AC Milan conceded three goals against Cagliari last night, and two of them came from a very familiar method that has already been a cause for concern.
MilanNews write about how Milan have struggled when the opponents move the ball from left to right, with a high or low cross for a team-mate on the opposite side who shoots and scores. It happened twice in Cagliari, making the total nine this season.
Indeed, the first six goals of the season more or less in the same way and though Fonseca seemed to have found a way to stem the problem, it re-emerged at the Unipol Domus.
Serie A, 1st game, Milan 2-2 Torino
30th minute: cross from Duvan Zapata from the left, Bellanova receives on the right and heads it in, with Thiaw failing to clear on the line.
Serie A, 1st game, Milan 2-2 Torino
68th minute: cross from the left by Lazaro finds Duvan Zapata on the opposite flank, completely free to head it and score.
Serie A, 2nd game, Parma 2-1 Milan
2nd minute: Emanuele Valeri breaks down the left, sends a low cross to the opposite flank that Dennis Man converts with his left foot.
Serie A, 2nd game, Parma 2-1 Milan
77th minute: counter-attack started from the left with Pontus Almqvist who finds Matteo Cancellieri on the other side, completely free to score.
Serie A, 3rd game, Lazio 2-2 Milan
62nd minute: Nuno Tavares breaks down the left, crosses into the middle and finds Taty Castellanos who scored with his right foot to make it 1-1.
Serie A, 3rd game, Lazio 2-2 Milan
66th minute: another attack by Nuno Tavares on the left, ball towards the opposite wing where Boulaye Dia arrives and beats Maignan with his right-footed shot.
Champions League, 3rd game, Milan 3-1 Club Brugge
51st minute: Tzolis breaks down the left and finds Vetlesen in the middle who works the ball and passes it to the right to Kyriani Sabbe who beats Maignan.
Serie A, 12th game, Cagliari 2-2 Milan
2nd minute: corner from the left by Viola, on the opposite flank Zortea settles, shoots and scores.
Serie A, 12th game, Cagliari 2-2 Milan
89th minute: Cross from the left by Augello, Zappa receives it on the right, settles himself and hits it on the fly, sending the ball into the net.
Amateur hour. I remember fans noticing this during the Parma game which took place in friggin’ August. Really tells you a lot about our coach.
What’s the coach to do when the defenders are literally acting like they’re blind. Every goal is the same, watch the replays, three defenders standing (flat footed) around one attacker, then a free run at the near post and at the top of the box. Every time.
Isn’t his job to make sure they don’t do that? Does Conte work with Nesta, Maldini, Cafu and Serginho? No, but look at the defensive improvements he has made in little time.
You don’t have to be Nesta, Maldini, Cafu or Serginho to defend crosses. 90% of defenders all around the world can do basic defending. In Milan, none of them seem to be able to. Just look at the replays and see how awful they are. Standing still and not giving a f*** about where the closest opponents are. They lack concentration and they simply don’t care if they concede or not.
Roma sack Juric.
They failed by sacking De Rossi. Same happened with Pioli.
Now time will show when Milan is officially losing European spot next season and what they do next with Fonseca.
In few matches Fonseca show his tactics and I like it , against Inter or Real we play great game. I know there is no chance for sacking him because of CL game against Real. Now Cardinale love him even more. But for me now it is the best time for new experienced coach, in CL we have 4 easier opponents and now need concentration for Seria A if we want to achieve something.. even only CL for next year , because if he lose next 2-3 games we are out of Scudetto (definitely) and out of CL (also definitely)
All of these goals were pretty much conceded from the left sided and right side. Theo is not a good left back defensively and if we keep them Milan will need to switch to a back 3.
Emerson Royal is terrible but Pavlovic is even worse. Poor signings by this management. No quality added except for Fofana and Morata this summer.