just need to wait a bit and sit down with Bischoff and we will decide his future.'

KANOUTE FLATTERED BY MILAN RUMORS

2009-03-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute admits he is flattered to be linked with a possible move to AC Milan.

Reports emanating from Spain suggest Milan have lined up Kanoute as a potential transfer target in the summer.The 31-year-old's current contract with Sevilla expires in 2010 and the Spanish side are thought to be keen on extending his deal.Milan are in the market for a new striker and Kanoute has admitted he would find it hard to turn down a move to the Italian giants.

"I am aware of all this transfer talk," Kanoute toldskysports.com.

"My ambition has always been to play for a big and quality team and to be linked to Milan is a fantastic feeling.

"I always said I like Sevilla, the quality of life is fantastic and I love the place.

"I feel very good here, but you never know.

"I am 31 years old now so who knows, but the link with Milan is fantastic.

"This is one of the biggest teams with so many wonderful footballers.

"When you think about the chances you will get in games, you can just dream, we should wait until the end of the season."

WE STILL AT THIRD PLACE(FOR NOW)!

2009-03-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Napoli had a valid goal disallowed in the first half and came the closest to breaking the deadlock in a tense encounter at the Stadio San Paolo, but they remain without a win in more than two months now.

Meanwhile, Milan can almost certainly now write off their hopes of lifting the Serie A title as they now trail Inter by 14 points with nine games of the season remaining.

Napoli had Daniele Mannini back in their team after his two-year suspension for reporting late for a doping test was overturned this week.

And he was the star of a very tight opening, creating the only chances for Napoli.

He had the first shot of the game in the 23rd minute, but missed the target from 20 yards.

Milan rarely threatened, although Nicolas Navarro had to be alert to push David Beckham's cross away from Filippo Inzaghi before tipping a curling effort from Clarence Seedorf over the crossbar on the half-hour mark.

Dida, who was back in the Milan goal and starting his first league game in 14 months, replied with a similar save to deny Ezequiel Lavezzi.

From the resulting corner, Zalayeta's goalbound header was touched in by Marek Hamsik, but the goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Mannini continued to provide the most dangerous moments for the home team with his ball into the penalty area tempting an acrobatic volley out of Zalayeta, but he failed to direct the ball goalwards on the stretch in mid air.

Zalayeta then received another ball from Mannini, but was thwarted twice by Dida, who failed to keep hold of the Uruguayan's first effort, but recovered to block his follow-up.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti threw Ronaldinho and Kaka onto the field to try and add a new dimension to his attack, but the front three remained lifeless.

Pato found himself having to retreat into a position where he could never be a threat to the Napoli defence while Beckham was not seeing enough of the ball out wide either.

He was becoming increasingly frustrated and took it out on Napoli midfielder Manuele Blasi as the game risked boiling over in the final five minutes.

Beckham almost had the last laugh, though, as he made Navarro work for practically the first time in the game with a free-kick in stoppage time which seemed to be heading just inside his near post.

But Milan could not find the winner as they recovered only a single point on league leaders Inter and second-placed Juventus in the race for the Scudetto which now seems to be reduced to just two teams.

Napoli remain winless since January 11, but coach Roberto Donadoni will have seen more positives than negatives from this goalless draw.

Dissapointing for game for us and to make things worst,Genoa is just 4 point behind milan.I think all of you milanistas have heard about the cut in the next season change,if we can called it reconstruction.Milan have continue to keep the third place but for how long?

WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT AT MILAN (VITMAVER)

2009-03-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

CHOOSE WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT @ MILAN

We all have many suggestions on which star players to bring into Milan this summer in order to improve our club into the world-beating superpower it was before. However, another side of proper player management is also the transfer of players who are under-performing or unfit to wear the prestigious AC Milan colors.

to keep everything simple, we would like you to choose which 3 (three) players per category that YOU think DESERVES to WEAR the AC Milan jersey.

again. pick the 3 players out of 5 choices per category who you think SHOULD STAY with AC Milan. The other 2 that you did not chose, do not deserve to be at Milan.

the categories are:

DEFENDERS: Kaladze, Bonera, Antonini, Favali, Senderos

DEFENSIVE MID: Emerson, Gattuso, Flamini, Pirlo, Ambrosini

ATTACKING MID: Kaka, Ronaldinho, Gourcuff, Beckham, Seedorf

STRIKERS: Pato, Inzaghi, Shevchenko, Borriello, Paloschi

pick 3 out of 5 to who are "HOT" and should stay and the other 2 you don't pick are "NOT" and should leave. We look forward to everyone's choices!

Forza Milan!

*Maldini, Nesta, Zambrotta, and Jankulovski are exempted because they have no "real/true" replacements currently. Viudez, Cardacio, and Darmian are also exempted because of a lack of play time and it would be unfair to judge them presently.

please list your answers as:

DF: 1, 2, 3
DM: 1, 2, 3
AM: 1, 2, 3
ST: 1, 2, 3

AC MILAN 5-1 SIENA

2009-03-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Filippo Inzaghi scored a pair of goals, including the 300th of his career, to lead AC Milan to an easy 5-1 win over Siena at Artemio Franchi on Sunday.
Andrea Pirlo scored from the penalty spot after seven minutes and Inzaghi scored goal number 299 right before halftime to put Milan up two goals at the break.
Pato made it a three-goal game in the 55th minute before Massimo Maccarone pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Inzaghi's historic goal in the 71st minute restored Milan's three-goal lead, while Pato added another with 12 minutes to play.
The result helps Milan move to within five points of second-place Juventus, while the Rossoneri owns a six-point lead on fourth-place Genoa.
Milan didn't create a ton of chances in the first half, but they made the most of the openings they had.
Mathieu Flamini drew a penalty six minutes into the game on Siena's Jardim Brandao, and Pirlo stepped up and drilled the spot kick into the bottom left corner for his first goal of the season.
Siena had more chances in the half, but it was Milan that doubled its lead right before the break when David Beckham's corner was volleyed home by Inzaghi from the top of the six-yard box.
Pato then scored a wonderful goal from 35 yards as he found the bottom right corner, but Maccarone gave the hosts a bit of hope when he took a pass from Juan Camilo Zuniga at the top of the box and created enough space to roll the ball inside the right post.
However, Inzaghi snuffed out any chance of a comeback with his milestone goal, taking a pass from Pirlo inside the box on the right and turning the ball past goalkeeper Gianluca Curci at the near post.
The scoring was then capped off in the 78th minute when Ronaldinho's long pass was touched around the keeper by Pato and rolled into the empty net.
Problems for Christian Abbiati. During the match against Siena, the AC Milan goalkeeper crashed into teammate Favalli and suffered a knee injury. Dida replaced him.
His season is probably over. Abbiati had a distortion in the right knee with involvement of the ligaments. He will have another check up soon, but it will be difficult to see him on the pitch again this season.

Pippo Inzaghi was delighted with his brace in AC Milan's thumping of Siena yesterday.
“I feel as happy as a kid at Christmas, as I'm celebrating an achievement that fills me with pride,” he told Sky Italia.
“I thank all my teammates in every squad I've played for. Titles with your club are important, but these individual records also make you feel very special.
“Destiny is extraordinary, as I hadn't remembered until I read it in the papers this morning, but my first goal was also at Siena.”
Inzaghi has scored 300 goals in all competition during his long career, 110 of them in the Milan jersey.
“The most important goals were the ones in Athens for the Champions League Final against Liverpool. They are special along with the Club World Cup goals and the 2007 European Super Cup.”
Inzaghi also wished to thank Carlo Ancelotti and hopes he will remain with the Rossoneri for another season.

