Following a massive win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, AC Milan were expected to keep up their momentum in the league against a struggling Cagliari.
Francesco Camarda got his first start after Morata picked up an injury in training following the Real Madrid game, whilst Tammy Abraham was still not fully fit and Luka Jovic missed out with a back injury.
The game started terribly as Cagliari took the lead less than two minutes in through Zortea, but Rafael Leao equalised after a lovely through ball by Tijjani Reijnders and then got his brace from another delightful assist, this time from Youssouf Fofana.
Cagliari had a couple of disallowed goals so the warning signs were still there, then Zappa equalised from a cross. Abraham came off the bench to put Milan 3-2 up, but they couldn’t hang on as Zappa scored again in the 89th minute to make it 3-3. Here are five things we learned from the game.
1. Swiss cheese defence
The Rossoneri managed to somewhat limit Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday at the Bernabeu but failed to do so against a struggling Cagliari side, conceding three somewhat similar goals while another two were ruled out.
We can’t really put the blame on a single player this time either. Emerson Royal failed to stop the supply from Cagliari’s left side, Fofana’s woeful pass assisted Zappa on the second goal and Theo struggled with the crosses that came in too.
Noah Okafor was seen jogging back on the third goal instead of showing some urgency and energy to track back and help the team. There was another change to the centre-back pairing too, with question marks about benching Fikayo Tomori following an impressive game against Real Madrid.
Fonseca keeps rotating the backline and continues to struggle to iron out the details even though he seemingly acknowledges the issue when asked in press conferences. Cagliari had scored nine goals in 11 league games before last night, which tells its own story.
2. Mike not enough
Despite all of the above issues, Mike Maignan was close to delivering another miracle after so many saves to keep Milan’s chances of a win alive.
The Frenchman was brilliant at the Bernabeu and continued the red-hot form against Cagliari as well, but his teammates let him down this around allowing the opposition too much free space.
It’s worrying that with three goals conceded we need to highlight how important the goalkeeper was because he prevented at least three more in his net.
The former Lille man must be frustrated at the lack of help that he is getting in front of him. Perhaps he can have some input in how the defence should be organised, given he sees the action unfolding in front of him.
3. The maestro shines again
Tijjani Reijnders has now managed a goal or assist in his last five games for Milan. On top of that his elegance in the midfield has allowed his team to move the ball quicker and transition to attack faster thanks to his dribbling and passing abilities.
The assist with the outside of the boot for Leao was lovely to watch and he then continued to play really well throughout the game, being at the heart of creativity.
Unfortunately, his positive performance was cancelled out by his partner in the middle Fofana and the poor display at the back. The obvious takeaway from what we’ve seen from the Dutchman thus far is that the management need to extend his contract as soon as possible.
What might worry Fonseca is the level of reliance on Reijnders, especially given that he is about to jet off and presumably play two more games for the Netherlands. Barring his suspension, he isn’t getting much of a break.
4. Back on his board
Rafael Leao had a well-documented rough patch this season but seems hungrier than ever now. Following an outstanding performance at the Bernabeu he was determined to continue leading the way for his side.
Whilst against Madrid he failed to get on the scoresheet, he managed to do it twice this time around with a lovely first goal and an even better second one where he showed impressive speed, dribbling and composure.
The winger was a constant threat going forward, but also tracked back a lot and made himself more available. It was close to a complete performance, and we know that these are the levels that he can reach, with consistency the key now.
Unfortunately for him, the result finished 3-3, but if Fonseca manages to fix the defensive issues and Leao continues this trend then Milan will be a very dangerous opponent to face.
5. Supporting cast have a day off
While Leao was doing everything he could to win the game, his team-mates in attack struggled to really get much going.
Chukwueze was virtually non-existent on the right-flank providing nothing going forward and also not doing enough defensively to prevent to help Emerson Royal with the constant crosses that caused so much trouble for Milan.
Christian Pulisic gets a pass at best as he had a hand in the third goal, but was very predictable and didn’t bring enough energy to the pitch throughout the game, not to mention he was sloppy at times giving the ball away cheaply.
