AC Milan got back to winning ways as they managed to beat Hellas Verona by the odd goal this afternoon. However, it was a very lacklustre display from the Rossoneri and below are the player ratings.
Starting XI
Sportiello (6): He made a really good reflex save in the first half and was also decent with his distribution. Above all, he remained calm throughout the clash and didn’t make any mistakes.
Thiaw (6): The German international did what was needed out there tonight and won quite a few duels. However, he wasn’t really put to the test that much.
Kjaer (5.5): He did improve as the game went on, no doubt about it, but on a couple of occasions his positioning was off. This never ended up costing Milan anything but it’s still worth noting.
Tomori (6): Another good display from the Englishman after his MOTM-performance against Newcastle. Then again, the Verona attackers were not exactly amazing.
Musah (6): He had a couple of questionable moments, including a run at the very start of the game, but he picked himself up and did well overall. Most importantly, he dared to run with the ball almost every time which stretched Verona, and that was necessary. Also came close to a goal after a nice run and a decent finish.
Krunic (6): Played from start yet again and did very well with his distribution, but nothing over the top. Of course, he also picked up an injury towards the end (who could have thought!?). Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.
Reijnders (5.5): We just didn’t see enough of him this evening, even if he had a couple of good moments here and there. The game was very physical, to be fair, and that didn’t really suit him.
Florenzi (6): He looked decent in the first half and had a slightly inverted role at the start, combining well with his teammates. He didn’t do as well in the final 45 minutes but he had a couple of nice passes for Leao. Just about a 6 for him.
Pulisic (5.5): Apart from a left-footed effort which was saved, he didn’t have much success out there today and struggled to impose himself physically.
Giroud (5.5): Another attacker who struggled as he didn’t get the one-touch passes right (apart from the assist). He also squandered a really good chance because he shifted the ball onto his left foot.
Leao (6 – MOTM): At the end of the day, he scored the goal that got Milan the win. He was far from brilliant apart from that but he was decisive nevertheless.
Substitutes
Loftus-Cheek (6): He looked very bright straight away and used his size to make life difficult for the Verona players.
Jovic (5.5): Not a huge impact on the game, unfortunately, and struggled to get himself involved.
Pobega (5.5): Sloppy passing from him which was a shame given that his movement was good.
Bartesaghi (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Okafor (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Isak, you missed Krunic
Thank you! Added, the new formation got me confused haha
You don’t wanna start a civil war here, mate. Lol.
That’s why I said that, lol. Anti-Krunic army would have been delighted if they saw that.
Kjaer actually did super well. So did Giroud.
Hard match.
Pioli ruins good players!
Awful setup that should have changed 30 min after the game started.
The negative effect on Chuck and Musah in this game will make them unconfident, even Raijnders played badly in this game.
Pioli just ruins them like that
Stop complaining ALL THE TIME dude!
Terrible rating
Definition of “agly win”. As long as we don’t repeat this soon, it’s perfectly fine – given the circumstances.
Overall, the overall display makes the first three games to look like a happy parenthesis.
I think the derby definetly affected the overall morale of the the team. This “aura” that we had in the beginning of the season and the confidence are now gone.
We could say that Milan can win against sitting ducks, but against bigger challenges, something is still lacking
Correct. A different manager is still missing.
I used to defend Pioli and I think he did a good job in 21/22, but after the derby I think he has to be blamed for a lot of our games and yes, perhaps Milan should consider hiring a new coach.
I quite like what I saw in that Jovic guy. Surely his match fitness level is still far from ideal. But he can hold up ball pretty well. And Okafor, he’s clearly a Leao’s clone.
Except Okafor tracks back and defends too. And passes the ball inside the penalty box instead of always trying to score himself.
Overall rating is 5.5 or 6.
Sportiello did ok. Last year tatarusanu conceded so many goals. Last year we didnt have Florenzi… and today Florenzi did good.
Musah is very good.
So team have potential but we cant score easily against team that only defend themselves.
Take the 3 points and burn the tape.
Outside of the goal that came on a counterattack of a Verona misplaced pass, Milan did absolutely nothing going forward.
I disagree with the Jovic assessment. I think in 20 minutes he did more than Giroud in 70. His hold up play was great and the chances Milan had towards the end of the game came from his play.
Can’t wait for him to be 100% and start.
Also, it’s getting hard to defend Pioli. Every Milan fan was calling for Krunic to be rested since he has played every game for Milan and Bosnia NT, but Pioli still starts him and Krunic gets injured.
