After a hard-fought win against Slovan Bratislava, AC Milan added yet another win to their tally, though with more comfort as they beat Empoli 3-0. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game.
Fonseca decided to change things up a bit with the starting XI, with Alvaro Morata returning along with Yunus Musah. The main goal was for the Spaniard to break his two-month goal drought, and he needed just 19 minutes to do so with a nice finish inside the box.
Tijjani Reijnders doubled the lead in the 44th minute, just before the half-time mark, after a lovely half-volley that was well-deserved for the Dutchman. Indeed, he continues to shine in the midfield and make things tick for Milan.
He wasn’t done their either, getting his second goal in the 69th minute after a fantastic solo run and finish to form the final 3-0 scoreline. The Rossoneri also managed to keep a clean sheet, which is a nice morale boost following some questionable defensive performances. Below are five things we learned…
1. Morata strikes at last
The Spaniard has worked very hard in recent weeks, but despite the work-rate in both phases of the game, he has failed to actually contribute with goals. As such, he was clearly on a mission to change that against Empoli.
As luck would have it, he succeeded after a lovely finish from inside the box, getting on the end of a loose ball. He also linked up nicely with his teammates for the bigger part of the game, even though he faded a bit towards the end.
Fortunately for Fonseca, even without Morata, his team managed to score goals but it will be a big boost if the striker becomes a constant threat in the opponent’s penalty box. Indeed, it will help the team be a bit more unpredictable.
2. Thiaw-Gabbia pairing looking promising
The duo managed to neutralise Empoli, leaving them little to work with and with both showing great confidence with and without the ball.
Malick Thiaw is arguably the best defender Fonseca has in terms of building up front the back, since his passing abilities do not disappoint. Gabbia, meanwhile, was acting more as an old-school defender, using his physicality and aggression to win balls back on the ground and in aerial duels.
This partnership really seems like it has the potential to be the starting choice for Fonseca. It should also be mentioned that both players are fairly young and have the potential to become even better as time goes by.
3. Reijnders show
The Dutchman has inarguably been the best midfielder for Milan since the start of the season, as well as one of the best players overall.
Against Empoli, he continued on the path of strong performances and scored two lovely goals. The first was a lovely half-volley finish and if that wasn’t good enough, the second came after an impressive solo run.
The midfielder has been an engine for the Rossoneri with 3 goals and 3 assists in 12 games in the league, as well as 3 goals in 5 games in the Champions League. This is quite an improvement compared to last season.
4. Leao and Pulisic not efficient enough
Rafael Leao was involved in a lot in the first half and had a lot of good moments, combining with his teammates and beating his man.
The Portuguese winger also opened up a lot of space for his teammates and had a good game, but it’s equally true that he could have done more with the ball in front of the goal. He had the confidence to dribble, which is great, but the success wasn’t always there.
The same could be said for Christian Pulisic, who opened up a lot of space for his team and was creative in the final third. However, he lacked the final pass or shot as he failed to square it on a couple of occasions where a pass would have likely resulted in a goal.
It’s in games like this that Milan must make the most out of the chances presented to them, because against the bigger teams, the chances won’t be as many and the efficiency will be needed to win.
5. Musah building momentum
The American international had a good game against Juventus and he helped Emerson Royal a lot defensively, as was expected. In attack, Musah wasn’t as efficient except for a few occasions, but he did help a lot to keep the clean sheet.
Against Slovan Bratislava, Musah came off the bench to replace a struggling Chukwueze and did well in the little time he had, earning himself a start against Empoli. Above all, though, it seems starting him on the right is a tactical move by Fonseca to get more balance.
Furthermore, given Chukwueze’s disappointing performances, Musah might get a lot of playing time and improve further as his work-rate is definitely of use to Fonseca.
Five things I learned:
1. Fonseca is sabotaging himself and the team. Too many formation and starting lineup changes.
2. Milan needs to play 343 with Theo and Musah playing as wingbacks. In the defensive phase Milan played 541. This gives the team more balance in defense and attack and Reinjders has more opportunities to score.
3. Fonseca claimed that Milan cannot play the same formation and tactics that he used against Real Madrid for Serie A teams. Really? If we had played this same lineup and formation Milan would have beaten Cagliari and Juventus.
4. Gabbia and Thiaw is our best center back pairing. Tomori and Pavlovic should not be starters.
5. Milan need consistency and therefore Fonseca needs to stop this madness of chopping and changing the starting lineup and formation. This nonsense about Milan cannot play the same way we play against Serie A teams has been proven wrong with our dominate win over Empoli which is a team that has one of the best defensive teams.
