Ibrahim
Ba will be training with Milan as from next Monday. The
player has ended his loan spell prematurely and will resume
training under Ancelotti.
Inzaghi
returns
Filippo
Inzaghi is back at Milanello training. However, his return
is still scheduled for early March.
Viareggio
Results
Milan's
youth team managed by Mauro Tassotti has won it's second
game in the Viareggio tournament. Milan today beat Salernitana
2-1. Milan now head their group with 6 points, followed
by Feyenoord and Salernitana with 3 points and New York
United with 0 points.
27/1/2002
Milan in retreat from Tuesday
As
from next Tuesday the whole squad will be in retreat at
Milanello in preparation for the match against Lazio next
Sunday. The decision was taken this afternoon after the
disastrous display today, squandering a two goal lead
and even missing an all important penalty through Shevchenko.
MILAN
(4-4-2): Abbiati; Helveg, Chamot, Costacurta (28’
st Laursen), Kaladze; Contra (24’ st Pirlo), Albertini,
Donati, Serginho; José Mari (1’ st Javi Moreno),
Shevchenko. Subs: Rossi, Brocchi, Umit, Simone.
Manager:
Ancelotti.
UDINESE
(3-5-2): Turci; Gargo, Sottil, Manfredini (26’ pt
Scarlato); Martinez, Pinzi (25’ st Jorgensen), Pizarro,
Helguera, Pieri; Muzzi, Di Michele (29’ st Iaquinta).
Subs: De Sanctis, Caballero, Almiron, Marcos Paulo.
Manager:
Ventura.
Referee: Trentalange
Yellow cards: Sottil (U), Pizarro (U), Scarlato (U), Javi
Moreno (M), Albertini (M)
Red card: Marcos Paulo (player was on the subs bench)
Everyone
thought it was all over after 15 minutes since Milan had
a two goal lead, but Udinese had other ideas since they
fought like lions and never gave up to not only get back
into the game, but win it. Shevchenko scored a first penalty
but then missed a second just before half time. Going
into the dressing room with a two goal lead could have
been enough !!! Hopefully, this bad patch will pass soon.
Ancelotti
fielded Helveg and Kaladze as fullbacks with Costacurta
and Chamot in the centre. In midfield Donati, Albertini
with Contra and Serginho on the flanks with Shevchenko
and Jose Mari as forwards.
Milan
started very very well, compared to recent games and took
the lead after only a few minutes. Shevchenko went for
the ball but was pushed off by Manfredini for a penalty.
The Ukranian scored but did not manage to send Turci the
wrong way. The second goal came after 16 minutes. Jose
Mari pushed a ball back to serginho whose shot from the
left gave Turci no chance. A merited two goal lead. Probably
Milan thought it was all over but Udinese came back fighting.
A long range effort by Muzzi found the low corner to the
right of Abbiati to open the game wide open. Milan had
the opportunity to close the match just before half time.
Shevchenko had another penalty but this time he missed
badly sending the ball into Turci's hand, this time to
his right. At thsi stage Milan would have deserved to
win the game but in the second half things changed.
Udinese
started pressing on Helveg's side and the Dane could not
keep up with the pressure. Contra was not helping him
much on that flank either and the duo failed miserably.
However Udinese's equaliser was a truly collective defensive
blunder. From a cross Scarlato was left completely unmarked
in the small box area surrounded by no less than four
immobile milan players and the Italian easily headed into
the net from very close range.
At
this point Milan not only looked tired but also demoralised.
Ancelotti tried to make his team rise a step to win the
match but instead it looked like Udinese upped their tempo.
Ventura increased the pressure by inserting Jorgensen
and it was the Dane who scored the winner after 33 minutes
into the second half. A corner move was cleared only for
the ball to fall to Jorgensen to shoot, the ball hitting
Laursen and sending Abbiati the wrong way.
All
in all a deserved win for Udinese. Milan must work a lot
harder, psychologically, if they want to start winning
matches. After Galliani's outbreak yesterday that if the
team does not make a Champions league place "heads
will roll", this looks like it will be quite a week
at Milanello.
26/1/2002
Argentinian target
Milan
are currently looking around in Argentina for a striker.
The most sought after talent in Milan's view is striker
Maximiliano Lopez. The 17 year old forward is being mentioned
as being the natural substitute of Lazio's Crespo. This
says a lot for the River Plate striker whose cost is of
about 8 million Euro.
23/1/2002
Juve beat Milan
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---11----
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38’
Javi Moreno, 48’ o.g Gattuso, 86' Del Piero
MILAN
(4-4-2): Rossi; Roque Junior (25’ st Contra), Chamot,
Laursen, Helveg; Brocchi (19’ st Shevchenko), Gattuso,
Donati, Serginho; José Mari (32’ st Umit),
Javi Moreno. Manager: Ancelotti.
