Leonardo Thread

Sage

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Leonardo: Milan Must Not Enter 'Tunnel Of Pessimism'

The Rossoneri's coach is trying to remain upbeat despite a poor pre-season...

Milan coach Leonardo believes that his team will prove all of its worth when it really matters after an extremely disappointing pre-season, with the team failing to obtain any wins thus far.

Leonardo feels calm and is sure that his side will bounce back from all this negativity, as long as his men stay focused and positive.

"I don't want to be optimistic at all costs, but it's clear that Milan cannot be the team seen until now," explained the Rossoneri's mentor to Milan Channel.

"The talent is undeniably there in this team. There's also spirit of sacrifice, order and discipline. The ingredients are all there to win.

"We cannot enter a tunnel of pessimism. The team must do better, but I am calm: now is the time to restart, I believe in it. If we give everything we have, we can have a good season.

"The basis is there, as is the playing idea. We just need to restart."

Milan take on Juventus this evening at San Siro in the Berlusconi Cup, in the final pre-season game ahead of the start of the new Serie A campaign this weekend.

http://goal.com/en/news/10/italy/20...ardo-milan-must-not-enter-tunnel-of-pessimism
 

Sidd

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Coming soon, to a press conference near you!

I like A compared our preseason prep from last year to Leo's.
Leo needs all the support he can get right now, coz we know for sure B&G are not giving him any.
 
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GreatKalu

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Now that we're back in February, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the squad then, and compare it to what we have now. And to be honest, I'd think our current squad may actually be better. Sure we lost Paolo and Kaka', but back in Feb, we didn't have a host of players: Nesta, Gattuso, Bori/Hunt, TS, Dinho given a starting role, etc. With this in mind, I feel we should - at least on paper - be more competitive than we were then.

I know its only pre-season, and believe that we should give Leo more time + players/options to work with, but questions should be raised about Leo's ability to coach a team of Milan's stature and expectations.

I don't think poor teams can just "restart" and turn their fortunes around overnight. There has to be signs that the team is moving in the right direction, or that there is a strong basis to build on.

I think we have a strong base to build on, but are just far too inconsistent to see a pattern of improvement. Humiliated against Bayern, only to turn up more focused and composed the very next day.

This is where Leo has to step in, find the right balance, and get the team performing more consistently.
 

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Our new Tabarez.
 

zZ[-_-]Zz

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That's just what I feel, but I still rather he be our new Capello.
 

Sidd

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This was not the right time for Leo to take over. He should have taken over right after our CL victory in 07. That way he could have afforded to experiment, as the our team was still somewhat solid.
Now as he says there r still alot of links missing. I have no idea wtf is G doing. I was expecting that FB by now.
 

zZ[-_-]Zz

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2capello_milan_scudetto.jpg

3capello_desailly.jpg

The good old days.

fabio-angry-415.jpg

article-0-060AB4D6000005DC-743_306x620.jpg

These would have been his reactions if he saw our pre-season.
 

GreatKalu

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The management should have done a lot of things differently after 07. But I don't think replacing Carlo with Leo would've been a wise move. Anyway, debating about the past is pointless now as we have to see what Leo must do to get the squad performing.

By "restarting" I'm assuming he's talking about motivation. Try to dismiss the pre-season's shortcommings, get the team motivated for the matches that lie ahead. Good strategy, but I'd rather see it than hear about it in a press conference.

He's got to connect with the players - make them believe in his ideas and plans, get them committed to his vision, gain their respect, etc. We all agreed a problem with Carlo's Milan was that motivation was an issue ... Leo hasn't addressed that as of yet.
 

peters

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I think we have a strong base to build on, but are just far too inconsistent to see a pattern of improvement.
What exactly is that base we can build on, that im reading about alot lately? Because if we take seedorf/pirlo/dinho as that base... then i fear we wont do much of a building. One game all fired up, next game with a fuckup attitude, full of excuses. Nothing to build on here i say, unless someone (Leo) succeeds to motivate them properly, something that carlo failed to do in his last seasons.
 

r3dman

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By "restarting" I'm assuming he's talking about motivation. Try to dismiss the pre-season's shortcommings, get the team motivated for the matches that lie ahead. Good strategy, but I'd rather see it than hear about it in a press conference.

