Following the 2-0 defeat at home to Napoli on Tuesday night, the game against Monza was a must win for AC Milan in order to avoid another crisis.
You know the situation is not great when every other game is a must win as Paulo Fonseca and his team can’t seem to find any consistency. Against Monza, the coach opted to bench Rafael Leao yet again continuing to put faith in both Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze.
However, it was Monza, who managed to create most of the chances in the first half but with a bit of luck – and some big help from Mike Maignan – the Rossoneri stayed in the game with the scores still level.
The only goal of the game came in the 43rd minute from Tijjani Reijnders after a counter-attack down the right. A cross into the box was met by Alvaro Morata but his header was blocked, then the Dutchman was on hand to provide a diving headed finish of his own from close range.
In the second half Monza looked less dangerous as Milan somewhat improved defensively and didn’t allow their opponents as much space, yet chances were spurned to kill the game off early. Here are five observations from the game up the road.
1. Useful utility man?
Filippo Terracciano started on the right this time around after being deployed as a left-back in Theo Hernandez’s absence and he played a solid game, albeit being clumsy on a couple of occasions but Monza didn’t take advantage of it.
The young defender has played very little since joining the club in January from Verona, but in the last few games has proven to be useful as his versatility allows Fonseca do play him in various positions across the defence.
Whilst his performances have been average at best so far, it is nice to have such a played that can be slotted in to fill the gaps and just do a good enough job whilst the main man is out.
The positive attitude shown by the Italian also extended to his comments after the game in which he admitted to a burning desire to stay and earn a spot. Surely he can only improve with more game time given his is still only 21 years of age.
2. French excellence
Maignan is the reason that Milan did not fall behind in the game. With the home side piling on the pressure in the opening exchanges, he stood tall and rejected everything that came his way barring a deflected disallowed Dany Mota goal.
In the second half the goalkeeper didn’t have as much to do, but he kept a valuable clean sheet and once again got himself on the ball to help in the build-up.
His compatriot, Theo, also played a positive game and finally it seems as Milan have an actual captain on the pitch. The left-back was constantly dangerous going forward launching dangerous crosses into the box and finding the space to shoot on one occasion too.
It must also be mentioned that Youssouf Fofana was among those who grew into the game, and by the second half he was an effective breakwater in front of the defence.
3. Go go Power Reijnders
The goalscorer Reijnders was the match of the match in our ratings and with good reason too. The Dutchman scored the winner, but that was just the cherry on top of what was a really tidy display.
His passing and intelligent movements allowed him to combine with his team-mates very well as he was once again the engine in the middle for Milan. He ran a lot and made himself available all the time which made life easy for his teammates as they always had a passing option.
After his brace against Club Brugge in the Champions League, Reijnders has scored in two consecutive games in all competitions for the first time with Milan.
The feeling with the former AZ Alkmaar man has always been that only goals are missing from his overall package in order to become a complete midfielder, and his recent form suggests that might change.
4. Weapons blunted
Milan started the season poorly in terms of results but they were able to score goals in bunches, and now that ability is seemingly gone too. Chukwueze and Okafor barely created anything, with the Swiss in particular again failing to take his chance from minute one.
Alvaro Morata meanwhile continued his trend of being anything but a striker, dropping almost as deep as the midfield line. While he did help his team-mates play out of the press, he was never the focal point needed when service was available from the wings.
We saw it on a couple of occasions where the 32-year-old dropped in and combined with Pulisic, who then was pretty much alone against three or more Monza players. Morata’s work rate is fantastic, but two goals in 10 appearances is not and it might just force reflections from the management.
The team around him doesn’t really make full use of him dropping and creating space either, as we don’t see anyone bursting forward to make use of said space, which is something Leao might be able to do.
Pulisic was maybe the only positive out of the four as he was involved in the goal, but he too faded in the second half.
5. Strategy not working
Speaking of Leao, Fonseca once again chose to bench him which he seems to think is a motivational move, but the results are mixed in terms of final scores but also how the winger has responded.
Milan won against Udinese with Chukwueze and Okafor, who is Leao’s replacement and who played a crucial role in the goal. That was true against Brugge too, where Leao was struggling and the game turned the moment he was subbed off for Okafor.
Then against Napoli, the Rossoneri lost and failed to score whilst against Monza – despite the win – the team hardly created anything interesting up front and there was an element of good fortune about the goal scored.
Excluding a few good moments it doesn’t seem like Okafor and Chukwueze can carry this attack down the flanks, but Fonseca has also failed to motivate Leao and hasn’t helped him improve his game either.
We all know Leao’s limitation and even if we take leadership out of the equation seems mind blowing that Fonseca is not trying to improve his efficiency in the final third.
It is something that needs fixing because he is the game-breaker and the best in the squad on his day, yet the situation is really worrying.
1. Leao, Morata, Abrahama and Okafor should be locked in Milanello after the training until they improve their finishing touch. I don’t care if they end up pulling an all-nighter because of that and, in case of Leao, missing a fashion or rap appointment, it’s unnacceptable to be so bad at finishing an attack.
