looks very nice.I think with the current players, a change of shape to a 4-3-3 could be a smart idea. Robinho and Shaarawy prefer to play on the left and cut inside anyway, and I personally reckon that Boateng's best position would be a hybrid of a winger and a withdrawn forward on the right. Emanuelson did very well in that role against Chelsea as well.
--------------------Pato/Pazzo
Rob/Shaarawy--------------------Boateng/Emanuelson
Generally in a 3 man midfield, there needs to be a playmaker, a ball winner, and a transitional player i.e. a guy that moves the ball forward from midfield to the final third but could also win the ball back on a couple of occasions.
I think it's pretty logical that Montolivo is used as the anchor as he's the most intelligent midfielder on the roster, and the one most comfortable on the ball. Thus he should be the organizer in midfield and the one picking up forward runs with long passes or setting the tempo.
Now we had a potential world class ball winner in Flamini, if his brain absorbed the tactical implications of his role. 4 years passed by and he still didn't fully learn the trade, but he's still the best ball winner we have, and a pretty good one too. He's aggressive and isn't afraid of making tackles, and he runs his heart out. I think he should get a starting nod.
The most uncertain position for us would be the transitional player. Who to use there? It has to be someone relatively quick, an adept dribbler that could win one on ones, and with a decent eye for a pass. In my opinion, our best bets would be Emanuelson and Constant. If there's an extra midfielder Milan will sign, I can only hope he'd have the characteristics suitable for this role.
Emanuelson/Constant-----------------Flamini/Muntari
---------------------------Monty
The implications to this is: Where does that leave Nocerino? He has gained a lot of political power now. He's a national team player, he scored 11 goals last season and was one of the most used players, and the fans really love him. So he's an important figure that can not be benched. The problem is, he's not an adequate ball winner, he's by no means a playmaker, and as a transitional player he'd get to the box but to finish off chances not to lay them off.
Another big problem would be the full-backs. A 4-3-3 depends a lot on the crossing. The wide forwards we have all aren't pure wingers, thus crossing isn't one of their strengths. If we're stuck with Abate, he really has to evolve his crossing and I can only pray that they trust Didac this season. The guy will be exposed at the back, but so does Antonini, at least Didac could dribble forward consistently and has a decent cross, he could be a good attacking outlet.
So a 4-3-3 is by no means a no brainer for us, but it could be a very good option to consider.
You know how I'd line-up the team (at this very time of writing, based on the current squad)?
-----------------------------Abbiati
Abate---------Zapata-------------------Bonera---------Didac
----------------------------Monty
---------------Flams
----------------------------------Ema
----Boateng-------------------------------Robinho/El Shaarawy
---------------------Pato/Pazzo
And make no mistake, they'll lose and draw many games thus dropping lots of points on the way. And they're very likely to get schooled by top sides. But they'll play decent football and they'll grow together as a team. At least there will be a system in place and a real "project" that could be built upon. Like juve did last season, they built a system without eying a title and just focused on growing together as a team, and this season their market moves are to strengthen their weak spots. Milan should do that, that's proper re-building.
KPB and Binho drift out a lot to the wings so this formation should be natural for them. i was thinking whether KPB can play a sort of CR7 role, but with more defensive priorities and less ball-hogging.
Noce can sub in for Urby or start in smaller games when we need goals.
now to get our FBs on a full crossing training session for the next 5 days...