The AC Milan Team presentation by Reuters
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by Nadia Carminati (Dailysports N.V.)

During the club's official presentation, Milan chief executive Mr. Galliani said that this year's transfer-campaign has been as good as that of in 1987 when famous Dutch stars Van Basten and Gullit arrived. One may agree with Galliani or not. However, newcomers Rui Costa and Filippo Inzaghi are considered to be the most important Milan signings, besides, the skillful players such as Contra and Javi Moreno, Donati, Pirlo and Brocchi arrived. Fatih Terim, the new coach of already sparkling Milan, is sure he will use all the players that are at his disposal as his team will perform in three competitions at the time, that is the Italian Championship, Italian Cup and UEFA Cup.

It is clear that in any case an ideal formation for Terim is 4-3-1-2. Turkish coach seemed to be confident in Christian Abbiati as his first choice while veteran keeper Sebastiano Rossi will be number two in Milan. In the centre of the defense line Georgian international Kakha Kaladze will play alongside with team's captain and leader Paolo Maldini. Terim admitted that Kaladze would be more useful as a defender while he played in the position of midfielder last season. Turk seems to have no problem in this line, as Costacurta is ready to replace Kaladze when necessary. The recent arrival of Martin Laursen opens new opportunities for Terim: that's to say, the Danish player could play at Kaladze's place while the Georgian could be utilized by the coach in the centre of midfield before Albertini's return on the pitch. Contra (right) and Coco (left) respectively will be the other two defenders. In the first part of the season Terim would have many problems in midfield because of the absences of Albertini, Ambrosini and Redondo, who are recovering from injures now.

At present Terim must count on other players. Eccentric Gattuso will cover right wing, while young Massimo Donati arrived from Atalanta will replace Albertini in the centre. The ideal substitution for Ambrosini on the left flank seems to be Brazilian Serginho. After Ambrosini's recovery, Serginho may play as a left-back as well. Milan's attacking line, one of the best in Serie A with that of Roma's, consists of Rui Costa, Inzaghi, Shevchenko, being the main hope of Milan's supporters. The pillar of the above-mentioned triangle is undoubtedly Manuel Rui Costa, his extreme creativeness being the talk of the town. He arrived to wear Milan jersey after difficult negotiations with Fiorentina, culminated with his refusal to move to Parma.

In Italy the egoism of Inzaghi is considered to be one of his main characteristics. He always denied the fact saying that on the pitch he often hasn't noticed his teammates. But in Milan it would be better both for him and the team if he notices Shevchenko! One could observe overfalls in the Ukrainian forward's performance last season in spite of the fact he scored 24 goals in Serie A. This year he is able to do better with the help of Inzaghi and Costa. So Milan is a team who will impose their style on the others. Terim is well aware about this fact but he also knows that his team is a little overbalanced on attack.

The wings, Gattuso and Serginho have the habit to play more in attack than in defense and this fact may create some difficulties for Turkish coach. In spite of the minor problems, Milan seems to be the main favorite to win Serie A title. As captain Paolo Maldini said, Milan's chances for "scudetto" are as high as that of the Roma's and Juventus'.

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