FM 2009: Official AC Milan Thread - Rebuilding Needed?

[Sir frosinone]

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to by the abbreviation AC Milan or simply Milan, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 and has since spent most of its history in the top flight of Italian football.

In European and World competitions AC Milan, along with Boca Juniors have won 18 officially recognised international titles, more than any other club in the world. The club have won what is today known as the UEFA Champions League on seven occasions; only Real Madrid have won it more times (9). As far as Italian competitions are concerned, AC Milan are the second most successful club with 17 league titles; only Juventus have won more (27).

Other important titles which Milan have won includes the Intercontinental Cup three times, the European Super Cup five times, th Cup Winners' Cup twice and, in Italy, the Coppa Italia five times as well as five Italian Super Cups. AC Milan is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs.

Their home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The ground, which is shared with rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with total capacity of 85,700.

The Current Captain of A.C. Milan is, as ever, Paolo Maldini, with Massimo Ambrosini and Gennaro Ivan Gattuso as vice-captains.

Club Information:

Full Name: Associazione Calcio Milan SpA

Nicknames: Rossoneri (red-blacks), i Diavoli (the Devils)

Founded: December 16, 1899

Ground: San Siro, Milan

Capacity: 85,700

Chairman: Silvio Berlusconi

Head Coach: Carlo Ancelotti

League: Serie A

07/08 Position: 5th

Transfer Budget: £12mil-ish, depending on expectations and allocation.

History

The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin. In honour of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano (though it was forced to do it during the fascist regime, like Genoa and Inter); it should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lahn, even though the English one is the same as in the local dialect and many other dialects of Northern Italy.

In 1980 Milan were involved in the Totonero scandal and were relegated to Serie B as punishment. The scandal was centred on a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan were allegedly involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. Milan were initially punished with a 15 point deduction and banned from the Champions League. An appeal saw their penalty reduced to 8 points and allowed to retain their 2006-07 Champions League participation, where they won the competition.

Last season we were a complete embarrassment getting knocked out of the champions league at the last 16 by Arsenal andby not even qualifying for this years competition. This does mean that we could win the only competition we have never won the Ueafa Cup.

Summer Dealings

Milan spent a lot of money on some really big name players which was a gamble but we will soon see if was a gamble worth taking some of these players are RONALDINHO, ZAMBROTTA, FLAMINI and the returning Andriy Shevchenko.

These players were brought in to bring milan back to the top will they have the quality?

i hope so.

First Team Squad

1 GK Dida

3 DF Paolo Maldini (captain)

4 DF Kakha Kaladze

5 MF Emerson

7 FW Alexandre Pato

8 MF Gennaro Gattuso

9 FW Filippo Inzaghi

10 MF Clarence Seedorf

11 FW Marco Boriello

13 DF Alessandro Nesta

16 GK Željko Kalac

18 DF Marek Jankulovski

19 DF Giuseppe Favalli

20 MF Yoann Gourcuff (Out on Loan)

21 MF Andrea Pirlo

22 MF Kaká

23 MF Massimo Ambrosini (vice-captain)

25 DF Daniele Bonera

12 GK Christian Abbiati

76 FW Andriy Shevchenko

15 DF Gianluca Zambrotta

80 MF Ronaldinho

MF David Beckham (On 9.01 patch)

84 Mf Matheu Flamini

77 DF Luca Antonini

24 DF Phillip Senderos

Analysis

Milan have a very good but ageing squad and they are a team that has been in transition for the last three years although they have had success this has just disguised the fact that they need to greatly improve their squad.

So the question is have you got the toughness to take this legendary club back to were it belongs which is the top of football and even win the only trophy which has eluded this great club the Ueafa Cup.

One more thing

FORZA MILAN

[Tottiseiya]

More analysis expected.

Anyway, nice thread.

[Canal]

AC Milan are gettin on a bit! they need some bright young talent in defence! recommend Breno, Fazio for CB

then bring in a prime striker... someone who can score loads and help nurture Pato! someone like Liedson or another 26+ year old striker hitting their peek!

[Linfield Fc]

bring in mauroune chamakh as lone striker

[Purefun]

Nice OP mate but a little more feedback on your squad would be nice. You know, who to replace, who are the prime targets ..., who are the good youngsters ...

[Sir frosinone]

i wanted to start the milan thread this year but i am sad to say like every year as is my tradition i will not play 09 until xmas day

[nik tik]

Anyone terminate sheva's loan??he is wating my wages...

