A thumping of Bologna means AC Milan remain undefeated for another week, but they may also start to set their sights on a higher ending.
Before the game, there were certainly a few questions about whether Milan could continue their unbeaten run. Whilst the Rossoblu were struggling, the Rossoneri were without a number of key players, meaning it would be a pretty different starting XI.
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Nevertheless, it did not matter. Massimiliano Allegri’s selections worked, with both parts of his unconventional strike partnership getting on the scoresheet, whilst Adrien Rabiot proved his class once again, as the Diavolo won 3-0.
Here are five things we learned:
1. No Leao, no Pulisic? No problem
It’s probably fair to say that when you see a Milan lineup where Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic are on the bench, your confidence as a fan drops significantly. On top of that, Niclas Fullkrug, who has had a very positive impact since joining in January, was also on the bench.
That meant that an unlikely duo was up front, in the form of Christopher Nkunku and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Whilst the Frenchman has somewhat improved in recent weeks, the same couldn’t have been said for the Englishman, who hasn’t really found his form this season. As a result, it seemed both could leave in the mercato last month.
Nevertheless, against Bologna, the duo did their jobs well. The Englishman opened the scoring, whilst Nkunku won and then converted a penalty. It’s also worth mentioning that both were involved in the goals that pretty much sealed the deal for the Rossoneri.
On top of that, the striker looked a lot sharper, showcasing his dribbling skills, at last, and his hold-up play wasn’t half bad either. So overall, nothing negative to point at as Milan’s depth did the job tremendously this time out.
2. De Winter’s uptrend continues
What can we say about Koni De Winter? He had a disastrous game against Napoli in the Supercoppa Italiana, whilst not really getting much playing time in the first half of the season either. But then he responded on the pitch.
If the last time you watched him was against Napoli, then you’d think you were watching a completely different player.
In the last few games, the Belgian has been commanding at the back, using his physicality well, alongside showing good defensive awareness, with him seemingly in the right places all the time.
Thanks to his positioning, he blocked several crosses and was quick enough to step up on multiple occasions to intercept the ball before it went to the attacker.
He also seemed more confident on the ball going forward, and there’s not much more you can ask for from a defender, especially one who still has plenty of room to grow.
3. Midfield duo run the show
How many times have we made this point? The answer is not enough, apparently, since Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot keep impressing us.
The Croatian sat deeper and dictated the game well, and with Milan trying to build out from the back, it also resulted in Modric being in some tricky situations and tight spaces. However, his technique, and more importantly, his composure, allowed him to get out of trouble, helping his team beat the press.
A masterclass of a performance.
Then we have Rabiot, who just keeps on impressing as well. The Frenchman got the assist for the opener after a composed pass to Loftus-Cheek. Then, early in the second half, he was aware enough to make the most out of Bologna’s mistake and get his goal after a tidy finish.
His fourth goal of the season, in addition to five assists in just 16 games. How’s that for a midfielder, eh?
Aside from the goals, Rabiot was a calm presence in the middle and helped his team keep the ball and get the clean sheet, and you can’t really ask for more.
4. Jashari’s moment might be around the corner
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Ardon Jashari since he joined Milan last summer, as he got injured after the Cremonese game and then was out for about three months before slowly starting to get up to speed.
From what we saw against Bologna, he might be at full speed pretty soon.
Jashari looked really sharp off the bench in both phases of the game. He used his body well in defence, getting the ball back on a few occasions. Additionally, he was pretty good on the ball, although he wasn’t required to do anything extreme, given the Rossoneri were trying to preserve their energy and keep the clean sheet.
There were a couple of nice moments where his talent was clear as day, one of which was a perfect long through ball for Fullkrug, which should’ve resulted in an assist, but the German wasted the opportunity.
All in all, it’s fair to say that we’ll be seeing more and more from Jashari as he keeps getting better with each game.
5. Masterclass by Allegri
To say that Allegri has had to deal with difficulties might be an understatement.