“I don't want to keep repeating myself on Ancelotti, otherwise it'll get pathetic, but the directors are wonderful and will make the right choice.
“We know that with him we have reached three Champions League Finals and have seen how difficult it is for teams to get there.
“As for today, we proved that when Milan get their players back from injury, this is a very competitive side.”

1st half is pretty much bullshit from us,although we score 2 goals we failed to play with conviction and seeing the creativity usually provided by Kaka faded is something very painful.2nd half is a different situation with much more creative move when the 2 creative head is being introduce by carletto.
Pato,Pippo,Kaka and Ronnie plays a vital part to secure the biggest win of the season.
Abbiati injury could harm us but seeing Dida's performence in friendlies and Uefa Cup this season,we can probably rely on him to guard the goal but he let in one goal thats symbolysed we have to prepared for a disasteres last part of the season with him at goal.The 2nd half form is much more convincing with Kaka and Ronnie introduction.Convincing at 2nd half but sleepy at 1st.

AC MILAN HEADLINES

2009-03-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

FEDERICO MARCHETTI COULD JOIN MILAN IN THE SUMMER.

Cagliari goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, currently on loan from Albionleffe, has been targeted by AC Milan as their future custodian.The 26-year-old has been scouted by the Rossoneri and is seen as the long term replacement for Christian Abbiati. Marchetti began his career at Torino and has been in impressive form this season.IMScouting’s network of scouts in Italy describe Marchetti as a "reliable goalkeeper between the posts, has great reflexes and has very good one on one ability. Needs to improve his aerial ability in order to really become a top goalkeeper. Season 2008/2009 is his first season as a first choice goalkeeper in Serie A with Cagliari and he made a great impression with some excellent performances.
"Marchetti is contracted to Cagliari until the end of the season and to Albionleffe until the end of the 2012/2013 season. Video evidence of the custodian can be seen on the video below.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWpEQbzb9To&eurl=http://www.imscouting.com/global_news_item.aspx?id=1534

MEXES IS WANTED AT SAN SIRO

Olivier Jouanneaux, agent of Roma’s central defender Philppe Mexes, spoke to calciomercato.com about the situation of the player after the rumors about Milan:
"What I can say is that the relationship with Roma is very good. I speak to Daniel Prado on the phone every week, and not just about Mexes but also other things. This confirms the excellent relationship I have with the club. And I do not see what interests or means I could have to put pressure on the director Giallorosso and the club for the transfer of Philippe to Milan and other clubs".
"I never put pressure and I have not looked at another club. Things that have been suggested by an Italian national sports newspaper. Since Philppe arrived at Roma there have been constant rumors on his likely transfer. Even last year it was said that he would go away and instead it is 5 years that he is at Roma. I do not know where these assumptions come from because they have no foundation.
To clarify: neither the player nor I have had any kind of relationship with the Lombard club. To conclude: "The arrival of Philippe to Roma was made by mutual agreement with the club, as was the contract renewal. So, all that happens will be with the joint agreement of the Giallorossa leadership, as it has always been.

AC MILAN 1-2 SAMPDORIA (GUYS WHERE DO YOU THINK WE'LL END UP)

2009-03-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini scored a goal apiece as Sampdoria added to AC Milan's troubles in a 2-1 home win on Sunday. Milan, who like Samp were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in mid-week, remain third in the Serie A, with Fiorentina failing to draw level as they drew 1-1 at bottom side Reggina. Milan suffered against the Genoa hosts, whose inspired playmaker Cassano threatened with a free kick, scored a 33rd-minute header and set up Pazzini for his second-half goal. After bravely parrying the free kick, goalkeeper Christian Abbiati was stunned as he deflected Cassano's effort with his feet behind the goal line. Milan's equalizing efforts after the break had no effect and Abbiati was beaten again on 51 minutes, when Pazzini scored his fifth goal in as many games after transferring from Fiorentina in January. The red-blacks pushed forward desperately, but only managed to pull one back through a great header from the young Brazilian Pato off a cross from veteran Giuseppe Favalli.A miserable week for AC Milan ended with a 2-1 Serie A defeat at Sampdoria.Carlo Ancelotti‘s side was knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Werder Bremen on Thursday, while Sunday‘s defeat all but ended the team‘ s hopes of winning the title.But Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, speaking from Brussels, gave a calm response following Milan‘s defeat. “Unfortunately we have an entire team in the treatment room and when you can’t play winners like Kaka, everything is more difficult,” said the Italian Prime Minister. The only good thing for the team coached by Carlo Ancelotti was that both Fiorentina and Genoa (fourth, fifth at the standings) drew at their respective matches, allowing the "Rossoneri" to be a little bit quiet. A win over Sampdoria was the only possible medicine for ailing Milan after the UEFA Cup failure; but Ancelotti's stay at the team is also in danger.

The only positive things is we still at 4th place,Pato is playing fine but the supply is not helping him at all.Cassano is the engine for Samp with a Pato like position,it's very frustrating to see Pirlo and Seedorf playing really hard but constantly giving away the ball.Pato didn't look as comfortable when for a long periond in the 1st half he can't really shows his ability all because of good man marking strategy by Samp's defenders.Flamini got a good chance but it hit the side netting while the crosses for Pato have been unbelievebly poor,Antonini shows various weaknesses and Cassano capitalysed on that with a goal and what so we get?Yes a yellow card for Abbiati for arguing with the Ref.I started to doubt some of our stars and youth players so far this season,Antonini,Becks,Pirlo and as usual Seedorf is not doing what we expected from them.When you wear the red and black of Milan you have to be a worldclass players but no wonder why Sampdoria is tearing us apart.I don't know how many times I have said this,im tired restraining my eyes from completely close and when i open it the woeful display of nightmare is right infront of me.All my friends is sleeping their butt off and leaving me alone watching the horror show from Carletto side.There's a rumors about Ronnie is for the fact 100% fit but Carletto decides to favor Seedorf than him,Who score more goal?and more providing?another fact that i have shouted for so long is Pato wasn't going to be a good lone striker,Pippo and Sheva is available why won't stupido Carletto use either of them?Its like Carletto hear my shout this time and bringing in Pippo but we need both of them from the start to ease the marking suffered by Pato and let him free a lil bit.Some of you might argue that Pippo is unable to play for 90 minutes and thats why Carletto bring him in after half of the game but I feel all great players have a good enough stamina to last the entire match.Pazzini completed my awful night without my cat besides me and scores leaving us with no hope for next season of UCL,Cassano in other hand have been the best player on the pitch.Sanderos wasn't in great form and for me we still in big trouble eventhough Kaka is playing.With slow players that i don't have to mention on the pitch we have no real penetration and attacking quality.How many shot on target and on goal does we have?haha the console of the night come from Pato with great cross from Favalli,finally they delivers a good cross.Good form shows by Emerson with a goal from him,oppss..nah..we lose the game.What else to say?

AC MILAN HEADLINES

2009-03-01T04:31:00.000-08:00

NO MORE MISTAKE CARLETTO ( GALLIANI )

AC Milan is in a corner, this is crystal clear. There was a meeting today at Milanello with Adriano Galliani, the team and coach Carlo Ancelotti.
It lasted only a few minutes, little words and a lot of bitterness. One thing is now sure: AC Milan’s only objective is to get at least the third place in Serie A to avoid the Champions League preliminary.

No threats by Adriano Galliani, an order, the club will not accept anymore mistakes. After eight years, the relationship with Carlo Ancelotti will come to an end. The Uefa Cup was an important goal and now AC Milan cannot afford (especially for financial problems) to stay out of the Champions League for the second year in a row.

AC MILAN WILL QUALIFY FOR UCL NEXT SEASON ( CARLETTO)

Ancelotti is not rushing into any conclusion after the Uefa Cup defeat: "I think it is too early to judge. I see AC Milan in the Champions League and I see the coach on the bench. Our elimination still hurts, but we must concentrate on the championship and on the remaining target which is very important for our and the club’s future. We can’t afford to loose concentration now.

