AC Milan came away with zero points from their clash against Atalanta on Saturday, conceding the winner in the 95th minute. A defensive collapse was behind the defeat, with all defenders scoring low in today’s papers.
Despite coming back from behind twice, the Rossoneri left Gewiss Stadium empty-handed and the pressure on Stefano Pioli has now increased. In a game with many injuries and absences, he decided to make some tactical changes which cost Milan the game.
Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see photo below) has analysed the player performances and only a few were praised. Mike Maignan was the best a 7/10, making a huge save when Milan were still trailing 2-1, and he couldn’t do anything about the goals.
Olivier Giroud and Luka Jovic, the goalscorers, were the second best at 6.5 and it’s safe to say that they were let down by a poor defensive display. Ismael Bennacer and Christian Pulisic at least passed the test, registering the minimum for an okay performance, 6.
After them, however, it gets bad with only Yunus Musah at 5.5. Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez, Alessandro Florenzi, Tijjani Reijnders, Samuel Chukwueze and Yacine Adli all ended up at a mere 5, failing to have a positive impact on the game.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Dabde Calabria were the worst, however, with the captain named as the flop at 4 after the red card. The Englishman, meanwhile, got a 4.5 after failing to find his position between the midfield and the attacking trio.
Calabria made 1 milion mistakes since he play at Milan and Pioli force him playing again and again and again , but when we talk about young players he is like : it’s risky to play young players ,they can make mistakes … fcking iidiot just write down how many mistakes your captain made and you will figure out why you should try young players
Please share your list of Calabria’s mistakes here, I’m curious.
@Manu , whoever man , jimenez,bakoune,simic , just give someone a chance, maybe they will become a new kalulu or thiaw, why the fuck pick always the same player who keeps doing a mistakes ,even if youngsters make a mistake so what? calabria is doing it all the time and still playing
@bartholomeo , yes ,as if i doesnt have other things to do in my life, just a second i will share it to you …if you watch milan games and does not see it on ur own then there is no point to even explain it to you,just last night he lost CDK about 5 times,lost on earth,and at the end red card,just when we were pushing and atalaanta was down,he changed a game at the end,also i hope you realized that he was the flop in this article that u opened to read now
There will always be some philosopher like Barthol who will defend flops or coach no matter what happens, there is always that one who confronts what everyone see,worst type of trol people
I think I’m polite enough here and I explain my opinion with enough arguments not to be called a troll.
@Milee Calabria is not world class like Théo but he’s a solid player usually. He’s not the first to get ejected stupidly this season (Maignan, Thiaw, Tomori, Giroud as far as I remember). Also, he’s a guy who climbed every step within the club, he knows what it means to be da Milan, he plays with grinta, he’s captain because he leads by example. If you can’t give facts about Calabria being a bad player, then it’s only your personal opinion.
Not sure why you’re on his case.
Calabria is very inconsistent. Offers little going forwards and isn’t exactly a wall as a RB. The only way he is efficient is if someone is helping him double team pacy wingers…
And we don’t have a reliable alternative to him. SO every game it’s more-or-less the same out of the “Captain”.
Are you somehow in disagreement?
I get it, youre mad at his mistakes last night (and many more from this season) but im curious what defense formation you would have used and who you would have played instead of calabria
You play Simic! At least you give player a chance. Like every normal manager would at least try something. He tried Bartesaghi for few minutes. And he wasn’t bad. But no. I am sure now we will see Benacer playing right wing or Krunic. This is insane.
On the RT Side of D it’s either Calabria or Florenzi – not exactly world beaters. But if Calabria plays like yesterday, then you have to use FLorenzi.
I hate the manager, the captain, the rest of the players, the kit…..
But I really, really, really like Van Basten.
Can I join your fan club?
Erm….
In all seriousness it looks like the vultures are moving onto Calabria now that Krunic is on his way out.
I mean obviously Krunic was responsible for this defeat…
I wonder how long the new manager will last before these fans turn on him.
One thing they won’t is maybe recognise that overhauling the side this summer wasn’t the smartest move.
And Pioli probably deserves the sack if he played a role in that. But the owners are primarily responsible.