The coach hasn’t been able to rely on Pulisic and Leao at the same time since the start of the season, and when both were indeed available, they weren’t really fully fit, or fully recovered for that matter.
Against Bologna, the attacking duo was rested so that they can hopefully fully recover and be crucial in the final third of the season.
However, that raised some eyebrows because with Fullkrug also on the bench, it seemed like there was nobody on the pitch to score the goals. Not to mention, Alexis Saelemaekers was also out of action.
But contrary to all the doubts, the Rossoneri dominated the game from start to finish, scoring three goals in the process, and really, they could’ve scored some more. This is all while keeping a clean sheet and allowing no big chances to their opponents.
A pure masterclass by Allegri, who again managed to surprise everybody as his team continues to be unbeaten and, more importantly, continues to be deadly in these big games against sides in the top 10.
The Rossoneri now have 10 days to prepare before their next game, and the Italian will be hoping to have more firepower in the games to come. If Bologna was anything to go by, then we’re in for a treat in the Scudetto race despite Max himself refusing to state that as a goal.
1. Let’s see how Allegri wants to set up next season if we resign Leão and Pulisic or if we go for Kean or Dusan.
2. De Winter is a good CB perhaps not as the central in a back three. It is nice to have him there so we can bring on Tomori and change to a back 4 and still be strong.
3. Our midfield is our strongest department and capable of many formations and play styles.
4. Jashari was the player I was most excited to watch develop. His passing range is class and his defensive positioning and ball winning is good. I think these two attributes is why he is Modrić’s understudy and not Ricci.
5. I did like how Allegri pressed and didn’t sit back as much and one thing I noticed that hasn’t been discussed is how when we regained position in our half Pavlovic would set up giving Gabbia passing options and freed Modrić from double teams and allowed us to move through the midfield easier and not rely totally on route 1 football.
Next season?
We’re only half way through this season.
Ever tried living in the moment?
15 games remain out of 38.
So we’re at 61% of the season.
So more than half way through actually.
Fascinating.
Don’t explode his brain with math. If Maldini’s Heir was in charge we would be 15th place fighting with Fiorentina.
The quality will never reach the level of your imagination but keep chasing rainbows.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s rich because you live in the past. In MH world we keep all the same players and let the bottom fall out. It’s legitimate to question how we are going to play moving forward given our two best attackers are not suited for the style of play our DT is using. Sometimes you look for things to be mad about.
No very much in the present.
I’m the one the defending the CURRENT players from people’s constant insults and calls for transfers.
Stop worrying so much. Milan are 2nd and Allegri actually gets paid to deal with these questions.
3:0.
Enjoy the moment.
You don’t understand that certain players don’t meet qualitative standards and you are stuck in some sort of nostalgic past. You’d be fine with someone like De Sciglio playing for this team even though he’s a total wash up.
I don’t know if there’s a lot to learn for this game.
We’ve played a flawless game, but Bologna was also dreadful so it might skew our perceptions a little bit.
Nkunku, Loftus-Cheek, Athekame and even Estupiñán who all to this point either did have average or subpar performances all did well yesterday which is weird. In fact I don’t think any of our players played poorly.
So is this game a good indication of what will follow, or simply an outlier, an exception to the rule and we shouldn’t expect many good performances from the players above ?
Remember last season against Real Madrid, even Royal and Musah looked great, and we all know what happened afterwards. I’m not saying this is necessarly the same case here, but just to give too much weight to a single game.
Now with that in mind, I wouldn’t mind giving Leão, Saelemakers and Pulišić additional rest against Pisa and start with either a Nkunku-Loftus or a Nkunku-Füllkrug and maybe even start with Jashari and rest Modrić a bit. But let’s not go too crazy.
Bologna was extremely bad. You can continue discussing the players and their performances after the Como match. That will show their actual level. This match was like a playing against a Serie C club. The home side were absolutely horrible.
Yup, dumb down the opposition to take away from the match winners, because you hate them. for whatever reason, it’s certainly nothing to do with their performance. Classic hate brigade.
“Yup, dumb down the opposition to take away from the match winners, because you hate them”
LOL. Your stupidity has no limits.
