AC Milan managed to dig themselves an even bigger hole for themselves following their visit to Bologna, losing the game, meaning Champions League football is not within reach as things stand.
After the rather disappointing performance against Torino, Milan played just as poorly, if not worse, against Bologna, creating very little in the process and scoring thanks to some individual brilliance from Rafael Leao.
A hot topic was the refereeing decisions throughout the game which, without a doubt, frustrated the Rossoneri players in the process, especially with the equaliser where a handball was pretty obvious to all except the refereeing team.
Nevertheless, the fact of the matter is that Sergio Conceicao’s side created nothing and really should’ve done more on both goals conceded, regardless of refereeing errors. Ultimately, the Diavolo were just not good enough nor up for the challenge on the night.
It’s rather surprising that after the first few games with Conceicao, where Milan showed a lot of desire and energy, we are now yet again watching a team that lacks energy, aggression and is now further away from the Champions League spots than when Paulo Fonseca was in charge. A depressing picture
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. Jimenez dreadful at the back
With Walker recovering from a minor injury, Alex Jimenez was given the nod at full-back, but the Spaniard managed to get everything wrong in the Englishman’s absence.
The defending was laughable from the youngster when it came to the winning goal. Furthering this, he lost his duel with Dominguez down the right flank, allowing Bologna to create a lot of dangerous situations that the side.
In attack, Jimenez was equally as bad, offering little and when he did manage to get himself in dangerous positions his ball control let him down, which was unfortunately the case on multiple occasions.
The former Real Madrid man hasn’t really stuck to one position since joining the senior side, so maybe he can get a pass on the occasional bad performance. However, those are piling up now, and on top of that, his attitude also doesn’t seem right as he can’t compose himself.
A lot of work to be done if he wants to be a crucial part of this team.
2. Bittersweet performance by attacking duo
Leao and Santiago Gimenez combined for the opener with the Mexican winning the header and sending it towards the Portuguese, who managed to beat the keeper and score to give Milan the lead. Unfortunately for Conceicao, that was all we saw from the duo if we’re being fair.
The striker missed a chance early on, not even hitting the target and proceeded to be sloppy following the assist, notably having trouble controlling the ball before he was eventually subbed off for Luka Jovic.
Leao also did little, excluding that goal, as he couldn’t get the better of De Silvestri down the flank. The winger did try to drop deeper and help in the build-up, but that was not efficient either and he lost the ball cheaply on a few occasions, struggling to complete a simple pass, something which he consistently does too.
But to be fair we can’t be extremely harsh towards the duo as they did give Milan the lead and were not at fault for the poor defending and refereeing that followed in the second half.
3. Felix to be dropped?
There was, without a doubt, enthusiasm for Joao Felix after he joined just last month, but the Chelsea loanee hasn’t managed to win the fans over, even though he started in fashion with a lovely chip goal against Roma.
Since then he has struggled to have any impact in the crucial games in both the Champions League and Serie A and whilst his control and technique is evident, his efficiency in the final third is not. For this reason, it is not out of the question for him to be benched since he hasn’t demonstrated enough to be irreplaceable despite some good moments here and there.
4. Crack in the wall
It was about time that Strahinja Pavlovic had a game where he didn’t outshine all of his teammates, unfortunately, that came in this delicate moment where a win was a must.
The Serbian was actually very good overall, but the feeling is that he could’ve done a lot more on Bologna’s winner – a goal that was crucial in the top 4 battle, especially since Bologna are a direct competitor for that spot so we can’t give him a pass there.
The centre back then showed great energy to go forward and try to correct his mistake, but ultimately his mistake was costly.
Realistically, he was still the best Milan defender on the pitch so not the worst night out, but more is expected as he raised the bar previously.
5. Maignan reacts, finally
Mike Maignan was pivotal for the goal as he launched the goal ball forward towards Gimenez resulting in Leao’s goal and continued to be good with his feet.
On top of that, he made a couple of good saves to keep the Diavolo in the game and ultimately, he was not at fault for either of the goals.
It’s refreshing to finally see him not make sloppy mistakes since we know the quality he has and hopefully he can regain his form until the end of the season now, so the management won’t have to worry about the goalkeeper spot in the summer.
Why is it that when Leão is irregular with good games and bad games, everybody crucifies him, but when Maignan is irregular with bad games and good games, all is fine?
Yes, I think Milan should worry about the goalkeeper position in the summer because Mike has made us drop an enormous number of points, eating howlers, making crucial mistakes, and eating a number of goals when the forwards aim at his near post.