The only thing that matters is focusing on the next two matches, which are very important. We have some injured players and it's a very delicate moment. Tomorrow we must play with great attention and application. It's an opportunity for putting things right”.

DISGRACE IN SAN SIRO.

2009-02-26T18:55:00.000-08:00

AC MILAN HUMILIATED BY WERDER BREMEN.
Pippo get paired up with Pato and I can say is we look very confidence before the kick off,its more balance with Pato playing and supporting Pippo from his back.The first 5 minutes is not convincing form us with no penetration and creativity can be generate by Seedorf,Becks and Pirlo.It's like Bremen hosting Milan in germany rather than we playing at home,they have more than 3 shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of the match.The only bright side of Milan is Sanderos's first half performence,is there anybody who impressed with him?.Next year we'll be without the influential captain Paolo Maldini and i like say before Nesta wasn't looking ready to represent Milan again and i doubt he'll even do the same job as before for us again.I dont know but honestly I feel a lil bit embarassed with our first 20 minutes performence,Bremen's tactics is to cut the Milan's supplying line powered by Becks,Seedorf and Pirlo and it works.The passIng does not looking sharp and our players movement on the pitch is not as fluent as we should be,the penalty in the 25 minutes does not excite me at all.

Pirlo score but there's no appetite to celebrate it given our poor first 30 minutes of the game.Pato play mostly at left side and its not helping the penetration from the central midfield,i feel he should play and fill the holes Kaka have left at the central helping Pippo from centre midfield not left side of Milan.Pato scores an unbelieveble goal in the 32 minutes with a breath taking strike outside Bremen penalty box,this time its worth the scream and the broken chair at my friends house.Hahaha. If you guys notice Bremen's most important player is Diego,im not sure how many time i have demand for him to come to Milan and replace Seedorf.Diego is something we have lack so far,his vision,creativity,agility and more he like to provide to ball to the forward with great accuracy.He can play behind Kaka as what he demonstrated in this game,playing behind the 2 strikers not as the real attacking midfielder but as the provider.Becks doesn't appears to taking any part from this game in the first half,the posession have been control by Bremen but we played a very smart tactical first half.

Second half begin after an counter attacking performence by Milan,Bremen extend the pressure towards us resulting to an injury for Seedorf.Actually i glad Seedorf get subtitude and Flamini come in because Flamini will play a more box to box style and it will gave us a bit advantage when defending and attacking.Seedorf is not able to defend as good as Flamini and its like he have become the liability to the squad.Sheva comes in for Pippo and honestly i can't gave a fair review for his form because he have always been my Idol,he always shining for me.Claudio Pizzaro's header gave Werder Bremen a life line to comeback and judging by thier performence in this it scary to think about the remaining time on the clock,the confidence in Bremen camp is sky high.The respect to Milan in recent time have vanish,and the weaker team tend to get something out of the game with us.
Carletto bring Janku in and withdraw Favalli,Janku should have been in the starting eleven for me and i dont understand the motif behind Carletto's decision to bench him.He can add the pace at defend and attack for us to penetrate Bremen a lot better.The equaliser come with another header form Pizzaro and Bremen domination in the match is completed.Fear clearly spark form our players face after the equalising goal.We are not the same Milan as before,we used to be very tough to beat at home and away and its almost impossible for the opponent to salvage something out from the match after Milan have lead 2-0 but that's not case anymore.

Milan only manage 31% of posession and it's very repulsive to talk about.Imagine if we have the likes of Diego in the mifield,a young and interesting playmaker that will certainly change the level of competitiveness from us.Our luck will never change if Berlusconi can't afford a total make over and it need to done before next season.Just sell the fuck stake to the Abu Dhabi Invesment if he don't want to splash big money to replace the current squad and its not just one player that we need to axed.The reconstruction is needed from the management to the youth structure in Milan.Another humiliation after our ass get kick by Arsenal in the Champions league,I don't know what to say anymore you guys please continue expressing the dissatisfaction about this woeful performence.

WHO AC MILAN SHOULD BUY NEXT SEASON?

2009-02-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

GREAT TOPIC JUST COME UP FROM VITMAVER F. VERGARA,WHO AC MILAN SHOULD BUY IN NEXT SEASON GIVEN A 120 MILLION BUDGET MILAN MIGHT HAVE.

THIS IS FANTASY FOOTBALL TIME MILANISTA.

AC MILAN 1-0 CAGLIARI (AT LEAST WE WIN)

2009-02-22T23:41:00.000-08:00

Clarence Seedorf struck a second-half winner to give AC Milan a 1-0 victory over Cagliari in Serie A action on Sunday.The Dutch midfielder pounced after a defensive mix-up in the Cagliari box and sidefooted home from 12 yards in the 65th minute. Though Seedorf's strike proved decisive, England midfielder David Beckham put transfer talk and a recent calf injury behind him and was Milan's most creative player on the day.Fiorentina returned to the Champions League places with a 2-1 win at home to Chievo Verona, whilst Genoa maintained its pressure with a 1-0 win at Napoli.
Inter, which beat Bologna on Saturday, leads the standings with 59 points. Juventus, a 2-0 winner at Palermo on Saturday, is second on 50, Milan has 48 in third place and Fiorentina is fourth with 45.Milan appeared tired after its UEFA Cup match at Werder Bremen on Wednesday night and Cagliari had the better chances early in the match."It was a difficult match and we have a lot of problems in attack," coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "We did what we could. We tried to push for the win and we tried to keep going till the end. We had to play the way we played, we couldn't do anything else."
Beckham was Milan's biggest threat, with Filippo Inzaghi and Marek Jankulovski both narrowly failing to connect with crosses from the England midfielder in the first half.But it was Cagliari's Andrea Cossu who came closest to scoring in the first period after Robert Acquafresca laid the ball into his path and his long range effort forced Christian Abbiati to tip the ball over the bar.Cossu went even closer in the second half with a low shot that rebounded off the inside of the post.Courtesy of The Canadian Press.

My summary of the match is quite long so for those are willing to read it i say thanks,the line is worriying and its scary to see there's no Pato,Ronnie and Kaka three of the most talented attackers to support Pippo upfront.But see it once again and we know that Carletto is trying his hardest to put the most balance players for the match,although im a lil bit sad to not see the youth talent that have so much hype surrounding them on the pitch.Darmian,Viudez and Mattioni is not given a chance by Carletto so we have to surrender to the fact that this match will be a lil bit slow.Janku play on the left wing and it's something I hope Carletto have done long time ago and hey! it works.Lucky for us that Carletto don't play Kaladze given his poor performence againts Inter,we started up nicely with good passing but after Cagliari start to press and control Seedorf we failed to penetrate their defense with conviction.One thing Im sure you Milanista notice is the joy we all get to watch Maldini in his final season with us,he is not showing any lack of form and continue to dominated the opponent strikers,leaving them flat footed with their attack.

The 2 wingers implementation that a wing and wingback have gave us a little bit of pace we have lose when Kaka and Pato is playing but the different is this time the pace come from the wiing not the central midfield.The Becks and Zambro's combination is very effective in blocking any forward move from Cagliari leftside,Becks will defend and Zambro will do the overlap.The same goes if Becks attack and Zambro is ready to defend.The build up from the wings or central midfield is very slow and it have allow the Cagliari players to compose themself back while all their attackers is helping the defensive work.Janku in other hand is doing extremely impressive when he attack and defending,we are untidy in our attack since there's no real muscular striker to hold the ball like Nistelrooy and Toni resulting in Inzaghi being bullied by Cagliari defender.Pippo is looking rather vulnerable as a lone striker despite a few good chance in the 1st half.2nd half kick start with a poor showmanship,we failed again and again to penetrate Cagliari defend and things is started to look ugly for us.

