Coming off an impressive comeback win in the Champions League against Newcastle, AC Milan had to put their focus on Serie A where things had not been rosy.
The game couldn’t have started better with Tijjani Reijnders scoring a wonderful solo goal in the third minute to give Milan the lead after dribbling past several Monza players through the middle, and then Jan-Carlo Simic – who came on for the injured Tommaso Pobega – got his first ever goal for the club.
The second half was more of the same really, and in the 76th minute Noah Okafor scored off the bench to make it 3-0 to Pioli’s side, who also managed to hang onto a clean sheet. Here are five things we observed…
1. Finding his rhythm
Reijnders was awarded the Man of the Match against Newcastle in the crucial Champions League win and he continued the trend against Monza where he also got the highest rating in our post-game reviews.
It was deservedly so too, given that the Dutchman opened the scoring just three minutes into the game with a confident solo run followed by a very good game overall both defensively and in an attacking sense.
There has been an upturn in his performances after a couple of shaky months, and the Dutchman seems to be growing more and more confident. He has played every game this season, starting all of them bar one, so his importance to Pioli is obvious.
2. Frame the moment
Jan-Carlo Simic was subbed on early in the game replacing Pobega, who picked up an injury and couldn’t continue. The 18-year-old showed some positives during the summer friendlies, but Pioli hasn’t used him up until now which was strange considering the defensive crisis.
Simic, however, got his chance against Monza and did not disappoint. Moreover, he impressed in both phases of the game, scoring his first goal for Milan to help his team double the lead, followed by a solid performance at the back to help Maignan preserve the clean sheet.
It was a very bright and encouraging display by the young centre-back who will be most likely getting more and more minutes in the months to come.
Jan-Carlo Simic scored at the age of 18 years and 229 days. In the three-points-per-win era only Alberto Paloschi and Alexandre Pato have found the net at a younger age for #ACMilan.
[via @OptaPaolo] pic.twitter.com/z7NxaRb68F
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) December 17, 2023
3. Questionable choice
Oliver Giroud found himself in the starting XI yet again despite Luka Jovic impressing in the last few games, which could be regarded as a weird choice by Pioli.
Whilst Giroud has been scoring some critical goals, he certainly doesn’t need to be playing every game from the start especially when Jovic has finally found his rhythm and is contributing to goals.
The Frenchman did pick up an assist but other than that he did very little on the pitch as the coach will eventually have to trust the Serbian a bit more, otherwise he might lose the momentum he worked hard to build.
4. Bittersweet symphony
Noah Okafor had a positive display against Newcastle and managed to build on that against Monza, scoring a goal shortly after coming onto the pitch with a lovely sweeping shot into the bottom corner.
Unfortunately for him, the celebration was cut short as he picked up an injury, which hopefully won’t be a serious one but is still enough to potentially ruin the continuity that the Swiss international was finding.
Hopefully it’s nothing serious as the player himself said after the game, and the former RB Salzburg man can continue his upward trend as he has helped his team the last couple of games.
Reijnders again with his incredible Vision,Giroud on the Turn with a first touch pass to Okafor.pic.twitter.com/vY9EWkLhhd
— ꜱᴄᴏᴜᴛ7ᴄᴀʟᴄɪᴏ (@Scout7Calcio) December 17, 2023
5. Looking sharper
Ismael Bennacer started on the bench but after coming helped in the setup to the third goal and he did what we know he can do well: hold the ball, soak up the pressure and provide the front line with some good passes.
Obviously, he still isn’t fit enough to play a full 90 minutes let alone be at peak form, but the does look better with every game he participates in.
Pioli will be hoping for a fully fit Bennacer in the new year which will be a massive boost for Milan midfield that has struggled quite a bit this season.
Giroud had a great game at least until min 80 don’t see why people keep criticizing him. Secondly this team really lacks creativity or maybe the coach lacks ideas since the beginning of the season not once has this team managed one proper attack from the middle not once has this team managed 5 passes in a row. I know we won this game but this Milan is really playing boring football and it can’t be that a team like Milan plays like this each and every single game.
What’s wrong with your TV? You watched a different game.
What are you watching? The first 2 goals? Individuals making great moves rather a team play. That’s the Problem with Milan our game is always based on individuals. Pioli did a good job neutralizing monza attack but when Milan is attacking I don’t see any great plays made by the team as a whole. If this game ended 0-0 then everyone would have been complaining about the tacticts. I’m happy for the win but if we keep playing like this no way we will beat inter.
