Following a rather disappointing season opener, drawing 2-2 against Torino, AC Milan were hoping to clinch their first win away at Parma on Saturday evening. However, it ended in disaster for the Rossoneri.
Paulo Fonseca made quite a few changes to the starting XI compared to the Torino game with Theo Hernandez, Strahinja Pavlovic, Tijjani Reijnders, Yunus Musah and Noah Okafor playing from the first minute.
However, the game couldn’t have started in a worse way for the Rossoneri as Dennis Man scored the opener for Parma within the first two minutes. Furthermore, Milan didn’t really have an answer to the early goal as they looked sloppy and failed to threaten their opponents.
In the second half, the Rossoneri did better at the start as they created several chances and eventually got the equaliser in the 66th minute through Christian Pulisic. However, the poor defending let Milan down once again as Parma grabbed the winner in the 77th minute.
Below are five things we learned from the game…
1. Pavlovic impresses despite no help
The Serbian made just debut from start for Milan and at leas looking at the result, it was one to forget. However, we did see a lot of positives from the centre-back who had a slow first half but then started the second half in fashion with a lot of interceptions, as well as involving himself in the attacking phase.
On the second goal, Pavlovic could have done better as his marking wasn’t great, but he did have a couple of last-ditch tackles in the game that redeemed him. He was certainly not the one to blame overall as Milan tactics were dire, leaving both him and Tomori exposed.
If the centre-backs are left alone, it’s really hard to cover all the empty space especially considering that Parma had a numerical advantage on most occasions. As such, it was a really promising debut with Pavlovic certainly showcasing his potential.
2. Disastrous from the full-backs
Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez were both poor on the night. The captain was beaten time and time again, caught off guard on those counters way too many times.
However, he was still better than Theo, who just wasn’t up for it as he seemed to be in first gear throughout the game. He showed a lack of urgency when it came to defending and that was highlighted especially on the first goal.
The only positive for the Frenchman was the hockey assist he got, but the heavy criticism is more than justified for a player of his calibre. He’s also one of the best-paid players in the team, aiming for even more with a contract renewal, and we need to see so much more.
To top it all off, Emerson Royal’s debut wasn’t a great one either with a couple of misplaced passes, one of which was in a very dangerous area and he also failed to have any impact going forward. Some of these issues are down to Fonseca’s tactics for sure and it will be interesting to see how he fixes his back line.
3. Loftus-Cheek invisible
The Englishman started behind the striker, in the No.10 role, and he was literally invisible throughout the game as he provided nothing worth mentioning. Indeed, it’s very surprising that he played the full 90 minutes.
It’s quite obvious that the attacking midfield position isn’t the best for him and given that Fonseca plays with the tandem, which also isn’t ideal for Ruben, it will be interesting to see where he will fit in the coach’s plans.
However, one thing is for sure: he shouldn’t play in the No.10 role. He lacks the creativity needed, as well as the ability on the ball, to thrive in that position.
4. Okafor fails to capitalise; Leao disappointing again
Noah Okafor scored off the bench in the game against Torino to salvage a point for his team. As such, with Morata out injured, he was given a chance to start against Parma. Unfortunately for him, he again struggled to impress as we have seen so many times before when he has played from start.
It’s quite interesting because he clearly has qualities but really struggles to involve himself in the game. It’s going to be another puzzle that Fonseca will need to solve as Luka Jovic isn’t the best of deputies either and someone will have to take it up a notch so that Morata is not overused.
And then there is Rafael Leao. The Portuguese did really well on the goal, but then at times struggled a bit on that left flank with his shooting and decision-making letting him down. It wasn’t the worst of games for sure, but that sloppy pass which led to Parma’s goal tipped the scale.
The winger should really know better than to play such passes when he clearly has better options. The sloppy pass aside, he again failed to be the game-changer Milan need and it’s just frustrating to watch at this point.
5. Fonseca needs to change things fast
The manager started well with pre-season games, showing a bit of promise, but Serie A action has certainly exposed his tactics in two separate games already. Against Torino, Milan got lucky to claw back a point but against Parma, the defence crumbled which led to the first loss of the season.
It’s actually quite bizarre how Milan played, especially how high their line was. The two centre-backs were constantly exposed on the counter due to sloppy passing further up the pitch and the full-backs were nowhere to be seen which is purely down to the coach’s tactics.
