FIVE STRAIGHT Serie A wins, the latest against relegation threatened Livorno, and the first run of its kind dating back to 2011 sees AC Milan firmly in the driver’s seat of their European football destiny for the 2014/2015 season.
Three goals for Milan proved to be too much for Livorno, as the home side played a complete team game with very little mistakes to show for. Forwards Mario Balotelli and Giampolo Pazzini, replacing the sensational Ricardo Kaka, sandwiched goals either side of mercurial loanee, Adel Taarabt.
The beginning of the match was a bit slow as usual for Milan with Taarabt coming painstakingly close in the 11th minute, only to see his 25-yard drive barely clear the crossbar. A few moments later, defender Adil Rami was unlucky not to score when a free kick from Captain Riccardo Montolivo from the half way line met his head and beat Livorno keeper Franceso Bardi, only for the shot to come back off the bar.
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Hometown hero Kaka was the next to go close as Milan absolutely dominated the visitors, when he took a first time strike that was just wide of the far post. A bit of controversy ensued soon after as Livorno left-back and former AC Milan defender Djamel Mesbah beat Milan defender Ignazio Abate and was tripped up. Livorno desperately claimed for a penalty but the referee correctly ruled a free kick just outside of the box.
The first half looked like it was deemed for a 0-0 deadlock if not for Balotelli’s header 2 minutes from half-time. Left-back Kevin Constant played in a beautiful cross that picked out Balotelli’s head perfectly and the forward rose higher than everyone to nod the ball into the back of the Livorno net and give Milan the advantage heading into the dressing room.
Out of the break it was the same story as the first half with Livorno struggling to keep any possession of the ball and making any real threat on the Milan goal, with keeper Christian Abbiati largely a spectator for most of the game. One of Milan’s key winter break additions, winger Adel Taarabt, played a beautiful one-two with Balotelli who placed his defense-splitting pass right on the money as Taarabt made his run, kept his composure and slotted home from just inside the penalty area.
Largely disappointing for most of the season has been forward Giampaolo Pazzini, and it looked to be another similar outing for the substitute who replaced Kaka with just over 15 minutes to go. Shortly after he came on, Pazzo made a clever run in behind the defense and brought down a beautiful pinpointed ball, only to blaze over the on-rushing Bardi. A few moments later however, Balotelli would have his second assist of the game after timing his pass beautifully to beat the offside trap and Pazzo was one-on-one with the keeper again. This time he made no mistake a chipped the keeper for the final goal of the evening.
Milan’s display last night, albeit against a lesser opponent, shows that the team has made significant improvements under Coach Clarence Seedorf. Balotelli has been controlling his temperament very well, Taarabt has not made any headlines and the team played great football for the entire 90 minutes in all facets of the game. The attacking third has some work to do, especially with the final balls that seem to be mistimed or miscommunicated, but from where Milan was in November and December, to where they are now, Coach Seedor deserves a lot of credit.
The unfortunate rumors all over Milan have been very distracting for the entire organization, with news that Seedorf could be axed in favor of Fiorentina man Vincenzo Montella at the end of the campaign, or even Filipo Inzaghi. Rocky times at the Milanello does not bode well for the team that is heading into a very crucial stretch, starting this Friday evening when they face off away against Roma in an important battle. Seedorf must keep the team composed and focused on football in order to lockup 6th position in the table which guarantees a place in the Europa League.
As always Forza Milan!
Congratulations AC Milan on such a tremendous performance!! I liked this game for the fact that now we can pass the ball into spaces without much ristking.
Now about the rumours around Seedorf,I want to think there’s a mole inside Milan administration that is always stirring controversy and uncertainty so the team does not concentrate. A team wins 5 games and then the rumour to sack Seedorf, that was beginning to die down, picks renewed vigour!!
Can’t Casa Milan please leave us in peace to enjoy TOTAL MILAN football for once!?!
Forza Milan
well done we have won five matches in a roll fine.but i think the league has not ended yet so why not end the joy here and concentrate on the roma game.i believe a draw against roma and win against inter would do us more good and galliani will bow his head in shame.am saying this because,he wasn’t happy when we won yesterday and the rumour is all over that galliani went our darling coach to be fired.but he should bear in mind that we prefer seedorf a.k.a the messiah to stay if he don’t like it he can go,we… Read more »
I don’t know what you guys in Italy are doing about the rumours of Seedorfs future.
If i were in Italy,in every match both home and away i would write on a banner:”MR GALLIANI,SEEDORF MUST BE OUR ALEX FERGUSON(long term coach),IF YOU DON’T AGREE WITH THE FANS,THEN GO AND LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB,WE HAVE PAOLO MALDINI WHO CAN DO GREATER THINGS THAN YOU ‘VE DONE IN THE PAST,FORZA SEEDORF”.
I don’t really know what you guys in Italy are doing about this situation,we are not Chelsea that changes coach every season.WE ARE AC MILAN.FORZA MILAN.
can we start doing this protest in Milan facebook pages as outsiders fans to Milan? We need Seedorf to continue his good work and keep Rami for next seasons with additional quality CB. He already gelled with the team.
i think its about time rossoneri blog had a facebook page…I’d like to meet other milan fans from around the world. its tough from where i’m from as mostly everyone follows spanish and english footbal since it has wider range of broadcast and publicity, something that italian football sorely lacks….Dont you guys think we should have a facebook page???