For me, we can no longer consider Mike Maignan a world class goalkeeper. Sure, he has good games and keeps us in those games but then he cancels it all by gifting goals to the opponents in crucial matches. We would still be in Europe if not for Mike’s two crucial mistakes and we’d be in a better position to try for top 4 domestically if not for the numerous domestic goals he conceded at his near post.
If Maignan is sold, buying a good GK for ~20 mln is fairly easy.
“Why is it that when Leão is irregular with good games and bad games, everybody crucifies him, but when Maignan is irregular with bad games and good games, all is fine? ”
Salary. Leao demanded a superstar salary so he is obligated to perform as one. MM16 is in the middle-section of Milan’s salary charts. For the money he is paid he isn’t catastrophic. 😛
Rafa ain’t on no superstar salary. Vini making 20m per year gross,.he’s a real superstar. Maybe Leao is relative to Italy or the squad but far from salaries for top players elsewhere. It’s why we have him. Good enough a player on relatively cheap for the output and style of play.
Superstar salary in Serie A. Right there with the salary of the best of the best in Milan ever. And the performances? No where near those guys.
“The striker missed a chance early on, not even hitting the target and proceeded to be sloppy following the assist, notably having trouble controlling the ball’
That is why top teams took a look at him and decided not to sign him. His technical skills, apart from scoring from inside the box, are limited. He needs specific tactics to maximize his scoring abilities and hide his weaknesses.
Leao n Felix… just use them as substitute will do
We learned nothing new. Firing Maldini and Massara after their success was the big mistake. Everything else is just a domino effect. First, the Tonali sale, then the transfer strategy or lack thereof, the early Champions League exit, not being competitive in Serie A and finishing 20 points behind the champions. This season is just a compounded effect of last season. We can’t trust this management to fix the big problems they created. They have no plan:
1. They signed 15 new players and only one has been consistently good.
2. After two season, Okafor, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, and Musah don’t have a fixed position/role. We are slowly seeing it with Fofana now.
3. They renewed Jovic’s contract at the end of last season and told him he was not part of the plan at the start of this season.
4. Saelemaekers played very well as a winger in pre-season, then started the first match as a left-back (crazy), then was sent to Roma. Now, we want him back.
5. They don’t seem to know which coach or which style of football they want
Nice try to rewrite history, but look at what happened in the last season under Maldini. The same thing happened in RedBird’s first season. Your silly idea that everything was great under Maldini doesn’t hold true. M&M hit on a winning formula, but they were struggling to take the next step and turn Milan into a consistent winning machine. Maybe they would have done so in time, maybe not.
The fck is Maldini doing here in 2025 dawg? St fu silly head
What happened last season under Maldini and Massara? We reached the Champions League semis and qualified for the Champions Leage next season. This happend despite losing Kessie, having only a 50 million transfer budget, and going through an injury crisis.
These owners/management slowly destroyed our team despite spending 250 million. The change needs to happen at the top.
Rewrite history??? Why u guys use phrases that don’t even make sense?. Acting like a UCL semi and qualifying for Europe is so easy. If it’s so easy why are this bunch unable to replicate it? Just say u hate the accomplishments of M&M and save us all the time. “Remember last season with Maldini remember last season with Maldini” every page. How about remember his whole time, remember his results because so far I ain’t see no Scudetto ever since and we’re total garbage in Europe.
And PS no one is saying everything was great under Maldini. That’s something you guys have to invent to deflect from the other good works he did which on the balance was far more positive than negative. Smh 🤦♂️
1. We are heading nowhere fast with this management/ownership.
2. There is a complete lack of balance and playing style with Conceicao so far. Questionable lineups/tactics.
3. There are so many dead wood players to offload, quality players to import to improve midfield control.
4. We need a competent Sporting Director, Technical Director, Scouting Network, CEO.
5. We need to hold players accountable for poor performances.
1- I’ve learned that even in high level football, good connexions can get someone pretty far even when he doesn’t deserve it. João Félix is arguably the worst out of the “fantastic four thing” yet when we’ve heard that this concept is going to be dropped and that one of him or Leão would be benched, it was actually Pulisic, our best player who was sacrificed. A coach who won many titles like Conceição should normally pick the best players, but yet he seems to have a love affair with Félix.
2- Conceição actually achieved a miracle, which is to make Fonseca look good and both of them actually managed to make Pioli look good. That’s quite the achievement in my opinion.