Subs: Fiori, Albertini, Pirlo, Simone.
JUVENTUS
(4-4-2): Carini; Birindelli, Ferrara, Montero, Paramatti
(38’ st Pessotto); Zenoni, Tacchinardi (21’
st Nedved), Maresca, Davids; Amoruso (29’ st Del
Piero), Zalayeta. Manager.: Lippi.
Subs: Rampulla, Iuliano, Thuram, Zambrotta.
Referee: Braschi
Yellow cards: Maresca (J), Ferrara (J), José Mari
(M), Birindelli (J), Davids (J), Contra (M)
In
the Coppa Italia semi-final, a second string Juventus
managed to beat Milan who also fielded a secondary outfit
resting some important players. Anceloti fielded Rossi
with Helveg on the left, Roque Junior on the right and
with Chamot and Laursen in the centre. In midfield Donati,
Gattuso, Serginho and Brocchi and with the Spanish duo
of Jose Mari and Javi Moreno up front.
Milan
played well, especially in the first half but seemed to
fall short of closing the game. Juventus hit the bar from
a Ferrara header and less than a minute later Milan took
the lead. A Moreno long range effort found the corner
of the net with Carini well beaten.
The
second half saw Juventus equalise immediately with a lucky
goal. A free kick hit Gattuso who had just come out of
the wall and lobbed over a helpless Rossi into the net.
With such a fluke goal Milan's morale faltered badly and
although the team pressed hard, the fact that the away
goal counted double seemed to have it's effect.
Ancelotti
tried to insert some new spirit through Shevchenko, Contra
and Umit but this failed to produce a winner. Instead
towards the end Del Piero, left completely unmarked, found
the corner of the net when unmarked by a Nedved cross.
Milan
missed the opportunity to gain ground today when they
drew 1-1 against Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi. A
missed penalty by Shevchenko and two great chances to
close up the match were all produced in a good performance
in the second half. Dow to ten men after the referee had
expelled Gattuso for a second bookable foul, Milan still
managed to control the game until the last minute. Milan
now trail Inter by 9 points, making it very difficult
to recover the lost ground.
Ancelotti
fielded Helveg on the left since Kaladze sprained his
ankle in training this week. Roque Junior played on the
right with Chamot and Costacurta in the middle of the
defence. In midfield Contra, Albertini, Gattuso and Serginho,
with Shevchenko and Jose Mari in attack.
the
first half was a shambles from both sides with Milan unable
to create one decent chance. But everything happened in
the second half as Ancelotti seemed to have been succesful
in motivating the players to move forward. The first opportunity
came when a Shve shot was cleared off the line by an impeccable
Manninger. Moments later Milan took the lead. A Serginho
cross found Jose Mari rise above all to head the ball
into the net. In the 70th minute Milan could have closed
the game. Shevchenko beat Torricelli on the run and was
awarded a penalty. He took the kick himself but manninger
dived well to save. The game took another twist when Gattuso
was sent off but Milan held the pitch well until the last
minute when a mistake in midfield gave the ball away and
Adriano was set clear to score the equaliser.
18/1/2002
Asta and Lucarelli
Milan
have reportedly made an offer to Torino for their captain
Asta and their forward Lucarelli. Although this rumour
has not been confirmed, Asta has failed to renew his contract
with Torino.
17/1/2002
Milan sign Clayton Machado
Milan
have signed Clayton Machado. The young Brazilian player
will be joining Mauro Tassotti's Primavera team and is
already training at Milanello.
Milan
did the job and made it to the semi-finals of the Coppa
Italia and will meet Juventus or Atalanta (probably Juventus)
on the 23rd January. Ancelotti fielded yet another new
team resting Shevchenko and playing with Roque Junior
and Kaladze in defence with Costacurta and Laursen in
the centre. In midfield a hard working straight four with
Brocchi, Gattuso, Albertini and Serginho and with Moreno
and Jose Mari up front. This was clearly a defensive minded
hard working team with no playmakers. The incredible thing
is that Milan produced as many chances in this game as
seen in the whole season and ended up with 11 shots on
target towards the end, three of them at the back of the
net.
Lazio
were psychologically harassed by their fans who displayed
Di Canio banners all over the Curva Sud and booed their
players on the field, calling them names. They even promised
to leave the Curva after 30 minutes, something which they
did agter 20 minutes.