All this talk about Leao/Pulisic, don’t look now but when RLC starts up front Milan is actually balling and winning those games.
Lecce- Milan 0:2 Gimenez/RLC front line.
Milan Bologna 1:0 Gimenez/RLC
Cagliari: Milan 0:1 Leao/RLC
Bologna Milan 0:3 Nkunku/RLC
The only game Milan lost/didn’t win with RLC playing as a forward was the Copa Italia vs Lazio where Milan was the better team but lost from a set piece which was the only chance Lazio had.
Who needs Mateta, Vlahovic etc when we already got RLC.
Not so loud Z, a lot of posters in this forum don’t like facts.
Yes RLC is amazing lol….
And right on cue…
Your welcome. You do have to admit though, he’s not very good.
Interesting stats.
There’s a reason Allegri uses RLC.
But what a 6 x Scudetto winning coach know!
(By the same token you’ll no doubt support his decision to play Leao and Pulisic when they return)
RLC was actually recalled to the England team based off earlier performances…not this one. He’s played better and the England coach noticed.
…oh and just a reminder, he isn’t even a striker, which makes his performances more notable in my opinion.
Yea yea yea ..Heard that so many times before. Let’s wait until RLC undoubtedly gets another injury before the season is over and then it’s back to square one all over again with him. And you guys can run back into the holes you came from. What in this guy’s career makes you think he’s this extraordinary talent,?? heck forget that… What makes you think he’s an ordinary talent?? His goals and assist avg career-wise is 2.3 and 1.9 respectively. Woof impressive, somebody stop that guy /s…
Right, because lord knows RLC is the only one with injury problems on this team, right?
The ultimate RLC hater is back. Anytime RLC gets some praise he loses his mind.
He’s played for 2 of the biggest clubs in the world, he got called up to the England squad which is one of the top in the world. I think that requires some talent. He scored 10 goals for us in his first season and has played well this season, well enough to get called up to the national team. But what does Tuchel know? Or Allegri who seems to think he’s a valuable player?
Surely not as much you…
I don’t hate the guy at all but he just generally doesn’t do much. Plus he falls down all the time. For a dude his size he should be able to bully some people…
Facts. But some people still treat him as he was the reincarnation of Marco van Basten.
Literally no one ever has treated him like that or ever made that comparison, but people that don’t have a deranged , irrational hatred for him can say he had a good game when he has a good game. If that sets you off, it says more about you than it does about him or anyone else.
Noone is comparing him to MVB or any other player….he scored a goal and is playing well. Simple end of story. People are giving him credit for that. And your and a few others’ irrational and unhinged hatred for him won’t let you accept that has Allegris trust.
You hate him enough where you refuse to believe why Allegri continues to trust him. And he delivered with a goal and an assist. And that isn’t enough for you? Well it’s enough for Allegri.
He generally doesn’t do much? Tell that to Allegri and England manager then, because they think differently…and wow you must really hate Ricci then?
Away against a strong side – there’s only going to be one winner…,
But to be a winner in a relaxed manner.
Extremely harsh rating on Fofana in the post-match ratings. He was excellent. He really is a key midfielder.
Jashari also did really well when he came on. Loved his pass to Füllkrug. Füllkrug did well but should’ve probably scored at least twice.
Glad they didn’t add anyone else in the transfer window. This is the squad that got them here, and this is the squad that should see out the season.
They’re a few missed 1 v 1s off Inter, and hopefully someone will beat the filthy scum soon.
I might get some heat for this but in my opinion we played this good because Leao was on the bench. He is a solid player i’ll give him that, but he is suffocating this team with his lazy attitude and unnecessary dribbles. He can only play on the left, which is very limited. I simply don’t see a place for him in current tactics.
No heat Martin…your opinion is valid. Hard to argue when the team played so well without him. Leao is a good player, but we have other players that can get the job done. Tactically he has to change his position to fit into Allegri’s line-up. And 9 is not where we will see the best of him. Milan will sell someone this summer…and I’m thinking they may finally cash in on Leao. Maybe.