2. Theo and Morata need to sanctionned/yelled at/whatever each time they dive and talk to the referee.
3. Pulisic is not very effective (by his standards) as an attacking midfielder. He is not as good when he can’t roam the flanks freely. He needs to be either a LW or a RW. Fonseca should consider either switching back to a 4-4-2 with both Morata and Abraham or a 4-3-3.
4. Okafor and Chukwueze are simply not good as starters, period.
5. Fonseca is not a good coach. We probably knew that for a while, but it gets confirmed day by day. If (or rather when) we should sack him is another subject, but we need to acknowledge that. His tactics, relation with the players and statments are outright scary and not in a good way.
agree with every thing you said
1. Morata has never had the record of scoring so many goals and so we need a proper goal scorer up front.
2. Leao should start games in place of Okafor. We can sub early in the second half if Leao fails to perform well.
3. Fonseca lacks ideas when dealing with little Monza. The match was the most boring I’ve ever watched Milan played.
4. Same old story for Musa. It is like Fonsesca is following Pioli’s footstep in using Musa in different roles every time. This will hinders the player progress.
5. The likes of Loftus Cheek, Theo Hernandez, Leao, and Calabria have all been doing well in the past but suddenly dropped this season. This shows that the coach is doing something wrong and need to be corrected asap.
Could have saved you guys the article and said we learnt nothing really. We got a win against a low side…yes grateful for the three points but really we were lucky ….against a bad Monza (granted they played better vs us than other opponents if ppl followed them a little).
Plus the goal we scored was a header off a defender that luckily fell next to Deers (he didnt effect the game btw). So we learnt we can take points off a low team, …oookkk 👌.
I think there is as much if not more to learn from bad games than from good ones.
Although as long as the coach and the management don’t see anything, it’s pretty much irrelevant.
Yes but even if we look at your points in the post above we knew all those things before this game (I agree with all of them btw). This specific game doesn’t really change things or make us learn anything we already knew. Maybe, big maybe, we learnt how to press less far up the pitch 🤷♂️ (I noticed we had a less high line) and that we get complacent scraping a win against a relegation-level team 🤷♂️
If we actually think that Theo had a positive game and acted as a captain on the pitch then our standards as a fanbase have hit rock bottom.
Theo was Milan’s worst defender yesterday, again.
He got bailed out by the ref on Monza’s goal, and then bailed out by Maignan on the header where Theo was properly beat.
Wearing a piece of clothing around his arm will never make Theo captain worthy. We have been spoiled as fans when it comes to captaincy between Baresi and Maldini, but Theo is the worst captain Milan has had since Maldini retired. He doesn’t have an ounce of leadership in his body.
If Calabria isn’t playing (not much better as a captain than Theo), Maignan, Gabbia or Pulisic should be captains.
The games was awful.
Outside of the 3 points and Maignan, there were no positives.
at a certain point the passes given to fofana for ‘growing into the game’ aren’t welcome. The three big chances from Maldini were all caused by him being caught out of position or covering the wrong spaces. One of those goes in and today it’s a different conversation…results are important but this consistent. ‘Well he messed up here but then did better ‘thing’ isn’t good enough…other players don’t get that benefit of the doubt
Gotta hype our most expensive transfer of the summer.
We’ve missed a DM or a player similar for soooo long that anything closely resembling one by default gets overly hyped. And I like Fofana alot but let’s not get carried away.
Maybe it’s the position he’s told to take but I struggle with understanding what there is to like about him…he plays close enough to the CB that not playing for a second ball off a header in the box so maldini can line one up is a massive mistake. But plays too deep to actually win the ball from guy…so he seems to occupy space where no one is and then make small positional errors like on the kvana goal…he doesn’t react quick enough to be able to make up any ground there…I thought the team was stronger last season with musah and reijnders in the pivot because you had two guys that could cover the field 50 times over and one of them doesn’t let guys dribble passed him and has passed the ball better than anyone this season in his limited minutes.and done it vs better competition.
IMO, Fofana would have looked way better if he was paired with a true DM (like when he was in Monaco or sometimes in France). If we had gotten someone like Hojbjerg, Hjulmand or Ricci, Fofana would have gotten more freedom to carry the ball forward and play in his natural role.
In his best performance which was the second half against Leverkusen, Fofana was actually pretty advanced since Alonso’s side backed up and allowed us to dominate the midfield and he took initiatives in creating and passing. But in a strictly defensive sense, while he is certainly better than any of our current midfielders, he is way behind Kessie’s former contribution.
Anybody who still defends Fonseca at this point is just as insane as Fonseca. Many of our best players are struggling under Fonseca (except for Reijnders and Pulisic but I wouldn’t say their good performances are attributable to Fonseca; they play just as well for their national teams away from Fonseca).
Fonseca is a trash coach and needs to go, but as you said yourself, those players that play well under Fonseca, also play well for their national teams when they are away from Fonseca. So their good performances are not thanks to Fonseca.
On the flip side the same is true for those players (Leao) that play like trash under Fonseca also play like trash for their national teams away from Fonseca. Doesn’t that also mean that their trash performances are not thanks to Fonseca?