Finally, Okafor was hardly impactful off bench as he brought no energy to the pitch, while he also didn’t track back to help his side preserve the lead too. After being shown faith during Leao’s quieter spell, the Swiss is now struggling to showcase his qualities.
As for Camarda, it feels harsh to pass any meaningful comment given that he was thrust into a start at 16 years of age. If anything, the minutes were a useful bit of experience even if he didn’t impact the game much.
AC Milan should release Calabria, Florenzi, Bennacer, and Terraciano, then bring in two full-backs and two defensive midfielders. The team is dealing with fatigue from the busy Champions League and Nations League schedules.
Unless its just a bad phrasing of yours then you do realize that releasing players mean that clubs will have to pay the remaining contracts to said players and not to mention that we at least could also earn some cash by selling them right ?
Probably 20-25 mil out of the window + salary which probably would amass to 30 mil on top of it.
In regard of sales personally I would like to keep Calabria, Florenzi wont have a market as he is injured until late April and his contract expires July 1rst. I would sell Bennacer though as he is one of our highest paid players and is injured half the time and isn’t as good as previously either, In regard of Terraciano I’ll give him the remainder of the season and potentially loan him out next season so he can get consistent minutes as he is young and on low wages and wont fetch us much in the case we actually sold him.
I would buy us an upgrade to Royal though and a left back backup to Theo.
I meant selling, not releasing—my bad! Selling players would allow the club to bring in some cash from transfers, which makes way more sense financially than just letting them go and covering contract payouts. Thanks for catching that!
No problem, yeah it does but I doubt that there is much market for anyone of them currently. Calabria might fetch a few millions but the real potential is Bennacer but I think he will first be back in mid to late January so not really sure we will be able to sell him before the summer but time will tell.
Not a video game though. It’s real life and real consequences. Real money too. “Release the player”. Yeah, that’s free, right? NOPE.
Not many things we didn’t already know, but I have some observations and interrogations.
1. Fonseca seems unable to sets us for anything rather being underdogs (and even that isn’t always succesfull as shown against Liverpool and Leverkusen). He was able to set a defensive shape and a deep block against teams that were considered huge threats but he seems to abhor that style of play and prefers a higher line and a more possession based game which needless to say, hasn’t been working for us. He seems very unable to take advantage of teams that ARE inferior to us and to setup a system where we can attack at ease while not worrying so much about the defense. Aside from really poor teams like Venezia and Lecce, EVERY team we played against troubled us in some way or another.
2. To obtain stability in results, one should strive for continuity. You don’t see coaches changing team shapes day in day out if they don’t have a good reason to do so (absences or other). Inter has been playing with a 3-5-2 since the plague, and Fonseca seems to be going from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 then again 4-2-3-1, then we had this 4-3-3/3-4-3 hybrid then again 4-2-3-1 with also constant changing in the CB pairing. That is not how you win consecutive games.
3. I saw this in another article but I think I can mention it here. This is mostly (possibly unfounded) theory, but Theo seems to be sabotaging himself. When we saw that he played as a CB last season or when we look at his performance during the Euro 2024, it’s clear that the man knows how to defend, so him being so poor currently is mostly a choice. It’s not like when we say that Leao should work on finishing, passing, defending,… Theo isn’t bad at something from a particular skill point of view, but he chooses to be mediocre. Is it a sign of frustration ? Or is it him trying to force an exist (some players did that) ? I’ll leave it to interpretation.
4. One of the few positive things from last game, although I don’t know if it will carry over to next games, but Leao seemed more confortable being the highest man during the defensive phase and waiting for won balls to reach him. I thought it allowed him to have more goal-scoring chances and operate higher on the pitch, but I don’t know how that will look like against other opponent.
5. Does it always have to be 5 things ?
Fonseca is also sabotaging himself.. the pivot is always the same, right? And they’re kinda gelling.
But the cbs and wingers, he keeps switching those up. I’m all for rotation when needed but the way we’re going we won’t build continuity.
Man you’ve basically been saying me alot of time writing these days. Agreed on all fronts.