I'm very skeptic about him motivating the midfielders. Gattuso is always motivated, Flamini will also be, but it's Pirlo, Seedorf and Dinho that I'm worried about (the creators).
 

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Leo again is pointing @ the right direction : a full back + motivating our old players.
G&B better wake the fuck up or else its gonna b our worst season ever.
 

Armin__m

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As time goes on,I`m more and more sure that he`ll get sacked in the first few weeks of the season,leaving us around relegation zone.

He`s new,that`s true,but the team has been playing like there are no tactics,no instructions for them,and I believe it has a lot to do with Leo. Maybe he simply isn`t cut out to be a coach,speacilly at this level. I hope he can return to his previous role with us (or even something higher,he understands what the team needs) if he does indeed get sacked.


One more thing,don`t you think he`s starting to act like a puppet,because after getting Huntelaar,we suddenly need just a fullback (or some small adjustemnts as he says). He has been mentioning a midfielder in his previous interviews too,and we need one even more now than before,because Di Gennaro is injured.

Anyway,good luck tonight,hope we play well and you prove me and all the critics wrong.
 

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One more thing,don`t you think he`s starting to act like a puppet,because after getting Huntelaar,we suddenly need just a fullback (or some small adjustemnts as he says). He has been mentioning a midfielder in his previous interviews too,and we need one even more now than before,because Di Gennaro is injured.
Thats why I think he should resign rather than starting his first career with such squad/club.
Its better 4 him 2 coach a club with more desire 2 do good like Genoa , Napoli ..... yeah , thats how low our team is.
And I believe he stated that we need a FB & an ST.
DiG is a joke & his injury = 0 effect.
 

GreatKalu

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What exactly is that base we can build on, that im reading about alot lately? Because if we take seedorf/pirlo/dinho as that base... then i fear we wont do much of a building.
There's a lot going for Milan than it seems. In the short run (this season) our central defense is much improved. If Gattuso remains fit throughout the season, thats an added bonus. And even in the long run ... players like TS, Flamini, Pato ... these are top players who we can build a strong team around.

Lets just say, if we are looking strictly at personnel, the squad right now I feel is a lot stronger than the one we had in February.
I'm very skeptic about him motivating the midfielders. Gattuso is always motivated, Flamini will also be, but it's Pirlo, Seedorf and Dinho that I'm worried about (the creators).
Agreed. Which is why we need to get alternatives. Sure, all the fullback talk gets me interested ... but I'd like to see two midfielders brought in. Seasoned alternatives to Pirlo and Dinho, to be precise.
Leo again is pointing @ the right direction : a full back + motivating our old players.
G&B better wake the fuck up or else its gonna b our worst season ever.
Leo may be pointing to the right directions, but the team isn't. It is marginally better than the squad we had in February, yet the results aren't showing this. This is Leo's responsibility, and he is to answer for these poor performances.
 

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As time goes on,I`m more and more sure that he`ll get sacked in the first few weeks of the season,leaving us around relegation zone.
Rather see him sacked in first few weeks than after 3 trophyless seasons... if the team doesnt improve much till winter then there's no point keeping him, just like there was no point keeping carlo when we were starting our freerun.

and mad - sure we have some promising players like ts, flamin and pato, but we'll have to change our technical part of the team soon (pirlo, seedorf, dinho if he wastes his career) and i kind of doubt in a quality that we will get for replacement.

Maybe we are stronger than in february, but with so-so dinho, not improved pirlo, wide players that cannot cross even if their life depended on it.. huuuh...