I’m sure you have an essay full of excuses already prepared.
Haha, you obviously did not watch Rafa’s last games for the Portuguese national team. He was picked by A Bola, the leading Portuguese sports newspaper, as MOTM and they commented on his performance being “magical.” That was precisely what motivated Rafa’s declaration that he feels good with their national team because the coach trusts him (which apparently enraged Fonseca). But of course, you wouldn’t know or wouldn’t acknowledge it; you are incapable of seeing any good side to Leão.
Oh, two more little things:
1) I thought you said you didn’t read my posts. So, you actually do? (LOL, we all know you read every line while pretending not to).
2) Are you happy with your boy Okafor’s putrid performance against Monza? Huge consensus in forums both in English and Italian was that he was beyond pale, doesn’t add anything, is just a sub, and shouldn’t start over Rafa. But hey, keep fooling yourself that Okafor is better than Leão if it keeps you happy. You seem to need that.
Terricciano was terrible. Hesitant on the ball and terrible passer. Regarding Pulisic, the issue wasn’t him, it was the fact that Milan players pass up so many passes to players in space. They’ll only pass to a player on the sidelines. We are seeing a lack of skills. Oh, and the second half they went to a 4-3-3 with Pulisic dropping back for more defensive cover. If players opened their eyes and actually saw the open players and played the ball to them ACM could be good.
Almost like they might want to consider the only other midfielder with better passing numbers than reinjders .
Completely agree and it’s so frustrating. There were many opportunities for forward passes that the player decided to turn and play a pass back. Usually ending with the ball going all the way back to Mike.
Great play Theo,bravo. Please sack Fonseca,he dont know how lead this club.
Leao needs to be starting games simply because Milan is more dangerous with him on it. Okafor is still an impact sub.
Whatever Fonseca is trying to work out of Leao clearly isn’t working when he comes off the bench. So if Fonseca has an ounce of intelligence he needs to pivot and adjust.
Work on him on whatever you’re trying to do (even if Leao will never be a system player) but start him in games because you need to put your best foot forward. Then if he’s atrocious, bring Okafor in.
I have no issue with Chuk ok the RT. He seems limited but Puli in the middle is the best shot at a 10 currently. Its sure AF isn’t RLC who still can’t make a final pass/decent shot to save his life.
Play Cp11 on the left if you insist on benching RL10.
Play TH as a winger/atttacking mid.
Morata+ok4/TA. Chuk right.
RL10 as second striker, RL10 not good in tight spaces.
Although chuk isnt doing great lets be honest.
Fofana cannot shoot. Reinjders can Barely shoot. RLC can shoot but.
Literally anything is better than last games lineup
What is with all this Theo propaganda. He was not good. He has zero interest in playing defense. He would’ve been responsible for 2 goals if the refs didn’t call one back and then Maignan bailed him out on the second. He had Pulisic in on goals twice early in the game and couldn’t deliver a good pass.
I can’t think of someone less deserving of the armband than Theo. He is the most selfish player on the team. Our loss to Fiorentina is totally on his poor leadership.
1. Milan needs a striker in a January. The two main options are Morata and Tammy and they can’t score goals.
2. I was ok giving Okafor a chance to start a game or two because I think he earned it(especially with how bad Leao has been so far) but he has proven that he needs to continue to come off the bench.
3. Gabbia and possibly Thiaw are the only good defenders on this team.
4. Napoli lost so now it’s only 8 points with a game in hand :).
5. I got nothing else.
Yes, Napoli lost, and they will likely continue to lose here and there, because their first several games that granted to them their current table lead, were against bottom feeders. The only two exceptions: they played Juve, 0-0. They played us without 5-6 of our starters, and won. But when they actually face decent opposition, they are less good than what their current table position suggests.
Certainly not being in Europe gives them an advantage, but I suspect that their total of points will start to suffer as they play against the better teams. See, as soon as they faced Atalanta, they got very badly beaten. I watched that game, and Atalanta completely annulled Kvara and Lukaku, defended well and countered clinically; they played much better than Napoli.
However, there’s also Inter. They are just 1 point below Napoli.
And the other problem is: we have a game in hand but there is no guarantee that we will convert it to 3 points, since we’ve been very weak; we barely beat relegation-bound Monza, and we even needed the ref’s help to win (their goal should have counted; that foul on Theo wasn’t one). So far we’ve only beat very bad teams (except for Inter). In this, we’ve been even worse than Napoli. And while we did beat Inter, there is no way to consider that in the long run, we are more competitive for the Scudetto than Inter. I think that it is perfectly possible that our game in hand will end up being 2 or 3 dropped points.
I agree. Milan needs to get back to the way they played against Inter to have any chance in this race. It’s not looking good but like I’ve said before it’s not over yet and much crazier things have happened in the realm of sports.
Fonseca is an idiot who is destroying AC Milan. If Fonseca stays our top players are going to leave at discounted prices. They hired Fonseca to save three or four million Euros and now risk losing tens of millions of Euro because Fonseca is devaluing the stars of the team.
I see Inter got out of jail last night – nice to have the refs in your pocket…