[vasilli07]

I think you can just click 'terminate loan'

[carlo sheva]

not playing Milan yet in 09 (currently playing chelsea cos i can only download vanilla demo). but IMO, we need a backup for Zambrotta in the DR pos, and one more AMC who can also be an FC. my best recommendations so far (based on my chelsea game in the demo):

DR: darijo srna (around 20m euro)

AM RLC / FC: andrey arshavin 15.5m euro (what a bargain price..!! already 2 goals in 3apps with 7.47rating in my chelsea game)

PS. hi sir frosinone, still remember me? where is everybody?

cheers

[Sir frosinone]

yeah i do long time no see. dont no most of the milan regulars have gone havent sen vicky since he started last years thread.

[Purefun]

I'm sure more people will return after the full game. No worries.

[Broskoslov]

I am having a hard time selling these oldies:

GK Dida

DL Favalli

D/WBL Jankulovki

ST Inzaghi

Whatever i try, after 2 month trying still no sale or loan for these guys. Also not for 0 euro?!

Thank god Real bought Andrea Pirlo for 32 million, otherwise i wasnt able to get some of the young talents

Anyone did sell any older Milan players, and if so....HOW? :\

[www2]

I am having a hard time selling these oldies:

GK Dida

DL Favalli

D/WBL Jankulovki

ST Inzaghi

Whatever i try, after 2 month trying still no sale or loan for these guys. Also not for 0 euro?!

Thank god Real bought Andrea Pirlo for 32 million, otherwise i wasnt able to get some of the young talents

Anyone did sell any older Milan players, and if so....HOW? :\

OMG you sold Pirlo, nooooooooooooooooo

[Broskoslov]

OMG you sold Pirlo, nooooooooooooooooo

Sorry about that, it was the only way to get money to buy some some younger players. Besides, he started it telling everyone 'he wanted to move to Real' and had see it all at Milan

But was you able to sell any oldies at Milan?

[ROSSONERILEGION]

OMG you sold Pirlo, nooooooooooooooooo

I always sell him, along with Gattuso usually to Barca and the latter to Madrid.

Bring in Veloso and Lucas instead.

Vanden Borre has always been quality for me as a RB.

How's Barzagli looking now that he's at Wolfsburg?

Sidnei, Zapata the usual suspects would be quality for CB.

I used Babel to replace Seedorf in 08 and he got me 20+ goals and 10+assists every season.

Akinfeev's contract might be running out, not sure if he renewed or not?

My 2 cents considering I haven't played this game yet.

Is Zeefuik still a promising striker?

I'm relishing the chance to have Rossi(cheap release clause) and Pato up front playing together, jesus thats' going to be awesome.

[Desmo16]

Barzagli's not as good as he used to be. Senderos appears to be a little bit better than Barzagli. And you can sign him at the end of the loan for cheap. Zapata is class as usual and should compensate what Senderos lacks in speed. Sidnei sucks this FM.

I don't know what PA did Panoz give to Paloschi, but he should be good after he comes back from Parma.

[Dario]

I am having a hard time selling these oldies:

GK Dida

DL Favalli

D/WBL Jankulovki

ST Inzaghi

Whatever i try, after 2 month trying still no sale or loan for these guys. Also not for 0 euro?!

Thank god Real bought Andrea Pirlo for 32 million, otherwise i wasnt able to get some of the young talents

Anyone did sell any older Milan players, and if so....HOW? :\

Dude, you really dont know much about AC Milan if you're selling Pirlo who is in my opinion the best DMC in the game at the moment.

On my demo in only 13 games, he scored 8 goals, 4 assists and 4 mom...

[Gecko]

Pirlo to me is a complete dmc, Id only sell him for the likes of diarra or veloso somefin younger. Other then that no way

[na3c0]

I got to the end of the demo and plagued by the injuries annoyance which made me terminate the loan of Senderos and Sheva.

I got offers for Pirlo too, and also Pato, Seedorf, Emerson. Kept Pirlo and Pato, sold Emerson and Seedorf for about 12M both. I strengthened the backline with a GK Federico Villar, and burnt a hefty sum of money on Martin Caceres from Barça (who by the way was listed right after being bought this summer).

Roma is incredibly in form during the season, Inter has lost its invincibility of FM08.

I have a lot coming the next season, youngsters and such (bought them while they're on loan, so they can't arrive in Jan).

*edit*: I can see that it's much harder to buy players from the same league or rival club in FM09.

[McNeillR]

Just settling in now, why isn't Beckham listed as coming on loan?

The wage bill is depressing, with Shevva on silly money but I don't have the resources to move him on to clear it up.