Giroud was the worst player on the pitch today. He was tired and his shots were poor and eeak
Worst player was Ruben. Giroud did a lot of work and was kinda unlucky he didnt bag one
I don’t know if he lacks idea because his decision to play 343 against Monza definitely paid off. It could have been an easy 5-0 if we had a bit more luck with some chances and their gk also dropped a masterclass performance.
Ofc we could have scored more but I don’t think it’s what he meant, we lack creativity in game construction, and it’s a bit obvious tbh
They played well against a team that wanted to play open. They tend to struggle against closed down counter attacking teams.
Reijnders is our only creative spark (apart from Bennacer but he just got back) and for him to play his natural attacking game and create, they need a proper holding midfielder that will cover behind. Krunic is probably also leaving so another will be needed.
Kjaer is back and Simić showing great prospect and mature posture, maybe Gabbia returning would be enough and they can save money.
Okafor injury (IF) is not good cause now they’ll again focus their attention and money and search for another attacker.
What I want to say and as I was saying whole summer – invest in a proper holding midfielder! That’s where we lose games.
The biggest challenge would be Sassuolo, they play really well against top teams.
You know what, I agree with your last statement. Our problem in the midfield area has been evident whenever we play opposition with high pace in their attack. A good holding midfielder would really help to prevent this, rather than investing in a CB. Simic has been very good in the preseason and also today’s game. Coubis might return soon (Seriously, where is he?).
Ricci, Koopmeiners and Matt Weiffer could be some good options. Or maybe Amrabat if United decides not to sign him permanently.
In regard of Andrei Coubiș it doesn’t seem like he has played this year so either he must be injured but I can’t find anything about that but he did turn 20 in September so he maybe he isn’t eligble to play for the primavera any longer du to his age. If that is the case it would be pretty bad planning though as the club at least could have loaned him out then but maybe someone knows for a fact why he seems to be nowhere currently.
Would be nice if they bring Dedic from RB Salzburg for RB position , the guy is unbelievable and their captain already at just 21 years old. He is like ferrari compared to Calabria.
Where’s the joy?
Great win. No questionable choices, just great win.
Stop with the narrative of undermining Pioli and the squad just so you can create more content speculating about new managers and new transfers.
Happy content sells too. There’s enough awfulness in the world.
Simic has confirmed we shouldn’t be signing any CBs in January. We need an experienced midfielder who has won everything to replace Krunic, a Scudetto winner himself.
Joy for beating Monza? The same Monza who was in serie b 2 season ago. Its Monza. A win is expected
Well since monza was promoted they have pretty much caused troupble for all the top teams except us so wining 3-0 isnt too shabby either and we should definitely take joy in that.
as far as i see most teams higer than monza beat them. but sure i always joy when Milan wins. for the moment anyway
Since they was promoted and from what i can recollect from the top of my head they have beaten or drawn against juve, inter and napoli and also gotten good results against other teams from the upper echelons of the league.
This season they have also given some of those teams problems but ended up losing in extra time or close towards the end of the matches.
Its not really an as easy team to play that we made them look today and last season they were also fairly close to qualifying for europe as well.
Joy is joy.
And given Milan’s record (and the record of the other top teams) against bottom teams, these are often big games in title runs as boring as that sounds…
Is this your first time you watch serie a or you have problems with your memories that you forgot last season Monza beat Juventus 2-0?
This season Monza have ups and down. They beat Sassuolo 1-0, draw 1-1 with Lazio, and Juve barely beat them 2-1. Monza under Palladino is still a team that can’t be underestimate and you will be the one who’s crying like a bi*ch if we can’t beat them.
So STFU and appreciate the team works.
no u
Yes, please stop berating Pioli. Really, be careful what you wish for!
And Antonio Conte wouldn’t know what on earth to do with this squad !
So, I’d just be happy with Pioli for this season, and take the pressure off of him! It will be better for Milan!
Monza aren’t a bad side at all….10th in the table. So this was a good win.
The only real problem I see currently, is the big space between back line and front line. And I see the player Loftus Cheek as the weakest link in that middle line, absolutely. When Bennacer comes on…you can immediately see more defense in the middle of the pitch, and Cheeks is the most error prone one there. He will never be a very good player until his attitude changes. He should have always been a #6 in his mind, but he wants to attack and get that recognition. He drives OK with the ball, but not great enough to overcome his deficiency.
If Tonali was traded out for Loftus, with Bennacer and Reinjders alongside from the beginning of the losing streak, we’d be top of table right now.
Honestly, Cheeks and Chukweze have been the weakest of the new buys, and haven’t really improved the consistency of the squad.
Leao and Theo still wasteful on these attacks. That has to change. They have to be more precise and just slightly less risky, make the early pass to Giroud or Pulisic or whomever is getting out fast, and stop waiting, or on Leao’s case, wait a second more and don’t put through an early bad ball that probably won’t connect.