Not to mention the decision to field Tijjani Reijnders and Yunus Musah in the double pivot, with neither of the two being a pure destroyer. Youssouf Fofana might help with that, but even he might not be enough if Theo and Calabria/ Emerson continue to push high up the pitch.
In short, a lot of questions to be answered and Fonseca needs to find the answers fast as his current tactics aren’t working.
Should’ve hired sarri..but I’ll hold out hope for fonsc for a few more weeks. Get your shît together and start with basics. Like not conceding a goal in the first 45 min
Sarri’s football often takes a whole year to gel and you cant even wait 2 months before complaining about Fonseca
ofc it does…
I have heard we have bid close 100m bids for Belotti or SMS, so why don’t we do that for Osimen, he would make all the difference to our team and it is something outrageous like that will save our season because come the next weekend we could be 9 points behind Juve!!!
Those were different owners. Redbird doesn’t spend that much on a single player.
I hired your mom last night for €1 and punished her for the utterly stupid crap you say constantly.
If we don’t change our mentality, we are not fit for Serie B.
All we learn is that friendly match results is not a good indicator of individuals and team performance. Hope we would try to buy a left back. When Theo on a bad form we don’t have a proper back up
Not just back up, we need a quality LB that can force competition. Certain players in the team get complacent because they’re guaranteed starters. That needs to stop. These players need to understand they won’t get selected if they’re not in top form.
Friendly matches with mostly players who aren’t at the club any more!
Just revert to a 4-3-3 and stop with this high line garbage. I can’t remember ever seeing Maldini Nesta Cafu etc passing the ball around in the opponent’s half, losing it and then scrambling back like mad men. Or the other team just lobbing the ball over their heads and running in on goal… I mean if we see the exact same tactics against Lazio he needs a psychiatric intervention.
we dont have a DM for 433. Not to mention whatever formation Fons will implement the same ideas into the gameplay. And they arent particular good ideas
Well Fofana was supposedly bought as a DM even though he isn’t a true one. This 4-2-3-1 is finished is what I’m getting at. I’d rather play 10-1 formation at this point.
formation changes dont solve team defense…if the goal is to press high and the other team is attacking through the wings and you are trusting your FB to play 1 v 1 with the wingers. When you lose the ball…aggressively attack with the front 4…get the lose balls with your double pivots and fullbacks…if the issue is with the high press and not having the players (specifically the left back and left winger) to execute…I can get on board.
Time 1:05
The front 3 besides Leao are all cutting off channels…Leao has given acres of space to the one player that could be available…
Time 1:11
Winger beats Theo to the ball…ok, he’s not moving well but foul or bump the man so that you stay between him and the goal…
Time 1:22
Player with 33km/h max speed outpaces player with 36.5km/h max speed for goal.
______
Time 76:26
Leao has missed all 3 available targets and handed the ball across field to the opposition. He stops and puts his hands on his knees to rest. Theo is talking to Fofona as they seem to be wondering why neither is running back…
Time 76:36
Tomori, Palovic, Mike, Reijnders, and Emerson all looking at Theo wondering why a player capable of running 37km.hr just ran 17km/hr in a crucial moment of the game…it is possible that Fofona was supposed to take over coverage but its not clearly the case…he could share some of the blame…
The tactic isn’t really the problem…If Emerson makes a run into space, then don’t make the pass unless you only are accurate or overhit it….if you don’t, maybe start running back on defense…Leao does not move while on screen from the moment he hits the pass…
Leao and Theo (with potentially Fofona) were the weakest links. This could be because of their schedule. They are some of the most talented players on the team but seem to be incapable of playing in this style at the moment…so after further evaluation they will have to decide if they want to play in this style or if they want to fit the style to fit theo and leao…hopefully it is just their current condition that is the problem.
Well we don’t have two DMs for the 4231 we are playing with the FBs playing so high.
The closest thing would be Fofana, Bennacer and Reijnders to roam forward more. But the press isn’t working or isn’t synchronized yet. It needs to be a 433 until his ideas stick…
Your mom likes the 6-9 formation.
Who doesn’t?
Fonseca benched Bennacer and Jovic after those 2 being lazy vs Torino. Forget benching. Theo, Leao and RLC shouldn’t even be called up for the Lazio game.