[na3c0]

With Pato, Borriello, Inzaghi, Tabarez, I don't really need Sheva. His being injured for 2 months is the last push to make me return him to Chelsea. Besides, €11M after the loaning period is too expensive! The same goes for Senderos, I'd not pay €8,5M for him

I think Beckham will be in Febuary pack.

[LuciferM]

Can one of the AC managers let me know how Pato is doing in their game please. Doesn't matter how far into the season (more than 6 games would be nice though) because I signed him for £31m for Arsenal, he's played 7 games, averaged something like 5.6 and hasn't scored a goal from open play. I want to know if it's my tactics, his adaptability or whether he's just not a goalscorer.

[algurgazan]

In his first season Pato scored a bit more than 1 goal per game for me, so I guess it has something to do with your tactics.. I played him up front as a lone striker in a 4-4-1-1 tactic..

I sold Pirlo for € 35 M to Madrid, bought David Luiz, Veloso, Rossi and Marcelo. Bought Sakho in the January period cause I got extra cash by then.. Won the league and the Uefa Cup, so I got a massive budget at the start of the second season.. Sold a lot of the older players, and bought a lot of young'uns.. Fazio, dos Santos, di Maria, Acosta...

[Ro55onero]

Among the big sides, Milan has always been a relatively difficult side to manage (until you get the huge amounts of money that have been dished out in previous versions) and this year it's even tougher. There are a number of big problems:

AGE:

Maldini is in his last season and the game hasn't been kind to him. His stats plummet as you go through the season and he becomes unusable.

Pippo's stats also plummet and he also becomes unusable. He's in his last season on a very big wage - thankfully SI missed his recent extension!

Other than those two, Seedorf, Nesta, Emerson, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Jankulovski, Zambrotta, Dida, Pirlo, Kaladze all only have a few seasons in them and will need to be replaced at roughly the same time which will cause problems.

HIGH WAGES:

At the start my entire wage budget was being used with insane wages like £140k per week for Kaká, £120k per week for the on loan Sheva, £60k+ per week for an unusable Inzaghi, £30k+ per week each for the rubbish Kalac and Favalli. We're also paying Oddo £30k+ a week while he is at Bayern. That meant there was no budget to offer new players a decent wage.

NO WIDTH:

Kaká, Ronaldinho and Pirlo are among the best players in the game but don't offer much width, Milan are very strong in the centre now but there are few options and it's hard to create a balanced side. Antonini is a bit rubbish so we only have two decent full backs.

INJURIES:

At the start of the game Kaká, Borriello and Senderos have long injuries and miss the whole of pre-season, Nesta is out for nearly the whole season. Pato gets called to the Olympics and misses nearly all of pre-season too so it's hard to get your tactics sorted out before the season begins.

CENTRE-BACKS:

The game has been a bit harsh on Bonera and he's not much use, Maldini quickly becomes poor. Nesta is a great centre-back though and Kaladze and Senderos are very good. However, Nesta is out for nearly the whole season so there's a bit of a dilemma on whether to get a new CB or ride it out.

GOALKEEPERS:

Abbiati is the best and he's not very good. Dida is there on more than £60k a week and Kalac is on over £30k.

YOUTH PLAYERS:

