AC Milan went into the break in the right way after beating Fiorentina 2-1 but it is certainly going to be a useful period of rest for Stefano Pioli’s side.
La Gazzetta dello Sport have published ratings of each Milan player for the 2022-23 season so far, a campaign that still keeps alive the double objective of competing for the Scudetto and qualification for the round of 16 of the Champions League which has already been achieved.
Starting with Mike Maignan, the goalkeeper gets a 6.5 out of 10 having been plagued with muscle problems but showing positive signs. His deputy Ciprian Tatarusanu had to step up and he gets a 6, as the Romanian ‘never gives the impression of security that someone like Mike can guarantee’ but has generally been ok.
Fikayo Tomori gets a 6 because he has been inconsistent, alternating brilliant performances with ones where he looks off the pace. The same can be said for Pierre Kalulu who gets the same score too, with some unusual blunders arriving but consideration given to the fact he has been split between centre-back and full-back.
Matteo Gabbia received a 6.5 as he has been quite reliable when called upon and scored his first ever goal for the club in Zagreb against Dinamo, while summer signing Sergino Dest was ‘catapulted into the fray perhaps a little too soon’ and gets a 5.5.
Davide Calabria gets a 6 but his season was interrupted by the muscle issue in the Empoli away game that ended his 2022 prematurely. Malick Thiaw – another summer arrival – started the last two games against Cremonese and Fiorentina, showing promise and earning a 6.5.
Theo Hernandez has been captain for a long time due to Calabria’s injury, and while he didn’t always keep his nerve and must continue to improve, he still finds ways to be decisive so gets a 6. Simon Kjaer is awarded a 6.5 as the Dane has ‘resumed his place in the centre of the Rossoneri defence, with his usual authority’ as Pioli manages his playing time well.
Fodé Ballo-Touré has been given a 6.5 as he scored an important winner against Empoli and is clearly eager to carve out a role, while Junior Messias’ goals against Sampdoria, Torino and Salzburg get him a 6.5 but in truth there could have been more if it weren’t for injuries.
Speaking of injuries, Alexis Saelemaekers gets a 6 for his goals in the Champions League against RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb, but a left knee issue sustained in Empoli cost him a place at the World Cup. A 6.5 goes to Rade Krunic who also scored in the key match against Salzburg at home, playing multiple positions and always giving his all.
Yacine Adli arrived from Ligue 1 after a loan at Bordeaux at gets a 5 but in truth it is only based on the one disappointing start he made against Verona, the rest is because Pioli is clearly not convinced enough to pick him.
Ismael Bennacer gets a 7 as the Algerian ‘is now the technical leader of the Rossoneri midfield’ while Sandro Tonali gets the same for being a leader too and because of the trend of scoring important goals.
Tommaso Pobega is a new face so to speak but has shown that he does have a role in midfield and his athleticism is important, but he must mature so gets a 6. Brahim Diaz has been given a 6.5 in what is a ‘season of truth’ for him given it is the second year of his loan, as the Spaniard has scored important goals but has also shown familiar inconsistency.
Charles De Ketelaere was bought from Club Brugge in a €35m operation over the summer and it seems the efforts of Maldini and Massara to close the deal are weighing on the 21-year-old’s shoulders, who has so far been inconsistent in terms of numbers in attacking production. Patience is needed, but a 5 is awarded.
Aster Vrankx gets a 6 but on little evidence so far given his only highlight is the cross that propitiated Milenkovic’s own-goal, but the 20-year-old Belgian starting to get useful minutes and seems to be holding up well.
Rafael Leao is ‘the star of the team’ and has also proved to be so in these first months of the 2022-23 season. The red card in Genoa and a few empty games don’t stain a season made up of accelerations, goals, assists and a good willingness to work hard, so he gets a 7.
Olivier Giroud gets a 7.5 as the Frenchman has appeared ‘dominant, aware, spectacular in his ideas and solutions’. Having been forced to work overtime, the 36-year-old held up perfectly even from a physical point of view, scoring some important goals.
Ante Rebic’s start to the season suggested greater after his brace against Udinese in the first round of action, and also after the pre-season in which he appeared fit, concentrated and eager to leave behind some difficult months. He has struggled to find rhythm though, and gets a 6.
Divock Origi gets a 5, but the extenuating factor is the repeated series of physical problems that delayed his entry into the group. So far, however, only one goal has come and it was against Monza, in the midst of many unexciting minutes. It would be ungenerous to attack him now, but his disappointing 2022 cost him his participation in the World Cup.
Finally, Stefano Pioli gets a 6.5. Milan ahve two points less than the same stage last season but the Champions League group stage has been overcome. There have been some worryingly lacklustre performances but injuries and fatigue weigh, while the other problem is Napoli’s ridiculous pace, something Pioli can do very little about.
I usually bite my tongue through ratings articles, but Gabbia having a higher score than Hernandez, Tomori, Calabria and Kalulu has to be a joke, right?
Hernandez has continued to be one of our most important players at both ends of the pitch, I’d argue his personal defending has improved too.