If Leao, Chuk, and Loftus would stop being wasteful in these middle 1/3 attack passing, then we would be scoring more goals, a lot more. Theo is somewhat wasteful, but less than Loftus, Chuk, and Leao is either brilliant or wasteful, with little in between those extremes.
Some of these things can’t be hung on Pioli, either. He has to allow some creative freedom to players like this. The only thing he can do better is to instruct them to always go for the “correct” play, the right first pass, the open player!
If they “fix” the final 1/3 consistency, and shore up the defense in midfield, then Milan can still challenge for the title, and for Europa Cup.
But we cannot beat Liverpool wasting these chances, and also being open in the middle 1/3. They or someone like them, can beat us if Milan doesn’t fix that midfield. Reinjders is improving. Bennacer is a 1st selection.
It’s Loftus that is currently not adding anything significant to either defense or attack. Bennacer is easily adding to defense. Reinjders to attack.
Pioli likes Cheeks, but I would prefer Musah or possibly a January buy player if a great one could be had.
Another option is to play with a 3-5-2 essentially, because today we were a back 3 vs. Monza and it worked well. That way, you have Reinjders and Bennacer as the middle duo, can run Musah wide right and Theo wide left, IF Cimic turns out to be a great center back? If Cimic is great, it would mean less support in the right wingback role, and could plug Musah in there or maybe even Loftus at times, as he does carry well in a straight line and can defend headers in the box.
This 3-5-2 would also suit all of Giroud, or both of Pulisic and the other Croatian striker when Giroud cannot play and Okafor looks like an injury season throughout.
Forza Milan. Forza Pioli.
Not sure about your criticism of Loftus Cheeks.
He was one of the few signings I agreed with this summer as a natural replacement for Kessie.
Agree that midfield is our weakness though (hilarious after 3 signings and now (with Krunic) 3 exits (Tonali and Vranckx – the latter was a waste of everyone’s time).
I think we need leadership in there more than worrying about positions. If Kjaer doesn’t play the team lacks leadership generally (Giroud does too many flicks to be a leader).
A new signing in January should focus on a leader. We need someone who has won everything and is looking for a change.
Someone like…. N’Golo Kanté or Kroos…
RLC has been inconsistent. PSG performance was BOSS mode. Since then he’s been showing flashes, but nothing consistent.
Leadership is supposed to come from Ibra now, which is why they are bringing him in would be my best guess.
It’s still early days for RLC as it is for all our signings.
The key with RLC are his characteristics a his strength, movement, and technique.
We need a leader on the pitch especially after losing Tonali and Ibra (the player).
Any new signings need to be next level. Otherwise we’re just crowding existing players out and creating confusion.
It’s still early days for RLC as it is for all our signings.
The key with him are his characteristics a his strength, movement, and technique.
We need a leader on the pitch especially after losing Tonali and Ibra (the player).
Any new signings need to be next level. Otherwise we’re just crowding existing players out and creating confusion.
His strength and movement when carrying vertically can be impressive and hard to stop.
His technique means nothing to me though because technique always means nothing when you’re turning over the possession when you don’t have to, or are making bad passing decisions.
Loftus is slowing the play to a crawl at times and wasting a lot of good build ups in my opinion.
And having watched him at Milan, the most disappointing aspect of his game isn’t even that part, no. It’s that he doesn’t work hard or run hard in defense of the space behind him. He jogs when our goal is under attack even when close enough to impact the play.
That’s what really bothers me with him. Leao does this too, but Leao also makes goals and assists. Loftus isn’t better to my eyes than others in this regard, and compared to Tonali of season’s past….well, there is no comparison. Tonali is the superior player in every way.
Now, we cannot blame Loftus for not being Tonali, but that is the job. Reinjders is starting to gain some progress in the attacking aspect of midfield, but he needs help in attack. Bennacer is clearly the most defensive player of the midfield in the main. Loftus has to do both aspects of the game equally well to make up for the loss of Tonali.
Importantly, this is not too much to ask of the third midfielder if starting with Bennacer and Reinjders!
So really, I don’t see his technique as having any real value, if it’s not resulting in him dominating his opposite player in the midfield and helping the team play better when he’s on the pitch.
