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.
There’s no point giving up on players now.
Chuk has never had had a run of games for Milan so we have no idea what his levels are for Milan.
We could’ve saved another 20m and not signed two RWs at the same time when we already had Scudetto winning Saelemaekers but that is in the past.
Chuk is a current player and needs to be supported, and hopefully given the chance to prove himself. You can’t judge won from a cameo after the game is won.
Saelemakers-Chukwueze can be swapped next summer, but depends on the Roma deal. even though they are dry deals, they might have just postponed it due to final minute deal and finish the talks next summer…
I would get rid of 2, Florenzi (terminate, come up with better deal for us…) and RLC. of course this list also includes Origi and Ballo-Toure
If we can sign Ricci and J.David in the winter, we should be fine… then have to wait and decide Bennacer, Terracianno and Calabria futures in 2025 summer
but the truth is Chuku can work with a fake 10. how can you have rlc at CAM and Chuku on the right and you want him to perform. rlc lack what is called a set up pass and a finishing pass. yet you want a player like chuku to perform. bukayo saka will flop with rlc at Cam.
you want to see chuku at his best play a creative 10 along side him. he still suffers from that in his national team. Nigeria don’t have a creative 10
I don’t know what they do in training everyday, but the fact that Leo can’t shoot after many years at milanello speaks volume about our coaches and trainers. Emerson was supposed to be an upgrade on calabria, but he can’t even cross 😡
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.
Zirkzee has so far proved to be a total dud, a chump, for ManUre, scoring only a single goal (against Fulham) and NO assists across all competitions. His stats are far worse than both Morata and Leao.
He would have been a terrible signing for way too much money.
So management was right to not agree to his agent’s outrageous demands
Morata is exactly the sort of player we should by signing – proven winners.
You can see the impact they have in raising the levels of the whole team. The same we had with Ibra and Giroud.
Unfortunately far too many of our signings have come from mid-table teams in other leagues with the promise of ‘ceilings’.
Meanwhile our own youth players aren’t given the same benefit of doubt.
I estimate we’ve wasted over 100m on random signings in the last two summers (think Chuk, Pavlovic, Musah, Emerson, and the other fillers Terraciano, Pellegrino and the Reality TV Star as our third choice RW).
I remember some of Morata’s detractors commented that he is not a good striker for a team that relies on strikers for buildup and that we lost a great opportunity to get a creative striker like Zirkzee.
Well right now, Morata is in a sense our best attacking midfielder (even though he technically is not).
He was a plan B but I’m glad we went for him instead of Joshua.
It really doesn’t matter what position he plays or the tactics it’s that winning X factor that is so important.
The only evidence that a person is a winner is that they were once winners and that also goes for our Scudetto winners.
With everyone else it’s pure guesswork as to whether they can bring that extra to get us over the line or to raise the levels.
6s,’8s or whatever doesn’t matter, it’s about the right personality.
Morata makes things happens, takes games by the scruff of their neck, and drives forward raising the games of those around him.
It’s priceless.
6. Gabbia is an undisputable player at the back.
I’d like to see Gabbia & Pavlovic as a starting combination soon.
Tomori is being over worked.
Perhaps the next serie a fixture.
You can’t overwork CBs!
Tomori and Gabbia need another 100 games together to become a world beating CB pairing so should be given as many games as possible and hopefully they can avoid injuries.
And then you do get inevitable injuries to one or both and there is a massive drop off.
It’s poor squad management to be totally reliant on the same two CBs all the time.
I am aware of your ideas that squads are too big and all players can play 2 games a week never need resting.
Pique, Ramos, Chiellini, Bonucci, Pepe played 40+ games per season without injuries.
It’s interesting how Milan have suffered so many injured since we had massive squads and excessive rotation (about the last 10 years).
Tomori in a world beating CB pairing. O jesus you crack me up…
No Gabbia and Tomori after 100 games together. Or we could keep chopping and changing. It’s worked so well for 20 years.
Jesus.. 100 games is basically 2 seasons.
I can’t even with this dude…
Tomori will never be in a world class lvl. he can play 100 games with maldini and still won’t be it
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 .
Does anyone know if Barthaseghi’s red card suspension would also apply for Serie C?
My guess is that they are separate competitions and it won’t.
It should be appealed and the referee suspended.
I agree but they seldom over turn cards.
So I’d be astonished if he’s not got at least a 1 game suspension.
In fairness I place more blame on the VAR not intervening that the Referee making a judgement call on his one look at it.
It did look bad from some angles.
The second half basically doesn’t count.
Milan secured the points early and then were able to rotate.
Actually that’s a big improvement on Pioli!
Do you remember his mad rotations!
