With AC Milan continuing to struggle domestically, the Champions League, at least recently, has been somewhat of a haven. However, the Rossoneri did not make things easy for themselves once again.
Paulo Fonseca limited his rotations to a minimum for the game, but he was forced to substitute Alvaro Morata and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the 29th minute due to injuries – certainly an unneeded thing to add to the list of problems.
Milan were not at all the dominant side, and they seemed sluggish overall with Rafael Leao being the only player adding something to the attack. Therefore, when it was the Portuguese who opened up the game in the 42nd minute after a lovely through ball from Fofana, it was not a surprise.
The Rossoneri then became a bit too relaxed and conceded an equaliser in the 67th minute, in what was shaping up to be another unconvincing performance by Fonseca’s side.
Milan struggled to react accordingly, failing to create much in the next 20 minutes, but they eventually managed to score the winner through Tammy Abraham after Francesco Camarda was denied by the keeper.
The goal marked a fourth win in a row for the Diavolo, who are in a good position to finish in the top 8, but they will need to improve in the last two games to avoid a repeat of the struggles against Red Star.
Here are five things we learned…
1. Leao leading the way yet again
The winger opened up the scoresheet with a lovely goal, making up for an earlier miss. You could suggest that he scored the more difficult of the two chances, which is somewhat ironic, but the goal is all that matters.
Additionally, the Portuguese was a pivotal point for Milan’s attacks, causing a lot of trouble both on the flank and through the middle, playing goalside off the shoulder of the last man rather than closer to the touchline.
For this reason, it’s only fair to praise Fonseca for the transformation, with the winger looking a lot more dangerous at the moment as he provides a more ‘complete’ and fluid game.
Leao also starts from a deeper position, making himself available more often, which is clearly beneficial. With that said, it’s a pity that the players around him are not up to the required standard to make the most out of the Portuguese’s exploits.
2. Camarda decisive but the first goal is still in the making
The youngster came on in a difficult moment for his team, but managed to help turn a point into a three after beating the defender to head the ball towards the net and he was just denied by the goalkeeper and the crossbar.
Fortunately for the youngster, the rebound dropped to Abraham who buried it and sealed the win for Milan. The way Camarda managed to position himself and beat the defender in the box is not to be underestimated and he was unlucky not to be rewarded with the goal.
We cannot say that it was a lucky attempt either, given that it was almost a carbon copy of the looping header that found the back of the net against Club Brugge, though that time the offside flag denied him.
However, that moment alone shows how much potential the youngster has and it would seem that we will be seeing more and more of him in the coming weeks due to injuries.
3. Abraham an instant improvement
Morata and Abraham are really different strikers and it seems like the Englishman could be the better choice for the starting XI, despite Fonseca’s desire to stick with the former.
The Spaniard works incredibly hard, but he has always been at his best playing with another striker and we’ve seen that when Fonseca fielded both him and Abraham.
As a solo striker though, the former Chelsea man is always more lively and present in the opponent’s box causing trouble for the defenders. Alongside the winning goal, he also had a few more chances where he could’ve scored, so the late goal saves his performance a bit.
The big point is that he gets into these positions and is closer to the penalty box in comparison to Morata, who drops too deep at times, which prevents the Rossoneri from having an option down the middle.
If Abraham is slightly more clinical he will rack up goals and with Morata carrying a slight injury, the chance might come sooner rather than later.
4. Fofana steps up in Reijnders absence
The Dutchman has struggled in the last couple of games, after setting very high standards it must be said, but fortunately for him his partner in the middle stepped up and added a bit of creativity in the mix.
Not only did the Frenchman do well defensively, but he also provided a lovely through ball for Leao for the opening goal, which highlights his vision and passing abilities.
Whilst he did misplace some passes, he did most things correctly on the night and providing that extra bit of creativity whilst Tijjani struggled was the cherry on top. Another good showing from him.
What has been encouraging is that there have been maybe one or two games all season where both have not been up to par in the same match, and far more where both have been firing.
