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AC Milan 4-1 Torino: Five things we learned – ex-Chelsea trio steal the show

By Ivan Stoev -

Following a 2-0 win against Bologna on the road, AC Milan hosted Torino in the second game of their 2023-24 season and the first at the San Siro.

It is a fixture has been favourable for the Rossoneri in recent years, especially at home, and it was no different this time out. In the 33rd minute, Pulisic continued his hot form as he combined with former Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek to make it 1-0.

Torino did manage to equalise after just 3 minutes, but that didn’t last long as ten minutes later Milan were awarded a penalty that was converted by Olivier Giroud to double the score, followed by a lovely Theo Hernandez goal to make it 3-1 going into half-time.

In the second half, Milan were awarded another penalty in the 65th minute and Giroud got his brace to round off the scoring. Here are five things we learned from the game…

1. That’s more like it

After a rather underwhelming start to the season against Bologna, Rafael Leao picked up the pace against Torino and played a much better game earning himself the Man of the Match award in our post-game ratings.

The Portuguese winger was much better on the ball and involved himself in a lot of the attacks as well as managing to get an assist on Theo Hernandez’s goal.

It still, however, feels like the winger isn’t at full fitness and his end product wasn’t the greatest but it was much better than against Bologna, and with him sharper and Pulisic on the right Torino were powerless to stop Milan’s attack.

2. Made in Chelsea

Pulisic continued his hot form as he racked up another goal after combining with Loftus-Cheek, who also played a solid game showing off his physicality and ability on the ball as he made a lovely play for the assist.

The duo impressed with their movement on and off the ball and they seemed integrated well within the team as the chemistry looked to be there, especially the Pulisic-Giroud link which didn’t produce a goal on the night but looked dangerous.

Loftus-Cheek is seemingly picking up the pace and it will be exciting to see him in a few weeks time when he has gained a bit more understanding and fitness. The talent is there and Pioli will have to get the best out of the Englishman.

3. Positive inversion

Theo Hernandez played a very good game and managed to get his first goal of the season after a lovely combination with Leao. We saw the trend of inverted full-backs continue, something we analysed recently.

The Frenchman did stay wide a lot of the time trying to exploit his pace, but there were moments where he went inside and that looked dangerous as he combined with Giroud or Reijnders through the middle bringing a lot of sharpness to the attack.

On the right-hand side, Calabria tended to go inside more as he isn’t known for his pace and isn’t as efficient down the flank.  Through the middle, however, he combined well with his team-mates and was an extra body to ‘bait Torino up the pitch’, as Pioli said.

The Italian is also still building up the chemistry with Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic, but it’s obvious that being an inverted full-back suits him as he is not afraid to play with the ball and doesn’t have to rely on his pace in that position.

4. Like fine wine

Olivier Giroud got a brace and whilst both goals came from the penalty spot the Frenchman was composed enough to convert them and played a tidy game overall, playing with his back against the goal a lot.

Giroud is turning 37 in a month, but he’s off to a great start with three goals and an assist after just two games. Pioli will be hoping that the Frenchman can be as prolific going forward.

The coach has the depth to allow the striker to rest so hopefully fatigue will not be an issue, and another striker signing could further increase the chance to rotate.

5. Finally competitive

Whilst Milan did manage to win the Scudetto two seasons ago and did fairly well in the Champions League last season, the team were never really that competitive in terms of depth.

A couple of injuries or a suspension was enough to destabilise the team, not to mention there were holes in the starting XI to begin with.

However, this has been addressed during the transfer window after the arrival of multiple key players such as Chukwueze, Okafor, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Reijnders to name a few.

Despite the departure of Tonali, the Rossoneri possess a depth they haven’t had in probably a decade or so. It will be up to Pioli to bring everybody up to fitness, but now the Italian has the tools to be competitive on more than one stage.

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Tags AC Milan Milan Torino

23 Comments

  2. So far our start is pretty exciting, no doubt. Yesterday’s game was a good display of controlling the rhythm, good passing, pressing high, and playing offensive and fluid football.
    There are still lots of gaps and flaws, but hopefully balance/ chemistry will come on time too and then we could well be a team to enjoy watching and be afraid of.
    (Reijnders is such a joy to watch, dare to say possibly our best signing of the season)

    1. Can you lot just step off the hype train and wait til season ends? We all want that second star on the shirt but jeeez it’s been only two games and you’re making salto mortale already like we won the Scudetto. Feet on the ground please.

      2. “wait til season ends” and “Feet on the ground please.”

        Yeah. Like the #weareafeederclub!!!, #redbirdout and #wearedoooooomed!!! -people did after Maldini & Tonali leaving? LOL

      3. Yes of course because the doom and gloom team didn’t even wait until the season started

        Once maldini and tonali gone you guys have been a crybaby for weeks.

        What a bunch of hypocrites

      4. Lol, @Ted, season is long. Ive seen many seasons start well only to end up with nothing…and some of those were with waaay better players. Sharing a concern that we have too many players is legit as it takes time to gel. Some players have integrated but not all of them. Chuk, Musah, Okafor are still behind. Let’s give it time. In about 5-8 games we’ll see exactly where we’re at

    2. One of many reasons I raised concerns (as I’ve been doing about the transfer market for about 15 years) is because I don’t want people like you turning on the new signings or the other Milan players if they struggle.

