AC Milan desperately needed three points after four teams ahead of them dropped points during the weekend. A perfect opportunity to catch up to the top four, but it was not taken.
Milan started off the game well and they were eventually rewarded with Tijjani Reijnders getting himself on the scoresheet just 16 minutes into the game after a lovely sequence which led to the Dutchman punishing the visitors.
However, in typical Rossoneri fashion, the lead didn’t last long, and Paulo Dybala equalised just seven minutes later with a lovely volley to dampen the mood at the San Siro.
At the beginning of the second half, the Diavolo pushed more and looked like the team more eager to get three points, but, as has often been the case, the effort didn’t materialise into goals and the home side started to ease off towards the end of the game with fatigue clearly a factor.
Roma then picked up the pace a bit and had the better chances to steal the win, but the Giallorossi lacked the clinical finish to put them ahead, meaning the game finished 1-1. All in all, probably a fair outcome given the performances of both teams.
In the aftermath of the game Paulo Fonseca was sacked by the Milan management after yet another disappointing result with Sergio Conceicao announced as the replacement.
The former Porto coach will have a lot of work to do going into the Super Cup, but for now, let’s discuss five things we learned from Fonseca’s last game as a Milan coach:
1. Dire on the right, again
One thing is certain, even when Milan achieved positive results, their right-hand side was sub-par at best and it was no different against Roma.
Emerson was, again, shaky at the back and was lucky that the opponents did not pounce on his sloppiness. His participation in the attack was as always, non-productive – certainly a poor game from the Brazilian.
His partner on the wing – Chukwueze, had a slightly more positive outing this time around, although he set the bar low himself, so it’s not that hard to have a better performance compared to the norm.
Whilst he had a couple of good moments there was nothing worth mentioning and it was overshadowed by his injury in the second half, which if serious leaves the right flank very deprived since Pulisic is also out for the time being.
2. The management’s Morata disaster
The Spaniard had a couple of good moments but overall he was very poor, again, as he killed a lot of attacks.
In some ways, it’s funny because he does work a lot so he can be in potentially dangerous situations, but then his ball control lets him down too many times for a player of his calibre and stature.
If he had a year or two-year contract to help the younger players with his experience, whilst having a less required presence on the pitch as his age progressed, it could’ve been good. But the management decided to give him a five-year contract until 2028, which is a really poor decision and now they will have to suffer the consequences because the transfer is clearly not working out thus far.
The only positive is that if Milan were to find a new club for Morata then they wouldn’t lose money since he joined as a free agent, but that’s probably wishful thinking at this point in time.
3. Jimenez continues to impress
The youngster was called upon when Fonseca decided to bench Theo and so far the Spaniard has not disappointed, showing great potential and confidence in both phases of the game.
In the last game and a half he has also played as a left winger, which is certainly not his preferred position, but he has done very well regardless and has been probably a top-three player for Milan in the last few games. However, whether he has faced much competition is another thing in itself.
With both Emerson and Calabria not up to the needed level, it will be interesting to see if Conceicao will try the youngster on the right flank as he seems to have the quality to help improve that side whilst Theo and Leao are more than capable on the left.
The only negative from this scenario is that Real Madrid have a buy-back clause and if Jimenez continues in the same fashion then they’ll probably exercise that.
4. Tijji and Fofana pivotal again
The Dutchman managed to grab yet another goal with a lovely finish and probably could’ve done a bit better other than the goal as he faded a bit in the second half, but regardless he kept his cool in the right moment and finished off a lovely Milan attack to put his side in front.
His partner – Youssouf Fofana – also continued his positive form as he provided the assist for the goal, which also showcased his high work rates as the Frenchman made a very good run. Alongside this, he followed up with a lot of interceptions and with Jimenez and Reijnders was probably the best Milan player on the pitch.
As it stands, Fofana seems to be the only positive decision the management made in preparation for the 2024/25 season.
5. Abraham did well off the bench
The Englishman has had a mixed first half of the season with some very good performances and then some difficult situations – taking a penalty kick instead of Pulisic, for example, as well as being injured for a bit.
Despite his numbers not being better than those of Morata, the Englishman just looks much better every time he’s on the pitch. He’s faster, better on the ball and links well with his teammates for the most part.