I imangine if we can put Viudez or Pato to company Pippo in attack we certainly will have the penetration power we have lack in this game,Pato or Viudez can take one of the Pippo's controller and run the show behind him like what Sheva use to do but Carletto don't see it that way.He continue with Pippo alone and Seedorf who play an anoynomus figure is not helping the attack at all,after masturbate himself for so long Seedorf is finally doing something and he score giving us the edge over Cagliari.When he score I kiss the TV,hahaha..in the 2nd half Becks don't look as great when he playing deep in the right wing and constantly cut inside from the wing to the central midfield limiting his quality crossing for Pippo.Favalli overlaping run is useless and he sit deep in the leftback giving Janku a free space in the leftwing.Cagliari looks secure in defend with 2 of their defender keep the guard tight at Pippo,Sanderos comes in with Bonera limping around and is playing perhaps one of his best game for us.We never look him as the replacement of Nesta but he's doing great along side the El Capitano,Flamini is not looking as flashy as Gattuso is but he's effective and hardworking for Milan.Play a defensive role very well,Carletto turn comedian when he put Ambro as the Striker withdrawing Pippo in the proccess.As I said earlier the lack of real mascular targetman have probably be the reason of such move,he is doing ok for me.HahaFinally,we're Itallian club playing authentic Itallian style of football.We might not play as good as we(the fan) hope but we still win and drew most of the match troughout this season.As a Milanista sometime we want to be entertained and Carletto have to beware of the future match with injured players list is as long as San Siro pitch,he maybe need to starts believing in the youth again but we can certainly can accept this performence given the trouble above.

Forza Milan

AC MILAN 1-1 WERDER BREMEN

2009-02-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

Brazil midfielder Diego gave Werder Bremen a UEFA Cup lifeline with a late equaliser on Wednesday to seal a 1-1 draw against AC Milan in the Round of 32 first-leg clash.
"The goal really pleased me, it is very important and was a special strike," said Diego after his crucial goal with just six minutes remaining.
"Nevertheless, we cannot be contented with 1-1, it was always going to be hard in Milan and the draw makes things harder still, but we are determined to progress in the tournament."
Many of the 36,000-strong crowd had come to see AC Milan's England star David Beckham, on loan from LA Galaxy, while the Italian giants wrestle with the United States club for the services of the global superstar.

But Beckham spent the vast majority of the game on the bench and it was Bremen's Brazilian who kept his side in the competition with an 84th-minute goal after he finally found the net after the home side squandered a huge amount of chances.
"We played the second-half determined to score a goal against AC Milan, that gives me hope," said Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf.
"Unfortunately, we do not have superiority in the scoreline.
"1-1 against Milan is not bad, but not good enough for the amount of energy we spent.
"However, if we repeat that second-half in Milan, we would be in with a chance."

Bremen are struggling at tenth in the Bundesliga, while AC Milan are third in Serie A, but it was the Germans who took the game to the Italians.
Diego's super strike mean Bremen go to Milan's San Siro stadium on February 26 for the second-leg with a slim chance, but with 23 shots on goal - compared to Milan's seven - Bremen should have won the game.
The Italians took the lead when Filippo Inzaghi's initial header from a Mathieu Flamini cross was blocked, but the striker was on hand to put Milan ahead by pouncing left-footed on the rebound after just 32 minutes.
It was veteran Inzaghi's 66th strike in UEFA club competition.
It looked like Milan had secured a precious away win until Diego rifled the ball into the back of

the net after Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida won the ball in the air and the Brazilian made no mistake on 84 minutes.
With Galaxy and Milan tussling for Beckham, the ex-England captain played no more than a cameo role when he took over from Brazil's Ronaldinho after 89 minutes.
It remains to be seen if he will be a confirmed Galaxy or Milan player by the time of the second

leg next Thursday.

For me just by looking at the starting line up have spark the possibility of Bremen's domination for this match,no pace can be injected from the attack dirve by any of our players.The second leg will be played at San Siro and to be frank,im not confidence that Milan can go far eventhough we might kick Bremen's butt.

Bremen in other hand have more than 25 shot to Milan's goal compare with almost nothing that can really shake Wender's defend offered by us.Another dissapointing game without Kaka,at least we can feel the excitement if Kaka was around but by carefully watching the game i will not put Milan as the favorite to win anything until a total make over is powered by Berlusconi pocket can be realise.

AC MILAN DEFEATED!!!!

2009-02-16T00:16:00.000-08:00

A controversial Adriano goal helped Serie A leaders Inter Milan to a 2-1 victory over AC Milan on Sunday which all but ended the Rossoneri's title hopes.Champions Inter now have an 11-point advantage over third-placed Milan with 14 games to go and lead Juventus by nine after Claudio Ranieri's side drew 1-1 at home to Sampdoria.Adriano broke the deadlock at an electric San Siro on 28 minutes when he diverted in Maicon's cross, but replays showed the Brazil striker had used his arm.Midfielder Dejan Stankovic extended the lead on 42 minutes when he rifled in after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's knockdown.The Serb had earlier been denied six metres out by a stunning last-ditch tackle by Massimo Ambrosini.Alexandre Pato pulled one back 20 minutes from time when he tapped in Marek Jankulovski's cross and Milan then piled on the pressure with substitute Filippo Inzaghi being flagged offside when he thought he had grabbed an equaliser.

CONSTANTLY ISOLATED
Milan, who won the season's earlier derby 1-0, had much of the play in the first half but striker Pato was constantly isolated on his own up front with Kaka missing through injury.Inter are bidding for their fourth straight scudetto and first under coach Jose Mourinho while Milan will have to pull off a miracle to snatch their first league title since 2004.Media reports have said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, Serie A's longest serving manager having been appointed in 2001, could be sacked if they fail to win the league this term.It was a sorry night for 40-year-old Paolo Maldini in his last derby before retiring while on-loan David Beckham, who still hopes to stay at Milan despite Los Angeles Galaxy demanding he return, did little and was substituted.

I DON'T WANT TO RETURN TO GALAXY!!(DAVID BECKHAM)

David Beckham has admitted that he would find it hard to go back to Los Angeles if the Galaxy and AC Milan failed to come to an agreement over his proposed transfer.Beckham was speaking following his team's 2-1 defeat to champions Inter in the Milan derby on Sunday that virtually ended Milan's hopes of claiming the Scudetto crown this season.And while he said he had nothing new to add in the way of developments to his potential switch from the Americans to the Italian giants,

he left no doubt as to how he would feel should the move not go through.

"(There's) nothing that I know of, not yet," said Beckham who is desperate for a switch to Italy to enhance his chances of playing in the 2010 World Cup finals.

"I've said I want to stay here and obviously if I do go back it will be a bit difficult. But I'm always professional so we will have to wait and see when the final decision is made.

"I hope things go the way I want them to. I've already said that I want to stay, I'm enjoying my time here and hopefully I will (stay)."

"Talks have obviously been going on and on and whether talks will go on or not, everyone's still talking about it. It's out of my hands but there will be talks next week."

Sunday's result was a real blow for Milan and Beckham admitted that the title was starting to look beyond his team who are in third spot in the table, 11 points behind their city rivals."We're quite far behind, we were before the game started and we needed to win it," said the former England skipper.

"You never know in this league, it's up and down, you can win one week and play great. There's a chance but it's slim."Beckham said it was an honour to have played in a Milan derby having previously played in 'El Classico' in Spain between Barcelona and Real Madrid and clashes between Manchester United and Liverpool in England.

"It's one of the biggest games in football, sure it would be better if you win it. It was a tough game, in the first half we conceded two goals. It's tough to come back from that," said Beckham who was substituted in the second half.

