AC Milan vs. Arsenal Discussion Thread

Kalac at risk for Arsenal trip
Sunday 17 February, 2008

Milan could be without both Nelson Dida and Zeljko Kalac for the Champions League clash with Arsenal.

The Rossoneri lost Dida to a freak injury during Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Parma when his back froze as he tried to stand up from the bench.

He had to be stretchered off at half-time and as this is a recurring back problem is a major doubt for the game in London.

Now the club has released a statement warning that Australian international Kalac is also at risk for the Emirates stadium.

“During today’s training session the goalkeeper Kalac dislocated the phalanx of his index finger on his right hand.

“His condition will be evaluated tomorrow to understand if he will be available for the London match against Arsenal.”

If Kalac is also sidelined, then the Rossoneri only have third choice Valerio Fiori and youth team ‘keeper Daniel Offredi at their disposal.

Alexandre Pato and Clarence Seedorf are also doubts, while Ronaldo is out for the rest of the season after snapping a tendon in his left knee.

"In my view, although Arsenal are one of the best teams in Europe and have been playing very well lately, they lack experience," he told Sunday Mirror.

"We are champions of Europe and have won this competition seven times. We know how to handle these occasions.

Historically Milan may be the far better team, but this Arsenal team has confidence in abundance. Silly to rule them out. plus Seedorf should know all about a ‘young team full of confidence playing good football’ going to the San Siro and beating Milan who were the defending Champions.

I made bold predictions about this game earlier and i could well end up with egg on my face. Milan havnt really hit top form yet like i thought they would, and this game has probably come a bit too early for them. The players aren't in top condition and Arsenal could take advantage of that.

If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Its possible that all 3 Serie A teams get knocked out in this round, they all have tough draws. Personally as a Serie A fan, I hope all 3 make it, but that is very unlikely.

Luis wrote:If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Luis wrote:If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Hope ac milan do anyway. Again they have done f@ck all for the whole season. So you bet if they manage to beat arsenal it will all come together. They will all be fit fresh and just hit form come quarters onwards. Inter is a different story.

bluenine wrote:Its possible that all 3 Serie A teams get knocked out in this round, they all have tough draws. Personally as a Serie A fan, I hope all 3 make it, but that is very unlikely.

Luis wrote:If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Roma are going out for sure, theyve been horrible since Christmas.

Totti has disappeared since his injury, and Roma are rubbish when he plays Cr@p... they are better without Totti than with a out-of-form Totti.

A lot depends on how he plays... but if recent games are any indication, I think Roma stand little chance...

BoBo Vieri wrote:

bluenine wrote:Its possible that all 3 Serie A teams get knocked out in this round, they all have tough draws. Personally as a Serie A fan, I hope all 3 make it, but that is very unlikely.

Luis wrote:If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Roma are going out for sure, theyve been horrible since Christmas.

Dida is a major doubt after injuring his back in a freak incident while sitting on the bench during Milan's goalless draw with Parma.

Aparently he froze his back and damaged it. Also I hear Kalac is a doubt. With Ronaldo gone and pato doubtful, the Milan challenge is looking iffy.

Jesus wrote:

Dida is a major doubt after injuring his back in a freak incident while sitting on the bench during Milan's goalless draw with Parma.

Personally, I won't be too devastated even if we get knocked out.

A loss would translate into a very bad season for us(both domestic and continental) and will probably force Berlusconi to open that big fat wallet and finally splash the cash.

Winning the CL last season has actually damaged us.

So if Kalac and Dida are out, who will be the Milan keeper?

Kalac is pants anyway.

Fiori Valerio

Is anyone going to the game on Wednesday (or the return in Milan)?

I'm looking forward to it. I haven't been to a big European game for years so I can't wait for this one. Wish I was going to the away leg as well!

BoBo Vieri wrote:

bluenine wrote:Its possible that all 3 Serie A teams get knocked out in this round, they all have tough draws. Personally as a Serie A fan, I hope all 3 make it, but that is very unlikely.

Luis wrote:If Both Milan teams go out I'll be amazed

Roma are going out for sure, theyve been horrible since Christmas.

are you kidding. there is nothing that is decided in any game esp not when you have 2 good teams against each other. even though roma might not have been great in the league teams have played well in Cl while being bad in their own league. it will be hard match though i that if we can prevent a defeat away that we will have a good chance if going through.

Tweedle wrote:So if Kalac and Dida are out, who will be the Milan keeper?

Kalac is pants anyway.

Kalac has actually been pretty impressive even though he looks like a James Bond actor reject. He saved Milan from losing their last 2 games.

Fiori is likely to be the goalkeeper, he's 38 and he only has played one game in Serie A, this season. All good for Arsenal. Even though Milan haven't that great in Serie A this season they usually step up in C.L games, so arsenal should be confident but not too much. Maybe this 4-0 trash by Man utd is going to help.

Red n' Black wrote:Personally, I won't be too devastated even if we get knocked out.

A loss would translate into a very bad season for us(both domestic and continental) and will probably force Berlusconi to open that big fat wallet and finally splash the cash.

Winning the CL last season has actually damaged us.

