MILAN CAN START AFRESH

For AC Milan there is lot of love lost between the club and its fans. The team has failed to win two league matches at home. It struggled to get a win at Bologna and then could not get a win over Belgian side Anderlecht in the Champions League.

The explanation for this deep in form is easy for the blind to spot. Departure of accomplished veterans and sale of the clubs best two players. It has exposed the club to the manager’s weakness or perhaps poses an opportunity for the 46 year old Max Allegri to prove that winning the league title in his first year in charge was no fluke by securing a Champions League spot come May 2013.

How will Mr. Allegri turn Milan’s fortune’s around? First, he must work on Milan’s build up. Even with players like Seedorf, Robinho and Ibrahimovic, Milan deployed a lot of long balls last season and looked like an English team perfecting kick and follow. That long ball tactic has to stop. Mr. Allegri must work on developing a style that creates space for striker Pazzini as well as opportunities for behind the striker players to shoot occasionally.

Another focus for Allegri should be getting a stingy defence started. Bonera is only a decent substitute not a good starter. Urby Emmanuelson should start playing at left back and not behind the strikers. He can charge up the left flank like he does for the Netherlands. More importantly, the team needs desperately to switch formations.

4:3:1:2 has stopped working at the moment, there is no point sticking with it because it worked two seasons ago. It is a waste of personnel to keep two strikers up-field and have no one providing them with balls. There is need to bring those two players back down and have one striker – target man stay up front to do the finishing. Kevin Prince Boateng has to be taught on how to pass rather than shoot all the time. Essentially a partnership should be formed between himself and Robinho behind either Pazzini or Pato if he is fit.

To round up, I expect Milan to start a 4:3:2:1 formation with:

Abbiati

AbateMexes Acerbi Emmanuelson

De Jong Montolivo Nocerino

Boateng Robinho

Pazzini

It will be a lot easier too for Allegri if the players believe in themselves and work hard enough to grind out a result at a difficult Udinese. I hope and expect that Milan find a way to play that is not boring and yet gets the result.

Regardless of what happens at Udine…forza Milan.

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