"We played better towards the end and put more men up front and that caused them more problems."They are all huge games, the biggest games in football and I'm proud to have played one in England, one in Spain and now one in Italy, but it would have been better to have had a different result."

DAVID BECKHAM TO REJOIN L.A GALAXY AFTER AC MILAN FAILED TO SIGN HIM BEFORE THE DEADLINE.

2009-02-14T03:41:00.000-08:00

Milan, where the former England captain is on loan, were expected to make an improved bid of £10.5 million to sign the 33-year-old before a deadline set for Friday night.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber had insisted that a deal must be agreed before the weekend if Beckham was to leave Los Angeles Galaxy.
And in the early hours of Saturday, Tim Lewieke - president of AEG, the company that owns Galaxy - said a second bid had not been received so Beckham would return to the MLS team next month after his loan agreement with AC Milan ends.
"We didn't receive an offer today," Leiweke told The Associated Press by phone from Colorado. "We will abide by the commissioner's wishes, so we are clear at this point that we don't want to have any further conversations."
Leiweke said he had not spoken directly to Beckham, but that he informed the player's representatives the loan would not be made permanent.
Beckham's five-year Galaxy contract was owned by MLS, and his loan to Milan ends on March 8.
Leiweke added: "I know David is emotionally invested, but I don't think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses.
"The negotiations are over and we move on," Leiweke said. "We look forward to seeing David back in camp. We need to have a good season and we need to live up to a higher expectation."
Leiweke confirmed that Beckham has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of this year.
"Clearly the risk is we may lose him at the end of the year," he said. "Our hope is the team surprises him and we're a lot better than last year."
Milan had already had one bid, thought to be in the region of £6m, turned down by Galaxy. However, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti had urged his club to make "sacrifices" in order to complete the signing of Beckham, who has been a revelation in Italy since joining on loan.
Beckham has continued to stress his desire to make permanent his switch to the San Siro, but Galaxy coach Bruce Arena is confident he will honour his contract rather than force his way out if a deal cannot be struck.
Arena said: "We understand his interest in wanting to stay at Milan but we need to protect the interests of the LA Galaxy first and foremost, and that's what we're doing.
"There are a variety of things we've discussed but it's not public information and when Milan give us what they feel is their best offer, we'll examine it and make a decision whether it's in the best interests of our club or not.
"If David Beckham returns, he is a good professional and he's going to play, and play well.
"David Beckham understands what a contract means. He will honour his contract, whether it's with LA Galaxy or AC Milan."
Beckham feels his fitness has improved since his temporary move from America to Italy, and playing for Milan will help him remain in the thoughts of England coach Fabio Capello.
The former England captain won his 108th international cap in the 2-0 loss against Spain and it remains his ambition to secure a place in the squad at the 2010 World Cup.
"Fitness-wise Milan has done me the world of good," Beckham said. "I'm a lot fitter than I was a few months back and even in the month and a half I've been there my fitness has gone up 100 per cent.
"That's the biggest thing. And I'm enjoying my club football which is great."
Milan, where the former England captain is on loan, were expected to make an improved bid of £10.5 million to sign the 33-year-old before a deadline set for Friday night.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber had insisted that a deal must be agreed before the weekend if Beckham was to leave Los Angeles Galaxy.
And in the early hours of Saturday, Tim Lewieke - president of AEG, the company that owns Galaxy - said a second bid had not been received so Beckham would return to the MLS team next month after his loan agreement with AC Milan ends.
"We didn't receive an offer today," Leiweke told The Associated Press by phone from Colorado. "We will abide by the commissioner's wishes, so we are clear at this point that we don't want to have any further conversations.
"The negotiations are over and we move on," Leiweke said. "We look forward to seeing David back in camp. We need to have a good season and we need to live up to a higher expectation."
Leiweke said he had not spoken directly to Beckham, but that he informed the player's representatives the loan would not be made permanent.
Beckham's five-year Galaxy contract was owned by MLS, and his loan to Milan ends on March 8.
Leiweke added: "I know David is emotionally invested, but I don't think Milan really was that interested in spending the money we would have had to receive to compensate us for our losses."
Leiweke confirmed that Beckham has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave at the end of this year.
"Clearly the risk is we may lose him at the end of the year," he said. "Our hope is the team surprises him and we're a lot better than last year."
Milan had already had one bid, thought to be in the region of £6m, turned down by Galaxy. However, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti had urged his club to make "sacrifices" in order to complete the signing of Beckham, who has been a revelation in Italy since joining on loan.
Beckham has continued to stress his desire to make permanent his switch to the San Siro. He feels his fitness has improved since his temporary move from America to Italy, and playing for Milan will help him remain in the thoughts of England coach Fabio Capello.
The former England captain won his 108th international cap in the 2-0 loss against Spain and it remains his ambition to secure a place in the squad at the 2010 World Cup.
"Fitness-wise Milan has done me the world of good," Beckham said. "I'm a lot fitter than I was a few months back and even in the month and a half I've been there my fitness has gone up 100 per cent.
"That's the biggest thing. And I'm enjoying my club football which is great.

NO KAKA NO PROBLEMO!!

2009-02-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

MILAN — AC Milan will need to overcome the absence of leading scorer Kaka when it takes on city rival Inter Milan on Sunday, needing a win to narrow the gap in the Serie A title race.Inter leads the table with 53 points, eight ahead of third-place Milan with 45. Juventus is second with 46 points.Kaka injured his left foot during a 1-1 draw with Reggina in the previous round and was ordered to rest for 15 days, with Clarence Seedorf likely to replace him.

"Kaka is Milan. He is a great player who can change a game at any moment and we will miss him a lot in the derby," defender Luca Antonini said.

"However, there is Ronaldinho, (Clarence) Seedorf and other important players who can do well."

Ronaldinho scored a rare header in the first derby of the season to give Milan a 1-0 win and the Brazilian, who stared a match for the first time in four games against Reggina, is the player Milan will turn to for inspiration in Kaka's absence.The derby will also be David Beckham's first since joining Milan in December. With negotiations continuing between the Italian club and Los Angeles Galaxy about a permanent transfer, he will hope it isn't his last.Also hoping to stay in the starting lineup is midfielder Mathieu Flamini. The ex-Arsenal player has failed to establish himself in the side, but replaced the suspended Andrea Pirlo against Reggina and will hope to capitalize on Pirlo's loss of form.

"Flamini had a great game on Saturday, he played in a role that he's not used to in place of Pirlo and we know it is difficult to replace him," Antonini said.

"David is doing excellently and I think that he made at least 50 crosses, runs, tackles. He's a great acquisition."

Inter captain Javier Zanetti will be playing in his 35th Milan derby, but said the importance of a win for the team far outweighs any personal milestone."It's a fundamental match, you feel it," Zanetti said.

"I'm not worried about how many derbies I've played in. We're approaching it with a lot of calmness because we have faith in the work we are doing. We hope to arrive in good form and hope to win because it could be a turning point in the championship."

AC MILAN VS REGGINA

2009-02-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

AC Milan needed a Kaka second-half penalty to salvage a draw with Serie A bottom side Reggina in a tight game at the San Siro as they lost ground to neighbours Inter in the race for the Scudetto.
Kaka's second-half penalty was enough to grab a point for the Rossoneri after Reggina had taken the lead through former Milan forward Davide Di Gennaro.
It came as a relief for Carlo Ancelotti's men who had had to deal with a stubborn Reggina side, but that relief was tempered by the withdrawal of the Brazilian goalscorer shortly after he had scored from the spot.
On-loan midfielder David Beckham declared his desire to make his loan spell from LA Galaxy permanent earlier in the week and he lined up in an XI that included two changes from the 3-0 win over Lazio with Ronaldinho coming in for Clarence Seedorf
and Mathieu Flamini replacing Phillipe Senderos.