Milan
took this to their advantage and at the first opportunity
scored. Serginho ran havoc on the left and perfectly crossed
onto the onrushing Jose Mari who easily tapped the ball
home. The fans grew even angrier and at this point Lazio
had only one optio, to react. react they did, but not
until Milan could have easily closed up the match and
their qualification missing some easy chances. In teh
23rd minute from an innocous cross Laursen failed to mark
Inzaghi well and the Italian equalised with a difficult
shot from a Poborsky cross. Ancelotti was furious and
Milan reacted to this creating several other chances which
were mostly missed by Moreno.
The
match at this point was disastrously scrappy with both
team making basic mistakes. Ancelotti must have made himself
heard at half time since the team came out of the dressing
room with a renewed spirit. Between the 53 and 55th minute
Javi Moreno woke up and scored twice. His frist came from
a Brocchi pass with a low shot with his right foot which
beat Peruzzi. the second from a through ball which saw
him beat the offside trap, only just, to beat Peruzzi
a second time. Moreno then also managed to hit the bar.
Serginho had hit the post in the first half. The match
at this point was over and only Crespo saved Lazio some
pride with a well taken effort on the 75th minute mark.
Rossi made a good save from a Crespo lob but this was
all Lazio had to offer whilst their fans continued to
barrage them with insults.
In
teh end Ancelotti was happy with Milan's reaction and
result which takes Milan into the semi-final in the cup
they have not won in 25 years.
14/1/2002
Milan chose Bjelanovic
After
yesterday's debacle against Brescia where Shevchenko clearly
needed help up front Milan have went out on an all front
attack to secure an attacker. The player is Bjelanovic
of Varteks. The player preferred Milan to Bayern Munich
and the contract will be signed within the next few hours.
Javi Moreno will move to Spain to either Valencia or Atletico
Madrid.
Brescia:
Castellazzi; Petruzzi, Calori, Mangone; Shopp, A. Filippini,
Yllana, E Filippini (91' Mero), Sussi; Giunti (85' Guana);
Toni.
Manager:
Mazzone
Referee:
Borriello
Yellow cards: none
Milan
were trapped by a defensive Brescia and help to a 0-0
draw. It is very rare that Milan fail to score at the
San Siro but today's opaque performance showed early on
that it was going to be a difficult task to score against
a very well organised Brescia. Mazzone remains Ancelotti's
unbeatable manager, since the Roma born manager always
seems to have his way against Ancelotti.
Ancleotti
had to do without the injured Helveg, who should now be
back for the match against Fiorentina. He inserted Contra
on the right hoping for his overlaps, kaladze on the left
with Costacurta and Chamot in the centre. In midfield
Albertini and Gattuso were flanked by Jose mari and Pirlo
with Simone and Shevchenko trying to spearhead the attack.
In this 4-4-2 formation Milan were very well balanced
but creating scoring opportunities were rare.
The
best chance of the match in the first half fell to Costacurta
but castellazzi made a superb save off his shot. Shevchenko
tried his best but most of his shots went over the bar.
Contra was way below form and his runs never made any
sense as he kept being funnelled into blocked areas of
the pitch.
In
the second Ancelotti inserted Serginho for Pirlo and Jave
Moreno for Simone. Serginho's entry gave Milan new life
but it lasted only a few minutes since mazzone again managed
to move his players into a new formation again leaving
Serginho no place to run to.
In
conclusion Milan tried their best to try to score and
gain points but the team failed to produce enough chances
to merit the lead.
13/1/2002
Braida in Spain
Ariedo
Braida is in Madrid, Spain discussing the possible transfer
of Milan players Javi Moreno and possibly Jose Antonio
Chamot to Atletico Madrid. These discussions, if positive,
can help Milan obtain the services of a number of important
players, young forward Torres being the number one target.
Ancelotti
fielded another new team with Laursen and Roque Junior
in the centre of defence, flanked by kaladze and Helveg.
In midfield he fielded Contra, Albertini, Donati and Serginho
with Shevchenko and Simone up front. Rossi played in goal
as is customary in the Coppa Italia.
The
match started off with Lazio playing better and they even
managed to hit the post through Fiore. This seemed to
have been the waking up bell for the rossoneri who started
to play well, especially after Ancelotti moved both full
backs forward to midfield, since Lazio had only Crespo
up front. Contra and Helveg on the right and kaladze and
serginho on the left started to overlap well. However
Milan's goal came from a different move. Serginho spotted
Simone start a run and found him with a prefectly weighted
and timed pass. The forward moved in front of Marcheggiani
and left footed into the corner of the net. Milan produced
several other chances through Contra, who saw his save
being miraculously saved by the lazio keeper and from
a good Serginho shot.At this point Milan were dominating
and in full control until the half time mark when a simple
one two cleared Cesar who was solely in front of Rossi
and managed to beat him for the draw.
The
second half saw Lazio dominate. Milan looked a tired team
but Lazio only seemed to hold possession of the ball.