Lets hope the team clicks somehow and starts banging goals like there's no tomorrow :D Cos reasonable as i am, i cannot find anything better but a blind hope.
 

hdcantona

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Rather see him sacked in first few weeks than after 3 trophyless seasons... if the team doesnt improve much till winter then there's no point keeping him, just like there was no point keeping carlo when we were starting our freerun.

and mad - sure we have some promising players like ts, flamin and pato, but we'll have to change our technical part of the team soon (pirlo, seedorf, dinho if he wastes his career) and i kind of doubt in a quality that we will get for replacement.

Maybe we are stronger than in february, but with so-so dinho, not improved pirlo, wide players that cannot cross even if their life depended on it.. huuuh...

Lets hope the team clicks somehow and starts banging goals like there's no tomorrow :D Cos reasonable as i am, i cannot find anything better but a blind hope.

that is a harsh, cynical, but very true point.
 

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First trophy for Leo and I hope for many, many more to come. I know it was a crappy Berlusconi cup but definitely it will serve as a confidence boost for a young coach like him.

Forza Milan!
 

Sidd

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Jube threw their best at us, they wanted the cup as bad as us. For us more than the cup this will boost the team's moral.
Atleast Leo makes the right subs :D:tongue:!
 

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We looked better than in the previous macthes,and you could some actions that were practiced in trainings. Hopefully this is a sign of better things to come.
 

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Good article form ESPN:

FOCUS ON AC MILAN
Leonardo's tactical revolution

By Svend Frandsen


August 19, 2009

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With the new Italian season almost upon us, Italian football journalists are already queuing up to sound the alarm bells for AC Milan, after mediocre displays in six consecutive friendly-defeats fuelled speculation that Leonardo's new tactical regime (following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti to Chelsea) will ultimately lead to a horror season for the former Champions League winners.


Leonardo can expect a tough season.

Indeed, it seemed the 2008-09 season was barely seconds over before Milan turned just about everything on its head. Captain Courageous, Paolo Maldini - at the age of 41 - finally brought down the curtain on a glorious career, coach Ancelotti paid the price for a season where he (according to president Silvio Berlusconi) "got it all wrong" and Real Madrid's £59m bid for Brazilian playmaker Kaka was simply too much for the Italians to resist.

The arrival of Leonardo, who was a prominent part of a star-studded line-up at the San Siro from 1997 to 2001 may possibly signal a tactical revolution at a club who have had to endure the humiliation of seeing bitter rivals Inter take over at the top of Italian football. Leonardo has wasted no time stating his admiration for his old mentor Tele Santana's attacking ideas in the Brazilian World Cup team of 1982, though he also recognises that much has changed in football since the 1980s.

''I admired the Brazil team of 1982, with players who basically did not have exact duties and who had two full-backs who often pushed forward,'' said Leonardo on his first press conference to Milan's TV-channel. ''But those were the '80s, today you cannot do without fighting spirit and physically robust players. Even a coach like Guus Hiddink has changed his team selections slightly, putting more emphasis on physical strength.''

For the time being, Milan have moved carefully in the transfer market, recalling Massimo Oddo from Bayern Munich, picking up Thiago Silva from Fluminense last January and bringing in €15m worth of Dutch striker in Klaas Jan Huntelaar (as well as signing American centre-back Oguchi Onyewu and making a move for Sevilla's Luís Fabiano).

Needless to say, such moves have hardly caused rapture among the fans who still feel Berlusconi and club director Adriano Galliani should have done more to hold onto Kaká. The same fans, too, remain concerned that Milan might even be tempted to cash in on their remaining big-name talent, striker Alexandre Pato, as well as the likes of Andrea Pirlo.

So Leonardo certainly has his work cut out for him, but his calm presence and positive outlook may possibly help Milan in adapting to new tactics. The Brazilian boss emphasises speed, creativity, and courage as the main themes of his new club's play and the change in thinking should symbolise a new Milanese era. However, poor displays in the pre-season friendlies have caused fears that the new tactics are not rubbing off on the players.

''Leonardo said in his first press conference that Milan will be inspired by the way Brazil played in 1982,'' says Andrea Perra, a well-respected football journalist in Milan. ''It would be very innovative to see Milan adopt such a system in a country which prides itself on catenaccio tactics but I think Leonardo will have big problems against mid-table teams in Italy.