The team moves quicker and seems sharper with Abraham, and if he is given more playing time and manages to stay fit, then he might just pick up the pace and start bagging the goals as well.
Morata should be benched. He provides nothing. Abraham is better at the moment.
Emerson should also be benched indefinately. I hope Conceicao has eyes, so he can se what everyone else can see. That Royal is no royalty, instead his footballing skills are as poor as my bank account.
🤣🤣🤣
It’s a new day, a new dawn, so let’s give tbe players the benefit of the doubt.
No.
Theo clearly was not living up to his ability. Then he had birthday-of-entitlement. Last year he flopped more than a live fish on land and lost the plot more than once.
Leao went 6 months last year in a drought. Then he was Low-Effort-Leao the first part of the season until he got benched. Suddenly dude has a much more complete game and you can see him becoming the player expected.
Morata looks like a chicken out there chasing seed. Except a chicken has a softer first touch.
My kid would be a better RB than Emerson. I’m stunned Calabria continues to sit on the bench. I suspect this is coming from Ibra.
Each of these is an _individual_ problem. Theo and Leao are allegedly leaders. Yep, they are leading us to low effort, low energy performances.
Calabria comes to the field and the level of most other players increases. Puli comes to the field and the level of all increases. Reinjders and Fofana cannot leave the field or …
Interestingly $NEW_COACH is a disciplinarian. :popcorn:
Theo wants new contract and won’t risk getting injured. Leão didn’t believe in Fonseca’s plan and thinks he’s much better than his teammates so he won’t work for them. We need Alex at RB, Pulisic at RW, buy Ricci and play 433 and the team will improve. If Conceição wants put a package together for his son and send Tomori to Juve and play him RW.
Juventus doesn’t own his son.
His son is on a dry loan at Juventus from Porto.
You are right my friend. Too bad, him and Leão would draw lots of attention opening up space for everyone else.
They delivered a 2nd place finish last season and the only thing better than 2nd is 1st.
The rest is opinion mostly based on unrealistic expectations, boredom and spite because these players are paid too much.
Money has ruined football.
Leao observably stood on the right touch line in previous years waiting for the ball. Exceptionally little off the ball work. That is observable and measurable, this not opinion.
Theo is a bit more eye test I will admit. Will you take off the Scudetto colored glasses and see him for what he was? I will admit that his problems in the present seem to have more to do with burnout from over use.
Theo has always been a discipline problem. Again that is measurable by yellows and reds. It is observable in birthday-gate when he was the CAPTAIN ON THE FIELD. You call me spiteful and absolve him of his responsibility. I am making a reasoned assessment. You are welcome to disagree, but attack my premise not my person.
Theo and Leao showed early this season they were too big for the club. Leao manned up. Bravo and I look forward to even more from him as he adapts to a more complete game.
Theo has yet to do so but I hope this is said burnout.
There is no malice, only conclusions drawn from facts and observations.
I will go so far as to say those two are no longer our best players. They don’t make others better.
Puli, Reinjders, Fofana and yes … Calabria … Make the others better when they play. Puli, Reinjders and Fofana are our new core. I _expect_ to see Gabbia join them by this time next year.
Rafa and Theo are easy scapegoats but Milan is a far better team when they play. I think the bigger problem is that Pavlovic has scored more goals per 90 than Chukwueze this year and Chukwueze has had to play a ton.
@ MyKidPlayedSoccer
No Scudetto coloured glasses.
I was referring to finishing 2nd a few months ago.
2nd in Serie A.
If fans are not able to appreciate how difficult that is to achieve we’re going nowhere.
We sacked the manager because apparently that wasn’t ‘good enough’ and now we’re 8th.
Every single person who dismissed that 2nd place achievement are responsible for the current situation especially the management.
That is because his attitude is exactly what causes the huge turnover and endless fiddling trying to find the magic formula for ‘better-than-2nd’.
Just from a few months ago we’ve frozen out the club captain (much to everyone’s agreement), our most senior CB, Theo and Leao (on occasion). And we’re 8th. EIGHTH!!!
There will always be room for improvement, players will dip in and out of form, carry injuries, or whatever. But to build long term success you need to judge long term performances.
We have players who consistently delivered for over 4 years….and then Fonseca arrived.