Sometimes I feel the same about our win in 2006 - all these extra fixtures like the World Club Cup and Super Cup, the injury problems, the players' lack of motivation, the euphoria of fans/directors clouding level-headed decisions about the squad...all problems that have to be dealt with. But I guess these are tradeoffs we have to suffer for the prestige and glory (and millions more of bandwagon fans buying the shirt).

Kalac has been pretty good recently.

Bobo, good to see you displaying the great jersey in your avatar I actually own one of those!

BoBo Vieri wrote:

Tweedle wrote:So if Kalac and Dida are out, who will be the Milan keeper?

Kalac is pants anyway.

Kalac has actually been pretty impressive even though he looks like a James Bond actor reject. He saved Milan from losing their last 2 games.

BoBo Vieri wrote:

Tweedle wrote:So if Kalac and Dida are out, who will be the Milan keeper?

Kalac is pants anyway.

Kalac has actually been pretty impressive even though he looks like a James Bond actor reject. He saved Milan from losing their last 2 games.

Kalac dislocated his finger.

If Kalac doesn't make it then Fiori comes on.

Wenger on kaka:

“Kaka made the difference last year in this competition,” said Wenger on Friday. “He scored 10 goals in 11 games. He made the difference against Celtic.

“He's the guy who can dominate a situation and in 10 seconds get to the other side of the box and score a goal.

“We need to be more cautious in the centre than we usually are. He's especially dangerous at counter-attacking. I don't know if I'll use Gilberto for him".

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it looks like we may go 4-5-1

bluenine wrote:Kalac has been pretty good recently.

Bobo, good to see you displaying the great jersey in your avatar I actually own one of those!

BoBo Vieri wrote:

Tweedle wrote:So if Kalac and Dida are out, who will be the Milan keeper?

Kalac is pants anyway.

Kalac has actually been pretty impressive even though he looks like a James Bond actor reject. He saved Milan from losing their last 2 games.

me too! i have the away jersey from 02/03! Theyre really cheap in Italy compared to England.

was dissapointed you didnt vote for Vieri in my poll

Hlebtastic wrote:Wenger on kaka:

“Kaka made the difference last year in this competition,” said Wenger on Friday. “He scored 10 goals in 11 games. He made the difference against Celtic.

“He's the guy who can dominate a situation and in 10 seconds get to the other side of the box and score a goal.

“We need to be more cautious in the centre than we usually are. He's especially dangerous at counter-attacking. I don't know if I'll use Gilberto for him".

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it looks like we may go 4-5-1

If he does we've lost this. I hope we do lose if he does. I can't stand Gilbeto and 451.

Someone on here said Gilberto was Arsenal’s best player last Weekend.

Sagna may also miss the fixture. He missed the Man Utd game because he had been given compassionate leave following the sudden death of his brother.

In that case we may have to move Eboue to rightback and use Diaby/Rosicky in the midfield with Hleb, Fabregas and Flamini.

I will be monumentally pissed off if Wenger decides to put Eduardo as a wide midfielder in this game.

It looks like Rosicky will miss the game now, because he still needs treatment for his thigh injury. Gilberto will probably play now.

If we're going to play negatively I will be disappointed. We might not have too many other options though, we're a little short on wide players in midfield at the moment. I can't see Gilberto doing a good job on Kaka but I can understand the reasoning behind playing a DM and trying to match Milan's strong central midfield. I hope we do go with a 4-4-2 though. It doesn't get the best out of Eduardo making him play in a 4-5-1.

I guess we will play:

------------Almunia (if he has recovered)

Eboue---Toure---Gallas---Clichy
------------Gilberto----------------
-------Cesc-----Flamini-----------
--Hleb------------------------------
---------------------------Eduardo
------------Adebayor--------------


And Rai, wasn't it just Shazlx who said that in a sarcastic manner?

Probably end up with Gilberto having a MotM display and Kaka being completely missing*. It will help that Gilberto won't have to play and can just concentrate on destroying.

*Mainly as I have Kaka in my dream team, sigh.

shazlx wrote:

Hlebtastic wrote:Wenger on kaka:

“Kaka made the difference last year in this competition,” said Wenger on Friday. “He scored 10 goals in 11 games. He made the difference against Celtic.

“He's the guy who can dominate a situation and in 10 seconds get to the other side of the box and score a goal.

“We need to be more cautious in the centre than we usually are. He's especially dangerous at counter-attacking. I don't know if I'll use Gilberto for him".

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it looks like we may go 4-5-1

If he does we've lost this. I hope we do lose if he does. I can't stand Gilbeto and 451.

have we played 4-4-2 against the top sides this season?

can't see Wenger playing any other formation other than 4-5-1 especially after losing so heavily to manu the other day.

I hope Wenger plays 4-4-2 but i can't see it happening. Whatever the formation is, one thing we should do is play a fast passing game(highly unlikely coz Mr Gilberto is playing) and attack them from all areas especially their fullbacks just like psv did to them seasons back.

Nesta will be Milan's key player IMHO and i feel Arsenal must take a two goal advantage to the San Siro to stand a chance of progression for sure.