Ahh yes, Oddo's man at the back post. He's SO BAD.

1-1 ft. Saved by the crossbar again.

Hrm. Well, not terribly bad. I was impressed with the kids - especially Verdi and Merkel. The ones we thought would suck not-lockes-donkey-balls...did so. More of the kids, less of Oddo & co please.

postscript note, I don't like Lyon. They can be really seriously nasty at times.

Milan tied again, nothing new about that since i've been gone haha.

JEFRI! They let you out!?!?!?! Good to see you back.

And nah, not all that much has changed but we did play the game with 3 primavera players (who, it must be admitted, were on the whole better than some of the grownups).

I heard we might buy vdv?!?! I havnt been watching football at all this year, I gave up from the beginning haha

Well this lends credence to my and dst's thought..that only Seedorf can replace Pirlo and vice versa.


So I'm now undecided about getting in a new MF. Do we do that or let Merkel and Strasser continue to play this way and pick up some skills? Downside being..we might take a hit in the CL.

New mid. You cannot forget that these are pre-season games that the kids are playing so well in.

I really think we'll be better with a 5 midfielder system and Pato striking. If we buy an AMR, such as VDV, both he and Ronnie will gravitate towards a striking position anyways.

I always thought VdV was more of a playmaking mid than a goalscorer. I know very little of him I guess.

Well he is. But I guess what Dracoris is saying is that they will both be running into the box a lot when we're attacking, so it will become a 3 man attack when we're in attack and a 5 man midfield when we're defending

Was watching a few minutes from the first half, Strasser looked really solid. I agree with whomever said he gives more guarantees than Gattuso. I think he's ready for the real deal. Verdi looked good as well, I wouldn't mind him being the vice-Pato.

Me?

Aye.

Watched the highlights of the game. Needless to say, we were lucky on many occasions by Lyon. Allegri must work more on the defensive maneuver.

So far I'd go with this for our starting line Up:



Abbiati

Sokratis-nesta-silva-anton


-----flamini-----pirlo----

--------seedorf----------

Pato-----Borriello---Ronaldinho



Subs:

Merkel
Huntelaar
verdi
ambrosini
amelia
Zambrotta
Bonera

Hopefully when Silva is back in action this will take care of things.

We definitely need a new attacking/creative midfielder like VDV. Its amazing the signings Madrid have made this summer. They dont really need anyone yet they spent 60 million euro buying up Di Maria and others. Its a perfect time to raid Madrid for some of their excess players. We have a good relationship with the club because of the Kaka deal. Gago, and VDV would totally change our team and make us much better. We have very little creative options with this team.

Its frustrating to talk about any new players because I don't see it happening

With our youth blended into this squad we have some interesting selection choices:


Goalkeepers:

abbiati or amelia?


I'd personally go with Abbiati right now as he has def shown his class this weekend. But we'll have to see how amelia shapes up. This is def going to be an interesting battle.


CB:

Nesta
Silva
Yepes
Kaladze



Not much debate here as Nesta and Silva will most def start. Yepes will be back up and you might see bonera/sokratis or even oddo slot into this position if need be.



RB/LB:

Sorkatis
Zambrotta
Oddo
Antonini
Jankulovski
Albertazzi
Bonera



This will be quite the interesting battle. 7 options, 2 slots. I don't see Oddo/janku/albertazzi seeing much of the field so this will be a battle between the 4.

If I were allegri right now, I'd probably use zambrotta and antonini. But this could change given bonera and sokratis obvious talent. He could also go bonera/sokratis occupy the right and antonini/zamb occupy the left.



CM:

Seedorf
Flamini
Ambrosini
Gattuso
Pirlo
Strasser
New signing
Merkel (potentially)

3 slots, 8 potential options. This will be another interesting battle. This will most likely change game to game and predicting this will be extremely difficult. Furthermore, we don't even know who our new signing will be. Merkel could be added to this list as well if Allegri wishes.



FW:

Pato
Borriello
Ronaldinho
Huntelaar
Verdi
Oudamadi
Adiyiah


This will be most likely the same every week, borri/pato/dinho. Unless someone really sh*ts the bed, I doubt this will change. Adiyiah/verdi/oudamadi are options for the wings. Huntelar will be option for CF.

possible team against a strong side:bench: Amelia, Yepes, Zambrotta, Strasser, Pirlo, Borriello, Huntelaar

possible team against other sides:bench: Amelia, Yepes, Zambrotta, Ambrosini, Seedorf, Verdi, Huntelaar

Some surprising decisions I made. Rotating Strasser and Ambrosini is a good thing, while I believe Strasser is good enough to start games. Also rotating Seedorf and Pirlo, mostly Pirlo starts, but against a strong side I might prefer Seedorf who is the better defender, the better scorer, and can orchestrate well too. Flamini, Pirlo and Seedorf is an option against the weaker sides, but not against strong sides, then we need an extra defensive midfielder. Against weaker teams we need enough forwards including a strong one, so that's why Borriello, but against strong sides we need a strong midfield so that's why I put Pato as striker and added a midfielder. Now I got Verdi as starter against a strong side, hence why I want a new right sided attacking midfielder more than anything.

no pirlo? Your nuts man.

+1

How can you not play the most creative player in our squad if you want to win games!!!

Err... Sokratis, Bonera and Albertazzi are not exactly fullbacks. I can't see Albertazzi being aggregated to the first squad by Allegri, and I'd rather have Sokratis as back-up for Nesta/Thiago than Yepes and Kaladze (whom won't be used by Allegri). Bonera has proved in the past he can play well as fullback, but I'd rather us sign a proper fullback than rely on center backs to do the job.

I explained why (and it wasn't easy). Most games I start Pirlo, but Seedorf and CL is a pretty good combination.

I read your reasoning and half understand were you are coming from but all this would be irrelevant if VDV arrives and I pray he does