They want to create new scapegoats every day. First it was Krunic, then Adli now it is Calabria. People what more Italians in the squad, but can’t even respect the ones we have.
Players have to take accountability for their performances, no? Has Calabria been unjustly receiving criticism? Has he been stellar at his position in your opinion?
Bringing in 10 new players into a team that lacked depth isn’t a sign of failure. It just means it will take a lot longer to gel and get into a groove.
Now wether Pioli can use them in the correct positions or not is another issue altogether.
Guess “not starting Krunic” didn’t solve all our problems after all.
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Glad you said it and not me 😂
Like I don’t think Krunic is starting material in many cases, but many here put all the blame on him for wrong reasons, like if he is not playing, suddenly we are once again the “Immortalis” of Sacchi.
We need the MOFO “DMF” FFS FR position 😀
Tolói at the club since 2015
Palomino at the club since 2017
Pašalić at the club since 2018 (could’ve been at Milan since 2015 but instead we signed about 25 midfielders in the intervening period including 3 this summer….)
de Roon at the club permanently since 2017 (also did a stint in 2015)
Hateboer at the club since 2017.
ONLY Caldara and Calabria have been at Milan as long as these Atalanta players.
It’s the same nearly every game. We start YEARS behind our opponents.
I wonder if people realize Atalanta had the same issues in defence. De Roon is a midfielder playing centre back. But he did very well.
Also to your point, Atalanta does have more lee way than Milan in terms of letting the coach and players grow. Just look at the comments now and especially in the summer and you’ll realize there’s no patience at a team like Milan. Its other you win NOW or you’re out
It’s not just Atalanta.
It’s any well run club and that includes the likes of Real Madrid and Man City.
Benzema was at Real Madrid for 14 years.
No, it points to the fact that Milan are a badly run club especially this summer. The constant fiddling has left the club without any real identity.
Calabria is our captain because he’s the last man standing. And that’s kind of an accident because the club really tried to bury him under signings and he just got lucky with injuries to players like Conti and Florenzi.
I don’t get your point here. Having players that have been at the club for a long time means what exactly?
Atalanta haven’t achieved anything… nor have they beaten us often… nor have they won a Scudetto in ’22… Nor have they made it to a Semi of CL…
How are we YEARS behind Atalanta?
You really don’t understand that the longer a group of human beings know each other the better they know each other?
Atalanta have far achieved expectations consistently. And it’s not Atalanta. It’s most well run clubs including the elite clubs we’re supposed to be catching up with who have played together for YEARS.
Our recent achievements are precisely why it’s so frustrating seeing the squad that finally has delivered being dismantled just because people can’t stop fiddling.
I really don’t understand how I’m the only one who is concerned by the endless chopping and changing, and why people don’t make the connection between the endless chopping and changing and our struggles. If we finish in a worse position this season do you think people will finally realise changing half the squad was a bad idea?
Sorry but the Atalanta example is still really bad. Last game aside, under pioli we often got the better of them, had a better ranking at the end of the seasons, and got the titles they didn’t get. Are we suppose to envy Atalanta for what exactly ?
Also, we didn’t change “half of the squad”, we have the same starters in defense, the same goalkeeper, the same main striker and same main LW. Kessie was gone since 2022 and we were bond to lose Diaz anyways. It’s just that we brought a lot of deputees, and a lot of players who play in the same position anyways.
Yes I understand the criticism about the team and the management,,but what I do not understand is why you dislike krunic so much ,,,can’t blame him for our weak performances..We signed so many new players ,and yes I for one thought it would be to our advantage but it has not worked out at all ..
We have defence wise been awful ,,so many mistakes ..tomori against our defeat last night against Atalanta was awful ,,caught out in wrong position for all the goals ,,as for pulisic again not up to his standards, got into some great positions but failed to deliver only one decent cross in ,and yes it resulted in a goal.
Loftus cheek worked very hard , but failed to find decent passes..I do however still rate him ,and pulisic .
As for chukwaze ,absolutely appalling ,he to me has done nothing to justify his price tag ..plenty of pace ,,and even when he got past his last man could not deliver a decent cross ..We definitely need Rafeo leao back as soon as we can ..