3- Isn’t it fascinating that both coaches deciced that somehow Musah is a good RW, Reijnders is a DM and Pulisic is either an AM (Fonseca) or a bench player (Conceição). I guess this is the template for being a mid-table team. If I see again a coach using a 4-2-3-1 with Reijnders in the pivot, Musah on the wing and Pulisic/Félix as an AM, no need to get my expectations high.
4- Many were happy we got Giménez and to see Morata “the fraud” leaving, what do you think ? How many good chances did Giménez receive, how many opportunities did he have ? A striker need a plethora of good balls to score some but our problem is the lack of delivery. WE DON’T HAVE A FUNCTIONING MIDFIELD.
5- We spent a lot of time talking about a game in hand and how many points seperate us from 4th place. I guess it’s about time to look beneath us and how many points seperate us from the 18th place.
6- Conceição had a great career as a coach in Porto and I’ve wanted him for a while, but Porto isn’t Milan and his style is clearly not working. You could say that he didn’t have the players to make his style work, but a good coach should be able to adapt to the conditions available. And aside from his tactics, his choices of whom should start makes it clearer that he isn’t the coach suited for us.
7- We might blame both coaches (I did) and some of the players (I did) but in reality this is a poorly constructed team. For a 4-3-3 we lack a defensive midfielder (6) since Reijnders is a natural mezzala, Fofana is a box-to-box midfielder and Musah is something else completely… For a 4-2-3-1 we don’t have 2 box-to-box midfielders, Reijnders isn’t a true attacking midfielder, Félix is garbage and Pulisic is better on the wing. And for a 4-4-2 we will put a lot pressure on our wingers, one of whom doesn’t defend and on our double pivot one of whom also doesn’t defend. We rely on wingers so the 3-5-2 isn’t for us either and the 3-4-3 was tried and failed with Leão. And let’s not even talk about these players not meant for possession, for defense and lack the collective for a counter-attacking style.
8- When the rumors about João Félix came, I was among those who weren’t excited about him but even I didn’t expect him to be so bad.
9- The current management needs to leave.
10- We need a competent sporting director.
The 3rd point is the most interesting one. A total enigma.
nobdy pays attention to the scoreline is wrong?
I knew we would br struggling to clinch 2nd place since we sack Pioli but this is too much. The problem is not about sacking Pioli but finding the coach who is an upgrade to him or at least be able to gel these team together
Moncada wasting 250 millions in two and a half seasons to bring us back to banter era, while Italiano and Sartori out there doing magic, signing talents with a tenth of our budget and compete.
A disgrace of epic proportions. In the summer, bring those two and their staff in and sack these incompetent, good for nothing clowns.
Mike – mistake after mistake after mistake
Walker/Emerson – just bad
Thiaw – inconsistent and just not that good
Tomori – erratic, out of control, again just bad
Pavlo – big heart, crap player
Fofana – terrible
Bondo – relegation standard
Musah – a joke
Reijnders – only one who gets a pass
Theo – lazy, entitled, overhyped
Leao – see Theo
Felix – ????
Pulisic – injury prone, lightweight
Chuk – headless chicken, one footed
Ginenez – serie A is not eredivisie
Have I missed any of our overpaid overhyped imports ??
Loftus Cheek – WTF is this guy doing at our club ?
Bittersweet? No… Bitterbitter
Watching this Milan is like banging your head against a brick wall.
Well I’ve learnt that MyKidplayssoccer was K all along and we’ve happily ignored Maldini’s Heir 😂😂😂
All jokes aside, we did learn something this game which is that we’re super likely to be completely out of Europe. We also learnt that we’re so bad that we can’t tell if it’s the players or the coach and that it’s likely neither. And we learnt that management under Redbird never truly had a sporting plan.
MIKEmistake OUT WORST GK IN MILAN HISTORY
#maignantOUT
#LEAOout he never will be a star overrated average player overpayed diva
#theoOUT he is more worry about paint the hair and nails of pink HE IS NOT ANYMORE A FOOTBALL PLAYER he is a fashionist
chuwu , jimenez not the mexican , musah OUT TOO
TARE AND SARRI FOR BACK TO THE GLORY
“MIKEmistake OUT WORST GK IN MILAN HISTORY
#maignantOUT”
Ever heard of Disaster Dida? Apparently not. Tatarushanu? OK then, clearly not a long-time fan, are you?