Hopefully it’s nothing serious and he gets back for the n3xt game because his absence towards the end of the game was felt.
Silly. You are complaining Krunic needed a rest, he leaves with an injury and now you are hoping he starts the next game??? No, he needs a rest. And we will finally get to see what the team looks like with someone else in that position. It’s about time. I knew the only way Pioli would take him out would be injury.
A win nonetheless. I can conclude that Milan’s training is a waste as it doesn’t translate to our match-day.
A very poor showing, if Verona were any decent it would have easily been a draw. Players still haven’t clicked, players playing as though they don’t train together.
There’s nothing Giroud did in today’s match that Jovic didn’t do better, players refusing to wip in crosses is another frustrating sight.
We need a coach desperately.
Except the assist on our only goal… which is probably his third or 4th assist of the season so far to go along with his 4 goals.
Tomori Kjaer and Malik were solid.
Krunic was outstanding
Leao and Giroud were off the game. No big threat from Giroud or Leao.
What was Pulisic doing till he was substituted?
And please, I’ve seen enough of Pobega. His body posture alone annoys me 😤😤😤
Why didn’t Bathesaghi start and Florenzi at the other end?
Pioli needs to be sacked, he is very poor tactically.
Adli yet to play
Chukweze still not confident
Musah still shaky
Tijjani mixed reaction
Saw that Krunic injury coming from miles, he is pretty much playing 90 minutes from season to start. Typical Pioli, not utilizing the depth we have in midfield. Should have tried Adli in that position if he believes he can play that role.
OMG. How can you write stupid things like that? Haaland and any other City player already played more minutes than anyone on the Milan team. Haaland has 450 minutes more than Krunic already. THeir whole team should already be injured by your genius idea? They ALL play in national teams. Stop writing stupid meaningless crap. It is not true.
What an attention who$e you are man. Haaland is 22 y/o, and he is not very involved in the defensive aspect of the game also he is physically well-built compared to any of our players. Man City have already lost Kovacic, Stones, KDB and Bernardo Silva, 3 of them were their regular starters for the last season. Krunic has a total, 695 minutes since the Bologna game. He is also the only prolific DM we have. Say something reasonable for once, prat.
I already did. Anyone on the City team played more than Krunic. Rodri played the same and much more this season, almost double from Krunic, I can go on. Stop writing stupid crap you think it is true. “Saw that Krunic injury coming from miles” – Yeah right. Do you see Rodri getting injured? Modric played about the same at 37 last season, what about that? I can give you a 1000 examples that disprove your stupidity.
Well, I tweeted about that just 6 hours before the game, lol. Krunic is not Rodri or Modric. He has his fair share of injury issues last season. I knew we will face these injuries issue. Talking about stupidity, I am an NUS graduate, haha. I know what I am talking about more than you do, haha. You are just some 15 y/o attention whore who only know how to target your fellow community members. Give me 1000 examples now? Clubs like Man United and Real Madrid have already faced these injuries to their key players, and you are saying as a fan I shouldn’t worry about my players getting injured.
“OMG. How can you write stupid things like that? Haaland and any other City player already played more minutes than anyone on the Milan team. Haaland has 450 minutes more than Krunic already. THeir whole team should already be injured by your genius idea? They ALL play in national teams. Stop writing stupid meaningless crap. It is not true.”
Such BS. Again. So you’re putting a 20-something striker Haaland and 30-something DM on the same level? Perhaps you should try following your own advice: “Stop writing stupid meaningless crap.”
I don’t know man nowadays some we can’t even express our concerns about our player’s playing time.
I’m convinced this person doesn’t follow these games. How is RLC a 6 but Jovic or Reijnders a 5.5? Ridiculous.
Yeah, that rating should have been even lower for all 3.
Start giving a rating for the coach🤣 2/10.
Ridiculous Pioli, typical milan under him.
Also I saw okafor making some impact and deserves a rating
Couldn’t see the game (not on TNT) but the gist of it seems to be (from these comments), that we need to revert the formation and certain players need to rest, desperately!
Krunic has now picked up an injury and Giroud needs a week off. Perhaps Jovid gets a start next time, to what what he can do from the outset and Chuck replaces Pulisic too.
We need to find out what the squad is made of after a major personnel change in the summer and they need to be ready and match fit.. so important minutes are necessary, not meaningless last 15 minute cameos.