Play Saelemaekers at LB. Someone who isn’t even a full back, let alone a LB, played better there than supposedly the best LB in the world. Theo lazy on 3 of the 4 goals Milan gave up so far this season. Disgusting.
Leao was dog sh!t last season and picked up where he left off this season. Arrogant, lazy, entitled. He attempts a dumb a$s pass and then instead of trying to fix his mistake, he stopped in the middle of the pitch, hunched over with his head in his hands. Quit on the play. Loosers quit, winners don’t. They should both look at Pavlovic, who never quit even when he was far behind the opposing player.
RLC is just A$S Cheeks.
You can blame the coach, management, ownership, the transfer window all you want, if your so called best player, and so called leader and vice captain continue to act like arrogant, overrated lazy bums, it doesn’t matter who Milan signs.
Milan needs another striker, but is that striker going to run and cover wingers and overlapping fullbacks instead of Theo and Leao?
We read constant nauseating talk about the midfielders not being good defensively, but Milan is getting destroyed down the wings, just like last year. A team needs to defend with all 11 players, but certain Milan players think they are too good to run back.
We spend days, weeks, months even years, going back and forth, blaming new owners, old owners, new management, old management, new coach, old coach. Milan supposed best players and cornerstones of this project have been getting a pass for way too long. This is their 6th season at Milan. Wouldn’t mind one or both being sold. At this point they are just bad influence on the rest of the squad with their poor mentality and lazy effort.
Totally agree
The best and straight hit comment ever on Milan for the past season and now season start.
Good “Z”
You’re so on point
Ah yeah same ol’ everyone is guilty but the management. Théo Hernandez has been praised during the Euro one month ago, what could possibly happen? Especially since Zlatan the great said that he’s happy? But Zlatan could never lie of course. Even if Théo said two days later that he could leave. A world class player paid like a Fiorentina player and competing for UCL appearance should be extra motivated somehow.
Yes Bart, Make excuses for a professional player jogging back on defense. Gotta be management’s fault. It’s definitely Zlatan’s fault that Theo gave zero effort in defense.
i didn’t see this and made my own rant on the subject…why are people talking about the midfield… It’s acceptable for theo and leao to not play well as other players should be making up for it…the scene on the second goal…leao still in the place he passed it as he disappears from the screen… it is hard to imagine seeing them on the field in the next game, if they are tired from euros, fine, but its hard to imagine they were forced into these games knowing they couldn’t play…no one will trust in the defensive structure if they are out there…
When Leao sends that dumb a$s pass, if we stop the video, and look at 5 Milan players, Leao, Theo, Fofana, Reijnders and Emerson.
Leao, stops and quits.
Theo and Fofana are walking and are just over the center line in Parma’s half.
Reijnders is running 5-7 meters in front of Theo and Fofana.
Emerson is sprinting 30-35 meters in Parma’s half and was intended target by Leao’s dumb a$s pass.
If you forward the video and stop before Cancallieri scores the goal.
Reijnders is in Milan penalty box, Theo and Emerson are 20 meters behind him in line with each other, Fofana never ran back.
How is the coach to be blamed when 2 players who were further up the field than Theo ran back to defend ahead of Theo, and Theo’s man was the one that scored?
Same on the 1st goal.
It’s 5 Milan players vs 4 Parma. Everyone is covered. Theo and Man are running shoulder to shoulder. Man continues to run fast, Theo slows down, Man scores a goal.
Has nothing to do with coaching. It’s all about laziness.
yeah, see my note above under another comment.
Fofona and Theo seem confused but the tactic is when one fullback pushes, the other stays back as well as the winger…Emerson made up 25 yards on Theo to be even when the final pass is made…he was tracked at 30 km/h meaning that at his fastest Theo was around 17km/h or what you’d consider a light jog given he has been clocked at 37km/hr…Leao was around 0 km/h or what you would call…the best way to lose the respect of all your teammates…
Theo and Fofona should have both sprinted back but the Theo situation because bad because he is starting to lose market value…
Couldnt agree more.
I would love to see a map of where the goals are scored against us since we won serie A Because time and time again Theo is out of position and and ALOT of goals come from the left side.