I had been assuming Leverkusen would be almost impossible to beat, based on what I saw from them last season; I hadn’t noticed that this season they’ve already lost at home 2-3 to Leipzig and have conceded 10 goals in 5 Bundesliga games. So, not as tough as last season! There is hope. Forza Milan!
No sh!t on the Morata being very important. He does a ton of work and he effectively plays as an extra midfielder. He’s absolutely critical for this particular setup to work. Let’s hope he doesn’t get inured. The problem I have with the setup is there’s a massive gap in the middle of the midfield during our effective 424. Granted we have 2 mids back but we haven’t played a narrow team yet, just expansive ones so when that time comes it’ll expose our weakness.
I actually think this summer transfers are farrrrrr better than last year’s just from a numbers game and usefulness bar Emerson. Wasn’t sold on Tammy only from the perspective of we already had a good bench… One of the best last year and they scored so we really didn’t need to change. But he’s being played as starter (by chance really) so he’s being used differently and he has that fight in him that is really endearing.
The other thing is we aren’t playing what we saw in preseason, not even close. But so far the sitchup has worked. But I’m not convinced just yet. The derby was a one off game, we really can’t be using that as our formal setup as once again we didn’t really build the team for the 442/424.
I do like how Fofana plays. First time in a very long time a midfielder knows where to position himself and when especially on the defensive end. Not a true DM but he’ll make do in the meantime. I like that he occupies space with intelligence and not running towards ppl willy nilly (looking at you Deers, Musah and lofty). I wish we’d gotten him earlier in the window though.
Good win. Great also to play a weak team after the Derby to boost that confidence even further. This league race seem to be more spicy this year. It’s gonna be tough.
On to Bayer who I think we can beat!
Agree with most of that but still not sure about Fofana.
He seems to be ok in defending counters but he doesn’t get close enough to the defence when opponents are building attacks, and there’s been a few incidents where the CBs are left exposed particularly with shots from the edge of the box where the CBs should be able push the attacker into the path of the DM e.g. the Inter goal.
Meanwhile on the flanks the FBs continue to be exposed to overlaps and it’s not clear who is supposed to be providing the double up.
Fofana also has a tendency to run forward with the ball and get tackled (like against Inter when he tried to take on a few players) and his passing accuracy doesn’t seem to be great (don’t do stats).
He’s of course not helped by everyone’s favourite Dutchman, but Morata seems to have really given the midfield a new lease of life.
Maybe our two CMs will settle down. They’ve only begun the partnership after another midfield reset!
That’s why I complained a bit during the summer that Fofana wasn’t the defensive midfielder we were looking for. He was mostly used as a ball carrier in Monaco and had someone to cover up for him. He was always good defensively, but when you see someone being paired with Tchouaméni or Kanté or playing in front of Kanté, it should be a bit clear who is the one mostly tasked with helping the defense.
I do think Fofana understood what is asked from him, but it’s gonna take a while before he can morph himself into a better defensive midfielder.
I didn’t check his passing stats, but he did seem a bit hesitant to where he should pass, only to give the ball back to the defense.
Hopefully he will improve soon, because we don’t seem to have anyone else for that role (after spending close to 100M€ on midfielders during 2 summers mind you).
Agreed totally. He’s not a true DM but he’s the best available right now for the role. Like i said he has the skillset to be one. Btw his passing rate is 89% which is very good for a player in his role.
“we don’t seem to have anyone else for that role (after spending close to 100M€ on midfielders during 2 summers mind you” … incredible ain’t it?!
I hear you on the distance between defence and mid still needs to be narrowed. As I said he’s not a proper DM so we’ll have to make do but he has the skill set and physique to become one. To me it’s still way better than “everyone’s fav Dutchman” 😂😂😂 (agree with that notion too) and Musah last year. That was atrocious. Right now we’re just at the cusp of conceding few enough for a title contender (44). But still work needs to be done.
Oh btw the Inter goal was totally Emerson’s fault and way less Fofana fault. Not sure how ppl here argued that to not be the case. It’s basic defending 101. If someone is playing a 1-2 off of you, you needs to run diagonally and backwards to cover both the pass and the run..Emerson ran towards the passer who was already covered by two people smh 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️. Insane!! I don’t know who teaches players how to defend these days
I don’t know what they do in training everyday, but the fact that Leo can’t shoot after many years at milanello speaks volume about our coaches and trainers. Emerson was supposed to be an upgrade on calabria, but he can’t even cross 😡
joshua didnt even have a great season for bologna and has been terrible for man u except that lucky goal against fulham he hasnt done much and getting 12 goals and 7 assist in 39 games isnt really any grat season so much happier to get morata