I do like the why it has to be 5 especially because it seems like it’s a struggle to get it 5 sometimes, kinda like our season. To be honest what I learnt was more a confirmation that were an incredibly inconsistent team. That maybe Leao as Support Striker who goes wide from time to time seems like a really, really good idea. Theo may be disillusioned by what’s happening at the club. That’s basically it. I don’t think there’s much else we truly learnt
Again with this “five things we learn”…
First of all…this bunch of clowns never learn anything. After a big win they fall in the same self admiration and approach next match with superficiality. Same story every single time, never learn anything , never change this pathetic attitude, low ambition, self-sufficient superficial team. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS treat with superficiality and superiority the next match which is strangely considered easy by our big “stars”…
You cannot win anything if you approach with superficial mentality ordinary matches of the championship and you live and breathe just for the few big matches… Small , temporary short term satisfaction and that’s it. Mentality of a small team, happy they win an important game and this is all that matters…
“First of all…this bunch of clowns never learn anything. After a big win they fall in the same self admiration and approach next match with superficiality. ”
That’s why it’s called “5 things WE learned”. It’s not “5 things Milan learned” or “5 things Milan management learned”. It’s us. Us – the readers. The fans. Stop being such a dramaqueen.
We should learn something or the team ? What is the purpose if we learn anything ? Team will play better ? Whay do you say is so stupid.
LOL. Ask the author to explain it to you. I’m done dealing with 1d1ots. 😀 😀 😀
He is not completely wrong. What’s the point of us the reader learning, when some saw the games, or it’s the same story all over again.
At this point it should be five things Milan learn, or five things management learn. Because it makes no concrete sense for us the readers. It’s not like we learning would actually improve the squad automatically or it would send a telepathic message to Fonsi and the boys and the management on. How to do their jobs better.
I can understand his tirade. It stems from a place of frustration at Milan’s current quagmire. You should leave people to vent. Life is tough and where one should get a little joy from, that outlet also dissapoint it does bring everything tipping over.
Hey stupid…”we” refers to all of us , Milan “univers”… management, coach, players and us , supporters. If someone must learn something in the first place is the coach and players you dumb idiot…jeezzz. you took word “we” in strictly sense… 😆😆
Leao morata Pulisic
Theo reijnders fofana musah
Pavlovic Thiaw Tomori
In a 334-Attack /343/433 hybrid;
1. Theo can team-up with Leao to stretch opposition.
2. Musah can support fofana and reijnders in midfield (build-up/ recoveries) and defend the space outside the right sided CB.
3. An extra CB might help beacuse the 2 CBs don’t seem very comfortable on the ball and ‘mistakes’ could be less costly; Pavlovic and tomori can be more aggressive in back 3.
1. Blinders are off on Theo. He chooses to be great. Just not often enough.
2. Pulisic is not a 10. We take a top RW and turn them into a mediocre AM in order to play 4231. Not sure why
3. Fofana is tired. Glad he isn’t playing for France this window.
4. Gabbia is pretty important to us.
5. Bennecer is pretty much a forgotten soul at this point. But we need some depth in midfield.
You get that being great often is kind of contradictory in terms?
If someone is great often then that’s not really great because great needs to be exceptional.
I know you’re a cyclists. I am not, but I imagine finding consistency in cycling is easier particularly as you haven’t got 21 other variables around you that directly impact your performance.
Sure your opponents in cycling impact you, but not in the same chain-reaction-way that it impacts footballers.
Theo’s performance does depend in a large part on his teammates and his opponents, and how he and the team are set up tactically.
And the same applies to all other 10 variables who start for Milan.
And those 11 variables are not being set up in a particularly coherent or supportive way.
FBs are always going to face an overload on their side which is why either the CB, the mid or the winger needs to provide cover or double up, but that simply doesn’t happen under Fonseca.
He leaves all of our FBs exposed, which is why all of them have struggled.
It’s pointless focusing on individuals when the entire structure is wrong.
We can agree to disagree about Theo.
If you are curious, there are generally 100+ in a cycling peleton. Each is a variable. You work about 30% less hard that the person in front of you due to wind. If there is a cross wind it gets more interesting.