We had the best defence then. We lost Kessie and havent had proper cover since.
Theo is a LW converted into LB and absolutely has become complacent.
I would choose to sell either one Leao or theo and use the one left as LW
I think Bennacer was benched because of the idea that he will be sold to the Arabs. Often clubs will sit players who are about to be sold or are asking to be sold, during an active mercato. Most likely Isma’s supposed laziness was just him not willing to get injured and jeopardize his dream of being sold to a club in Saudi Arabia. Not that I like it, but it’s understandable. Even Giroud, the great Giroud who would bleed for the team, got rather pale once he set his sights on an MLS transfer; his effort did drop a bit, and he is such a good professional who would always try his hardest! So if even Olivier felt the impact of his transfer plans, I’d forgive Isma for doing it.
Theo couldn’t run back in both Parma goals. Much was made of the 7 km/h of slower run than the Parma’s forward’s. But could he just be exhausted after playing the Euro until the final? I don’t know, but Theo is not exactly a lazy player so there must be another explanation.
Sure, Rafa’s misguided pass started Parma’s play for the second goal (although the Parma player recovered the ball close to their own box, very far from our box, so other Milan players share the blame). But also, Rafa produced 75% of our lone goal. I’d say that one thing cancels the other. But I know how Rafa is harshly seen by a segment of the Milan fanbase, and sometimes he does invite the criticism. Some other times though, he does make the difference with goals and assists. We’ll see. We are in trouble, and we need Rafa to perform. I hope he does. Nobody can be happy with how things stand, and Rafa is clearly not happy either.
Rafa is now being singled out for the most criticism, but yes, ALL of what you mentioned are people who share the guilt. Sure, Rafa and Theo weren’t good. They are guilty as charged. But also the coach. Musah didn’t even know what to do do, press or stay behind; shouldn’t the coach be instructing his players? Shouldn’t he also be telling the full backs that they shouldn’t let Pavlovic and Tomori desperate against 3 Parma forwards, when they pressed too high and left huge holes behind them? Should RLC who wasn’t doing anything, have stayed on for 90 minutes? That’s on the coach.
Management: they selected a mediocre coach, while several better options existed at the time. What exactly can we expect from mediocre people? Mediocre results.
Mercato: we have huge holes. No specialist defensive midfielder. No creative offensive midfielder. No second true striker to keep Morata from playing too often and getting injured. We shipped out a relatively decent striker, Colombo, and kept a relatively weak one, Jovic. No deputy for Theo. We got Emerson to compete with Calabria as RB; not sure that this is an upgrade. Emerson for all I know may be worse than Calabria.
Milan is being destroyed defensively BOTH because we lack a proper DM AND because we lack full backs who are good at defending. Even Theo has not been defending well (and that’s not exactly new). But hey, Theo surprisingly was excellent for France while defending in the Euro, so, again, maybe it’s a coaching issue.
Owners: while I didn’t want to blame them too much – after all, they did seem to reinvest the money earned from selling Tonali, into new signings, instead of cashing out – I am actually getting worried about the emphasis being on developing young players, maybe so that they can be sold for a profit. Whether or not this is their true goal, I don’t know, but I’m starting to feel uncomfortable, when we see that Manu Koné was abandoned in favor of Vos. Koné is way more ready to play for the first team than Vos. But Vos may be more profitable once matured. So, now I’m a bit suspicious.
Your comment, though, is very stereotypical: LAZY LAZY LAZY is what you care about. I am not sure if laziness is what is really going on. Maybe these players are confused, exhausted (yes, they can be exhausted even when the season is still beginning, in Euro years), and not really buying what Fonseca is selling, so they are unmotivated.
Anyway, I think we have so many problems, that they just can’t all be explained with one adjective, LAZY. There are MULTIPLE issues, here.
The one thing I agree with your comment, is that Pavlovic seems to be a giant, with good skills and good attitude. Morata also has good skills and attitude. I guess these two signings will be good for us. I hope Fofana will also be the same (hard to gauge from just a few minutes played after also being with France until the final of the Euro, getting put on hold by Monaco, and joining MIlan so late). Emerson, though, I don’t know. I don’t have good feelings about him.