Ancelotti's side went into the match full of confidence after their win in Rome last week but knew they would have to be at their best to see off a Reggina side who had held Roma to a 1-1 stalemate at the Oreste Granillo.
Reggina started in a confident fashion and Francesco Cozza flashed a 40-yard free-kick in an early warning to Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal.
Flamini, filling in for the suspended Andrea Pirlo in the Milan midfield, then tried his luck from distance but Reggina keeper Andrea Campagnolo managed to parry his effort.
Kaka had a quiet first opening 10 minutes but he suddenly sprung into life in the 14th minute when he took a looping ball down on his chest before firing a wicked volley which brushed Andrea Campagnolo's right-hand post.

Di Gennaro had come through the youth ranks at Milan before being sold to Genoa and he showed the San Siro what he was capable of when he called Abbiati into making a superb save soon after.
Abbiati was powerless to stop Di Gennaro on 33 minutes, however, when the striker latched onto Bernardo Corradi's cross to fire a low left-foot drive into the bottom right hand corner to give the away side the lead.
Ancelotti ordered his men forward and Ronaldinho almost gave him an instant response but his curling shot from the edge of the box brushed a post.
The Brazilian threatened just after the break when he aimed a 25-yard shot at goal but Campagnolo scrambled across his box to tip it around the right post.

Kaka and Alexandre Pato started to look threatening up front for Milan and the former world player of the year saw his close-range shot saved by Campagnolo just before the hour.
Ancelotti threw on Seedorf to try to breathe some life into his side and he thought the move had paid off when the Dutchman slotted home after Kaka had hit the post but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Beckham had put an industrious performance in the Milan midfield and his pin-point cross found Paolo Maldini but the veteran defender could only head straight at Campagnolo from close range.
The Milan fans started getting frustrated with their side and Ancelotti responded by replacing the ineffective Ronaldinho with Filippo Inzaghi.
Their anger turned to relief just after the hour when Matej Krajcik upended Pato in the box and Kaka slotted the spot kick home to put Milan on terms.
Inzaghi wasted several chances laid on to him by Beckham late on and Milan had to settle for a draw that leaves them eight points behind Inter ahead of next weekend's Milan derby.

WHAT WILL WE ACCOMPLISH NEXT SEASON (ZAMBROammo)

2009-02-07T04:23:00.000-08:00

This is a very interesting question of how good we will do next season,will it be pretty or ugly?.This season have been a rollercoaster ride for the Players and The Club,we haven't do any big mistake that cause anything bad but sometimes as a fan we are not satisfied with the players performence.So far who have been our best players??

Next season will be a whole different situation because im pretty confidence that we will qualify for the Champions League,but how far will we travel this time around after an embarassing defeat to the hand of Arsenal powered by little kid last season,that faithful night i was asking myself whether we are good or strong or fast enough to compete and win the Cup again..

First the Italian Serie A,i feel we have a very strong chance to win the Serie A after so long of painful waiting,Inter will have to step up their game.Mourinho will once again conduct Inter to defend their title but it will not going to be easy this time,Juventus and Milan is right in Inter's path to clash with them.For the first time we will have a good mixture of youth and veterans to not just win the Serie A but dominate it.

Pato will mature better next season as he will reach 20 years of his life,with great help from Thiao Silva,Fillipe Mattioni etc...we will find ourselves as a true favorite to win.

Secondly The Uefa Champions League,yes this is the cup we have won for seven times.We will confidenly pass the group stages but beware of the later stages where the compittion will get tougher and tougher.The respect we will recieve from the opponent will enable us to get comfortable space to play our game but Carletto need to change his dependency towards the old legs.Until he show any sign of him wanting to change the tactics and the line up,i will still have a big doubt if we will have any chances to even touchdown at semifinal.

Lets talk about this and gave your comment about the topic created by ZambroAmmo..

AC MILAN 2-2 RANGERS

2009-02-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

AS A source of both entertainment and income, Rangers' friendly engagement with AC Milan was an unequivocal success last night. A remarkable attendance of over 45,000 were attracted to Govan for the visit of the seven-times European champions and they did not leave disappointed.

Four goals, all of them in a second half which did not feature David Beckham who was replaced at the interval, were shared by two teams enjoying a break from serious business. It amounted to good business for Rangers who will have made a six-figure profit from the exercise in their well-publicised times of financial problems.As part of their commitment to this fixture, it seemed Milan had included a clause which prevented any serious form of tackling. The disclaimer would seek to protect their biggest names from suffering any setbacks which might see them miss any of a Serie A title pursuit behind their city rivals and reigning Italian champions Inter.

The lack of a genuinely competitive edge did not seem to trouble the supporters who had been tempted out on a wintry night, although the message did not get through to everyone.Youthful naivete could perhaps be used in John Fleck's defence when he left Felipe Mattioni crumpled in a heap with an uncompromising challenge in the opening minutes, but the 17-year-old Rangers prodigy incurred Milan's wrath nonetheless.Coach Carlo Ancelotti rushed to the edge of his technical area to glare at Fleck, while the youngster was also reproached by Beckham. Fleck's contrition towards Mattioni was genuine and accepted, however.While the Rangers fans had principally come to see Beckham, Ronaldinho & Co in the flesh, they would have been gratified to see their own team thrive in a non-pressurised situation as they produced some attractive passing football.

Pedro Mendes, partnered in central midfield by the fit again Maurice Edu as captain Barry Ferguson began the evening among the substitutes, was prominent in much of their eye-catching work and saw a powerful 20-yard shot deflected narrowly wide.Edu, understandably keener than most to make an impression after such a frustrating start to his Rangers career, found Fleck in space on the left with a neat pass, the young forward's terrific first touch then allowing him to wrongfoot Philippe Senderos and float in a cross which Kyle Lafferty should have done better with than head over from close range.While Milan were some way short of fully exerting themselves, they delivered enough of the kind of skill the big crowd had paid to see.

They should have opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Ronaldinho's brilliant ball over the top played in Filippo Inzaghi, but the supreme poacher did not connect properly as Allan McGregor was able to make a smothering save.Fleck's self confidence among such elevated company was another indication of his rich promise and his precisely delivered corner from the right picked out Lee McCulloch whose thumping header was well saved by Milan goalkeeper Dida. McGregor was a mere spectator at the other end when, from Milan's first set-piece opportunity, Ronaldinho curled in a trademark effort which struck the helpless Rangers' keeper's right-hand post.Fleck should have seized a moment to treasure when played in by Mendes in Rangers' next attack, but struck his low shot too close to Dida.

With Andriy Shevchenko cutting an anonymous figure, while Beckham flitted in and out of proceedings, Ronaldinho continued to the focal point of Milan's best moments. He picked out Inzaghi again with another sublime pass but the striker was foiled once more by McGregor.Beckham was among those who did not reappear for the second half. For the Rangers fans, the raft of substitutions represented rare sightings of Christian Dailly, DaMarcus Beasley and Andrius Velicka. The changes made by Milan, introducing Clarence Seedorf and Kaka among others, simply emphasised the gulf in resources.

When Seedorf curled a delicious effort narrowly off target, it seemed as if the visitors were poised to emphasise their superiority but it was one of Rangers' understudies who made the breakthrough.Beasley, a member of the PSV Eindhoven side controversially beaten by Milan in the 2005 Champions League semi-finals, savoured the moment as he pounced on an error from Matteo Darmian then shrugged off Andrea Pirlo's challenge before driving a precise low shot with the outside of his left boot beyond Dida into the corner.The lead lasted just five minutes, however, as a calamitous mix-up in the Rangers defence gifted Milan their equaliser. In attempting to cut out a Kaka cross, Dailly merely succeeded in striking the ball against team-mate Steven Whittaker.