Now now… I’m sure your bank account can’t be THAT poor!!! I mean, you’re on the internet and have a bank account, now don’t you? 🙂
Milan has to go for nunez from Liverpool they want to get rid of him with all the strikers milan have at the moment nunez would be top class
Liverpool bought nunez for 85M and he scored 37 goals in 119 games.
Basically he scored less goals than a decade older Giroud.
Think it was ferdinand talking about how there aren’t any quality strikers nowadays and it’s true.
You got haland, Kane, lewa and then nothing.
Lautaro, but last season one. Done. No more names.
I agree with your point but no one is here talking about the best striker… i am talking about the striker problem milan has at the moment! Giroud ofc top class but we don’t have him now. I am talking about liverpool wants to get rid of nunez milan needs an striker milan should loan him for a season let him prove if he could do something milan can take further steps. And also walker he wants to leave city and milan have a right back problem loan him for a season till milan has someone else don’t buy walker because of his age
Milan doesn’t have a striker problem. If you’re referring to our strikers not bagging simple goals in that case nunez is definitely a no no since he has a worse goal conversion than the players we have now.
Plus his price tag is way out of range, if we loan him and by an off chance he does well we still can’t buy him in the summer.
A young Nunez didn’t have a conversion problem at Benfica.
He’s likely just not suited to the Liverpool environment and level of competition.
Mo Salah will put most forward partners in the shade.
A lot of strikers don’t have a conversion problem in Portugal.
If he can’t hack it at Liverpool he won’t be able to hack it at Milan. The pressure is the same here. It’s a big club. And it’s harder to score goals than in Premier or Portugal.
Plus his price tag is still out of reach.
Don’t get me wrong, don’t think he’s a bad player or anything, but hardly a player that would improve our attack.
Jimenez would have a considerable fight for time if he returns to RM. On the other hand, he is flourishing here. Perhaps he wants to return to his country as first choice. But if he’s happy here, and developing, and getting some time, which seems to be the case, teams sometimes listen to players wishes. If he indicates a desire to stay RM might well consider it. With the current lineup, he might languish on the bench there.
Real is actually short on young quality fullbacks so it would be a prefect time for him to get a spot there.
no nunez is another striker that cant finish
hopefully this new coach dosent play royal i stilol think he faked his passport cuz ain’t no way he’s a brazilan with 0 techical abilites
That’s what I’ve been saying for months. Zero chance he really is Brazilian.
I don’t think you’ve seen the Brazil national team over the past decade. This is the level of garbage they produce.
Hallelujah.
Best draw we’ve ever had.
There’s zero point analysing any thing including the players as if was a mess from start to finish.
Why he came in and decided to immediately drop the club captain and pick fights with the other senior players is beyond me.
He apparently judged the squad by watching the last 10 games from last season when Milan had largely secured a top 4 finish and eventually finished 2nd.
He probably should have watched the run that secured our top 4 from the Monza game in December to the Napoli game in February.
That would have shown him what the squad is capable of. And that has to be the starting point for Conceição.
Milan finished 2nd with no midfield. We signed Fofana which should have fixed part of our midfield, so we should’ve improved from last season. But instead Fonseca destroyed the base of the team.
Re-establishing the base and re-discovering the form from the past 4 (FOUR) years is key.
Agree with others on here – Sergio needs to retire Royal with immediate effect. And hide Calabria’s boots too. For the love of God play Jimenez at right back – and if there aren’t any wingers available push Theo up and play Bart at left back. But that requires him switching to 3 at the back which he doesn’t like so hopefully Leao and Okafor can stay fit and we never have to witness Royal or Calabria giving away another goal ever again.
Fonseca still have some balls atlist to bench the likes of Theo and Rafa as examples to other players just that he doesn’t have the tactical abilities to win games maybe just few
1. Chukweze was our best player on the field until he got injured. He had 2-3 dangerous penetration in the box, at least one of them created a great chance for power Reijnders
2. Morata was simply bad, no argument there.
3. We let Rome’s mediocre midfielder take control of far too many minutes of the match. This is on all our midfield, but especially Fofana and Terrachiano (who went missing in action).
4. Jimenez played as a LW for most of the match. Did he create anything there? I can’t remember. And he wasn’t amazing on the right as well. Always hyping for the sake of hype.
5. Tammy was f’ing useless, as usual. He was brought in to score goals!! Getting better and better my a$$