That’s just my take, flying blind
you can watch on bet365 if you can log in mate
Jovic will be solid once he gets in shape. No Adli or Chuk. Pobega is so slow and bad. Okafor needs more minutes.
We had what 3 shots all game against Verona. Pioli is a donkey, he needs to go. He makes no one better.
Kajer, Tomori and Sportiello were solid. As was Krunic. Everyone else was just ok. Not sure why Pioli kept Giroud in so long and he should have been subbed at half time. We have to save his legs. It’s horrible mismanagement that we did not get a proper striker to spell him. Musah was ok but didn’t exactly impress same with Pulisic. It’s September and Pioli still sticking to playing Giroud every 3 days…terrible. We will see if he finally rests him Wednesday v Cagliari.
Got the win but not a good performance. Nobody really looked comfortable in this formation. Not sure why the sudden formation change. Glad to see Musah playing well. Hope he gets more time. RLC was a bright spot and looks like he may end up being our best signing.
Agreed, I wasn’t thrilled about RLC but he’s stepped up and been playing well
Best milan was vs tottenham and 352 formation. Hoperully polio realise.
Clearly Sportiello deserves at least 6.5 for a full 90 minute debut with a clean sheet, accurate passing, a great save, cool trick against Bonazzoli & most importantly – no blunders.
Same goes for Musah, who worked tirelessly, showed great fighting spirit at the every inch of the field & almost scored a goal after a confident run at the very end.
Musah MOTM btw.
Musah has some serious jets. Looks promising.
Re Pulisic you write: “Apart from a left-footed effort which was saved, he didn’t have much success out there today …”
Other than causing the first goal with a great hustle steal ….. and then the way he created space with the shot on goal was brilliant. But feel free to not give him any credit. He has either scored or had tremendous shots on goal in every game but one. Lots of room for improvement, but I wouldn’t tinker with what’s going to bring results.
Our coach is killing our game he should be starting chukwu instead of pulisic this game is more than 1-0 win
Nonsense. Pulisic’s hustle caused the first goal. And his shot on goal was very strong — something that has happened with him in every game except one.
Right, because Chuk has shown so much in the time that he has played so far, right?
He’s too easily bullied, but he works hard and makes things happen. Given his injury record, Pioli needs to be very careful.
I’m pleased with Okafor, Musah and Jovic. Sportiello was also fine. We do have more depth. Krunic detractors will see how we look without him. I think we’ll look bad.
Third kit is rubbish.
Don’t agree with that ..
Bet Pioli’s gone before the kit..
******* awful indeed.
I don’t mind the top part but the darn blue gets to me. It’s too dark and too close to Inter. Literally any other colour would do except blue 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Finally, but FINALLY at least Bartesaghi has played. Now give the fricking time to Simic and you will see what those young fellows can do. Look at Barca! Just fucking try!
Pioli: “We have to manage Giroud’s play time”
5th game in a row: “Giroud you’re starting up front”
I’m not feeling too good about Musah. He reminds me of another Origi. He is laser focused on the ball and running with the ball and ends up never getting himself in good positions to receive the ball or intercept a pass.
Some players are just low intelligence and only see the ball, like a bug at night when it sees a bright light. Origi was the most painful example of this but Musah isn’t too far behind.
Musah & Origi are miles apart.
He played as RWB where he’s not an RWB at all. He’s a mezzala and possibly DM. He was uncomfortable but if there’s something to take from it, he was incredibly lively
Musah was playing Right Midfielder & was quite comfortable & capable at that role. Man of the match.
Sure RM/RWB but we know about where he played on the pitch. We’ll have to agree to disagree on how well he played. Tomori was my motm
Good old Giroud started again. Okafor is great, needs to start and Jovic needs more playing time, he will be solid.
This game player did good. But the Pioli rating maybe around 4-5. Tactical problem
hard to only depends on theo for buildups man. One day he is gonna leave
So much negativity after a win.
As usual. The good thing is not every Milan fans act like this especially after a win.
First of all…3 points and that’s always the objective. Sometimes we have to win ugly and this was one of those games. For those who don’t realize Verona is a 7-11 team from the first few games. They don’t concede a lot and they won vs Roma and only lose by very tight margins.
That being said, the positives were Tomori who for me is MOTM if wasn’t for the obvious 3 point winner. Fik has been in tremendous form the last few games. He’s back to almost his best. And I’m so happy for him. Apart from him not many else outstanding. Okafor has once more looked really good in the short time he was on the field. I’m surprised he hasn’t been given a start as yet. Reminds me of when Rebic was good as striker for us. He kept the defence guessing with his movements.
