Daniele Bonera joined the club from Parma in 2006 (Empics) AC Milan defender Daniele Bonera insists he and his team-mates have no problem with playing in a back three, despite recent criticism of Massimiliano Allegri's new 3-4-3 formation.• Blog: Three is the magic numberMilan first used the system halfway through their 1-0 Champions League loss at Malaga last week, before Allegri opted for it from the start for the first time in the 1-0 win against Genoa on Saturday.While it helped them bring a run of three consecutive defeats to an end at the weekend, it has been viewed by many as a panic move. However, Bonera, 31, claims that it was not a knee-jerk reaction as the Rossoneri boss had informed the squad about making the change some time ago."The coach wanted to try the three-man defence a while ago, he had already spoken to a few of us about it a while back," Bonera said. Following the team's recent run of poor results they were ordered to take part in a week-long training camp, something the Italy international denies was seen as a punishment by the players."That retreat was an advantage to us, it allowed us to take a lot of components into consideration," he said."We certainly didn't view the retreat as a punishment, we saw it as a way to get out of our delicate moment. The game against Palermo will now tell us who we are."Milan will travel to Sicily for Wednesday's Serie A fixture without Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mattia De Sciglio, both omitted from the squad with a knee injury and a severe cold respectively. They are boosted, though, by the return of Christian Abbiati and Sulley Muntari, who are both available once again following their own injury troubles. ESPNsoccernet: Help | Media Kit | Contact Us | Site Map | Tools | Jobs at ESPN | Supplier Information | Copyright ©2013 ESPN Internet Ventures. Terms of Use (Updated 5/6/08), and Privacy Policy and Safety Information/Your California Privacy Rights are applicable to you. All rights reserved.
AC Milan defender Daniele Bonera insists he and his team-mates have no problem with playing in a back three, despite recent criticism of Massimiliano Allegri's new 3-4-3 formation.
• Blog: Three is the magic number
Milan first used the system halfway through their 1-0 Champions League loss at Malaga last week, before Allegri opted for it from the start for the first time in the 1-0 win against Genoa on Saturday.
While it helped them bring a run of three consecutive defeats to an end at the weekend, it has been viewed by many as a panic move.
However, Bonera, 31, claims that it was not a knee-jerk reaction as the Rossoneri boss had informed the squad about making the change some time ago.
"The coach wanted to try the three-man defence a while ago, he had already spoken to a few of us about it a while back," Bonera said.
Following the team's recent run of poor results they were ordered to take part in a week-long training camp, something the Italy international denies was seen as a punishment by the players.
"That retreat was an advantage to us, it allowed us to take a lot of components into consideration," he said.
"We certainly didn't view the retreat as a punishment, we saw it as a way to get out of our delicate moment. The game against Palermo will now tell us who we are."
Milan will travel to Sicily for Wednesday's Serie A fixture without Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mattia De Sciglio, both omitted from the squad with a knee injury and a severe cold respectively.
They are boosted, though, by the return of Christian Abbiati and Sulley Muntari, who are both available once again following their own injury troubles.