Two players who get a pass for me were that man Olivier Giroud agsin ,,,( yes Oliver Giroud) he won many duels and many of his flick ons came off ,,and yes scored yet again …what a wonderful headed goal it was .I told many of you that Giroud would be a success and he has been …( do you believe me now )
Just look at the stats 8 goals in the leauge 3 assists , 2nd top scorer in sera A ,and yes 37 years of age .
So well done Olivier Giroud…
Another man who gets my pass is ( and yes even I admit ) I have given him lots of criticism…But he came on and got into some good positions and indeed scored again . I think it’s possible that we should try and use him and Olivier together in a game ,,,and use the midfield instead of our wide men ,,,the fact is we get into good positions, but then freeze ,,,and lack the decent deliveries in …it’s ironic that when a decent cross from a corner arrived we scored .
But overall a very poor performance from a game we should have been able to win ..
I just hope somehow we can deliver a decent performance against Newcastle..
I think the owner is fine with all that. They wont change the manager. Pioli did everything the funs wanted. Krunic didnt start (who played DM?), Adli played (did he?), Pobega didnt play (he is slow, we all saw how fast and present our team is without him!)
So what are you complaining about?
What Pioli didnt do to your expert liking?
Just admit you dont know sh*t and shut up.
1. Pioli has lost it. He is not the trainer we had up to the champ season. We had on paper inferior squad, but he could manage to create a team that went many games without loosing or even conceding a goal. That does not happen anymore. And that is his fault.
2. We lost identity as usually happens when club culture changes so drastically. And that is something you can not buy with money. Bringing many young players from all over the world does not support Milan culture. Only home grown can do that. But we dont make them into the team. Unlike Barca Pioli and manager just dont believe in our young system. This is a crime against Milan.
3. Buying players is ok when you mix them in strong system and they compete with home growns. But thats not our case.
Bottom line — we are back at doom days unless something dramatic happens. I hope it does. I want us winning. I just don’t see it happening.
‘Krunic didnt start (who played DM?), Adli played (did he?), Pobega didnt play (he is slow, we all saw how fast and present our team is without him!)
So what are you complaining about?
What Pioli didnt do to your expert liking?
Just admit you dont know sh*t and shut up.”
*Spits out coffee* broo 😂🤣😂🤣🤣💀💀💀 that was hilarious 😂. Although I do t believe we’re back to the doom days, it’s really bad reading the comments section here IF this really is an indication of how fans really feel then that’s messed up. There’s zero patience (as evidenced by the summer overhaul). I guess it flows from the owners into the fans
I think the owner is fine with all that. They wont change the manager. Pioli did everything the funs wanted. Krunic didnt start (who played DM?), Adli played (did he?), Pobega didnt play (he is slow, we all saw how fast and present our team is without him!)
So what are you complaining about?
What Pioli didnt do to your expert liking?
Just admit you dont know s**t and shut up.
1. Pioli has lost it. He is not the trainer we had up to the champ season. We had on paper inferior squad, but he could manage to create a team that went many games without loosing or even conceding a goal. That does not happen anymore. And that is his fault.
2. We lost identity as usually happens when club culture changes so drastically. And that is something you can not buy with money. Bringing many young players from all over the world does not support Milan culture. Only home grown can do that. But we dont make them into the team. Unlike Barca Pioli and manager just dont believe in our young system. This is a crime against Milan.
3. Buying players is ok when you mix them in strong system and they compete with home growns. But thats not our case.
Bottom line — we are back at doom days unless something dramatic happens. I hope it does. I want us winning. I just don’t see it happening.
Much better rating than Sempre (sorry guys, handing out 6s for that performance does not make sense). The ratings should be much lower, we were out played, out coached and out thought. But GdS giving Ismael Bennacer a 6 too when he almost got a red is also terrible rating too.
All this talk of scapegoats and Chukwueze wasn’t mentioned. He was so so poor and negated any chance creation on the right of the pitch – and Calabria isn’t exactly an offensive force. If Milan had more wing options they could play Pulisic down the middle in these sorts of games – Loftus-Cheek is not effective as a 10 when having to break down a low block.