I’ve felt from the beginning that Fonseca is mediocre and Emerson is mediocre. I was willing to give Fonseca the benefit of the doubt and like most people I got excited with the pre-season, and like most people this may have been misguided (yes, friendlies don’t prove much). I’m afraid my initial feelings that Fonseca and Emerson are mediocre will be proven right.
Musah reacted to a lack of team defense not an issue with the coach. When the team is instructed to press, if a player (for example Leao on the first goal) doesn’t press, there is no good option remaining for a midfielder as the opposition has time to pick out a pass that can be used to bypass the midfield. You can’t start the press in the midfield (either everyone presses or no one)..The coach didn’t instruct the team on what to do if part of the team stops playing the system because if that happens then what is the point…Blaming the coach and management is lazy The fact I can agree with is that the. two goals came from a lack of fitness from Theo, Fofona and Leao. If they are tired from the Euros then this should improve. If they haven’t bought into the system, they should be sold.
Lack of fitness for Theo? The match had been played for two minutes and Theo was already so exhausted he couldn’t run over 17km/h??????????
Don’t give him excuses. It was laziness and lack of interest in defending. 100%. If he really is THAT much out of shape he needs to be benched because no team can play with players with 50% fitness/running levels. Period.
Im trying not to jump to conclusions but the second goal was very suspect, a lack of interest, a desire for fofana to cover for him, but also I didn’t understand why he was brought out for the second half…and leao standing in the same spot he under hit a pass to his fullback and not having any instinct to try and fix it is not very relatable. It’s hard to watch. Management brought in players with a strong desire to play for the club and to have to see that from two veterans is not a good look.
We just have to admit it that Briam Diaz departure left a hole in the midfield, he’s work ethics has never been matched and that has been part of the root problems of this team. RCL just isn’t anything, we need a real CAM or we switch formations. But overall the team lacks structure both I attacking and defending phases, the players are just out of ideas once in possession and out of possession. Leao may be out best player but he is also our burden, he doesn’t trackback and isn’t so excellent in attack. This team needs work.
no it didnt. Brahim was a hole in himself
Like it on not, Brahim Diaz gave his soul on the pitch. He compete with Hakan and sent him packing. He also attract opponents to himself to free up others to attack. This is part of what we have been missing. The players we have now just keep passing from back and forth without thinking of ways to penetrate which Brahim did very well.
Brahim is small and not very strong, muscle-wise, so he was often bumped by bigger players. However he works hard and is creative. He was getting better and better at the end of his period with Milan, which is why Real wanted him back. But now, reports from Spain are that Brahim is unhappy there, with little space to play, and we know that he wasn’t happy about leaving Milan. There is the notion that he wants to try at Real for a few more months but would consider coming back to Milan in January if he continues to have little space there.
I for one, would welcome Brahim back. He is certainly more creative than the options we currently have for the CAM position, and he has a great attitude.
No he didn’t send snake gakan packing. Snake chose to leave to get a better salary. In terms of contributions of the overall play snake hakan was years ahead the little diaz.
Brahim was an overrated piece that actually hindered our teams development.
Idk if it’s nostalgia or what but he was hardly better than ruben. Maybe by 2%.
Sure he tried a lot and worked hard but nonetheless his effort was limited. When we really needed someone to unlock a defense he usually faded like most of the team.
Your mom has 3 holes I fill.
We should stop blaming the coach. Responsibility to the players. It’s true that he can improve the tactical balance and this is normal at 2nd game, but Fonseca has nothing to do with Theo Hernandez not being bother to run with his man when a cross comes from the other side. This is basic stuff for a wingback. Leao does not press, in the first goal Coulobaly had 4 seconds to recieve the ball, look and play a vertical pass. Tomori on the Man chance in the second half litterally leaves his man stop the ball, put it down and pass it. Lotus cheek has not recovered a single ball. This has nothing to do with the coach, it’s the attitude.
He need try with 3 cb and that is. We cant play with 2 at this situation. Article is great we all see what hapens.
since our attackers do nothing , we should cut them and put 3 more defenders and play with 7 defenders , and maybe we won’t concede a goal ,imagine calabria and emerson both together on RB , that would be a thing
What we learned is this Management failed badly by turning an Italian team full of foreigners. They got Emerson instead of just buying Bellanovo.
It feels like players are just playing to get payed and not to win. Zero grinta!