5. Fonseca’s Milan continues to frustrate
It’s fair to say that the game was a must-win for Milan and it almost finished as a draw, due to the poor performance from the Diavolo.
Fonseca decided to challenge his players after the game, suggesting a lack of effort from some members of the squad, which might be true but the case for the Portuguese being at fault for that is also a possibility.
The reality is that the coach hasn’t really shown he can give his team an identity and a winning mentality. Despite a couple of good games and some good moments, Milan have been consistently frustrating and disappointing since the start of the season.
Against Red Star, where a win was needed and a big win would’ve been a good morale boost after the defeat to Atalanta, his side barely managed to win and truth be told, they probably didn’t deserve the win that much either.
The biggest achievement for Fonseca is probably Leao’s transformation, but what good is that if none of the other players have improved? If we’re honest, it is actually overshadowed by the decline of many since his arrival.
Everything is halfa$$ – the performances and the coaching which ultimately points at the management. No sign of intervention.
Fonseca is clearly asking for help. Players aren’t seeming to buy into his system and look confused. Management has to either back the coach or back the players and cut the coach. And they haven’t done either.
What we’ve learned is that the entire organization lacks an identity and direction. Need all hands on deck. Make a stand.
We need one sporting director to find them, to bring them all and in Casa Milan bind them
Points on the Tolkien reference! Couldn’t agree more.
❤️ the dark lord wld b proud
I believe that Theo isn’t performing well because Tomori is not the left centerback. Tomori has the ability to cover a lot of ground, which allows Theo to be much more explosive on offense. With Thiaw or Pavlovic on the left, any tiny mistake Theo makes while driving forward could be detrimental to our team.
That’s just silly. Theo is losing majority of 50/50 duels, ground or air.
Wtf does tomori playing 2 do with that?
Example the goal from cdk. Theo lost the duel and we conceded. Absolutely nothing to do with cbs
I didn’t mention anything about individual duels; my main point was that Theo’s tendency to push forward makes him more vulnerable when a center-back like Tomori isn’t available to cover significant ground.
If Theo loses possession and we get caught on the counterattack, defenders like Pavlovic, Thiaw, and Gabbia could either receive a red card or be easily outpaced.
Our best center-back pairing last year was Tomori and Gabbia, and in the past, it was Tomori and Kjaer. Therefore, if your left back’s best attribute is attacking, you need a left center-back who can cover a lot of ground to compensate for the left back’s absence.
Well you’re just making it up that theo losses possession and that thiaw can’t cover his space as well as tomori can.
Which is just silly.
In reality we have holes in the back because of the way fonseca sets up our high line.. the rb and lb space are always being exploited regardless who plays in cb.
Also tomori is shìt. The only thing he has is pace while the other 3 cbs have a bit less pace than him, just a bit, but compensate by being better in every other department.
With any luck he’s gonna be loaned to England in January and then we can get a proper cb as 4th option. Italian preferably
Really well put.
Agree, we’ll said, Sacchi had similar resistance from players and it took Silvio to step in and back his man. I think Fonseca has good ideas, what I don’t know is if he has the ability or testicular fortitude to put those ideas across….he needs backing from the ownership, the players need to be told put up and shut up or eff off……
Ultimately points to management you say?
Not gonna lie, the 180 transformation from you since summer to now has been interesting to watch lol 😁 and it’s not a diss. Just interesting to watch.
Longer terms goals stem from short term decisions it seems 😁 but the direction so far has been awful.
I won’t lie mate, I wasn’t pro Fonseca at all, but I do think he wants to play football the right way. The problem is, unlike Sacchi he doesn’t seem to have the strength of character to implement it. No point having good ideas if your players don’t buy into you.
Yep – no one really knows what possessed management to hire Fonseca over Motta, Conceição, Conte, etc and I’m starting to think they don’t know either… but what confuses me are the good performances. The players bought into his system against Real and Inter – then cash out again against Red Star and Atalanta.