Come on someone create it..i suck at making pages or else i would, hehe
its available already. just search “Rossoneriblog” on facebook.
Nice game. Concerning seedorf I’ll reserve my comment till after roma and inter matches
Hey guys let’s think about our next games which determines our faith. De jong is injured now and I think saponara should be used ahead of essien or muntari. What’s your Opinion guys
You mean that he’s suspended right?
Probably not wise to use Saponara (as much as I’d like to see him play more) against Roma away from home, would be wiser to play Poli alongside Montolivo if anyone, although I believe that Muntari will probably play before Poli in that role and that Poli might come in later on.
Saponara is more like an attacking midfielder type player, mate. He is like jorginho. If cristante is fit, i prefer to give him a chance. It is not because of he is from milan youth system, but he has natural talents and a combination between pirlo and ambrossini. IMO, he has a vision and playmaking skills of pirlo and a lion heart or bravery of ambrossini. Cristante needs trust and more playing time from seedorf.
Please in the last update, i read where inzaghi said he wanted el sharaawy to play d penalty but the referee refused him play it and let vinto tack the spot kick.
Please why would the referee do such? Someone should answer me
Probably has to do something with the regulations of him being too old for the Primavera or something like that, not sure, makes sense.
And the most funny thing is that the other guy who took the penalty missed it :O
Maybe s been treated by the doctors after been fouled. So in that case he MUST wait abit outside the pitch. SES doesnt look like a very good penalty taker anyway. He aften seems tense n nervious.
Get out of Milan, you baldy dictator, Galliani. I respect what you did in the past, but what you have done in the last 2-3 years is really embarrasing. You have turned Milan into a mediocre team with your free-contract recruitments, baldy.
It would be foolish to play Saponara in the absence of De Jong in a real tough and difficult and critical match against a team that has the 2nd best defence in Italy,there is Poli and Muntari available to fill the void of De Jong.Saponra has not been given the chance to prove himself.
SES probably couldn’t take the penalty because of his position in the first team. He’s not a Primavera player, obviously, so there’s probably a rule against first team players visiting the primavera teams tasking penalties.
Montella isn’t Milan material in my opinion. Not that he isn’t worthy of a bigger club, but I’ve never been that impressed with his tactics and recruitment management. Montella has the ability to mold a team in “crisis”, into a team with a solid structure and neat playing philosophy. However, he has problems with taking the next step to justify a top club status and before it’s too late; they’re back to square one. Which I think we’ll see with Fiorentina soon. Perhaps I have too little substance in my arguments due to Montella’s fresh coaching career, but it’s just… Read more »
Just want to add I have no major concerns of seeing Clarence proceeding as head coach for now.
Still too early to throw him off the cliff, but again it’s just my perception of him during games, PCs, and mainly, trainings.
The uncertainty surrounding Seedorf is really an unwanted distraction. Why Galliani is not defending him is beyond me! He kept shielding allegri but never comes close to defend or dispel the rumors about Seedorf yet. That’s baffling… There’s no smoke without fire.
Fingers crossed and if this manager is sacked having done well so far then what do we expect from Inzaghi?
I hope we get minimum of 4point from Roma n Inter
Notice how many people have an opinion when the boys are winning.
they should sack gillani put maldini
nex season krul or scuffet
milan is back
Galliani why eh! ….why ah… Leave us alone
Galliani why eh! ….why ah… Leave us alone…………..leave milan alone ah what is dat?……. Always forza milan
To be honest i don’t think inzaghi can do any better than Seedorf. Seedorf has a lot of stability and strong personality, which in these few months he has managed to transmit to the squad, more specifically on balotelli. No one has ever managed to calm down and stabilize balotelli the way Seedorf has done. Seedorf is gold, we have to keep him. And with more experience with these tough situations that galliani is intentionally creating he’ll be even better. I like inzaghi and the work he is doing with the primavera, but i don’t think he can handle the… Read more »
i believe milan will not be lossing anymore games for the season
i prefer seedorf over inzaghi.he is good tactitian.
in Serie A
under allegri milan managed 5win 7draw 7 loss
under seedorf milan managed 8win 2 draw 4loss
he is managing the same team allegri managed
seedorf is trying his best
i blame only on mr b gallani and team manageement
they signed few player who isnt eligible to play in milan.some players salary is too high.
manaagement should be just like liverpool atmadrid and Borussia Dortmund
Fellow milanistis,am really nt hapi.i just read dat manchester city are in 4 taarabt.now,dat means dat we ain’t even sure of having him and rami 4 next season.dis z nt gud,smbodi tel mi its nat true pls.
Speaking of Rami,I’m hearing reports that Uncle Fester wants to bargain his buyout clause from Valencia. For God’s sake,why is this guy turning into such a cheapskate?!! Better buy him off before Valencia decides to sell him to another club willing to pay more(remember we are not the only ones interested in him). And get us Siquerra. And Doria. And Coentrao. Fast.