It was nothing short of a disappointment as AC Milan failed to redeem themselves a bit by winning the Coppa Italia.
The expectations were high going into the game, given Milan had been in form recently with Conceicao managing to find rhythm with his 3-4-3 formation. With the Rossoneri managing to comeback and win 3-1 against Bologna just days before the final, this was encouraging enough for the fans to believe that their team can lift the Coppa Italia, against the same opponents, for the first time since 2003.
The reality was totally different though, and excluding a shot from close range by Luka Jovic that Skorupski saved the Diavolo produced close to nothing for the remainder of the game.
In the 53rd minute, Dan Ndoye opened up the scoring after a series of errors in defence for Milan, giving his side the much needed goal. Ultimately though, it was deserved as Bologna were the more direct team even if they had less of the possession.
From then onwards Bologna had no troubles absorbing the pressure and even pressed really themselves, limiting the space available for their opponents. Something which Milan had a lot of difficulties escaping.
Towards the end of the game there was a bit more space as Bologna sat deeper in their half, but the Rossoneri again failed to produce anything worthwhile and it was a night to forget in the end as Sergio Conceicao’s men were totally outplayed and lost a record 10th final in the Coppa Italia.
Here are five observations from the game:
1. Reflection point
It’s always hard to put the blame on a couple of individual when clearly the whole teams is struggling. However, questions have to be raised regarding Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao’s performances on the night and throughout the season.
Against Bologna, Leao was the most threatening attacker, but the fact of the matter is that he wasn’t that threatening at all. He lacked the finishing pass or shot, as he usually does, and on some occasions even if he did beat his man he ended up losing the ball shortly after.
The Portuguese was not good enough for the salary and the price tag he has and he hasn’t been the top player Milan expected him to be for too long now. The occasional flashy performance won’t cut it at a club like Milan, who need a star that can take on the pressure and pave the way forward in big games which is exactly what the winger is not.
Theo has also had an up and down season and truth be told the players around him haven’t helped especially as we mentioned Leao’s struggles too.
The Frenchman has also been very solid in recent years and this is his first season where he hasn’t really been a key figure, but the poor performances still warrant some reflection from the management especially given his contract expires in 2026.
He either needs to renew or be sold in the summer to avoid him leaving on a free, though it seems the latter is more likely.
2. Very shaky at the back
The defence has been quite solid lately but against Bologna it didn’t quite hold up and even though only one goal was conceded it was more than Milan could afford on the night.
Fikayo Tomori, especially, was really harsh with his tackles in the first half giving away a lot of fouls. On the goal he wasn’t the main man to blame, but the feeling is that he could’ve done better as Theo made a good sliding tackle where the ball ended up in Ndoye whilst Tomori was waving his hand for an offside instead of playing to the whistle.
You simply can’t afford to do that and what’s worst is he was the one that kept his opponent on side which makes it even more frustrating. The rest of the defence was actually not that bad in all fairness, although Theo could’ve also done a bit better with his marking on the goal.
It’s also fair to say that Kyle Walker was also horrendous off the bench as he did not contribute forward. He played a lot of sloppy balls and refused to cross the ball on the couple of occasions where he could’ve sent it into the penalty box.
Instead he played a back pass, one of which ended up in Mike Maignan’s feet instead of a cross into the opponents half. An astonishingly poor performance by a player who should been experienced enough and able to help his side in such tough situations.
3. Midfield outplayed
There were many issues with the whole performance yesterday but one of the key areas where the Diavolo failed to take control has to be the midfield.
Youssouf Fofana was sloppy and lost the ball on multiple occasions because of his poor control and then when he did get into dangerous spaces he failed to be decisive with his passing which sums up his season.
A season where he’s done some good things occasionally and but has been frustrating to watch for the bigger part and it seems that he is not the person to build the midfield around going forward as he has had a whole season to prove his worth and the value is still missing.
Tijjani Reijnders also struggled and couldn’t help his side escape the high press following the goal. Most of the players, including him, seemingly gave up after that goal as there was nobody trying to get on the ball and make something happen.
Whilst the Dutchman did try, he ultimately failed as he didn’t make the right decisions when he did get the empty space and we expect much more from a player from his calibre.
4. No impact from the bench
In the league game a few days ago, the bench made a big impact for the Rossoneri as they won 3-1 from 1-0 down. Of course, this time around it didn’t work out for Conceicao.
Joao Felix brought some quality in the middle as he managed to beat his man a couple of times and seemed like the only player that could escape Bologna’s press. However, most of the times he was ruthlessly fouled before he can make anything out of the situation.