Now to our midfielders, other than Fofana they can all leave. Can’t even play 3 passes together. I have never seen a team with a worse midfield. Our passes are always vertical or to the back and our long balls are always failed passes.
Foncesca should drop leao and play Saelemakers next game. His work ethic is 100 times greater. While RLC should be shipped to the premier league before his price drops.
I’m Italian but I couldn’t care less if Milan has Italian players or not. This is club football, not national team football. I care for good players, not a player’s nationality.
You mention Saelemaekers’ work ethic. His is Belgian, not Italian. Remember Giroud’s work ethic? He is French, not Italian. Remember Brahim Diaz’s work ethic? He is Spanish, not Italian.
Stop with the Italian angle for club players. It’s called xenophobia.
How is it xenophobia to want Italian players on an Italian team? You’re going to tell me Emerson is better than Bellanova (who came from Milan originally too)? Is Ricci worse than Musah? Retegui or Lucca not as good as Okafor and Jovic as strikers?
Do you even know what xenophobia means?
It’s kinda hard for me as a foreigner or majority of the people here to be called that when in fact we are the very thing that is supposed to be the source of xenophobia. Foreign people to Italy.
Your mom doesn’t have xenophobia turtle. She likes lots of different guys all at once.
Your mom doesn’t have xenophobia turtle. She likes lots of different guys all at once. She likes it quite a bit hahaha. Owned. Dummy.
This entertainment football of high defensive line will cause us the season….the writing was on the wall if any one watched preseason matches……thus teams were trying out different formations with their youngesters we didn’t get to see the result….now since the season started we are ripping the fruits…the team looked disjointed running without purpose acres of space the midfield was non existent…High defence line is risky but no body to cover once they get exposed…all Parma needed was a single block either by their midfielder or cb and we were expose….it would have been a lot worse….see a coach can’t be changed but tactics can we seemed clueless and lost….if you wana play with such tactical approach get kessie back or zubimendi the ones who act as a shield….common not with these bunch of players….I would easily accept as of now what Jose plays anti football approach Park the bus rather than go all guns blazing….a draw is better than a lost points.
🗣 Carlo Ancelotti on Rafael Leão:
“AC Milan has a great talent like Leão. Sometimes he needs to be hit. If he was coached by me, I’d hit him every day.”
May 28, 2024
Well, the management should have bought one or two top quality, established players to take the team to the next level and add winning mentality and tactical awareness. Plus the coach should have been chosen for being well-experienced either in Italy or in the UCL. With due respect to Fonseca but IMO he was chosen just for being a low-cost coach in France (Lille). Look at what Juve have been doing this summer. I do not see Milan being able to compete with Inter and Juve this season.
Al Hilal have submitted a 65 m offer to Napoli for Osimhen and Napoli is ready to accept, but Bennacer fans think that Bennacer is worth 50 m and a Saudi club would pay his release clause. Delusional.
UNBELIEVABLE !!!! THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AND ALL YOUR GOOD OPINIONS ON OUR LAZY STARS AND NO ONE EVEN MENTIONS PULI ‘ S GREAT EFFORT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL,IMAGINE IF HE DIDN T HAVE TO TRACK BACK TO HIS OWN BOX TIME &TIME AGAIN TO COVER OTHER PLAYERS MISTAKES. ( HE WOULD HAVE THE ENERGY TO SCORE 25 GOALS & ASSISTS FOR US) AS…holes 1
I agree. But because he is American, the people who are unhappy with Milan’s American ownership will never acknowledge how good Puli is, and how hard he works with a great attitude.
For them, Puli was signed just to sell jerseys in the United States, although Puli is CLEARLY one of the best Milan players, and yes, he gets exhausted by having to cover for his companions, tracking back.
I too agree. There have been a dozen+ occasions where I’ve observed Puli covering for Calabri when the opponent is too fast or skilled. In those occasions when covering, if you watch, Puli is hardly ever beat defensively one on one.
He, Maignan, and Reinders are the only true leaders with equivalent skill and work rate. The rest either lack in leadership/work rates (Leao/Theo/Tomori) or lack in skill (Calabria/RLC), respectively.
Theo took himself out of the running for Vice-Captain in my book. Magic Mike should be Captain after Calabria, then Puli if her perfects hia Italian.