To be fair, Inter and Real are the only two good games he’s had… and we’re what 14g’s in the league and 6 in CL?
Many midtable teams have DESERVED wins over top tier teams. Nottingham, currently fifth won in Anfield against Liverpool. Chelsea lost in the EFL cup to Newcastle who are currently 12th. Hellas Verona defeated Napoli. Osasuna, currently 7th defeated Barcelona…
But what separates a midtable team from a title contender is not 1 or 2 wins against top tiers teams, is the number of wins in general.
So true.
Those wins are increasingly looking like flukes.
Sherlock Holmes – ‘when you have eliminated all of the possibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth’
Perhaps certain players saw those games as a shop window…? Very little makes sense with Milan anymore
We got 2 out of sorts giants when we beat them. It can happen. Inter went back on track as did Real who are both competing for their respective domestic titles. And us? What’s our consolation is that we beat them (no trophy awarded for those btw) but out of our domestic title fight.
What I’ve learned is that we’re playing, looking, behaving as a mid-table team and our rankings reflect it perfectly. I’m obviously happy for the win and I’m not the kind to care all that much about possession, tiki taka and stuff but what we’ve shown against Crvena Zvezda and as well as the previous games are not reassuring at all.
Having Fonseca stepping to the media and speaking as such is also a red flag. The players obviously need to be held accountable (although this is a far cry from the penalty disaster against Fiorentina or the sulking incident against Lazio) but it’s also clear that the coach has no control over this roster and he needs to put our dirty laundry in front of the media.
However him acting as such clearly demonstrates that the management, the ones who should “manage” these types of problem, are nowhere to be found.
Have your management made of people with no expertise on football and no experience, have them hire an average coach and purchase average players but somehow expect a great team ? I think we fans were fooling ourselves.
As I predicted in the summer, without selling the laziest, loser-mentality players, no coach can make Milan win. Yes, Fonseca is not suitable for Milan, but still there are some players last season who did not care much about winning and did not run enough on the pitch. I remember, for instance, a moment of RLC vs Inter – the game that won us the second star. It was a big importance game for Milan fans, but RLC looked lazy all the time. I remember a moment when he had the opportunity to take the ball from Barella, but he did not move at all and kept looking as Barella went forward with the ball. How on earth can a coach win with such an unmotivated player who enters the pitch just to get his big salary? How can he win with a team where the captain, i. e. supposed leader, is Calabria?
Without removing those who bring laziness and loser mentality to the team, even a combination of Pep, Klopp and Arne Slot would not get far with this team.
Curiously, can you name 5 things you’ve learned from the Leverkusen-Inter game of tuesday night ?
Nothing new, just the usual lessons:
1. Inzaghi does not know how to do the rotation the right way
2. Asllani and Frattessi should be sold
3. We will win the UCL in Marotta’s dreams
4. The team is too slow to compete vs fast-playing, quality teams
5. I would like Atalanta win the Scudetto, bc they are the best Italian side this season so far, and the only one that are taking the best out of themselves
Nice, right?
“5. I would like Atalanta win the Scudetto, bc they are the best Italian side this season so far, and the only one that are taking the best out of themselves”
Are you sure you’re an inter fan ?
There are other fans as well who would like to see Atalanta win a Scudetto. Atalanta are a beutifully built team, it would be nice to see them win one. Ofc, not more than one. lol
For Inter fans, after winning the second star, another Scudetto this season is not a big deal. The general belief is that the only thing this team need to cement this generation of players as a successful cycle is winning the UCL. The UCL is the real desire of most/many Inter fans these days.
I am not saying I don’t want Inter to win in Italy, but heck the UCL is the real (though largely hopeless) desire. Inzaghi should focus there, prepare the games well and play the best 11 possible in every game. Instead, Inzaghi has chosen to do the opposite. One Scudetto more, one less, it is far from UCL glory.
“Are you sure you’re an inter fan ?”