The Portuguese did have a moment where the ball was crossed to him from the flank and his show was just dreadful as he couldn’t make proper contact with the ball, something which summarised his time in red and black as he never really got going.
Santiago Gimenez, Tammy Abraham and Samuel Chukwueze also offered little, with Chukwueze probably being the most active as he managed to beat his man a few times. Nevertheless, he failed to cross the ball or make a dangerous shot and it was not as efficient as his last outing.
Walker was also dreadful after coming on as we already mentioned above. Unfortunately there wasn’t a player that could help Milan on the night, it seemed.
5. Conceicao’s farewell?
If Milan did end up winning the Coppa Italia and finished the season strong then Conceicao might have been able to keep his job or agree to continue on as a Milan manager. That now seems a bit far fetched, though.
Unfortunately, the problems come from the top, and a manager change might not cut it, even if Conceicao didn’t really turn the ship around.
He managed to win the Supercoppa Italiana and then struggled in Serie A. However, he eventually did find a way to stabilise the ship – probably too little too late, admittedly – but all that momentum was ruined by the defeat in the Cup final.
Realistically he might have not been the best choice, but we see the players struggle time and time again whilst the highest earners struggle to lead the team forward.
As a result, one has to think is Conceicao going to be the scapegoat for this Milan management that has failed on all fronts and does the same faith await the club next season.
Hire someone with a plan and give them a full season minimum!! The coaching carousel doesn’t help the players.
The harsh truth, looking at situation on milan top management.
1. Most top/proper coaches for example, Conte won’t consider joining a milan without proper direction, ambition and management structure.
2. if they hire another ‘cheap coach’ again- I suspect some players like Reijnders may be inclined to leave. Allegri and Sarri (especially) are even more rigid/ formulaic than Conceicao. Who remembers Sarri at Chelsea; 75mins like for like subs (kovacic & co), you can say the same about Sarri at juve.
The best option is to keep Sergio Conceicao regardless, sell unfit players (musah, Emerson, terraciano) and prioritize quality over quantity. Keep some useful loan returnees who would like to stay (salad, Adli, pellegrino….)
Thoroughly asses the talents in milan futuro e.g Liberali, Omoregbe, Vos etc. Atleast a handful (1, 2 or 3) would come good where the squad is lacking(see Barcelona & Atalanta).
First Milan need to get rid of Furlani, Moncada, Ibra and Scaroni. Then get a capable Sporting Director and Technical Director.
Then choose the choose the coach. Once the coach is appointed then they can get rid of players like Theo and Leao including all the other deadweights at Milan.
But Milan must sell Theo and Leao to rebuild the squad properly.
Wow, interesting first point.
It took people 6 years to realize that Leao is not, never was and never will be the player that they wished he would be.
Milan incompetent managements has done a lot of mistakes over the last 10+ years, but deciding to build a team with Leao in the center of it is one of the most egregious mistakes.
Leao is nothing more than a supplementary piece, not a centerpiece. He is a bench player on most top teams. The problem is that he sees himself and believes that he is a star and a great player, and carry himself out on the pitch at such without the play or production of a star or a great player. That’s a big issue.
Every team takes on the personality of their best players and leaders. At Milan those are Theo and Leao. Enough said.
Management has to be fired, but whatever new management comes in has to get rid of Theo and Leao. Enough is enough.
Leao can’t even score 10 goals a season in serie A. If he was actually able to score minimum of 10 goals, Milan probably has 4 more points today and you are in 4th place.
If Theo isn’t the worst defender in the league, you might turn 2 draws in wins and have another 4 points.
If Maignan isn’t the worst near post GK in the league you might have another 4 points.
Your so called best players cannot be a liability and the reason why you lose points in many of the games. Buy most fans constantly deflect from holding them accountable and wanna talk about Calabria, Pobega, Krunic, Jovic, Emerson Royal, Saelemakers. Don’t talk about the fringe players when your top players are worse.
Milan yesterday didn’t lose to a team with better players but to a team with better attitude and will to win. It’s not like Bologna created anything more than Milan, but their mindset and fighting spirit did. There was a situation when Castro lost a duel, fell on the ground and right away jumped to chase the ball, tumbling and stumbling because he didn’t even have his balance yet from getting up so quick. Leao falls down, he is on the ground for 30 seconds, same with Reijnders yesterday. If people remember Leao sat on the ground in the penalty area of the first game vs Feyenord in UCL for almost a minute while Milan was attacking even though he wasn’t injured. UCL knockout stage game. That’s not a player with winning mentality.
An actual year ZERO is needed at the club. From management to the squad.