I expect they have random PA, but in my game Viudez apparantly has the potential to be as good as Kaká (!), but Cardacio is rubbish. Paloschi is 'promising' and Albertazzi looks good. Pato is of course great and Gourcuff is good although he does have an agreed fee. Senderos can be bought permenantly for £6.5m and Flamini has made the situation a bit better than it was in previous games.

~~~~~~~~

SOLUTIONS:

On the plus side, there's a lot of quality iun the first team and it doesn't need major changes straight away so I focused on young players.

Initialy transfer budget was a measly £8m, I asked for more and got a total of £20m. There was no wage budget left so I really had no option but to terminate Sheva's loan, the squad suits one striker anyway and Pato and Borriello are both good. I managed to sell Kalac for £500k and the best I could do with Favlli was send him on loan to a club willing to pay 30% of his wages. Man United unsettled Pirlo and he said he wanted to leave, got £33m from Real Madrid for him. That gave me £53m and a decent wage gap to find good young players to fill a GK, FB and CB position and to get some width in.

BUYS:

Renan

Sakho

De Silvestri

Alexis Sanchez

Aquino

Saivet

All of whom are rated with excellent potential by Milan's best scout Leonardo and as quality buys by Tassotti.

FORMATION:

There's a lot of quality in DM and AM positions, Ronaldinho can do a good job on the left and Alexis Sanchez has been great on the right. I've settled on 2 formations, one very attacking and one more stable.

---------------Borriello/Pato

Ronaldinho--Seedorf---Kaká--Sanchez

-----------------------------------

Zambrotta------Flamini------De Silvestri

----------Kaladze-----Senderos

----------------Abbiati

and

--------------Borriello/Pato

------Ronaldinho-Kaká-Seedorf

------------------------------------

------------Gattuso-Ambrosini

Zambrotta--Kaladze-Senderos--De Silvestri

----------------Abbiati

And there's a fair amount of depth:

Renan, Dida

Maldini, Bonera, Sakho

Jankulovski, Antonini

Emerson, Flamini/Gattuso/Ambrosini

Aquino, Viudez, Sanchez

Pato/Borriello, Inzaghi

[na3c0]

I finished 1st season winning UEFA cup but 3rd place in Serie A. Most of the time in first half of the season (playing with demo version), I was struggling with long term injuries. At a time, I have only enough player for starting XI, the rest had to be drawn from under20s. Kaka, Ronaldinho, Gattuso, Flamini suffered each at least two months of injuries all along the season. Sheva got 3 months injuries, Senderos 6 months (what's the h*ll is going on!!??). Viduez proved to be very good (his performances were better than his stats).

@Ro55onero, I don't know why you don't like Antonini. He's not superb but at the time being, he's not a bad choice. Besides, his versatility made him very playable. With Jankuloski, Antonini and Zambrotta, you don't have to worry about the wingback problems.

Pato in my first season scored 10, and assisted 10 in 28 matches. He won Young player of the year Award. To be honest however, I would not buy him for more than €30M. With that amount, I can buy Giuseppe Rossi and Mathias Fernandes from Villarreal. Both are young and explosive.

=======

In 2nd season, after winning UEFA cup, the Milan board became much more generous (much more than that of the last version of FM in 2nd season) and offered me €134M to spend. I got almost all I need from the last season purchases (G. Rossi, Criscito, J.M. Mata, Vermaelen Thomas). So I bought Veloso at €23M with clauses to satisfy my wish in reality Gonna train him in DC to offer more option to the squad.

I'm selling Oddo for good, as well as Cardaccio. Got offer of 30M for Flamini from Arsenal lol, but I refused just to p*ss them off. Barça offered to buy Ronaldinho as well at around €30M, but got rejected.

I renewed contract of Maldini and Inzaghi. Probably won't play them much but I want to see how they turn into staffs. Not like last version, in FM09, Inzaghi's thinking of taking up a role of assistant manager after his playing career.

Along with first team squad, several quality youngsters came in too. They are all italian

[Kiriakoz]

I am trying to clearout the old deadwood in my Milan team too. They are good, but not in the same class as Inter IMO, so I need a strategy to improve them.

Season 1.

Players In:

Saivet: 5.75M Pounds

Marcelo: 4.4M

Guiseppe Rossi: 11M

Sakho: 5.75M

Fiorillo: 5.75M

Kaebi: 0.9M (Needed cheap cover @ RWB)

Gago: 6.75M

Caceres: 11.75M Pounds

Players Out:

Kalac: 0.5M

Pirlo: 24M (Am selling anyone over 29 if I get decent money for them - Arsene Wenger theory)

Season 2. (So far, am only at July 9th)

Players In:

Lautaro Acosta: 5.25M

Aguero: 37.5M

Players Out:

Ronaldinho: 22.5M

