AC Milan clinched one point in the game against Juventus last night and this maintained the five-point cushion in the league standings. However, it could have been a much better performance and several individuals struggled.
Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport has taken stock of the player performances and compared to our player ratings, the pink newspaper was more generous. Only three players, namely Tijjani Reijnders, Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud didn’t pass the test.
Leao was named the worst, failing to impress with the captain’s armband with a lacklustre performance, not helping in any phase of the game. He was given a 5/10, just like Giroud, while Reijnders was only slightly better at 5.5.
The likes of Yunus Musah, Alessandro Florenzi, Yacine Adli, Christian Pulisic, Ismael Bennacer and Noah Okafor passed the test at 6/10. Matteo Gabbia, who was commanding at the back, as well as Ruben Loftus-Cheek impressed a bit more at 6.5/10.
The best on the pitch, however, were Marco Sportiello and Malick Thiaw who both got a 7/10. The latter was named the best, making a goal-line clearance, with the goalkeeper snubbed due to a potentially fatal mistake at the end (after an unreal save earlier on).
Except for one horrible passing mistake in the second half, Adli was Milans best player.
Thiaw let Vlahovic shoot from a good position in the first half, missed his marking on both Yildiz and Milik in the second half. That is not MOM for me.
Adli started well ,with good interceptions and passes but as the game progressed he started to dwell on the ball , losing the ball and having to make last ditch inaccurate passes.
He wasn’t helped with the team’s poor off the ball movement, especially in the last 20 mts.
Overall Thiaw & Sportiello were the best for me.
It was nice to see Thiaw shut out Vlahovic for almost the whole game, that is Malick’s true level, he must show it consistently.
PS how can you give Thiaw a 6 when he literally kept the score level with a goal line clearance??
In case you haven’t noticed , our defense is a joke. Considering the lineup, Thiaw had done well on that game.
Pioli is all attack and defensive balance. Part masochism, part unbalanced midfield without reliable DM. Defenders are thrown out to sea when defending.
And to give 7 to Sportiello who was just lucky not to lose us the match makes no sense for me.
My rating:
Sportiello: 6
Musah: 5
Thiaw: 6
Gabbia: 6
Florenzi: 6
Adli: 6
Reijnders: 5
Pulisic: 5,5
RLC: 5,5
Leao: 6
Giroud: 5
The way the players look is only a representation of the coaching. Why is Leao a flop? Because we expect him to carry he team hen the going gets tough?
He’s not that player. If he was he wouldn’t be Milan. Our system isn’t working against big teams. Players look confused and out of position.
Simple truth
That’s a certainty. This team does not have tried and tested patterns of play or well drilled defensive positioning, very poor off the ball movement & opening of space.
Without those fundamentals you end up with a confused team , as you described.
If you put Mbappe or Vinicius Jr in these Piolli milan team they wouldn’t even perform as much as Leao