Pobega has great technique in many areas. That doesn’t make him a top top player or a starter for Azzuri.
to me i believe we are playing cheek wrongly.he cant play so close to the forwards cos he loves to run with the ball and his vision is limited.adli or tij is more suited for that role.cheeks is very strong and can hold d ball well,we need to develop his marking and make him one of the anchors in a 4231 or he is better as a box to box.totally not suited for attacking midfielder role.holds the ball way too long and once he is in the final third,he seems lost.next things he does is make wrong pass or shoot
i know it’s was just one game but against PSG the midfield of reinders musah and loftus (together the all team) was just perfect. dominating.
watching that game i thought that is it…
Well it shows the potential and that is the key.
It doesn’t matter who we sign if players aren’t playing at their potential.
The team that gets its players playing closest to their potential usually wins.
See Napoli last season and this. Almost the exact same squad playing at completely different levels.
It’s why arbitrarily rating players is mostly pointless. It’s also why the transfer market rarely solves problems.
“See Napoli last season and this. Almost the exact same squad playing at completely different levels.”
Thanks for making the argument for a coaching change. Napoli: same players > different coach > lesser performance = coach at fault. Milan: different players > same coach > same inconsistent performance = coach at fault. Q.E.D.
At a certain point in this game, I became so incensed about RLC that I had to stop watching him. He was so stiff and slow to react. On defense, he was always behind the play, and so many times on offense, he could not get open to provide the outlet that the back five needed. This just made way more work for Pulisic, Reijneers and Florenzi on defense when they already had so much to do. I’m glad someone else noticed this. it was like he was pretending to play instead of playing. I believe Pioli saw the same thing, making him the first sub. I would not be surprised if he is starting to prefer Musah. That performance was depressing.
You know the trophy cabinet says conte is a much much better coach than our Lord pioli. Those are just facts
Yes but fundamental being random it seems that Conte (and Mourinho) have lost their mojos as evidenced by the fact that Pioli has beaten both of them in recent seasons…
And before you accuse me of ignoring FACTS, the facts I tend to rely on are from last season NOT 4-5 seasons ago!
THAT’S living in the past.
Niet. 2 games pioli had against him mean shît. If we wanna go by facts, again here we see, very clearly pioli lost his mojo as evident Milan finishing FIFTH last season and that dreadful, super dreadful run we had after the new years. Smd before to be honest.
But sure, lets focus on how jose and conte are losing games towards Milan now and then.. master class pioli ftw!! Best manager ever.
You know Roma is a loser club, they were strong once, like 20+ years ago but other than that they’ve done basically nothing in their whole history. And spurs are even worse. That’s a loser club if there ever was one.
Now to contradict myself, didn’t Jose win something with roma not that long ago? 3rd rate eu cup but still a cup
Pioli has a Scudetto in the time these two have won nothing.
Sure Pioli may well has lost his mojo but, and this is really important for people to understand, HE’S OUR MANAGER SO GETS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT ESPECIALLY AFTER A WIN. A HAPPY, JOYFUL (CAN WE STOP MOANING FOR TWO SECONDS AND SHOW SOME LOYALTY FOR TWO SECONDS WITHOUT CONSTANTLY HAVING OUR HEADS TURNED AT SOME OTHER TALENT, LOYALTY!) OR ELSE WHAT’S THE POINT?
Fûck pioli and fúck idiots who support him.
You are saying f the manager of my football team.
No fan should accept that.
Go and support a different team. Choose whichever manager you like. There are no strings attached but if you are going support a team you support the team.
Yes the club. I support the club not pioli. I said last season no more excuses for him. I wanted, really wanted for him to have a great season, like we did on the scudeto one. But he failed. It’s dec we are out of CL, we are out of the 20star race and that is after spending 100M on reinforcements. Fûck pioli, fire the baldy, the sooner the better. And if you have a problem with that, fúck you 2. Hope you get fired as wll. You’ve already shown time and time again you’re pretty clueless about football. You’re one of the people crying the most on here buddy. Check yourself
Maybe, but I don’t want a coach whose average tenure is 1.5 seasons and who plays 3-5-2. I don’t understand how people don’t understand that brining in Conte would mean blowing up this squad. Are we really going to turn over half the squad so thay Conte can abandon them in 1.5 seasons so that we have to fix the squad for a THIRD time for the manager coming after? This is a football club, not a variety show.
You’re problem is you assume he’d ruin and destroy everything. Idk where you got that idea but ok. I’m assuming he’d shape up the sqaud and instill some discipline and much needed winning mentality.
But until it happens nobody can say for sure which of us is correct.
Antonio has (famously) only his way!
It’s his way only, or no way for each player.
In my opinion, he is vastly over reliant on wide runners who run all day and playing from a counterattacking position. This is what he has done in his successful runs where his clubs won things.
THIS MILAN, is not that!
It is not that, and cannot be that, with the players we have!