Still have a fair bit of money, any ideas?

I play 5-1-2-2 with 3 CB, 2 WB, 1 DM, 2 AM and 2 Strikers/Forwards

So far, my starting line up will probably be:

GK: Abbiati

LWB: Marcelo

RWB: Zambrotta

CB: Caceres

CB: Bonera

CB: Nesta (was injured whole of first season, but should replace Kaladze)

DM: Flamini

AM: Kaka

AM: Aguero

CF: Rossi

CF: Pato

Am thinking of buying genuine striker, goal keeper, centre back and even dos santos from tottenham as I still have 55M Pounds (plus I might even get rid of some dead wood)

I came 2nd first season, but performed poorly in UEFA Cup (I played my back up players most of the games).

UPDATE

I have bought/sold some more players

BOUGHT:

Giovani Dos Santos: 15M Pounds

Miguel Veloso: 25.5M Pounds

Hugo Lloris: 28.5M Pounds

Zambelli: 2.8M Pounds

Paloschi: 4.5M Pounds

SOLD:

Flamini: 14M Pounds

Gattuso: 6M Pounds

Seedorf: 750K Pounds

Antonini: 4M Pounds

Ambrosini: 1.9M Pounds

Oddo: 500K Pounds

I still have 20M Pounds for an out and out traditional striker (Rossi is the closest to that), but the transfer window ended before I could really get one (I'm happy enough with Aguero, Pato, Rossi, Saivet and Paloschi - although Aguero was actually signed as a replacement for Ronaldinho and Saivet/Paloschi are far from regular starting material)

NEW STARTING LINE UP:

GK: Hugo Lloris

CB: Sakho

CB: Nesta

CB: Caceras

LWB: Marcelo

RWB: Zambrotta

CM/DM: Veloso

AM: Aguero

AM: Kaka

CF: Rossi

CF: Pato

Subs

Dida (I let Fiorillo play in Res/U20's for regular match practice)

Kaladze

Dos Santos

Saivet

Bonera

Gourcuff

Fernando Gago

I need more cover for WB's, although I still have a little bit in reserves.

SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THEY THINK.

[na3c0]

What seem to be deadwood to you still have their class, IMO. I play the game keeping the Milan spirit at the same time. No way I'll sell the like of Pirlo or Gattuso. Other players that I've sold so far are Seedorf, Emerson, Gourcuff. Actually all of them are sold at superior price to their value. Those that you've sold are so underpriced. I've got offered constantly since 1st season for Pirlo Flamini, and Gattuso, at least 24M for each of them.

Since the last play of FM08, I promised myself not to pay fool money on players. Aguero is good but paying nearly 40M is not worth it

[toma_akvinski]

Guys, how about squad aging (in FM08 it was very unfair towards older players). E.g., can I count on inzaghi for whole season and perhaps another one?

[Broskoslov]

After 6 games playing Milan I am 5th. ALthough the pre-season was oke (more or less) regarding injuries, I lost again Kaka for 2 months and Borielli for 5 month. As I am tired of this + I have no Forwards left, I stop playing Milan.

[na3c0]

Guys, how about squad aging (in FM08 it was very unfair towards older players). E.g., can I count on inzaghi for whole season and perhaps another one?

You can but only as sub. He scored rather regularly for me when I'm short on striker (injuries).

[Kiriakoz]

What seem to be deadwood to you still have their class, IMO. I play the game keeping the Milan spirit at the same time. No way I'll sell the like of Pirlo or Gattuso. Other players that I've sold so far are Seedorf, Emerson, Gourcuff. Actually all of them are sold at superior price to their value. Those that you've sold are so underpriced. I've got offered constantly since 1st season for Pirlo Flamini, and Gattuso, at least 24M for each of them.

Since the last play of FM08, I promised myself not to pay fool money on players. Aguero is good but paying nearly 40M is not worth it

Yeah, I agree that I have sold/bought foolishly. It doesn't really make sense, because I am a bargain hunter IRL (I mean at shops).

Gattuso was no good for me, so I just had to get rid of him.

I think I got worried that, with such an aging squad, I would be stuck with old "lemons" that would gather no value. Once I started selling them, it got addictive and I couldn't stop.

I agree, Aguero was way to expensive, I should've bought him first season (although I had a minimal transfer budget)

[na3c0]

I think i'm done shopping for the 2nd season. Most important purchase was Veloso (DC DM MC) (~ 23M). The most bargain was Domenico Criscito DLRC (5,25M), actually I could have got him for less if I had a better relationship with Ranieri. Another good bargain is Giuseppe Rossi for 12M. One good sale is Gourcuff for 15M to Liverpool (double his value). My worst transfer of the season would be Thomas Vermaelen (DLC) 11,5M from Ajax. His stats are good but he did not prove that in friendly matches. Interestingly clubs have been trying to lure Alberto Paloschi from Milan and Parma (12,5M to each club), but I have to reject as he's very promising (will be better than Balotelli). Letting him stay at Parma for another season might cost me more next year to get him back but he need match practice and it will be worth my money.