Perfectly summed up.
Agree with some of that although I’d go with Tomori as a proven winner over Thiaw.
Reijnders now good enough for Milan? Thiaw-Gabbia is statistically our best CB pairing, that’s what it should be until further notice.
Reijnders is certainly stepping up and is one of our bright spots.
As for stats….what we managed to keep a clean sheet against Empoli???
Tomori is one them Scudetto winners. But obviously that means he’s a gonner…..
Yeah, we won a scudetto in 1999 with the likes of Luigi Sala, Bruno N’Gotty, Guly, Federico Giunti and Domenico Morfeo. We didn’t win anything else until 2003, and then we won a bunch. Why? Because the aforementioned group of players was not good enough and better ones were brought in. Even Zaccheroni didn’t win anything again until some minor AFC trophies with Japan 15 years later. Leceister also won a PL title once…
Thiaw-Gabbia works with weaker teams in the League. Against big dogs, Tomori’s speed has proven to work well. Tomori-Thiaw (win v Madrid), Tomori-Gabbia (win v Inter).
The problem is always the games where Pavlovic starts. With Pavlovic-Thiaw in the Monza, Udines and Cagliari games were all criticized for being poor defensive games.
Tomori-Pavlovic against Slovan was also with many lapses due to Pavlovic and Tomori both bombing up.
Notice the common factor here?
See the weak link?
Tomori is better overall and when in form Milan’s best cb but he makes so many mistakes lately, I think Thiaw good form is excellent to give him some competition and let him reset his mind a little
ZzzzZzzzz same old complaining from nutcases in their mothers basement.
Musah sometimes plays like someone with a misconfigured controller. “Oh..damn.. I wanted to press the shoot button but this is the cross!!”..
Ha ha. Good one.
Yes🤣🤣🤣
“4. Leao and Pulisic not efficient enough”
It’s almost as if having a winger playing as an attacking midfielder does more harm than good for him.
I would say there is not a whole lot to learn, given the quality of the opposition but I’d say we’re making a step in the right direction (unless Fonseca decides to undo that of course).
Among Loftus-Cheek, Chukuweze and Musah it’s the later that needs to start. But instead of playing him like a RW like we did yesterday and during the Juve game, I’ll have him play as a RWB. That way Pulisic can come back to his natural RW position and we don’t have to witness the sheer horror of Musah trying to play as a forward.
Reijnders is actually becoming quite good and by the end of the season he might even have a G+A comparable to Koopmeiners with Atalanta or even Jude Bellingham last season. It’s almost as if having someone capable of defending in the midfield can free up the more creative ones. We still need a DM this winter though (Frendrup or Ricci) and we can achieve that by selling Loftus-Cheek and Bennacer.
We’re still in deep waters though and if we don’t manage to win the next 3 or 4 games in serie A, we might as well kiss the UCL spot goodbye, in which case Fonseca, Ibra and Moncada need to go.
edit: why was my first comment eaten by the website ?
Can’t play musah on rm. Then lord royal needs to get the bench and it’s no way in he’ll that will happen.
That’s why we will never see a 343 under fonseca..royal became his krunic
Good article – agree with everything, except I think Rossi might have an edit suggestion:
“Against Empoli, Reijnders continued on the path of strong performances and scored two lovely tap-ins..”
Do you actually know what tap-in means? I don’t think so. Let me enlighten you. Tap-in is when a player receives or intercept a cross or pass in the box 6 and hit it gently into the net.
Now looking at the goals scored by Reijnders; the first was a volkey in the box 18, not box 6. The second was a run and a shot from outside box 18. Now tell me, are the two goals tap-ins?
If you re-read you‘ll see I’m referring to Rossi…..the guy on here who calls Reijnders “average” and his goals “tap-ins”….
Pulisic had an assist..how was he lacking the final ball. I know there was 2 or 3 times he didn’t pass it but.. fact remains. He got an assist.
pulisic rating on other sites says he was the best player on the field statistically, other than reijnders 2 goals.
Its pretty obvious they dont want pulisic scoring goals. His teammates dont pass to him, they take balls away from him. Theo Always takes the Free kicks from CP11. win 3-0 and cp11 is the problem, ok
Thank You! CP has carried this team offensively all season. Now it’s “he missed clear passes that would have been goals.” Oh, really? Where have these wide-open players been since August?
