Massimo Oddo

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Player Ratings: Milan 1-2 Atalanta

Milan suffered yet another home defeat as their Serie A season goes from bad to worse. Atalanta took the honours at San Siro with a 2-1 win. Goal.com's Salvatore Bianchi rates the players' performances.

Kalac 7 – Milan can be thankful to the Aussie that they didn’t concede more than two.

Oddo 5 – Poor game, the lowlight of which was the ease in which Langella skipped past him for the second goal.

Maldini 6.5 – The best of the back four and Milan looked better at left-back once he switched there in the second half.

Nesta 6 – Started very well, making some great interceptions, but played his part in the two goals and was foolishly sent off late on

Favalli 4.5 – Really bad. It’s no surprise he was hauled off at half-time. Majorly at fault for the first goal.

Gattuso 6 – Showed his class on occasion but it was all too rare.

Pirlo 5 – What’s happened to Pirlo of late? He was that poor in this game that the penalty miss wasn’t even a shock.

Ambrosini 7 – The only Milan midfielder who really looked to have any fight in him.

Seedorf 5.5 – Really didn’t feature enough and it showed in Milan’s lack of creativity.

Pato 6 – His pace was always a threat, his movement and play dropping deep was generally good, but he forgot his shooting boots.

Gilardino 5 – Another poor display and surely another nail in the coffin of his AC Milan career

Subs

46mins Paloschi 6.5 – Looked extremely bright immediately after coming on but his influence then subsided. Still, a vast improvement on Gilardino.

46mins Kaladze 5 – Milan didn’t concede after he came on but the Georgian hardly looked sturdy at the back, lunging in early and getting beaten several times.

59mins Brocchi 5.5 – Didn’t really have the desired impact on the game.

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Oddo: We Deserved To Lose

Milan right-back Massimo Oddo was dejected following his side's 2-1 loss to Atalanta at San Siro...

Milan were stunned at home once again in their Serie A season, going 2-0 down in the first half and looking absolutely powerless to stop opponents who, on paper, are far inferior to the reigning European and world champions that are Carlo Ancelotti's Milan.

After the game, Oddo admitted his side were not up to the task: "We have to take our responsibilities, we played badly and we deserved to lose. Our performance was poor; we lacked grit and will to win."

He added that poor officiating did his side few favours, but ultimately he like the rest of his side will know the fault lies with them.

"From the refereeing point of view, there were some huge oversights, as dr. Galliani said the performance of the referee was in line with that of Milan," he said. "Personally on the episode of the first goal I felt like I was being brought down, it can happen that the referee didn't see it, but I think that with the collaboration of the assistant referee it could have been signalled."

The former Lazio man was also fairly critical of the home crowd, who are obviously growing tired of their side's continuous failure on home turf. Oddo readily criticised the lack of spirit amongst fans and hinted they could perhaps be more like English crowds, who cheer on their players even in defeat.

"Certainly the atmosphere at San Siro isn't great these days, in the Italian league it's like this, not like in England where even if you lose and you're already relegated they still applaud you," explained Oddo.

"Like we welcome the joy of the crowd when we win and celebrate, we also accept the whistles, but maybe if they had come at the end of the first half or at the end of the game it would have been better.

"The only way to get out of this situation is to work a lot."

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We Can Do It, Insists Oddo

Milan defender Massimo Oddo still believes his side can qualify for the Champions League despite their poor form this season.

The stopper underwent knee surgery on April 2nd but he remains confident in his team’s ability to show their strength and squeeze themselves into fourth place.

The Rossoneri are currently fifth in Serie A and four points behind Fiorentina following a pretty disatrous season by their standards.

“I have been following my team from the treatment room and I have seen them in great shape, but we have been unlucky,” Oddo told Milan Channel.

“Now we have to win our five remaining games and only that way we will be able to reach our objectives.

“I am fine, and following the operation I am looking forward to returning to action.”

The Rossoneri have been poor for most of the season both domestically and in Europe. It’s going to take a massive push for Carlo Ancelotti’s men to reach their objectives.

Anything less than a win against Reggina this weekend will surely mean Arrivederci Champions League.

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I'M BACK

Massimo Oddo has returned to Milanello today to prepare with his team mates after the operation to his left knee in the first days of April. - THE DECLARATIONS -

MILANELLO - Massimo Oddo came back to Milanello today for the first time following the operation to his left knee which he was subjected to the last 2 April. Here are the declarations made by the Milan and national team defender to Milan Channel's microphones:

"Personally I feel good, I think I've recovered well from the operation and I've already done some personalised training. Now I'm working with the whole squad again and we will see in the next few days.