Calabria picked up more and more responsibilities as we tried various options on the with ahead of him, was looking better going forward and showing decent signs of developing a partnership with Salamaekers before his badly timed injury.
Kalulu has moved between different positions, alongside numerous partners and without the protection of Kessie in front; he’s continued to develop into a fine player.
I’d agree Tomori hasn’t been as consistent as last year but there’s a reason he’s a guaranteed starter when fit; he’s immense.
To blame the defence when they’ve been forced to rotate through injury, had the main goalkeeper out (who has a very different style of play to his replacement) and are dealing without Kessie’s presence… all when the record isn’t much worse than a year ago – seems harsh IMO. Same with Pioli’s rating.
This article should probably be titled: “we give higher scores to people who we remember scoring specific goals”
It’s Gazzetta they don’t make sense a lot of times
Especially ballo toure getting a 6.5 as well. I know he got an important goal for us you can’t base the rating on that alone
In what world theo got a 6 and ballo toure got 6.5 😂😂😂😂
Is this guy out of his mind? He rates Ballo-Toure higher than Theo! Did he watch the few games Theo missed and how badly the team plays without him? And giving Tonali a 7 is a joke. A 6 would be generous. Bennacer has been carrying him the entire season and they get the same rating.
Tonali a 7 is a huge joke
Milan should play rebic leao giroud and vrankx in attack would be effective the trio played well vs Salzburg and vrankx seems good maybe this can be little helpful for attack I think.
Hahahaha what am I reading here? According to these ratings, Lord Fode is better than Theo, Kalulu and Tomori??? What in the world is this?
Like I’ve said before, we’re on Scudetto winning form. Napoli, however, has just been extraordinary, that’s all. Matter of fact the only team they fear and have played badly against was us.
Correct. Considering both the Champions League and Serie A, the ONLY team that outplayed Napoli this season was AC Milan. We played much better than they did in that 1-2 defeat which they only won out of luck and out of Dest’s atrocious PK. And that, without Rafa (granted that they didn’t have Osimhen but one absence cancels the other). I was at that game in San Siro. It was one of our best performances of the season and we should have won. They still managed to win; I guess they were more clinical. They are in superb form; there isn’t anything we can do about it when they play against other teams and beat them.
So, yes, with all the injuries (our whole trainers/medical department should be fired; we collect way more muscle injuries than other teams), we still managed to be second in Serie A and only 2 points behind what we had last season. That’s commendable, but the loss to Torino and the draw with Cremonese are hard to stomach and shouldn’t have happened. I blame Giroud for his stupid taking off his shirt to collect a second yellow and a red. I hate when players do that. Don’t they know that it’s a yellow? How can a seasoned veteran do that, already being booked before that, so that it’s an automatic red? It hurts the team and is profoundly boneheaded.
I agree 100% that Ballo’s score is too high and should never be above Theo’s, Kalulu’s and Tomori’s. This is the weirdest score of the whole article.
This comment is even crazier than his ratings. Milan have played poorly almost this entire season. You can’t name more than 3 games this season where Milan have actually played well as a team. They have gotten very lucky to be in the position they are in, with last minute goals to beat bad teams. They were outplayed by Spezia, Fiorentina, couldn’t beat Cremonese, and were embarrassed twice by Chelsea. To say they are in Scudetto form because they outplayed Napoli for one half is ridiculous.
Tonali gets a 7 based of leadership??? Gtfo
Gabbias being a 6.5???
Italian bias is crazy
Mike is a world class goalie that deserves a higher score. Tata’s should be lower. He got some clean sheets more out of luck than anything, he produces rare saves when the ball doesn’t get right at him, his positioning is atrocious, he doesn’t come out of the small box to clear crosses, and his foot play is hugely worse than Mike’s, costing us possession time. It’s not just goals scored against him. He screws up in other ways.
Tomori has been great some games, shaky in some others so I think his score is accurate but Kalulu is not as inconsistent and had to adapt to changing roles; I’d rate Kalulu higher than Tomori.
Theo being lower than Ballo is a joke. Theo deserves at least as much as Bennacer and Tonali. When he didn’t play the team was much worse. Even though Thiaw did well, how was he more useful to the whole season than Theo?
I would give Kjaer a 7 or even more. He’s been perfect after the injury, with is shown by how we almost never concede when he is playing. I guess they lowered his score because of the injury, if the scores reflects usefulness throughout the season. One can’t contribute if one is injured.
I don’t see Giroud as better than Rafa. Yes, sometimes he is brilliant. But I think Rafa is brilliant more often than Giroud. Both are inconsistent but Giroud tends to squander more opportunities than Rafa (something that both do). Yes, Giroud has scored some essential goals but so did Rafa. I’d at least give them both the same score. Both did well, overall.
I’d lower Rebic’s score. He started the season well but has been garbage ever since.
Origi, CDK, Adli and Dest being the busts makes sense although the latter has shown some signs of improvement lately. Of the four, Dest is the only one who is improving. However I’d lower his score because he cost us the most essential defeat of the season when he committed the PK against Napoli.
” a good willingness to work hard”
Laughs of the day 😀 😀 😀