      For 15 years I’ve been against most of our signings and then have found myself defending those players later against the same people who were so excited about them.

      I don’t want to hear a negative thing from you people about the players you wanted signed, or demands to overhaul the team again. If things don’t work it this season it’s because of the huge turnover. The solution is to stop with the constant turnover.

      1. And I don’t want people like you to talk crap over and over again about too many signings.
        Why don’t you talk to the one who wrote the article as well?
        He clearly said milan now have depth, like all the sane fans have also said.

        And who’s to say we can’t and we won’t criticize players if they play bad?
        Doesn’t matter if he’s an old guard or new player.
        If he’s good, he’s good.
        If he’s bad, he’s bad.

        At least I’m not a hypocrite who criticize the management for the last 2 months and suddenly praise the team when they start to win in a convincing way, even though according to you, we have lost CORES of the team.

        Yeah right.

  4. Hope to see Leao playing more with the team, rather than trying to do his own thing. We could have gotten more goals against Torino. I also hope to see Reijnders go forward more, and with more accuracy on goal, when the chances come. We will need that as the season progresses. Good game. Kudos to the team.

  5. Did the writer really forget Tomori is ex Chelsea as well? That would be a quartet… but hey it’s just your job, that’s all.

    1. It’s trio because Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic and Giroud did well. Tomori didn’t do badly, but he didn’t impress as they did. Hence trio not quartet. But hey, it helps to read, that’s all.

  6. Still can’t send a ball from a corner kick.. idk what is piolis obsession with sending the ball to first post but it clearly isn’t working. At all

  7. My concern thus far would be getting caught out in transition against better teams. Roma and more importantly Inter, with a better midfield, will be a huge challenge for us. Curious if this inversion of FB’s holds up… Inter is fast on counters.

  8. Don’t keep worrying some of you fans ..
    I Told you Olivier Giroud would score goals this season .
    I told you that Bologna would be no pushover,yes they drew with juventus .
    I don’t know why you are so worried about inter ,we have a better team .
    I told told you the team we have now will score loads of goals
    I told you that we can win the scuddeto..
    I told you with have a great manager in pioli
    I told you both Loftus cheek and pulisic will do well
    I told You to start believing and stop complaining.
    We are AC Milan .
    We are top of the leauge pulisic 2 goals Olivier Giroud 3 .
    I told you that I expect that man Olivier Giroud will score around 20 goals ( in all competitions) this season.Do you not believe that ?
    Yes it’s early season but we will get better ,just wait when rafeol leao starts banging the goals in .
    What a team we have ,now what a squad we have .
    We can now rotate players when needed .

  9. Offensively, the team is better and deeper than last season. The derby will give us a better idea where we are at but still too early to make definitive judgments. For me, the signs have been positive. I just feel the midfield is not deep enough with Bennacer out. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and until he returns.

  10. I think we have become a complete squad. we are more like 4123 than a 433. This 4123 consist of suitable players in each position.
    Gk the best
    CB = 1 tall, 1 speed
    FB = 1 defensive (Kalulu), 1 offensive
    DM = positioning, tackling, intercept, aerial ability, and neat passing.
    CM Box to Box = 1 intelligent, 1 physical
    Wing = both offensive who don’t really need to defend since the CM can carry ball forward. They are more like FR/L
    CF is a clinical finisher who doesn’t really need to defend and focus on scoring.

    1. So we need a back up for Krunic as DM who has similar characteristic. I don’t think Bennacer similar to Krunic in term of aerial ability. Bennacer is similar to Reijnder.

  11. Wonderful analysis Ivan, I’ve had the exact same thoughts for a few days now. Calabria transfer value as an inverted fullback just doubled!!! loving the role that Giroud is playing, he’s getting the support around him (and pace) and the attack is looking fluent and dangerous. Loftus Cheek looks the type of profile who if he is fit and getting game time will be a colossus. Lets hope they all stay fit and that Pioli continues to use his bench even when they are chasing the game!

  12. I’m not buying the “depth” storyline. We have new players and a new formation to boot. If we’re playing the old formation we wouldn’t have depth with the current crop of players because that formation calls for different types of players. But let’s assume the 433 (really 4123) moving forward, in this sense we have more players for those roles. We have a +1 for Giroud in Okafor, -1 Ibra left, if Colombo stays only then is a +1. Leao still has a +0 because Puli is a starter (not to say he doesn’t have a sub just doing counts at this point), we’ve replaced the RW with Saele frozen out so +0 there, we have one DM so -1 until Benny comes back there unless Musah plays there but so far has been used as a mezzala, we have RLC and Tijji as the mezzalas, with Musah as +1, afterwards we get into the Pobegas and Adli’s like last year. Defence is the same but if Kalulu goes we have a -1, all the rest were replaced at face. GK is -2 but I won’t count that.
    I’d say the advantage this year is that our players can fill more roles in the formation/tactics we’re playing this year so the depth is due to tactics not purchases. But man for man it’s about the same.

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