The ball rebounded to Alexandre Pato and the young Brazilian stroked it home from close range.Rangers' substitute goalkeeper Neil Alexander then saved brilliantly from Inzaghi, but was helpless to prevent Kaka putting Milan 2-1 in front with 12 minutes remaining with a sweetly struck right-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area after latching onto Seedorf's pass.The home side were not prepared to accept even honourable defeat, however, and levelled in the 83rd minute through an unlikely source when Sasa Papac surged forward and finished off a fine pass from Aaron Niguez in admirably composed fashion.

Rangers: McGregor (Alexander 46), Whittaker, Bougherra (Dailly 46), Weir (Broadfoot 46), Papac; McCulloch (Boyd 81); Naismith, Edu (Davis 75), Mendes (Ferguson 46), Fleck (Beasley 46); Lafferty (Velicka 46). Subs not used: Miller, Niguez, Davis.

AC Milan: Dida, Mattioni (Jankulovski 61), Silva, Senderos (Darmian 46), Antonini (Albertazzi 75); Beckham (Seedorf 46), Flamini (Cardacio 61), Pirlo; Ronaldinho (Kaka 61), Inzaghi, Shevchenko (Pato 68). Subs not used: Donnarumma, Strasser.

AC MILAN VS LAZIO MATCH SUMMARY

2009-02-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

LAZIO VS AC MILAN MATCH SUMMARY.
The line is a little bit frustrating for me,to see Seedorf in the starting eleven is not making any sense.I am upset with Seedorf's performence last week and I only hope for much better form from him.Favalli have to be replace with Danielle Bonera after he pick up an injury at warm up session.The same line up shows how Carletto newest formation is delivering to his expectation and this formation that includes right winger(Becks) have blossom quickly.Jankulovski playing at leftback is limiting his contribution to the team overall performence,I honestly feels he can perform a lot better if Carletto let him play at the left flank.

Becks as usual gave his best in attacking and defending,he shows full commitment to us and I say keep him at Milan.No doubt about his contribution have lift the team spirit.Janku almost scores in the early minutes of 1st half but his shot is saves by Lazio's goalkeeper,he make great run from the left flank that gave us the fisrt shot of the match.Zarate looks very dengerous especialy when he plays a one two pass with Pandev,while in defending Ladesma is doing great in blocking any run from Pato and Kaka.He stop Kaka's shot in first 10 minutes and making the job to beat them even harder.Becks is doing the crossing and the defending amazingly well at the right flank helping Zambrotta in the same time.Zambrotta is definately the best defender in this match when in numerous occasion he stop Zarate,Pandev and Meghni attacks.

Lazio is playing a pressing game in the 1st half and pressing the less fast players like Becks and Pirlo who is the heart of the midfields.The first 30 minutes is clearly dominated by Lazio,Pandev almost broke the deadlock in the 34 minutes but brilliant saves by Abbiati deny his effort.Kaka at the first 30 minutes is being over power by Ladesma while once again Lazio almost score this time with Zarate but once againt stopped by Abbiati.The domination shows by Lazio is useless after Pato from Becks cross scores great goal that adds to his goals tally.Kaka initialy start the move that see us leading 1-0 in the 1st half.Seedorf poor first is really getting me angry and I wish for Carletto to replace him with Ronnie or Flamini but he still there in 2nd half and continue dissapointing us with string of miss passed and it almost like we are playing with 10 players.

I don't see any direct contribution from him and it only gets worst as the game proceed.The starts is unbeliveable when Becks's freekick meet Ambrosini head at far post of Lazio left hand side and into the beck of the net.Kaka continue his red hot form by scoring the 3rd goals in 83 minutes,his mazy run outclass the Lazio defend and with calm he score his 10th goals of the season.He have evolve from an attacking midfielder to a second striker in this new formation and I really feel this have suit his style.Carletto have obviously build the team around him and it added to his confidence boost so far.Abbiati have been the new heroes at goal for us and together with Sanderos,Bonera and Zambrotta they combined well to exacute Carletto's strategy.

Sanderos have shown a little bit of maturity since his moves from Arsenal and with 2 players providng the goods from midfields that's Becks and Pirlo we have the best midfields partnership.

Becks and Pirlo is like two superb quarter back that supply pin point passed to the attackers we have.Seedorf have been dissapointing for us and i don't want to talk about that anymore.We played a true itallian style of football,nothing too flsahy but effective enough to win the game week in week out.Next match I hope we will display a miles better showmanship than this week and I hope to see more of Pato playing like a true mature superstars.Its not like he is not great for us but he in a few occasion shows his weakness especially in term of his first and second touch of the ball provided to him.He needs to widen his game for me. Lazio in long period of time have passed better and created equal amount of chances,in fact their passes is better than us.

Later....

AC MILAN VS LAZIO

2009-02-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

MILAN, Italy — David Beckham set up two goals as AC Milan beat Lazio 3-0 in Rome to go second in Serie A on Sunday.The result at the Stadio Olimpico left Milan with 44 points, six points behind leader and city rival Inter Milan, which drew 1-1 with Torino earlier in the day. Juventus slipped to third with 43, following its 3-2 loss to Cagliari on Saturday.

Beckham completed his first full 90 minutes for Carlo Ancelotti's team and created Milan's first two goals and helped him secure his place in Milan's squad for the UEFA Cup.Milan's next UEFA Cup match is away to Werder Bremen on Feb. 18 and Beckham will also still be available for the second leg on Feb. 26."(Andrea) Pirlo is in great condition and with Beckham alongside him, it is a good balance.

They are great players and help control the game," said Ancelotti."We held onto the ball and passed it well. We're in a good run of form, we're playing well and looking to the future with optimism," Ancelotti continued.

Beckham's low cross in the 42nd minute found Pato unmarked in the Lazio box and the young Brazilian fired in his 10th goal of the season.The England midfielder sent in a trademark free kick just after halftime and Massimo Ambrosini rose above the Lazio defence to put Milan into a 2-0 lead.Kaka put the result beyond doubt seven minutes from time. He exchanged passes with Clarence Seedorf and ran on to slot the ball under Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera."The problem is psychological. We were playing well, but then to let in two goals - one of which could have been offside," Lazio coach Delio Rossi said. "It is a shame because they were playing well."

Full review tonight...

Later

ANDRIY SHEVCHENKO@MY IDOL

2009-02-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

Some of you out there might criticise his poor form lately and is not seeing anything great like he used to produce before he leaves for Chelsea,but Andiry Shevchenko is always at his best for me.

Andriy Shevchenko is still working as hard as before and he in my eyes still have that X-Factor that influence the game with his lethal finish whether with his right foot,left foot,or his head.People like Didier Deschamp,Fabio Capello and Nesta use to regard him as the striker that can scores with "half a chance",his charmed fan like me with his pure class when its turn to scoring goals or providing for others in the team he played for such as AC Milan,Chelsea and Dinamo Kiev.What is so special about his ablity is all known to the fan and the neuteral that loves football.When he won the Ballon dor(European Best Player)as voted by the European Football Press,he win it based on his providing talent and his scoring rate every season with Milan.

He joined Milan from Kiev when he stole the European Footballing attention with his perfect combination with Sergei Rebrov at Kiev,he doing the impossible by defeating Barcelona at Nou Camp with a hatrik that show him a much bigger possibility with a moves to Milan.How many of Europe top club can humiliated Barca like that?,the transfer to Milan see him broke the tradition by becoming the Serie A top scorer in his first season with Milan.He go on and rule Italian League with so many great season while his name as the World's top football players can't be denied.