What I need right now is another GK and ideally it would be Hugo Lloris from Lyon. But splashing 31M for him is not my style. So I'll play with Federico Vilar, Abbiati and Sergio Asenjo.

My squad in 09/10 should be like this:

======================

GK: Federico Vilar, Christian Abbiati, Sergio Asenjo.

Defence: Maldini, Domenico Criscito, Kaladze, Bonera, Nesta, Caceres, Vermaelen, Zambrotta, Antonini, Jankuloski, Zambelli (very versatile this italian from Brescia),

Midfield: Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Flamini, Veloso, Luigi Bruins, Eyong Enoh, Franco Zuculini,

Attack: Juan Manuel Mata, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Viduez, Giuseppe Rossi, Borriello, Pato, Inzaghi.

======================

Any suggestion about the formation that I should use ?

Edit: One thing that really annoys me in the release that Pirlo declares his intention of leaving right at the start of the season which did not happen in Demo version or in real life. In another save that I play with database 910, he declare his intention of looking for new challenge right after my arrival and start being unhappy all along the season. I can not offer him a new deal with the tight wage budget and it will end soon.

[Desmo16]

If you raise Pirlo's loyalty & make Milan his favorite club (both of which are true IRL) than you should not have any issues. Same goes for Kaka.

[msadler04]

Just started as AC Milan in 09

Immediately sent back Senderos and Shevchenko to free up some funds...kept Beckham as my only loan player. Asked for more funds and got £20 million which was used on Wing Back Darijo Srna as a long term replacement for Jankulovksi. There's plenty of work to be done on an ageing squad...a new keeper is a must imo because although there's 3 or 4 decent keepers at Milan, there's no great one. Centre Backs are a problem due to age and need replaceing with some young quality...and Pato needs help up front.

My first XI looks like this: (5-1-1-2-1)

Dida

Zambrotta Bonera Nesta Khaladze Srna

Gattuso

Pirlo

Kaka Ronaldinho

Pato

Started off ok with a good pre season of the USA playing 4 MLS sides winning every game without conceding....won my first Serie A game at home to Fiorentina before a 2-2 draw at Udinese....had 3 disapointing results since then with a 0-0 draw at home to Lazio, a 1-0 defeat at Juventus and a 2-2 draw at home to Sampdoria

The UEFA Cup has been better with a 6-0 home win over FC Zurich...which should make the 2nd Leg a formality and the chance to rest a few players

[na3c0]

If you raise Pirlo's loyalty & make Milan his favorite club (both of which are true IRL) than you should not have any issues. Same goes for Kaka.

How do I raise his loyalty? Milan is his favourite club in his personal page.

Interestingly, Kaka does not give me this issue.

Out of every player in FM09, Cristiano Ronaldo should be the one who want to moan about leaving the most But I did not see that happen.

Besides, every good player in small club must have more desire to leave than players in big clubs.

[aeroforce19]

Have been unable to do much buying, I am having to ward off Real from Pirlo, Barca from Kaka and Liverpool from Gattuso (!!). Otherwise playing 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-3-2-1. Injuries are bad and even if I brought down the number of physios from 8 with national reputation to 3 world class (I'm not even allowed a fourth one!) it's not getting better. I sent Senderos home (now I'm regretting it) and bought Petri Pasanen for around €3m, he might come in handy for corners. Also bought Angel di Maria for approx €8m, and changed most of the backroom staff. Noticed that Jankulovski is unrealistically bad and Antonini has to fill in.

Won the first matchday against Fiorentina 4-1 (they had 4 players injured, SI take note) after a slow preseason. My first XI:

Abbiati; Zambrotta, Pasanen, Kaladze, Jankulovski/Antonini; Pirlo; Gattuso, Seedorf; Ronaldinho; Pato, Shevchenko.

Too early to call but I might have trouble when I face Inter. Can only buy one player now, suggestions?

[msadler04]

Have been unable to do much buying, I am having to ward off Real from Pirlo, Barca from Kaka and Liverpool from Gattuso (!!). Otherwise playing 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-3-2-1. Injuries are bad and even if I brought down the number of physios from 8 with national reputation to 3 world class (I'm not even allowed a fourth one!) it's not getting better. I sent Senderos home (now I'm regretting it) and bought Petri Pasanen for around €3m, he might come in handy for corners. Also bought Angel di Maria for approx €8m, and changed most of the backroom staff. Noticed that Jankulovski is unrealistically bad and Antonini has to fill in.