Example I am in the middle of group going 30mph. I am barely peddling andu heart rate is 110. At the front I could sustain that pace for maybe 3 minutes at an HR of 175.
Let your mind wander at bit on it being called a rolling chess match.
Check some of the flat and rolling stages of the Giro d’Italia next May. Pay attention to who break away, when and to what purpose.
If you like tactics you might find another sports addiction.
I might need to check out cycling!
Certainly I am becoming increasingly disillusioned about modern football!
Theo is a proven winner for Milan, and has won us matches sometimes single handily.
I find it so odd that those who have proven themselves already for Milan are consistently the most criticised, and those who have really not achieved anything are given the benefit of the doubt.
“Theo is a proven winner for Milan, and has won us matches sometimes single handily.”
So was Zlatan & Giroud. We must stop living in the past. All that counts this season are the performances players give this season. Simple. Sure, he’s a champion. Then start acting one too instead of playing decently once a month.
Fonseca called it before the game when he said he’s more worried about Cagliari than Madrid. At least Merde and Crapoli drew 1-1 so that’s something.
Oh wait, you mean that we HAVEN’T learned that 110% of AC Milan’s problems are Rafael Leão’s fault???
I never thought they were… but some people here did.
We haven’t learned that Okafor is much better than Leão???
I never thought he was… but some people here did.
How refreshing…
———–
Now, what I have learned (not really learned because I knew it already) is that we are extremely unbalanced in terms of player quality in our different departments.
See, in the middle and upfront we have players like Leão, Pulisic, Morata, Reijnders, Fofana and even Musah who seems to be finally growing and developing his potential. These are good players; some of them even brilliant. They aren’t mediocre at all. The one who was under suspicion was Musah but I always felt that he was mismanaged by Pioli, displaced all over the pitch in 6 different positions, and his being still very young, it was hard for him to learn. Now, if he is played and a wing back on the right side, maybe that’s his ideal position and he can be a very fine player, there.
In the back however, we have one good player who, despite his undeniable quality, seems completely unmotivated and uninterest in playing well for Milan like he plays for France: Theo. Yes, at times it even seems like he’s sabotaging the team and himself, disillusioned with the management’s lack of ambition, and the meager compensation he has always earned at Milan despite his world prominence. Theo seems to have checked out of AC Milan already, and I don’t know if he can be rescued. Then, we have 6 mediocre players: Emerson, Calabria, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Tomori, and Terracciano. We also have two good players there but they are both injured: Florenzi and Gabbia. We don’t know if Florenzi will remain good after such a serious injury and long rehab time, considering that he is older and has always been injury-prone. Gabbia, good, we got him. But while he is very instrumental in organizing the defense and seems to be pretty much the only truly intelligent player there who knows how to position himself, he can’t do it all on his own.
So, it’s not just Fonseca’s fault. It’s also the fault of the scouts and the hiring managers who have hired a bunch of mediocre players in defense, while the really good players are in the midfield and offense.
It’s hard to win games when your offense and midfield add 3 goals and 3 assists (scores by Rafa – 2 – and Abraham, assists by Puli, Reijnders, and Fofana) but your defense concedes 3 goals in what can’t be called anything other than amateur fashion.
———-
Yes, it does seem like Fonseca needs to go permanently to a 4-3-3 and permanently make Musah help Emerson so that we avoid the 9 almost identical goals we have conceded from crosses starting in the RB sector then finding unmarked players in the LB sector who then score at will. The front three should always be Puli in the right (his ideal position), Morata center, and Rafa in the left unless they are injured or exhausted. The midfield should always be Reijnders, Fofana and Musah unless they are injured or exhausted.
But we need to purchase another CB, another LB, and another RB. Even though it is true that Fonseca needs to do more for the defense and be more consistent, he won’t be very successful if the department continues to be full of mediocre players. Strategies and formation can go just so far if the players don’t know how to execute.
The managers have a choice: either something is done to fix the defense in January, or we won’t make the top 4 and will miss the UCL next season.