My thoughts exactly. He is now 26 year old and is on the same level as in Scudetto season, he did not upgrade his game one bit, maybe even downgraded. We need a compact team, and not some instagram starlet that expects the team is tailored by his abilities. Modric came and he is so humble, he is 40 and is running and fighting as if he is 20. Every time i see Leao losing ball then spreading his arms and talking something instead of fighting for the ball and running back, i get a gray hair.
I hear you. Leao at his best is a devastating match winner. I consider him to be WC, but he also comes with the things you mention. And under Allegri, he won’t be deployed where he can do the most damage. He is probably Milan’s most valuable player and like Tonali and Reijnders, I think he may be the next sacrificial lamb to fund the summer market. I’d be happy if he stays, though.
“Suffocating this team”, “lazy attitude”…. Do you talk about your mother like that?
Leao’s biggest issue this season is his lack of dribbles NOT his unnecessary ones.
But he’s carrying an injury.
And at this rate I fear for the summer. You’ll have your way. One of Milan’s longest serving players will be moved on and you’ll get someone new to insult.
Leao’s biggest problem is this formation. He’s at his best when he can be outside and use his speed. If he can’t kick the ball past the defender and run around him he’s not much use. And he can’t do that playing centrally.
He’s been carrying an injury so it’s hard to know.
People make too much out of formations.
It’s not the formation it’s the combination of players together.
Theo and Leao were an amazing combination. The club decided to end the combination, and in doing so also damaged Leao.
The question is whether Leao can build a combination with someone else.
He’s basically surrounded by a new team on that side of the pitch – new LWB (in Bartesaghi), new midfield (Rabiot and Modric) and a new striker (even with Pulisic they haven’t played that close together).
And with the injury he and the rest haven’t got into a flow.
These things take time.
But Allegri knows far more than people on here.
It’s different to even last season when neither manager was good enough. Allegri is a proven winner. He knows what he’s doing.
You’ll get heat because your opinion isn’t valid. Lazy isn’t lazy, he’s injured and he can play on the left and as a striker.
What kind of injury Leao has that bothers him for 7 years, because that’s how long he has been lazy?
😂😂😂😂😂
Again? You write this after every game. It is obvious you hate Leao. I love club fans that hate players of their own club.
I don’t hate Leao, and i don’t write such things after every game, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I can’t stand Fofana and RLC and that is it, regarding Leao i just think he is lazy and is more focused on his rapping career than improving and evolving as a football player.
The unwritten forum rule says if you criticize Leao one bit, you’re a Leao-hater. That is the way.
And I think Savio is pushing for adding “you’re a Milan-hater if you criticize more than one player” to the rulebook. According to him I’m a Milan-hater because I’m not satisfied how RLC & Nkunku play week after week.
Sure, RLC scored a goal and assisted one in last match but that doesn’t erase all the 15 absolutely nightmarish performances from other matches by him.
Find where anyone said he is an extraordinary talent! your post is full of what ifs and other nonsense. RLC had a good game last night. One goal and one assist. Period! Your irrational hate for RLC has you posting nonsense.
@Ryan how cowardly of you to post and run…tells me all I need to know about you. You clearly don’t like match winning goal scorers. You fit perfectly well in the twilight zone.
Post and run? Where did I run to?
The Twighlight Zone? Your job at the Circus? I don’t know. but you ran somewhere.
Ill be honest your take on RLC is valid, imo he works better as a striker than a midfielder which is crazy to think tbh. Maybe we can start relying on him but as for Allegri he cant just bench Leao as he was meant to be the main man of the team since the beginning and will continue to be… Leao, he is jus not excelling as he is forced to play as a striker which 100% does not suit him. But even then he stilll has good G+A which we cant deny, however when watching him he does seem to not dribble as much which i dont blame him for, but then again pulisic seems to thrive and create good chnaces by himself even, so why cant he? As for Athekame he was the biggest shock for me,very good back up for Saelemaekers.
Ruben Loftus Cheek