Won the first matchday against Fiorentina 4-1 (they had 4 players injured, SI take note) after a slow preseason. My first XI:

Abbiati; Zambrotta, Pasanen, Kaladze, Jankulovski/Antonini; Pirlo; Gattuso, Seedorf; Ronaldinho; Pato, Shevchenko.

Too early to call but I might have trouble when I face Inter. Can only buy one player now, suggestions?

Srno from Shaktar Donestk is a good replacement for Jankulovski....a big enough bid and the club will sell as the Chairman accepts on the managers behalf

[speed_demon]

has anyone managed to loan beckham. will be starting a milan save as im getting bored of being arsenal.

[Tulkas04]

@aeroforce19

Srna is a great option for Milan (and any other squad really) and you do need more people in the flanks. He can act as backup for Zambrotta and even Janko if you use them as WB. Unfortunately chances are he has already been signed for Tottenham or Man City (they go for him very early in the game), and you may not have € 18/19M to buy it.

PS: Maybe you should think about finishing Sheva's loan. I love him as much as any other Milan fan, but he earns way too much for what he does, and you could use the money.

[rutgertje]

Just started with Milan and I haven't been able to get rid of Emerson (his wages are insane for a player who will get a total of 0 minutes in the first team). Haven't got any bids in, even when I offered him for €0,-. So, how to get rid of him?

[na3c0]

Emerson is not all bad. Except for his speed, he is a good backup IMO. You can keep playing him regularly as a sub. If he is played often enough (even as sub), clubs will make offers for him. I managed to sell him more than his actual value.

[carlo sheva]

Finally, started as Milan in 09. the transfer budget is way too little, and thats why i cant sign Srna who costs around 20m euro (damn..!). instead, got marcelo (real madrid), and beletti (chelsea) in a loan deal. both will be backup for janku and zambro. also got thiago silva (fluminense if i'm not wrong), as backup in DC department who lost nesta for 10months. nobody going out yet from the first team, but around 10-15 u20's have to be released to free up some wage budget. tried to offload emerson, but not succesful yet. nobody wants him either buy or loan.

so the first team will look like this (4321):

abbiati, zambro, bonera, kaladze, janku, flamini, pirlo, gattuso, seedorf, dinho, sheva

(seedorf will be replaced by kaka as soon as he came back from injury).

or alternatively (41212):

abbiati, zambro, bonera, kaladze, janku, pirlo, flamini, gattuso, dinho, pato, sheva

[Sir frosinone]

cant wait for xmas to play this milan all the way any chance of a ss of Sheva

[Harryseaess]

I started a game with Milan last night, I am currently on the 2nd August 2008, I have had a decent bit of success in the transfer market IMO.

Players out:

Emerson (To West Ham) - £400k loan fee (100% wages paid by West Ham) - Agreed price of £3.1m

Guiseppe Favalli (To Stoke) - £50k

Zeljco Kalac (To AS Saint-Etienne) - £1m (over 24 months)

Luca Antonini (To Catania) - £160 loan fee (100% wages paid by Catania) - Agreed price of £650k

Clarence Seedorf (To Man City) - £1.1m loan fee (100% wages paid by Man City) - Agreed price of £4.2m

Mathius Cardacio (To Cittadella) - Loan (100% wages paid by Cittadella)

Andriy Shevchenko (To Chelsea) - Ended Loan

Players In:

Mamadou Sakho (From PSG) - £7.5m

Henri Saivet (From PSG) - £4m

Alexis Sanchez (From Udinese) - £3.6m

Belletti (From Chelsea) - Loan (40% wages paid by Milan)

I am hoping to sell a few youth players to lower the wage budget even more.

Emerson and Seedorf are still good players but their wages were too high and they are getting on now so I decided to let them go. Favalli and Kalac IMO are rubbish and therefore I had to get rid of them at whatever price because they were taking up my wage budget.I have had bids from Real Madrid for Pirlo for around £20m but I rejected because I don't want him to leave because he is a great player. I loaned Belletti after reading Carlo Sheva's post . I ended Shevchenko's loan becaus ehe wasn't worth the wages he was on.

I signed young players because the squad ATM is quite an old one (as everybody knows) so I am trying to bring some youth in that will be the future of the club.

Any feedback would be great .

[carlo sheva]

@harryseaess

who do you plan to back jankulovski up? since you sent antonini out?

on sheva: i still dont have any proof how useful/unuseful he is

on seedorf: too bad because he is a very versatile player. he can cover all midfield area (including backup for pirlo).

