AC Milan scored three goals and got three points from Bratislava last night, and yet the narrative is negative once again.
Things started well for Milan when Christian Pulisic gave them a first half lead, but the two sides went in level at the break after Slovan hit back.
Rafael Leao came off the bench to restore the lead, then Tammy Abraham looked to have killed the game off, yet the hosts responded again to make it a nervy finish.
The end result was three more points that continue the path towards the last 16, but it doesn’t tell the full story after another worrying night.
La Gazzetta dello Sport’s ratings
It was not the straightforward game that many hoped against the bottom side in the competition, and La Gazzetta dello Sport’s ratings this morning show that.
Milan’s performance was given a 6.5 out of 10, while Paulo Fonseca’s management of the game got the same score. Rafael Leao was the MOTM and the best on the field, getting a 7.5.
Noah Okafor was the man he replaced and he was criticised for a lack of impact, scoring a 5. Davide Calabria (5.5) was the other player who looked not at his best.
Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez, Tijjani Reijnders, Samuel Chukwueze and the substitutes Emerson Royal, Yunus Musah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were all given a passing grade of 6.
Strahinja Pavlovic drew praise (6.5) after his goal-line clearance to keep it at 0-0, while Christian Pulisic got the same grade.
The other two players to stand out were Youssouf Fofana and Tammy Abraham who each got a 7. The Frenchman played a nice assist for Leao’s goal, while the English striker scored one and set one up.
Chuku has been getting a lot of minutes and he isn’t doing anything with it..
Meanwhile puli has 2 do 2 much on AM and his contribution decreased.
Might be time to rethink this approach imao
Good to see Tammy is still capable of that kind of performance – press on now please. And Fofana (sloppy passes aside) is becoming a vital player.
But let’s face it, that was awful. Awwwwful.
Apart from those two obvious stand out games, it has been so difficult to watch us play this season. Even when we win it’s skin-of-the-teeth stuff and when we lose we are the football equivalent of a gallic shrug.
Unless we invest in a QUALITY, first team ready, guaranteed contributor, proper DM in January then nothing will change…win-lose-draw-win-lose-draw, ad infinitum.
“Unless we invest in a QUALITY, first team ready, guaranteed contributor, proper DM in January then nothing will change…win-lose-draw-win-lose-draw, ad infinitum.”
And a coach, we also need a quality coach.
No one young is available.
Conceiçao, De Zerbi, Zidane,… Even Terzic would have looked like a better idea than Fonseca.
Do they have to be young? We’re not ready for a project man. We need someone to come in a crack skulls.
Sarri for two years, then a long term project.