The negatives have already been stated in terms of poor rotation prior to the game and tactics during the game. To employ a 343 shows poor confidence in the subs executing the 433 with Berte and Musah. Which brings me to Mussh who I feel for the most now. He clearly wasn’t a RWB but did what he could. Clearly uncomfortable throughout the game. But Im willing to say I’m liking him more now out of the signings as I think he’s going to be a great mezzala in the 433 and will be a starter. His pace and athleticism are incredible. Reinjders and Puli have been invisible the last few games..hope it’s just a blip but it’s telling. I also didn’t understand going with 3 at the back when we really only have 3 CBs right now effectively.
The other issue I had is Florenzi taking the set pieces when Krunic did a fantastic job the last game 🤦♂️. Sometimes I just don’t get why change things that work.
You can always find faults but the key is the result which like you said wasn’t easy.
However the problems you’ve identified are to do with Pioli having too many options.
Managers generally struggle with too many options. Look at what’s happened since they increased the number of subs to 5 – managers now use 5 even though subs are disruptive.
Random decisions like switching set piece takers and playing players out of position is a result of too many options. Managers need to be forced to stick to the same players and systems and to make the most out of them. At the end of the day that’s how Pioli won the title!
I thought the whole 5 subs thing was to prevent injuries which is ironic for us. You don’t have to use all the 5 subs but a well trained professional team can change personnel relatively freely. Sure there might be either a loss in quality or change in positional play
Solid enough performance from the B team.
Okafor and Jovic performed roles solidly off the bench.
Tempo of the game was controlled.
I thought Bartesaghi looked worth another few looks. He’s quicker than he appears. Okafor had the afterburners on during that first run and Bartesaghi wasn’t blown away. Ran with him for a bit.
Hang tight all. The pressure is building. I think we might be one drubbing away from making a coaching change. There are international breaks coming up in October and November with multiple tough games before each. Those breaks will be the right moments if it comes down to it.
Pioli has no ideas left. No structure. No build-up plan. Only improvisation by Leao.
And the third kit is growing on me. Bought one for my daughter.
Season barely started and half our squad is injured smh.
I support Pioli, and I think he’s a great coach. But someone needs to check what the guy is doing to our players in training.
We have the youngest squad in the league, and the most injured one as well. Something doesn’t add up.
Not because of Pioli but because of very tight schedule between the league and international matches. So blame UEFA / FIFA for unnecessary multiple international matches when the league just started.
Hoču vidjet naš rezervni napad u akciji okafor – jović – cukweze
I thought Musah and Florenzi did well to say they were asked to play in very different roles to their normal ones.
The tactics were obviously something new to everyone and there were a few mix ups here and there, but this was the right sort of game to try it in. The wing backs got the space and were able to put the forwards through multiple times, IMO the lack of clinical chance conversion up front felt like the biggest issue.
More nervy than it should have been and the front three were a bit disappointing, possibly in need of a bit more rest but changing both formation and all the personnel at once is a big ask. Also makes sense to rest Leao and Giroud against Cagliari so they get a week before Lazio.
Defence were solid, though Kjaer still feels well off his best. Will that come back? I’m not so sure at this point.
Good to see Okafor and Jovic, hopefully the chemistry will come. Okafor in particular I thought looked inventive and hard working but a bit raw. RLC made a big impact when he came on.
All in all, job done, tactics experimented with, hopefully lessons learned. I don’t understand the obsession with so many people slating Pioli but they’ve clearly got their minds made up about something or another.
That kit though. If it were possible for a kit to be flop of the match… just Awful
And yeah, can’t pass up Pioli’s ineptness. Absolutely… ABSOLUTELY no need for a change in formation. Clearly affected the players a lot.
Z bro. I like your simple analysis of things here. The simple truth us that Pioli has no confidence on his bench despite the new arrivals. He over worked the so called starters hence dropping the confidence of the sub’s even when introduced. What do you expect of players coming g less than 30mins of end of game? Pioli has no plan B in his formation or tactics. I find Leao sometimes selfish, he ought to have assisted Giroud in one of the offensive moves but wanted scoring himself and squandered the chance.
In Leao’s goal we can see his best role : the most advanced player in team, take the through ball. Not play deeper and become a Trequartista.
I hope Leao take this position often. To exploit his qualities are change to 2-strikers with Leao as the Advanced Forward. Just like Thierry Henry at Arsenal.