Missing the UCL will prevent us from making at least 120 M Euros if not more (when you factor in prize money, ticket sales, merchandise sales) and will have a huge negative impact in the valuation of the AC Milan brand; it will decrease the value of the club and will impact on the balance of the financial account, so maybe they actually should spend significant money in January to purchase 3 good players for the department. I know that they are cheap, but they must realize that being cheap in January will actually make them LOSE money.
Given that they only understand money, there is some chance that maybe they will get it. Someone needs to tell them. We don’t have a Sporting Director who would tell them. Fonseca won’t because he’s a yes man. So Ibra should. But he’s a clown. So, probably nothing will get done, and this will interrupt the long streak of making the UCL every year, that actually the much maligned Pioli was able to accomplish, taking us out of the Banter Era. We are facing Banther 2.0 if nothing is done to fix the defense.
Don’t Cardinale want to increase the club’s value so that he eventually sells it for a huge profit? I think that that is his end game. He needs to realize that this will be compromised if he doesn’t act.
Ah, the love letter we had all been waiting for. Luigi, you wouldn’t happen to be a fan of Leao’s, now would you? You’re hiding it really well if you are.
You call five short phrases a love letter to Leao, when everything else I wrote in 98% of the post was about something else??? Reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit, now, is it? News flash: it’s not a love letter; I was mocking silly people like you who have egg on your faces after Rafa’s two superb performances against Real and Cagliari.
You hide from your obvious “sell sell sell” mistaken opinion by attempting a personal attack which you obviously think it’s way funnier than it actually is (NOT!) by pretending that your elders who know better only knew the truth because of “loving” a player, kiddo, instead of being based on cold facts (30 goals + assists per season; 3 goals + 6 assists already this season, before the 33% mark so on track for doing it again for the 4th straight season; those are FACTS your silly act can’t hide). Your act by now is old and stale and contrary to what you think, isn’t earning you any points. Go back to your FIFA videogame. You don’t know anything about real life football.
I only bother to read the first sentences from your texts these days. Too much same content (Leao is the GOAT and haters hate) to waste my time.
” Go back to your FIFA videogame. You don’t know anything about real life football.”
LOL. If you only knew… 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
1. Camarda is not ready.
2. Too much rotation at the Back. Need to pick the strongest CB pairing and stick to it since defense has been awful. Rotations aren’t helping.
3. Pulisic isn’t the third midfielder nor does he turn the 4231 into a 433. His contributions aren’t defensive enough. He needs to attack.
4. The double pivot is a liability. Every. Single. Time. Either 352 or 343 or 433 and alternate between Musah and RLC.
This team needs defensive solidity. We can’t be scoring 3 goals and NOT winning games.
I agree with your points 2-4.
What are you basing your assessment of Camarda of?
His age?
Or when he gave the ball away with that misplaced lay off like Giroud used to do?
Other than that he really didn’t get any service so not sure how anyone can judge him, or indeed most of the team.
None of the players are performing at their level so it’s extremely difficult to judge the players.
I agree about Camarda. He did well. He didn’t get any service so you can’t really blame him for not scoring. He gave a great assist to Chuku who missed the target and fought well for every ball. Made a couple of steals from the defender and showed he can outmuscle them too. Also dropped deep to participate in the build-up while he did give one or two poor passes but – like you said – didn’t Giroud (and Jovic) do that too?
He did way better than he was expected to. If only Pulisic had given a more powerful cross instead of the looping one and Camarda might have scored.
Musah and Reijnders double pivot record – 4-0-2
PSG 2-1 win
Newcastle 2-1 win
Rennes 3-0 win
Cagilari 5-1 win
Dortmund 0-0
Parma 1-1(2) (only 1 goal scored with Musah, Fofana replaced him and Parma immediately scored)
I dont understand why the pivot is an issue, those two haven’t lost…
It’s unforgivable for Fonseca to have rotated the midfield.
It’s been over a year since our midfield produced a performance like they did against Real.
We finally found the right combo of Fofana, Musah and Reijnders.
We finally started to control the midfield.
We finally started seeing Musah perform.
And then he goes and rotates again, and not only rotates but changes the formation.
To make matters worse he also rotates our CBs, and brings in Pavlovic.