God bless u my brother leao is average player i no dis for long time and d coach is also useless coach
You are 100% correct!
Mike
Royal Gabbia Pavlovic Pelegrini
Sottil Gatti Jimenez
Pulisic Darwin Leao
Theo and Rafa have to go. Management too. Everyone can see it except this delusional management. They act as politicians that would do anything to keep their chairs. If we are to rebuild yet again, then cleaning has to start from the top.
“Theo has also had an up and down season ”
That’s being super generous. I guess if you call 90% bad and 10% good an up and down season. I would call that down.
Sell Leao and bring in Lookman.
Sell Theo and bring in De Cuyper.
SIgn Ricci.
Sell Thiaw and Tomori , sign a RB and a CB .
Get Italiano , Gasperini or Sarri to coach
The team will be much improved.
Forget this game, the writing was on the wall two seasons ago. The change needs to happen at the top. Maldini and Massara (and Boban) built a team that won the Scudetto and reached the CL semi-final and they were sacked. Some players publicly expressed their surprise. The new management, instead of building on the foundations they inherited, decided to dismantle the team with no plan going forward. Selling Tonali led to a loss of quality and solidity in midfield along with part of the soul of the team. Losing Diaz and selling CDK meant we would no longer play with a number 10. The switch to a 4-3-3 meant we would abandon a system that the players were used to. The sale of Krunic meant we no longer had a defensive midfielder in the squad. Meaningless tampering with the defense took us from Kalulu, Simic, and Calabria to Pavlovic, Walker, and Emerson, paying 35 million. Do we see any improvement?
Random transfers were made and we have an unbalanced squad with incompatible players, incapable of functioning as a unit in any formation under three different coaches who were not properly supported by the management.
I disagree with almost all of this.
The team was already declining when Maldini and Massara left. We lost Kessie , Calhanoglu and Donnarumma for free and could not afford to adequately replace them(with the exception of Maignan who has been good but no Donnarumma).
They did not dismantle the foundation of the Scudetto winning team. The foundation of that team was Leao, Theo, Kessie, Maignan, Ibra and Giroud.
Kessi left under Maldini. Ibra and Giroud basically retired. And Leao, Theo and Maignan are still here.
Selling Tonali is not what hurt the midfield. The midfield was bad in Tonali’s last season which is one of the reasons he was sold. The midfield never recovered from losing Kessie. It wasn’t Tonali , it was Kessie. And with that money we did get Reijnders who is a better player than Tonali.
CDK did not work here. He was given every opportunity , plenty of playing time and he was bad. There’s no reason to think he would’ve been any better if we kept him just because he’s been a little better at Atalanta. Different system.
Krunic was not good enough for Milan. I don’t know what evidence you have that Simic is good, he never played. Calabria should have lost his starting spot a few years ago. As you see he plays maybe 5 minutes a game at Bologna now.
I agree that Kalulu was a mistake. They should have kept Kalulu and made him our starting RB then there would be no need for Emerson or Walker.
I will also agree that management has not properly supported their coaches.
Firing Pioli who in his last 4 seasons finished 2nd, 1st, 4th and second was probably not the right move. And Firing Fonseca and bringing in Conceicao was a colossal mistake.
Agree. People seem to forget that the year after the scudetto, ACM actually finished 5th. If not for the point deduction to Juve they would not have been moved up to 4th
But we reached the Champions league semifinal
We won the Scudetto, lost Kessie and Romagnoli, and were given only 50 million to invest. We lost Ibra to injury early on and went deep in the Champions League with a thin squad and multiple injuries. That’s why we struggled yet still qualified for the Champions League the next season, 4th/5th i don’t care. Some people may want to diminish that season, but Maldini and Massara have proven they can build a proper team. This management have not. They have had two seasons and 250 million to spend. Yet, none of the strikers brought in could score more than a “basically retired” Giroud. Calabria’s problem was fitness but we had Kalulu and Jimenez. Do you think Walker and Emerson were necessary or have done a better job so far? As for midfield, if you think what we have had the past two seasons is better as a unit than Diaz, Tonali, Bennacer, Krunic then I completely disagree. I’m 50/50 on CDK. My problem is that many players ,such as Leao, Tonali, Kessie, Adli, Reijnders, also struggled (although not as much) in their first season and then improved.
“And with that money we did get Reijnders who is a better player than Tonali.”
First, we could have gotten both Reijnders and Pulišić while keeping Tonali. Tonali was sold for about 65M€ while we spent north of 120M€ in the summer of 2023. Reijnders and Pulišić costed together about 40-50M€. So if the argument is that we needed to sell Tonali to bring the “world class” Reijnders, this is wrong. I would perhaps give the benefit of the doubt on this one to the management because they might already knew that Tonali was gambling.