''However, if he can find the right mix of Brazilian-inspired will to attack and Italian flair for controlling the matches, Milan could be the big surprise of the season.''

Still, even if Leonardo has great plans towards launching a virtual tactical revolution at Milan (at least on paper), most of Milan's football reporters doubt that he has got the right players to realise his dreams.

''There has been talk of playing two very offensive full-backs, as well as three strikers, but I think this will change during the season,'' says Perra. ''Players like (Marek) Jankulovski and (Gianluca) Zambrotta don't fit in with Leonardo's offensive philosophy and at the same time they are over 30 years old. Ronaldinho's form will have to change drastically to the better and it is also very uncertain if new striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will function well with (Alexandre) Pato.''

GettyImages

Pato: The Brazilian is key to Milan's hopes.

Most experts in the football-passionate country also feel confident that Milan will finally pay the price for relying too heavily on ageing stars. It might have done wonders for Milan's strategy of marketing the club as 'home of the stars,' but at the same time it did not help that many were unable to put in their best performances.

''Berlusconi was hoping to have a very young team where the average age was around 23 but this is a dream that won't be realised. The new players Huntelaar and Thiago Silva are 26 and 24 years old and Pato also belong to the few youngsters in the team. But the others are well over 30 and this could spell problems for Milan'', says Perra, who believes Milan could be in for a transitional season.

''Milan have gone through so many changes in a short amount of time. Kaka was a unique player who is impossible to replace, even if Ronaldinho should recapture a bit of the form that saw him win the Golden Ball a couple of years ago. Player by player, Inter and Juventus are superior to Leonardo's troops, Huntelaar and Thiago Silva need time to adjust and I certainly don't see Milan getting past the quarter-finals in this year's Champions League competition.''

Time will tell, but if Leonardo succeeds in bringing his revolution to Milan, it be will against all the odds.
 

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Still, even if Leonardo has great plans towards launching a virtual tactical revolution at Milan (at least on paper), most of Milan's football reporters doubt that he has got the right players to realise his dreams.

''There has been talk of playing two very offensive full-backs, as well as three strikers, but I think this will change during the season,'' says Perra. ''Players like (Marek) Jankulovski and (Gianluca) Zambrotta don't fit in with Leonardo's offensive philosophy and at the same time they are over 30 years old. Ronaldinho's form will have to change drastically to the better and it is also very uncertain if new striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will function well with (Alexandre) Pato.''

THis is the only part of that article you have to read. Ignore the rest (not that it is bad), but this is so fundamental to absolutely everything. Cannot stress it enough, myself and others have been saying this for ages.

It is impossible to implement a philosophy and a style of football without the right players. Genuinely impossible. And Leo is in that situation. There is no way he will have his style "rub off" on the players because he does not have the right type, or indeed the quality, to make it work.

Look at Barcelona. Everyone would love to play like them, but we don't. No club plays like Barça. Why? Because no club has the right players to pull it off. And I don't just mean Messi, Xavi, Iniesta (although they are key), I'm talking all the way through the team.
 

GreatKalu

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This is Milan. Not Barcelona. We've had a system over the Berlusconi era that every coach has worked with. That is, while the management will listen to the coach, they ultimately decide what squad the coach will have at his disposal. Of course Leo's job will be made harder with this squad, but he's got to learn how to get the best out of them. Thats his job and his responsibility.

I'm glad he realizes that this is a great opportunity (from the Pirlo interview) and that he hasn't lost commitment and interest in making this work. He's got to sit down with Tassotti and decide on some systems that would suit this squad best ... and implement them.
 

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I think you've missed the point. He's already decided how he wants to play - something similar to Brazil in 1982. He seems intent on sticking to that method, but he doesn't have the players.

So something has to give, either he changes how he wants to play, or management give him the players he needs so he can implement the style. It's a ridiculous situation, and I don't see why coaches have to ignore their preferred style because the management won't give them the players they want.
 