LMAO 🤣🤣🤣🤣 we all know he isn’t. It’s just a ruse. Never seen an Inter fan more obsessed with us since Massimo Moratti
As a Milan fan, I’ll be the happiest man on earth if Atalanta can win the Scudetto this season, just because they’re currently the best team in Italy and also playing a beautiful style of football, plus they have a Nigerian who’s currently the best player in Africa apart from Mo Salah……KING ADEMOLA LOOKMAN.
Ha.
Nice one.
A lot has gone wrong these past two seasons due to the owners firing Maldini and Massara who had a clear plan, football knowledge, and personality. I said last season that most of the new signings will be gone within two years. Romero and Pellegrino are basically gone. Things aren’t looking good for Okafor, Jovic, Chuk, Loftus-Cheek, Musah, and Emerson. The jury is still out on Abraham and Morata. Sometimes transfers don’t work out or need time but the signings and sales done under the new management were done haphazardly, with no clear plan in mind.
We have to ride this season out. Luckily, there’s a lot of football left to play. Top four in Serie A and a Coppa Italia may convince our stars to stay. Yesterday wasn’t pretty but a win is a win and it’s nice to see Camarda doing well while players like Leao and Thiaw seemed to have regained their form. The injuries are unfortunate but maybe they’ll open the door for some youngsters. Bennacer coming back could be a boost as well.
6. Krunic showed what we’ve been missing. Even playing for a ‘weaker’ side he dictated the pace, and made some crucial interventions especially on Leao. He’s not just calm but decisive and cynical when he needs to be.
7. Calabria in the defensive phase showed what we’ve been missing full stop. That was text book defending from pushing the opposition back and slowing down attacks, to being in the right place (there was a beautiful defensive clearance at the back post), to dropping in when Theo had gone up the left to constant communication which we simply don’t see with others.
He had to keep telling Chuk to come back which was both strong leadership but also inexplicable that Chuk didn’t appreciate that.
He also had to keep telling Chuk to drop to receive the ball.
He was effectively coaching the team on the pitch which makes his removal bizarre.
7. In the attack phase whilst he had the cross and the through ball to Musah, he actually struggled positionally. Musah and Chuk kept crowding him out on the right so he ended up either taking this nowhere position where he wasn’t available for a pass, or making runs from inside that Chuk never picked out.
This points to a wider tactical issue (beyond Musah and Chuk’s lack of footballing intelligence).
In fact you can probably do this analysis all over the pitch. Players don’t look clear about where they should be and often get in each other’s way.
8. Fonseca needs to go.
Krunic looked very good and cut out many passes and Calabria is better option than Emerson Royal. Our captain is always disrespected by Fonseca. Only Reijnders is playing better under Fonseca and that is due to the presence of Fofana than anything Fonseca is doing tactically. We got rid of our team’s backbone and Fonseca wonders why we are a coin flip before every match.
Yea I was going to make the point on Krunic but folks here would say fan boy and I can’t be bothered with having to explain football to people. An actual DM we’ve been missing, granted a backup but still….
The yellow card stopped a run. And then after that he shackled Leao for the most part although he’s “slow”. Made crucial interceptions, great positioning on several occasions. Yet he gets called donkey. Man I wished we had a donkey like him in our team right about now
Biggest thing I learnt is that if Tammy can stay fit, he will be a better target man up front than Morata.
The team looked significantly more dangerous with him up top.
Loved his enthusiasm too.
Also learnt that Milan looked more like beating Leverkusen than Inter.
😆
Random observations:
1. When Morata returns, he should play the #10.
2. Theo should go. I’m tired of the excuses people make for him (‘he needs player Y next to him’, ‘player Z steps in front of him’). The issue with Theo isn’t tactics or formation…it’s his attitude. He needs a new home. He’s a shell of the player he used to be (as long as Fonseca is manager).
3. Milan leadership seems disfunctional and disconnected from the players and manager. Ibrahimovic frankly seems like a distraction more than anything else.