Second and most importantly, I’m quite tired of hearing that Reijnders is a better than Tonali. Reijnders is completely DIFFERENT player than Tonali. They have in common as much as a forward and a midfielder does, which is what Reijnders is essentially: a forward disguised as a midfielder.
Reijnders scored much more than Tonali ever did, which I often see brought as an argument to underline his superiority. In Inter, Frattesi is the best goalscorer among midfielders from open play goals, yet I don’t think anyone thinks he is better than Barella, Mkhitaryan or Çalhanoğlu.
I could bring up the stats if necessary but defensively, Reijnders is a liability. Even if we compare him to forwards (let alone midfielders), only Leão is consistenly worse than him on a per game basis and this is a player that was used often in a 2 men midfield or in a double-pivot. Meanwhile in Newcastle, Tonali actually leads some defensive stats among midfielders such as ball recoveries and interceptions and has actually more tackles and tackles won per game than any of our starting midfielders…
This season, under both coaches, most teams had no issues bypassing our midfield and set up chances to score, and while the tactics are to blame, but that’s also on our midfield which was weak.
Passing wise, a poster brought this up before, but Reijnders’ passing leaves a lot to be desired. He tends to over carry the ball and passes either too late or mis pass it. He is overall an accurate passer, but he mostly passes short, he doesn’t attempt long passes, switches and doesn’t take a lot of set pieces. Meanwhile Tonali is one of the midfielders in Newcastles who does the most long balls and switches.
I can also go on about how Reijnders receives more ball in the attacking third or penalty boxes, while Tonali receives more ball in the defensive third or penalty boxes but I think I’ve made my point.
So does that mean that I think Tonali is better ? Not necessarly, and Reijnders does lead in important stuff like carrying and scoring but it’s clear they’re too different from one another to claim that Reijnders is a replacement for Tonali.
Thanks for this! Saved me the hassle
Completely agree
Also what worked in our old midfield is what’s working for Inter right now…each midfielder could have chipped in defensively while having different attributes on offense. Right now we have a poor defensive pivot who is also our best offensive mid and a box to box trying to be a DM. 🤦♂️. Beyond that it gets dreary real fast (Musah etc)
@Sheva “Maldini and Massara (and Boban) built a team that won the Scudetto and reached the CL semi-final and they were sacked”. Point blank simply stated facts and yet people still have grievances, what in the world?!?😂 😂 😂 they still can’t come to terms with the fact that the team declined so badly since then. It’s downright delusional. Simple case in point right now just look at the table.
We all agree that management needs to go but they’re the least likely to.. Now there’s a question mark over whether they’ll hire a sporting director or not.. The same sporting director who should hire the next coach.. Meanwhile I’m struggling to think which players I’d actually keep to build the squad around apart from Reijnders and Pulisic… It’s fun being a Milan fan isn’t it?
Changing formation is not tactics….
That’s false. Changing formation is a shift in strategy that forces evolutions is tactics.
Clearly we saw the use of wing backs improve the efficacy of the players who could go forward.
What we didn’t see was anything going forward beyond that. It was still dump the ball left to Leao and pray. That too is a tactic. Just not a very good one.
It’s like Sarge only did 1/4 of the job installing the 343/3421.
Teams have found it’s not too hard to negate him. Keep him on the sideline and then have two defenders on the front post- 2 yards and 6 yards out. He always looks promising getting a step going down the sideline but there is no where to pass the ball. He doesn’t like going in the box if he doesn’t have the ball. He doesn’t like going in towards the middle around the 18 to setup other players and making a run thru the box to draw defenders to him.
They continued to play hero ball as opposed to being an organized team.
The fact that Furlani won sole control then sat on hiring an SD says all we need to know.
The goal is to get the right folks on the bus then find them a seat. From the coach up we don’t have the right folks on the bus.
At this late in the spring, we know next season will be much like this one. But getting the SD and coach for next season in place now will allow us a season to build up on rather than another season to simply endure.
Forza Milan.
Well said!
How can this wonderful club be owned by one that doesn’t have interest in football. He didn’t show up for a final, that is disappointing. Did he even call the team and wished them good luck. I don’t think so. They wouldn’t have played so bad if he did so or showed up. If the owner doesn’t care why should the players care if they win or lose.
Sell Theo, leap, and all others dead weights, hire a good coach like dezerbi that can work with the futuro players and a younger squad that’s hungry to wear the Milan shirt. Barcelona as reference.