Shevchenko is some kind of a wierd and unique player for me,he is not extravangance like Thiery Henry but he can score some of wonderful goals and his ability to install fear in the defenders heart is really what makes him as one of the sought after striker in the new millenium.Sheva's ability to scores inside or outside the penalty goals have cheered so many of us(Milan Fan) .

His current situation can be solve by Carletto is he knows how to implement the tactics and formation that will surely gave Sheva his form back.

When he was at Chelsea,stupid Mourinho have played him in a 4-3-3 formation that see him play at the left wing post like what Ronnie used to do for Barca,that is the roots of the problem that hit him at chelsea,he can't play without somebody upfront like Owen of Newcastle.

Another trouble is his pace seems to have fade a little bit but that wasn't the ultimate final for him and i convince that he can came back with a bang next season.

Later....

PRE-REVIEW: AC MILAN VS LAZIO

2009-01-31T04:15:00.000-08:00

PRE-MATCH REVIEW: AC MILAN VS LAZIO
The title race for us is nearly out of our reach once again this season,what is so frustrating is the unconsistensy by the veteran players we have in the squad.For me the times have arrive for Seedorf to hanging his boot and let Milan's youngsters takes his place.Last 2 weeks have been a roller coaster ride for Seedorf because his lack of consistensy that have cause the team a vital point to close the gap between us and the leader of the Serie A,in the match againts Bologna he have played a wonderful 90 minutes and score our first goal that see Milan flew pass Bologna 4-1 but his midweek performence have been the worst showmanship i have seen from him for a long time.By a worldclass players standard he should have been drop from any top flight football team.

Lets face it we are not in great form for the passed 2 season and most of this fatal decline of performence is due to the failure of the veteran players at San Siro,not just frustrating for us as a fan to see such poor show from the players and but the management of the club is not helping the team either.Silvio Berlusconi's reluctant to make big buy to add more pace and power have restricted Milan's ability to compete with the Europe's top club and at the moment the European best club probably is not consider us as a nightmare anymore.Qualifying back to Europe is important not just for the pride but the money we will generate from the vass exporsure we will recieve.

The match againts Lazio this sunday will determained whether we still have any chances of winning the Serie A or we will slip behind and find ourselves only fighting for the Champions League spot,but beware if we keep struggling to get the remaining place for Europe the journey will only get harder because of Uefa intention to only give 3 spot to the Europe top 3 league that's Italy,Spain and England.Againts Lazio Milan have to be extra careful and the strategy of depending too much to the old players will fire back to us,we should go with the balance 4-5-1 formation Carletto have introduce with a proper winger in Becks and Jankulovski.Don't play Janku at the defend but play him as left winger and beck on the right,play Zambrotta in left back while Antonini at the right back.

Carletto have the option to play a fast player at the midfield to ensure a much better penetration to the opponent defense nut we all know how stupid he can be when it's down to the selection of players.Let's put Inzaghi along side Pato at forward,Kaka at the Attacking midfielder position and Ambrosini at defensive midfield position.The debate about our old legs will not going to stop if the management is not doing what's best to the future survival of youth players and we as a fan have to continue the best support for Milan...
Later.....

AC MILAN VS. GENOA

2009-01-30T23:36:00.000-08:00

AC MILAN VS. GENOA
At first i was surprise to see the almost same line up againts Bologna started the match for us,Favalli is on the team and some of you might curses when you see his name but Carletto have his own reason of why to include Favalli.Carletto insist that Favalli's pace and good judgement is the main reason for his inclusion in the starting line up,he did poorly in providing crosses but efectively prevent any treat that come his way.At the early minutes I find Genoa players tend to breaks any forward run made by Kaka and Pato by hard tackling and quickly closedown Pato and Kaka's attack.Genoa play a fast counter attack and long passes to their hitman Diego Milito,the best chances for us is when Pirlo hit the crossbar at 15 minutes of the game.Lead by Thiago Motta,Genoa closes Milan attacks with three players and they are successful at it.Biava is probably the best defender of the match,constently made great tackles that see Milan loses a lot of chances to slip through their penalty box.In other hand we have Zambrotta in the right hand side,his superb effort is limiting Genoa's opputunity to even test the excellent Abbiati on the goal.

Pato is being targetted all the time by Genoa's defenders with silly challenge that resulted in a freekick for Milan at the right hand side of Genoa half,Becks takes the honor and scores with his trademark 'Bend It Like Beckham' style that curve in and hit Genoa's net with great accuracy.We once again came close with Pato,he get an open opputunity by failed to capitalysed it,Kaka have a lot of time with ball on his feet but no one is available for him to link up with and Genoa with ease takes the ball back to their possesion.I see a terrible thing when Milan is moving too slow and hold the ball at our own half without any idea of how to penetrate Genoa's good defensive control,when building the attacks we aren't able to run beyond Genoa's penalty box and things is looking very ugly for us.The problem keep growing when Jankovic is being introduce to the game,Genoa attacks becoming more lively,fast and they are brave enough to begin attacking us.Abbiati is being keep quite for long period until Jankovic come in,I have been so impressed with his performence in the last 4 games for us.Everytime we hold the ball the players is not responding when at time we look like starting to defend although we are not even in the 2nd half of the game.At the last minutes of 1st half Pirlo once again with his freekick hit the crossbar despite The Genoa keeper might able to save the kicks.

I predicted at the 2nd half Carletto might want to change Seedorf who looks so tired at the end of 1st half but he stick with Seedorf for the 2nd half,the tempo change for Genoa and they turning from defending to attacking us at the 2nd half.Genoa is pressing us so intensely and advances to our half of the pitch with almost 4 players at every attempt to breaks our good defense while they put 3 players covering every attacks Seedorf,Becks and Pirlo try to initiates.Again we aren't making the best out of the possesion we have when we completely paralysed at the center of midfield,we keep passing the ball around and only inviting Genoa's defenders to crash us with effective challenge.It would have been different if Ronnie takes Seedorf's place and his creativity perhaps will gave a much better start for 2nd half.Becks and Seedorf is tired at 60 minutes of the game but no moves made by Carletto to replace them,Genoa passing is improving with tidyness and accuracy.They switches the Strategy brilliantly but Milan is getting slower and slower as the match progress.It is not just that,we missed pass the ball countlessly through the closing minutes of the match but one plus point for Milan is The Favalli and Maldini combination at the defend.

They are absolutely amazing with plenty defending works they have done.The 70 minutes came and Carletto decides to defend by exchanging Becks with Flamini,he injected a much needed pace at the midfield.Carletto commit suicide when he bring in Ronnie and withdrawing Pato,the main pace we have upfront.Since Pato goes out we become much more hasitated with posession we have,Genoa coming closer and closer when Milito header is save by Abbiati who have been in great form at 80 minutes of the match.We became more complesent with the ongoing match that appears to have been decided,but at 87 minutes they score with great team goals that leaves amazing abbiati with no chance of saving it.We started attacking Genoa at the dying minutes but not able to penetrate their defense who in my opinion Biava deserve to be inducted as the Man of The Match award.

The summary of overall performence by Milan is easy,at the starting line up what on earth is Carletto thinking by including the same line uo that play just 3-4 days ago?,sometimes the rotation policy is good to ensure everybody is happy and avoiding exaustion.He should have started Ronnie over Seedorf who plays a full 90 minutes last week and obviously tired,Carletto should have pick either Becks or Pirlo to be the main provider because of the similarity of the position they played and play Jankulovski at the midfield rather than as defender.We lacks fast player that can penetrate better when they have the possesion and we only depending on Janku,Kaka and Pato's pace to move the team.At the end Carletto missjudging of last week performence have brought us even further behind in the title race,last week we won not base on a fair 11 vs 11 but 11 vs 10,so He should consider resting some players and trusting the youth players to deliver the goods for us.Overall we have completely failed this time.
Later.......