AC Milan returned to Serie A action, and they did so in old style. Underwhelming, underperforming, unchanged.
This summer, Milan have been very busy. In fact, stating that there has been a reset would be completely fair. However, there has not been a reset on the pitch. Saturday’s game has been seen all too many times before.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
As Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, there is ‘no point’ really getting too worried after the first game. Nevertheless, the squad have to do some soul searching, Massimiliano Allegri must ask himself questions.
Gimenez’s horror
Leading the line, there was no clarity. Instead, it was two points of confusion, both struggling to find symbiosis. In fact, Gazzetta deem Santiago Gimenez’s situation ‘incomprehensible’, with him not being able to get ‘anything’ right.
A new striker is needed, as the Mexican does not look like the €30 million man bought earlier this year. His entire game said as much, as did the mistake leading to the second goal, a night to forget.
Modric’s effort
Everything in the midfield did not come from new young blood. Instead, it came from the 40-year-old Luka Modric, who ‘tried everything’. Already, the Rossoneri are at his mercy, and he will be a big player from this first game.
The midfield did not have any balance, and in a win, maybe that helps. However, it showed no signs of positivity on Saturday. In the future, Ardon Jashari and/or Samuele Ricci are needed in the midfield to provide a bit of balance.
Moving forward
So, where do we go from here, questions the paper. Well, it starts with another striker, as well as a central defender. Both areas lacked much positivity last night, and reinforcements are needed to help strengthen.
‘Everything’ was missing at San Siro, and the boos at full-time made everyone aware of that, if they didn’t know already.
Get rid of Pavlovic and get some proper starters in defence. Tomori and Gabbia are good backups.
Pavlovic is doing alright…. The problem is that we can’t finish… Loftus Cheek and S.Gimenez are wasting to many chances… They can’t score unless it’s an open goal
He makes 2 mistakes every game. Milan has the best defenders in history of football and now we have Pavlovic labeled as alright. He is a clumsy joke that I can’t wait to see out of the club. Milan will win 0 titles with him in defence.
A proven CF and an experienced CB to marshall the defense are required. Allegri realized that Loftus & Fofana cannot both be in a midfield three. Ruben has his occasional good games when he finds space but for the majority of games he is a ghost, there is rarely space in serie A.
Jashari & Ricci have to become mainstays.
Pavlovic or Gabbia have to be replaced by DeWinter .
Sorry Sure , my comment wasn’t intended as a reply
No worries, sh*t happens. I agree with everything but “or Gabbia”. Has to be Pavlovic.
Pavlo is chaotic. He’s the Barthez of defenders. Never know what you’re gonna get.
Ditch the 3-5-2 and go back to 4-3-3.
Get Kiwior or Djimsiti.
Get one or 2 strikers.
Never start Fofana and Loftus-Cheek simultanously.
Bruh our TM migt were Okafor. – DOBVYK, Benacer – Rabiot , Hernandez – Luca Pelegrini and Abraham – Noslin
Ftw
100% on point. I agree.
Gabbia cant command the box, we love him but he is not good enough, tomori talks and complains more than he plays, pavlovic should relax a bit on build up, building up with gabbia pav and tomori wont yield anything, they are all poor ball players, expecting 16goals from RLC and fofana is absurd, if we wanted goals from the midfield we shouldnt have sold tiji, pulisic is lost in this formation, he is not a striker, gimenez cant play without space, any small team that will play against ac milan should just crowd the middle areas, play physical, and double mark on the wings, and ac milan will play exactly like the 24/25 team, our attackers are only good at sprinting forward with the ball, if you put a wall in front of them they will run and crush into it, fall down and ask the ref to give them a free kick, do we ever practice corner kicks and set pieces? They are very useful against teams playing a low block, but we play them just like amateurs would do
4321 is the formation for this squad…. Leoa and Puli supporting the striker
Jashari and Ricci will get plenty of game time. Allegri has enough personnel in the midfield. It may take a game or 2 to find the right combination. The defense needs some serious work/re-configuration though. 4 at the back seems more stable.
I watched the game. A bad loss — yes. Disappointing start to the season — yes. Did they miss Leao – yes. But the doomsday assessments are silly. Folks need to take a deep breath. First game, new coach, several new players.
AC Milan had 2/3 possession. 24 shots to 4. 9 corners to 2. Cremonese scored on one excellent header and one sensational bicycle kick. Milan could have won 4-0. They didn’t. Futbol is sometimes a cruel game.