It’s fair to say if Pavlovic was one of our youth players he’d banished to the Futuros.
Fonseca needs to go.
1. Milan’s D isn’t very good so Fonseca needs to use Musah to help out.
2. Pulisic is ok at AM but he is a great winger. He needs to stay on the wings most games.
3. Leao was a problem because of his attitude and lack of end product. Fonseca introduced him to the bench and it worked. If we had a decent back up left back I’d try it with Theo too.
4. I’m skipping 4
5. Since Inter and Napoli tied Milan is only 8 points back. Potentially 5 since they have a game in hand. The bigger problem is there are numerous teams fighting for the lead right now. Milan CAN get back into the Scudetto race but they can also be out of the top 4 race if they don’t start being consistent. You HAVE to beat Cagliari after beating Madrid.
the simple problem with the team is the coach.the right player arrangement showed itself against real mardrid only for him to change it again.the defence will suffer if we keep using tijj in d double pivot cos that only leaves foffana to help d defense making him tire out quickly.musa shud be partnering with foffana in d pivot.he has great energy,great movement and ball retention and can mark so he can help the right side while foffana focua on helping theo.a great balance.tijj will be allowed to roam and create well in front of the pivot and while he is closer to goal he scores like he showed against real.also the cb pairing should be a fast defender partnered with a slow one not two slow defender pairing of thiaw and pavlovic.tomori and pavlo or tomori and thiaw .tha coach is just stubborn and i dont know why he unnecessarily changes formation and arrangement threfore not allowing the players to gel
My two cents on Fonseca’s strategy:
1. I don’t think he’s gunning for the Scudetto this season; his constant experimentation suggests he’s playing the long game.
2. His inconsistency in formations and lineups isn’t about chasing immediate wins; it’s like he’s conducting a science experiment to find the perfect combo!
3. Fonseca’s observing each player’s performance in different pairings, formations, and situations. It’s like he’s solving a puzzle, and we’re his willing (or unwilling) lab rats.
Honestly, I believe in Fonseca’s vision, even if it means enduring a rollercoaster season. Buckle up, Rossoneri fans.
Last season:
Results vs Cagliari
5-1
Sportiello, kalulu, gabbia, thiaw, florenzi, musah and reijnders in the pivot and chuk, bennacer, pulisic and Giroud…
4-1
Mirante, calabria, simic, theo, jimenez, adli, reijnders, chuk, romero, traore, and jovic (this one was kinda disrespectful but it was a cup game….)
3-1
with all players currently on the roster except sportiello and adli…
What puzzle is he trying to solve?.He sometimes changes center backs and the 10…otherwise, he always plays the same guys (at least compared to last season). He experimented once, putting the best open-field defender to protect the right side against Madrid. Otherwise the lineups are not hard to predict. I hope his vision is to give up less goals eventually…but I don’t see it. Pioli basically just put 11 guys on the field and there wasn’t much else to do
1. Fonseca should not be our coach
2. Do the Leao haters still believe that if we sell him and replace him with Okafor there will be no drop off in talent?? LOL
3. Pavlovic needs to sit and learn positional defending
4. Emerson is LOL
5. We must play a 4-3-3
6. Let Carmada develop in peace and don’t ruin the kid by rushing him
7. Fonseca should not be our coach
8. Chukuweze is a BUST
9. Pulisic is better as a RW and we should not ruin his form and move him in middle just to accommodate the bust that is Chukuweze.
10. Fonseca should not be our coach
Beware, Juro! Your absolutely correct point #2 will be called by silly kids like bb a “love letter to Leao”, LOL. Not that his opinion counts for anything in the world of real life football.
Consistency is the key of central defense pair and the more they play together, the more they’ll understand each other and perform better. That’s where and that’s why we lost the game.
That and lack of proper #6.
1. Chuck is not a starting player. Sub at a squeeze.
2. Musah needs to start where he did against Madrid.
3. Jiminez needs to come in for Emerson (although he was far from the worst player on Saturday).
4. Theo should not be captain.
5. Pavlovic is worse than Tomori
Oh…
6. We need a killer DM