AC Milan clinched their third consecutive win in the league as Lecce conceded three times at San Siro on Friday evening. There were several positives to take from the game for the Rossoneri, but some things also need to be monitored carefully.
Paulo Fonseca’s men opened the scoring at the end of the first half and shortly after, they not just doubled but tripled their lead. In just five minutes, the game was decided and Milan were then able to see out the result.
Below are five things we learned about the game, from the return of ‘Theao’ to the defensive struggles that must be monitored.
Theoa is back?
At the start of the season, fans were crying out for Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao to raise the level and it appears this has now materialised. The derby was positive for the Frenchman, less so for the Portuguese winger, but yesterday they were both in very good form.
Leao won the free-kick that led to the first goal and then picked out Hernandez with a fantastic pass for the second goal. The two continued to combine and created many issues for Lecce throughout the game, getting close to more goals.
Hernandez admitted after the game that the two have raised the level and now work extremely hard for the manager. “Yes, it’s finally back,” he stated when asked if ‘Theao’ is back and hopefully they can continue on this path next week.
Still some defensive aspects to sort
While the Rossoneri ended up winning quite comfortably in the end, despite the late red card, there were some doubts regarding the defence as Lecce had a couple of chances. They managed seven shots on target, more than Milan, and hit the post in the second half.
None of Lecce’s chances were regarded as ‘big chances’ by the stats companies and the XG was quite low too, but there are still some things that Fonseca must figure out. The feeling is that the flanks are still a bit too exposed, which is of course a result of the compactness.
Against a side like Bayer Leverkusen, who are up next, Milan will have to do much better defensively and replicate what we saw in the derby. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to even clinch a point come Tuesday evening.
Morata is very important
Morata’s importance has been highlighted before and we will do so again. Shaving his head to show support for children who suffer from cancer, the striker entered the pitch with great motivation and broke the deadlock with a fantastic header.
It was during a period of the game that Milan struggled to take control, with Lecce playing quite well, and the goal from the Spaniard changed everything. He then continued to work incredibly hard for the team until he was subbed off in the 55th minute.
Fortunately, the latter was just a precaution and he will be back for the game against Leverkusen next week. Given just how important he has been in the last few games, he will surely play from the first minute.
Attack on fire
Fonseca has certainly been able to get the attack going as Milan have scored 14 goals this season, more than any other Serie A team. It could have been more than three goals last night and the fact that all goals arrived within five minutes showed just how lethal the Rossoneri can be.
Leao is still looking for his goal, but yesterday he was important in other phases of the game and still made a difference for the team. Tammy Abraham also missed two good chances, showing that he certainly must improve his finishing, but he too was helpful in especially the pressing.
In short, the attack is operating how Fonseca wants it to and the main focus will be to get the defence up to par as well. Of course, as we saw in the derby, this involves making sure that the attackers are committed in the first phase.
Confidence restored
All things considered, confidence has certainly been restored in the Milan squad and they will need to make the most of this next week. It’s a bit crazy that Fonseca was on the verge of getting sacked a week ago, with confidence at an all-time low, and then everything changed.
We must reiterate, however, that positive performances will be needed in the upcoming games as well to continue this trend. The players have shown that they are capable of achieving great results and hopefully the appeal of beating Leverkusen on their home turf will help as well.
“Leao is still looking for his goal”
No, Leão has already scored 1 goal in Serie A this season, plus three assists.
It was an all-round good performance from the team, first of all the club has to appeal Barthaseghi’s red card, he does not deserve to be suspended, secondly , it was mentioned that Hernandez is back, yes he is, but still most of the deficiencies plaguing him are still there, firstly he should understand the team comes first, he needs to understand that sometimes passing the ball to another well placed player in the 18 box is better than shooting aimlessly, yesterday it happened twice , another team mate was well placed in front of goal, yet Hernandez in true fashion decided to shoot instead of passing to him, it won’t be funny if in certain matches we desperately need to score and he does something like that, then another thing he still does is hold the ball for far too long, when he can easily pass, and the ball is returned to him.
Then another thing we desperately need is another right sided winger, honestly Chukweze is not the best option,you can easily see our playing levels plunge down immediately he replaces Pulisic, thankfully we have Okafor and Chaka Taore who the Coach needs to begin to involve seriously in thefirst team, I watched the Futuro match and he was very ok.
This team is beginning to show promise, as it is our attack is now very ok, the midfield is good, the coach should integrate Zeroli and Vos fully into the dynamics of the team,Musa has immense talent, we could try and bring a Italian in midfield.
The defence two reinforcements for Florenzi and Calabria,Barthseghi should be Hernandez’s back up, then we could fish in the Futuro side for another defender.
All in all Fonseca has begun to look good, by next year his project will begin to bear fruit.
Alvaro Morata wasn’t the first choice target for the striker position but he was a great plan B. He brings so much experience, leadership, energy, maturity, never die attitude and a winning mentality that this team desperately needed. Morata and Tammy energy rubs off on the rest of the team. For the 1st time we even saw Leao run and sacrifice. The 3rd goal happened because of Leao and Morata press.
Milan 1st choice target Zirkzee would have brought skill, creativity and technical ability that Morata maybe lacks but I don’t know if at age 23 he has those intangibles that Morata brings.
Speaking of Zirkzee, looking at Milan’s current setup, with 2 strikers, Zirkzee would have fit great in that 2nd striker/10 role. Tailor made for him.
Oh, well. At the same time, if they signed Zirkzee, most likely neither Tammy nor Morata are signed.
I expect Milan forwards to exploit Bayer Leverkusen poor defense on Tuesday. Bayer looked really bad vs Bayern, and so far have given up 10 goals in 5 games.
It will be a high scoring game on Tuesday.
Your comments on Morata are spot on. He’s what we needed more than Zirkzee or Sesko. Someone to replace Giroud/Zlatan. Experience and production plus leadership qualities. We have plenty of young, talented forwards. It’s the so called ‘X’ factor he bring that is really exciting. I expect us to fight for the Scudetto and more.
Agreed on Morata v Zirkzee. And also, had we paid 15M to Zirkzee’s agent, this would damage all future renewals and signings. I am happier with having Morata than with having Zirkzee in these circumstances.
Not to forget, Morata shaved his head to support children with cancer. He is a truly nice guy. This is in the tradition of Giroud, also a fine human being and someone who always bled rossonero. I think we as a fan base will end up loving Morata as much as we all loved Giroud.
Oh, I didn’t know Leverkusen were struggling. I was fully expecting a loss on Tuesday, based on what I saw from Leverkusen last season. OK, so, then, let’s hope!
Still, if we lose or draw with Leverkusen away, it’s no shame and shouldn’t interrupt the good feelings we have collected from three straight Serie A victories.
6. Gabbia is an undisputable player at the back.
The main thing I took from the match is everyone looked happy playing together.
“Fonseca was on the verge of getting sacked “That was clearly your opinion. Journalist always wanting attention. If management had sacked the coach then the failure would be them not Fonseca. Allow this coach to work in peace .