It’s too bad that reijnders and pulisic aren’t vocal. They just lead by example with their workrate and quality which is great but someone needs to get in a few players ear…
Watch the number of off the ball runs he makes (or at least starts) and the ball is never played. He is constantly moving and looking to get behind and not one ball over the top or into space. Midfield and back content to recycle or play Rafa
The real problem here is we don’t the right mix of players. The management are actually at fault for the transfers they did for 3 years now. Since Kessi left, we’ve not had any enforcer in the midfield. Hakan Chalangnoglu who was a great passer in the middle left without proper replacement. What we have presently is a bunch of box to box midfielders.
Aside that, we need the right players that will give challenge to some of our present players who called themselves stars. Without competition, there’s no way we are getting out of this mess sooner.
We are presently just like Chelsea with a bunch of players that does not fit any system at all. Even if Ancelloti or Guardiola signs to be out next manager, the first thing that needs to be done for them to succeed is massive changes in the squad.
I’m beginning to miss the era of Silvio Berlusconi and Andriano Galliani, they truly understand football. We need owner or sporting director the understands football like them. Zlatan is a great influencer without any doubt. When it comes to getting the right players and coach, we need someone else.
I rest my case.
But that was Maldini who let those players leave for free and never replaced them… Don’t you know he’s infallible and never made a mistake? Shame on you.
With this current squad characteristics and tactics.
I’d like to see us switch to 352.
Move Theo to LWB. Leao can workout how to play in a front 2 or come off the bench.
Maybe 343 to keep making use of our wingers.
We have got to stop leaking goals.
Even in preseason when the results were positive. We leaked goals
343 would work quite well with this squad.
A back three of Pav Gabbia Tomori
they are playing a system that is as close to a 3-4-3 as it gets…the fullbacks play as wingbacks with the weak side FB dropping to the backline and the weakside winger dropping into the midfield making a 343…personally I prefer this approach because I don’t get what the far-side wingback is supposed to do in a 3-4-3
I think it’s more than the three man defence makes up for our lack of DM.
Yes, in a back four the FB on the other side should drop in but we also need either a DM to sit so that the CB on the other side can move across OR a CM to cover on the flank.
The biggest issue with the Milan squad is our midfield which has still not been properly addressed unless Fofana can sit.
I’d personally go with a starting 11 of:
Maignan
Tomori Gabbia Pav
Calabria Fofana Bennacer Theo
Pulisic Leao
Morata
I think the biggest issue is the front 4…midfield look good when front lines make the opposition rush passes…midfield get bypassed when they don’t. This would mean even more running for Theo who did not seem into the concept this weekend, hopefully will be resolved. Not opposed to that formation.
I’m concerned about Fofana, I’m not sure that he does anything better than Musah in the midfield. He really could have covered for Theo on the last goal. he turned the ball over 7 times in 20 min. I know its a new team, but I’m not sure I see how he’s an improvement over musah who is a better defender than given credit for.
Yes the front four didn’t help either except for maybe Pulisic.
Morata showed some real leadership in the first game which is promising.
definitely…morata and last season they pushed teams to pulisics side of the field and that worked pretty well….The main reason probably for chuk getting less run unfortunately because RLC and Leao arent exactly ball hawks…
3-4-3 could be worth trying but… The main issue is that no matter what the formation is as long as the players don’t give a **** about defending we won’t win matches. Fix the attitude first and the rest will follow.
Might as well stop this pressing, high block thing and revert to a park the bus or counter attack type of play. At least they won’t have to track back since they will be already at the back.
Our players simply don’t have the work ethic to make a press successfull.
But for the next game, neither Theo nor Leao should start.
He simply can’t start them . Their teammates have seen the same footage as everyone else. Would be disappointing if he did and invalidate everything he’s said about fielding a team with fight.
I really agree with that, and I’m not a true fan of the 3-5-2, but this team has to be rebuilt on application, willingness to close spaces and track back as a team and that formation can be the bedrock to build on , for things cannot go on as they are.
I feel the coach needs to send a message and play the players who sacrifice for the team and since Morata is out I would go with something like this:
Maignan
Tomori -Gabbia-Pav
Musah-Fofana-Bennacer-Saelemakers
Riejnders
Pulisic- Leao
Calabria can come in at RCB , he would do well in a back three without so much ground to cover.