I always followed each game played by the team, and I've seen some games in which we played really well, but were quite unlucky as we have been for some time now. Considering our performances, we deserved more, unfortunately saturday we went home without any points from Turin. Now we have to win every game to achieve our objective. We have to go on the pitch thinking game after game, starting from Sunday's game against Reggina and then hope the other teams competing with us for a Champions League spot slip up.

I don't think I'm ready to play already on Sunday, but I am available and we will evaluate carefully when I can play again."

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Great Players Always Welcome - Oddo

Milan full back Massimo Oddo talked about the transfer rumours linking the club to moves for Didier Drogba and Ronaldinho.

Among the big names allegedly being considered by Adriano Galliani to add some star power to Milan and start a new winning cycle at the club are Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Chelsea's Didier Drogba.

Full back Massimo Oddo, who's about to make his comeback following a lengthy period on the sidelines due to a knee operation, gave his thoughts on the matter.

"Great players are always welcome," he said. "It's always a pleasure to play alongside phenomenons, even though it's always difficult to get players like that, because the clubs who have them don't let them go."

On his own situation, Oddo said: "I am lucky enough to be playing in a great club, so it's normal that when there are transfer rumours, the names involved are some of the biggest involved."

At the moment Milan are facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the Champions League, and if they don't make it they might find it tougher to attract new big-name players. Currently they are four points behind fourth-placed Fiorentina with just five matches to go.

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MASSIMO ODDO'S DECLARATIONS

MILAN - These are some of the declarations of the Rossoneri's defender Massimo Oddo at hte microphones of 'Studio Sport', where he spoke about Milan's season and the injury which had him undertake surgery: "I tried to play and resist to the pain of the knee. When I saw that the anti-inflammatory were not having any affect, I decided to operate myself." We remind you that Massimo Oddo will almost surely be available for the away game at Livorno this Sunday.

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Oddo: We Are To Blame For Struggles

Massimo Oddo says that Milan have themselves to blame for their poor season, although he does point out that the referees have not helped with the situation.

The Rossoneri have had a dreadful campaign, and with just four games of the season remaining they are four points behind fourth-placed Fiorentina, and thus in grave danger of failing to qualify for the Champions League.

The key reason for Milan’s predicament has been their awful record at San Siro, as they have won just six there all season, the same amount that bottom-of-the-table Reggina have won at home.

“It's our fault,” admitted Oddo.

“We have only won six times at San Siro - that's relegation form. This makes me think that we have not been able to exploit home advantage.

“The teams we face tend to close us down and we have not been successful in finding a way to unhinge their defences.”

Oddo did believe though that Milan had also been penalised by referees.

“They haven't killed us, but they have played their part,” he complained.

“They have made mistakes, as have we.”

A report printed in the Gazzetta dello Sport in February revealed that Milan had lost eight points up until that point due to officiating errors.

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LIVORNO-MILAN

GOALKEEPERS: Fiori, Kalac, Offredi;

DEFENDERS: Oddo, Bonera, Digao, Favalli, Kaladze, Nesta, Jankulovski;

MIDFIELDERS: Brocchi, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Kaka, Pirlo, Seedorf;

STRIKERS: Gilardino, Inzaghi, Pato, Paloschi.

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Milan Offer Oddo To Barca & Bayern

According to the Corriere dello Sport, AC Milan are attempting to sell Massimo Oddo, and have offered his services to both Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Oddo has had an inconsistent season for the Rossoneri. He started the campaign very poorly, which led to him losing his place in the Italy national team starting XI.

However his form picked up after Christmas, before he recently picked up an injury that has complicated his end to the season.

During this time out, Daniele Bonera has filled in at right back, and the 26-year-old has been hugely impressive in recent weeks, particularly in last weekend’s Milan derby.

Such has been his form that the Rossoneri are considering allowing Oddo to leave at the end of the season.

The Corriere says that Milan transfer advisor Ernesto Bronzetti met with the Barcelona triumvirate of Joan Laporta, Txiki Beguiristain and Ferran Soriano to talk about the summer transfer of Gianluca Zambrotta.

Bronzetti offered Barca Oddo as part of an exchange deal, but the proposal did not go down to well, with the Blaugrana unwilling to take a player who will turn 32 next month.

Milan have also proposed Oddo to Bayern Munich during negotiations over Willy Sagnol. This deal is said to be more possible, as it is sponsored by Bayern hitman Luca Toni.

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NAPOLI-MILAN

GOALKEEPERS: Fiori, Kalac, Offredi;

DEFENDERS: Bonera, Digao, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Nesta, Oddo, Serginho, Simic, Ambrosini;

MIDFIELDERS: Ba, Brocchi, Gattuso, Kakà, Seedorf;

STRIKERS: Gilardino, Inzaghi, Pato.