on pirlo: cannot agree more. still dont understand why some people here sold him. he is the real soul of milan. kaka is the new symbol, but pirlo is the soul.

[carlo sheva]

I am trying to clearout the old deadwood in my Milan team too. They are good, but not in the same class as Inter IMO, so I need a strategy to improve them.

Season 1.

Players In:

Saivet: 5.75M Pounds

Marcelo: 4.4M

Guiseppe Rossi: 11M

Sakho: 5.75M

Fiorillo: 5.75M

Kaebi: 0.9M (Needed cheap cover @ RWB)

Gago: 6.75M

Caceres: 11.75M Pounds

Players Out:

Kalac: 0.5M

Pirlo: 24M (Am selling anyone over 29 if I get decent money for them - Arsene Wenger theory)

Season 2. (So far, am only at July 9th)

Players In:

Lautaro Acosta: 5.25M

Aguero: 37.5M

Players Out:

Ronaldinho: 22.5M

Still have a fair bit of money, any ideas?

I play 5-1-2-2 with 3 CB, 2 WB, 1 DM, 2 AM and 2 Strikers/Forwards

So far, my starting line up will probably be:

GK: Abbiati

LWB: Marcelo

RWB: Zambrotta

CB: Caceres

CB: Bonera

CB: Nesta (was injured whole of first season, but should replace Kaladze)

DM: Flamini

AM: Kaka

AM: Aguero

CF: Rossi

CF: Pato

Am thinking of buying genuine striker, goal keeper, centre back and even dos santos from tottenham as I still have 55M Pounds (plus I might even get rid of some dead wood)

I came 2nd first season, but performed poorly in UEFA Cup (I played my back up players most of the games).

UPDATE

I have bought/sold some more players

BOUGHT:

Giovani Dos Santos: 15M Pounds

Miguel Veloso: 25.5M Pounds

Hugo Lloris: 28.5M Pounds

Zambelli: 2.8M Pounds

Paloschi: 4.5M Pounds

SOLD:

Flamini: 14M Pounds

Gattuso: 6M Pounds

Seedorf: 750K Pounds

Antonini: 4M Pounds

Ambrosini: 1.9M Pounds

Oddo: 500K Pounds

I still have 20M Pounds for an out and out traditional striker (Rossi is the closest to that), but the transfer window ended before I could really get one (I'm happy enough with Aguero, Pato, Rossi, Saivet and Paloschi - although Aguero was actually signed as a replacement for Ronaldinho and Saivet/Paloschi are far from regular starting material)

NEW STARTING LINE UP:

GK: Hugo Lloris

CB: Sakho

CB: Nesta

CB: Caceras

LWB: Marcelo

RWB: Zambrotta

CM/DM: Veloso

AM: Aguero

AM: Kaka

CF: Rossi

CF: Pato

Subs

Dida (I let Fiorillo play in Res/U20's for regular match practice)

Kaladze

Dos Santos

Saivet

Bonera

Gourcuff

Fernando Gago

I need more cover for WB's, although I still have a little bit in reserves.

SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THEY THINK.

you completely lost Milan soul. this is not Milan anymore. in season 2?? this is not good. i will never do what you did. maybe i'll do it in season 7-8, but absolutely not in early season.

[vieires]

Havent got 09 yet, but I cannot wait!

How is Flamini rated? He was poor for me in 08, but after his good season last year, I think he should be much improved. Any feedback?

Also, if I was to play as Milan, I would be thinking about offloading Inzaghi and Shevchenko. This would leave only two developed strikers (Pato and Borriello). Who do you think would be a good option to bring into the team. I would prefer a more strong type player than a pacey type as I would be primarily playing with a lone striker.

I'm thinking Huntelaar or Pogrebnyak...

[Harryseaess]

@harryseaess

who do you plan to back jankulovski up? since you sent antonini out?

on sheva: i still dont have any proof how useful/unuseful he is

on seedorf: too bad because he is a very versatile player. he can cover all midfield area (including backup for pirlo).

on pirlo: cannot agree more. still dont understand why some people here sold him. he is the real soul of milan. kaka is the new symbol, but pirlo is the soul.

Thanks for the feedback mate.

Sakho is capable of covering for Jankulovski if he gets injured and so is Kaladze.

I am guessing that Sheva would have been quite good but I refuse to pay his stupid wages! Lol.

I know that Seedorf is a very versitle and good player but he is 32 and I doubt I would get a better offer if I kept him for the first season so decided to let him go. Plus, it frees up some wages.

Kaka and Pirlo along with Gattuso are the stars, I won't sell these players until they are 32/33 and past it .

[Kiriakoz]

you completely lost Milan soul. this is not Milan anymore. in season 2?? this is not good. i will never do what you did. maybe i'll do it in season 7-8, but absolutely not in early season.

I am a lost Milan soul. I am not even a fan, just felt like playing as them. I am a HAMMER 'til I die.

I have no sentimentality. Old players are dead to me.

[Harryseaess]

I am in need of a tall striker with good heading ability for my AC Milan team to play upfront with Pato. I will be setting the new striker as a target man with balls to head, so he must be able to play in this role.

I have got a budget of £9.5mill