If you guys didn’t see the two times he should have passed for better chances, you’re either blind or willingly ignorant. Not saying he couldn’t have scored himself, but there are decisions, and then there are better decisions. And he didn’t make the better decisions.
agree.
Show me a Milan player who hasn’t shot this season when a faaaar better option would have been pass the ball on a silverplate to a team mate. I’m waiting…
@bb: or rather show me a football player who never shot when better options were available. People acting like we’ve never seen a player being a bit selfish and it’s not like other options were a “certain goal” either.
Pulisic was selfish saturday, but people are blowing it out of proportion.
“Pulisic was selfish saturday, but people are blowing it out of proportion.”
Sure. I could drop another name that was said to acted selfishly in the dying minutes of the UCL match were he could have laid it on a plate for Theo but decided not to. I bet people could guess his name pretty easily. And no, it wasn’t Pulisic. 🙂
As with Inter and Madrid, it was a good result and a good performance from everyone involved. The team is capable of good performances but has trouble being consistent. I believe a lot of this has to do with the last two transfer campaigns. Of all the signings (16), only Pulisic, Reijnders, (this season), and Fofana look to have a secure future in this team. The fact that players regularly play different positions or hybrid positions (Pulisic, Reijnders, Okafor, Musah, Morata, RLC) is also evidence of poor planning when it comes to team construction.
I am happy with the result but we went from Serie A winners and Champions League semi-finalists to being non-competitive in either competition last season and now one mistake away from being non-contenders in Serie A.
Luckily, we have a kind run of fixtures after Atalanta and a win next week could turn things around. Reinforcements in January could also give us an extra push. I’m hoping for the best
Very well put
Hope for the best, plan for the worst!
It was a solid win although I am struggling a little with my lack of connection to the team.
When Gabbia was taken off (apparently Gabbia’s not capable of playing 90 minutes) we had no Italians on the pitch and one has to question what is the relationship between this team and the city that they are supposedly connected to.
What is the thing that makes this team AC Milan (as opposed to random bunch of dudes playing fairly average football as opposed to the Harlem Globetrotters (who were no longer from Harlem but are at least very talented and entertaining)).
Anyway….yeah a win.
PS Good to see the RWs coming back and doubling up not sure why it’s taken this long to figure that one out.
Gabbia had a yellow card so why risk it when the match had been already decided? It’s called “Risk management”.
Shout out to Reijnders.
He clearly has been reading my comments….
But seriously THIS is the sort of thing we’re expecting from him and now we can finally start talking about him the way the media and some fans have been talking about him for the past year…..
Maybe there’s something to these ceilings.
Despite improvement in RW, I still prefer Musah in midfield position. Better Pulisic at RW and Musah in CM in 433 formation.
And to think many on here were quick to write Thiaw off and screamed to sell him for peanuts just a short time ago…LOL. Donkeys.
4-3-3 is the formation we need to use to have any chance at a top 4 UCL finish. That is clear.
Chukuweze – now that is a player who has had chance after chance and it’s clear as day that he’s just not suited for Serie A. Now that is a player you can sell – if there are any takers. 28M down the drain. What a shame.
It’s not 28M down the drain. Some transfers work out, some don’t. His value is far from 0, even if we sell him at lower valuation, it is fine.
Otherwise I agree with you, he had many chances to convince us so far and he has half a season to turn things around. Right now he seems to be too expensive on the payroll for a sub. Probably it would be best for him if he changes the league. I still don’t understand how in modern football there are professional players whose weak-foot work equals my left-hand writing…
Bro he’s now 10-15m MAXIMUM and that’s with the buying club being drunk. If we get an offer of 20m run to the bank with it and cash that cheque. Otherwise I agree. Unless you are elite one footed player like Robben then you should really get honing in on trying to be better at your weak foot.
It is pretty much 28M down the drain. The hype was immense (I believed it) but there way too many red flags and better options available for cheaper. The man never scored more than 6 goals in la Liga. There are PIVOTS we score more than that, Reijnders is already at 4 goals in serie A. His weak foot is close to non existant, his decision making and precision are horrible.
What we should have done in 2023 is buy Riccardo Orsolini, who scored 11 goals with Bologna, is Italian so no foreigner to sell and who is way cheaper.
So to agree with IKWYDLS, take anything between 10 and 20M€ and run to the bank.
Chucky is the most one footed player I have seen.
It is cringeworthy to watch him trying to run around (get ahead of the ball) on the wing so he can pass/cross with his left. It is appalling for a professional player
Fonseca is using Tiji as how Pioli used RLC.
No one is talking about Fofana’s good passing ability.