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I think you've missed the point. He's already decided how he wants to play - something similar to Brazil in 1982. He seems intent on sticking to that method, but he doesn't have the players.

So something has to give, either he changes how he wants to play, or management give him the players he needs so he can implement the style. It's a ridiculous situation, and I don't see why coaches have to ignore their preferred style because the management won't give them the players they want.

Ehm, Leonardo has already said that he can't play 4-3-3 this season because he doesn't have the players nor time to implement it so I see him giving up that plan and Play Ronnie behind the strikers.
 

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I'm not just talking about formations. I'm talking about a style of play, a philosophy.
 

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THis is the only part of that article you have to read. Ignore the rest (not that it is bad), but this is so fundamental to absolutely everything. Cannot stress it enough, myself and others have been saying this for ages.

It is impossible to implement a philosophy and a style of football without the right players. Genuinely impossible. And Leo is in that situation. There is no way he will have his style "rub off" on the players because he does not have the right type, or indeed the quality, to make it work.

Look at Barcelona. Everyone would love to play like them, but we don't. No club plays like Barça. Why? Because no club has the right players to pull it off. And I don't just mean Messi, Xavi, Iniesta (although they are key), I'm talking all the way through the team.


i think you're slightly off in assessing our first team. He wants to play smilar to 1982 tele santana team. Santana was his coach at flamengo (i thkn it was flamengo) and considered the guy who rejuvenated the 'joga bonito' idea. The way i define it is really skilled individual played with almost errorless team passing,. the only real philosophical thing ive ever associated with it is skill, technique, intelligent attacking football over strength and rigid defense....

The things Leo has specifically mentioned on more than one occasion has been 1. play faster and 2. run move off the ball and 3. start attack out the back faster

When i look at our starting 11 against juve i saw only 1 gaping hole, fbs. Huntelaar grow up in a dutch 4-3-3 as a Cf, he knows what to do. Ronaldinho if he can get to full fitness obviously is the posterboy for this system. Pato is brazilian and grew up this way. Flamini, though not highly creative had his best success with arsenal, where he ran ALOT off ball, passed well. Pirlo, pep guardiola called him closest player to him and wanted him as there DM or deep lying playmaker. I saw it in small doses, but when this team moves and oplay faster, pirlo looks miles better because he is 1 of the best at spreading the ball. Then you got gattuso who is what he is,. but he is nonstop energy, and u dont see him trying to dribble by 5 defenders, he generally knows his limitations. And 1 thing i saw which i didnt know about was T.Silva's ability to start attack from back. It was the fastest I've seen milan play, held good possession, mounted good attacks with some bad luck in the final 3rd + the fact huntelaar wasn't familar w/ pato and ronnie (that will change with some more training)

The real hole is FBs who can push. Zambrotta could in his day but not anymore, janku is okay but still a liability.

In many ways though, the only way its gonna be successful is if ronaldinho can rejuvenate his career, which is risky to tie your success to 1 man. (well and of course staying healthY).

Could we improve our first team? Absolutely. But can it play the style? I dont think its unrealistic to think we cant play at the minimum faster, and move off the ball more. I think 1 of the biggest undoings towards end of the Carlo era was how static we would look at times....
 

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Could we improve our first team? Absolutely. But can it play the style? I dont think its unrealistic to think we cant play at the minimum faster, and move off the ball more. I think 1 of the biggest undoings towards end of the Carlo era was how static we would look at times....
No kidding. The lack of movement without the ball is a trademark of my country. Watching Milan in the last few years was almost the same as watching my team in here play, slow build up, extremely central display (which caused comical amateurish ball losses), and our players simply didn't move with the ball. No width, slow, boring and predictable.

That said, little changes if the only one you change is the coach but keep the same players. And in most of our games under Leo we've been facing basically the same thing, and that's cause Dinho is slow and our fullbacks suck are sucking (and at least if we're not buying another fullback, get a winger for the left side), if just 1 of those parts works, just 1, our display will improve a lot. And of course if we sort both, I'll say we have things to be competitive.
 
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