Serginho was very tired as was Contra. Both players had
not played for some time since they were both coming from
injuries and both flanks felt the strain. Lazio came close
again when Poborsky hit the post in what seemed to be
a certain goal. Lazio continued to search for the winning
goal burt somehow Milan held on to the pressure even for
the fact that Crespo was still isolated up front. Ancelotti
made another move inserting Moreno for Shevchenko and
later on brocchi for an exhausted Serginho. Towards the
end Milan seemed to find new energy and attacked for the
last five minutes in continuation. At the very end Simone
tried to find Moreno in the area but Pancaro handled the
ball for a free kick inches outside the area. Albertini
took hold of the ball. he feinted a run to see whether
the wall would move, it didn't and then pretented to turn
back to have another run. Instead, much to everyone's
surpirse he flicked the ball to moreno who shot at goal
with great power with the ball entering the centre of
the goalpost leaving Marcheggiani with the mouth open,
since he never expected the shot. The duo Simone - moreno
have finally hit their mark !!!
Boca Junior
offer Schelotto to Milan
Boca
Juniors have offered Milan the services of Schelotto.
With the deppening crisis in Argentina hitting the major
clubs as well, Boca are in desperate need of funds and
are unable to pay Schelotto's salary.
8/1/2002
Redondo to return Friday
Fernando
Redondo will be back at Milanello Friday. According to
Galliani, he will be the only acquisition this winter
In
the meantime, Milan have abandoned Coco, who will probably
remain with Barcellona, whilst Bjelanovic is being preferred
to Vryzas.
7/1/2002
Transfer talk
Transfer
talk is rife in Italy right now and all the teams are
being mentioned. Certainties, however, are few till now.
The latest news or rumours have Donati moving back to
Atalanta, on loan, to gain further experience. Milan are
still after Vryzas of Perugia but have also obtained an
option of Italy U21striker Bonazzoli of Parma. The promising
forward will be under Milan's control from now on, thanks
also to Sacchi's good relations with Milan. Bjelanovic
has again been mentioned as a Milan's prospect and Milan
also have a grasp on Marius Niculae of Sporting Lisbon.
A
late winner twelve minutes from time and a superb save
by Abbiati in the 90th minute gave Milan a good start
to the new year.
Ancelotti
had to do without Rui Costa, Maldini, Ambrosini and Inzaghi
as well as Contra whose wife gave birth to a baby girl
hours before the match. Ancelotti fielded a back four
of Helveg, Chamot, Kaladze and Costacurta. In the midfield
sector he played Jose Mari, Gattuso, Albertini and Serginho
with then Pirlo and Shevchenko spearheading the attack.
Milan
took control of the match from kick off and never ever
let go of the midfield sector helped by the fact that
Lecce marked man to man and always moved backwards. This
immediate defensive stance by Lecce gave Milan the opportunity
to attack but space was at a premium and it was always
difficult even to try to shoot at goal.
In
fact Milan's goal came from a set piece which saw a floated
Pirlo free kick being flicked on by Jose Mari to the bottom
corner of the net beating Chimenti. Milan's only chances
in the first half were a missed Chamot shot and some long
range efforts which were mostly ineffective. Gattuso worked
tiredlessly in midfield always managing to get hold of
the ball when his team mates lost it. The player who was
unable to play his usual game was Serginho who seems far
from fit.
Towards
the end came all the major opportunites. After Jose Mari's
goal, towards the end of the match Tonetto ran loose and
came with only Abbiati to beat but our keeper made a super
save. Seconds later Simone ran lose on the right and saw
his shot hit the post. From the rebound Stovini saw his
shot saved again by Abbiati to corner, which was however
never taken.
03/1/2002
Vryzas too expensive
Milan
have determined that Zizi Vryzas is way too expensive
and have now set their sights on Brazilian striker Pena,
currently in force with Porto. The 27 year old has this
season played 15 games scoring 6 goals. In the meantime,
Sam Dalla Bona, Chelsea, is ever closer to Milan with
a declaration from his manager Pasqualin stating that
Milan are in pole position for the U-21 midfielder.
02/1/2002
Rui Costa out for one month
Injuries
continue to complicate Ancelotti's task at Milan. Rui
Costa's injury in the last match of 2001 against Verona
is more complicated than was anticipated. The Portughuese
will be out for at least one month.
Midfield
targets
Another
player can be added to Milan's list of targets for the
coming transfer market. This is Argentine Adrian Bastia.
The player has often been coined the Argentine equivalent
to Albertini. Milan are fighting it out against Aston
Villa and Borussia Dortmund for the player's signature.
31/12/2001
Happy New Year
May I take
this opportunity to wish all followers of Milan and ForzaMilan.com
a HAPPY NEW YEAR.....Pierre
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