It does not suit their strengths in any way! Hiring Conte would mean a long squad overhaul with 3 years for him to choose players who can play his way.
Is that what you think we need?
Pioli……..
Pioli, to the vast misunderstanding of many people, has from the start of season, with a few exceptions, had the team creating good build up play from the middle 1/3 of the pitch, and we would have had a lot more goals if not for bad final 1/3 play, and playaers like Loftus and Chuckweze fumbling around with the ball in the final critical moments, at the end of the pitch.
Pioli has a much more attacking philosophy than Conte, or do you disagree with that also?
They are polar opposites.
1. This is what is expected from Reijnders on a consistent basis. I’ve been very critical of the midfielders and for me, he’s jsut been the best of a bad bunch. Man of the match against Newcastle is one of the biggest jokes of the season. However, I was very impressed by him against Monza and hope he can build on it.
2. Good to see Simic and Bartesaghi doing well. Kjaer looked great, glad to have him back. Depending on how the next few games go, we may only need one defensive reinforcement in January, or maybe none.
3. Against Atalanta and now Monza, Bennacer is slowly showing that he is a level above the others. Our play is more controlled and balanced with him and it will only get better with time.
4. Pioli is showing that he is a solid coach. Three seasons of success is not a fluke. Yes, he’s made a lot of mistakes this season, but we’re still doing well enough considering the summer chaos and the injuries.
Why do we need any defensive reinforcements in January?
By my count, with Simic, we now have 7 CBs (excluding Pobega):
1. Kjaer
2. Tomori
3. Thiaw;
4. Kalulu
5. Pellegrino
6. Caldara (remember him?)
7 Simic
and 6 full backs:
1. Calabria
2. Florenzi
3. Kalulu
4. Theo
5. Pellegrino
6. Bartesaghi.
I know I keep comparing football to real life but could you imagine your sales manager coming to you and saying that they need another 10 sales people when they already have they already have 20 sales people?
At what point do you tell the sales manager to make do with what they have?
We can’t just keep adding more and more players to a squad that’s already by my count (to squad’s a mess so impossible to work out) we have 32 players in our first team squad.
Man City have a squad of 26 and Real Madrid have squad of 24 (which I can immediately tell because the squad is numbered 1-25 excluding 16).
And we can’t just keep signing players because of injuries.
We have to stop at some stage and say THIS is our team. Now let’s get the most out of them, no excuses.
Probably because Kalulu will not be playing this season? Perhaps even Pellegrino. And yes Caldara, the mystical player whose name remains in the squad but never the person. With all respect to Kjaer, he cannot play every 3 days. So that left us with Tomori and Thiaw (hopefully he returns by February next year). Another injury or suspension and we will be scrambling for CB again. And no, we only have 4 FBs. 3.5 maybe cos Pioli never considers Bartesaghi much. Simic played only becos our pseudo-CB, Pobega, is injured during the match. Otherwise, we probably will never see Simic playing. And yes, dun ask why Bartesaghi, Simic, Romero and Pellegrino (when still healthy) are seldom considered in kind by our Mister tho they are available. In fact, our Mister is the one asking for defensive reinforcement in this January. So at least half our question (why we need so many players) should be directed at our Mister. What is his strategy in managing his available squad to play 3 competitions for the rest of the season? Does he or does he not consider our Primavera players as an option?
Btw, I looked at our official website and we only have 28 players in the first team, including Chaka Traore.
Our Mister first wanted 433, and so we got him 3 mezzalas in Reijnders, Musah and RLC (where RLC claims it is his favourite formation and that may explain why he is having subpar performance now in 4231 or 343). Recently it is back to 4231, 343 in the last match and who knows what it will be in the next match. Since we are back to 4231, are we now having a surplus of midfielders? Not to say we also have inverted fullbacks, CM playing as AM, LB or CM playing as CB, etc. Playing every 3-4 days already requires a lot of physical strength (and it is not helping when the same player keeps playing until he is injured or suspended in order to take a rest) and mental strength. And NOW, a clarity of thought is also required in this case when playing for our Mister. Cos our Mister changes things around every game and players really need to be highly intelligent to correctly interpret his instructions (Pobega is a degree holder and so the smartest to interpret an unnatural CB role in a new 343 formation and not Simic! Haha! Just joking!). Perhaps this is why he does not trust our Primavera players. Or any players who are technically sound, but not ‘intelligent’ enough. Play it simple. Sometimes that’s all it needs to win the game.
Let’s call it for what it is, Pioli outsmarted Palladino and by a huge margin too. He didn’t see it coming. The same guy many were murmuring to replace Pioli. This has to be a victory he enjoyed even more than usual.