Thiaw would fight for Gabbia’s spot.
Royal can rotate with Musah as RWB.
Theo needs to be dropped , either he wants to play as he does for France or be sold next window.
RLC has to want to do the dirty work in the double pivot or stay on the bench as he is not technical enough for a no. 10.
Liberali must cameo to give Reijnders a break in the playmaker position.
Okafor, Jovic and Chuks need to level up
That’s both our captain and vice captain dropped!
I do like that front two who could really mix things up by floating and pulling wide but we’d probably need someone through the middle and I don’t Reijnders can do that (I am still struggling to work out what his role is full stop).
RLC is the only of our midfielders who has shown the ability to get beyond the strikers and either score goals, provide assists or make dummy runs.
Like I said for things to really change you need something a little drastic !
The message that change is needed must be loud and clear.
For two seasons now some players have been becoming more and more selfish and arrogant and it has become impossible to recreate the feats of the Scudetto winning team without application, sacrifice and teamwork.
For all Musah’s rawness he works , hustles and takes orders. Salemaekers the same diligent and disciplined .
Calabria will come in at RWB or RCB but right now to start you need energy and players who have it.
Perhaps with Morata it changes to a 3-4-3 as Morata works and drops back , therefore the need for a 10 will be less.
A prime Theo would be a king LWB but he doesn’t want to play, so yeah drop the captain and the vice captain until the ship has steadied.
Just my 2 cents.
PS I think you are underestimating Reijnders overall importance (no doubt he can do even better in an organized, well set out team) and overestimating RLC’s contribution to our game ( even though he did score double digits last season)
Calabria is consistently one of our better players and I really have no idea why he gets so much hate.
I just think fans imagine that he’s somehow not at some imaginary level.
Since Reijnders arrived at the club and since he’s started the majority of the games. we have gone from having one of the strongest midfields in the league to one of the worst.
Of all our new signings he’s been given the most minutes and he’s still not shown what is the main thing he brings to the table: he’s not a tackler, he’s not really a passer, he’s not really a goal scorer, and he’s not really a dribbler, and he’s not a leader.
He can do some of some of these things reasonably well but he doesn’t dominate in any one area, and as a result our midfield doesn’t control matches.
He could well be the weakest link but I’m prepared to see how he does this season under Fonseca or whoever replaces Fonseca.
Like all players I am willing tog give him the benefit of the doubt but my doubts are not really being addressed.
I see a lot of hangover and bad habits from Pioli’s stint. Lazy press, lazy track back. Bad qualities that Fonseca has to kick out of them.
The question is, is Fonseca the man to do it? Because it’s time to whoop some @$$ and get these players back on track…
Right. It’s still all Pioli’s fault…
He’s gone now so you can probably lay off him, and start showing some respect for the man who delivered one of only two Scudetti in 20 seasons.
At this rate we might be waiting another 10 years for another one.
He has to bench both Theo and Leao for the next game. If he wants to be the boss, he has to act like he is the boss. Theo, Leao and all the players in general have to understand that they won’t get away with the lazy attitude they used to enjoy under Pioli.
Now, I don’t know what to make of Musah’s words, but it seems that Fonseca has a hard time getting his ideas across, which, if it’s true, is quite worrying.
Musahs confusion probably stems more from positioning/actions of his teammates than instruction from Fonseca.
Yeah, framing it as bad coaching or musah being raw (whatever that means) is um…silly given the evidence to this point of his abilities to win tackles up the field. he is just saying they didn’t prepare for leao to ditch the gameplan. That would be a weird thing to practice. But he is not going to call him out directly. But you can’t start the press in midfield…they had too much time to pick out passes that could bypass that pressure…
I know the amazing ‘fans’ around here love nothing more than slagging off the club captain, and even his so called ‘supporters’ do the whole Remainer Brexit argument of ‘he’s done well but….’, but when every single full back has struggled so far under Fonseca do we not think there’s something go on here with the tactics?
Terraciano was awful in pre-season, Saelemaekers struggled last week, all three FBs struggled against Parma: Theo, Calabria and Emerson.
That’s 5 separate players who have struggled in that position.
The same fans have obviously instantly taking too swearing their allegiance to Pavlović and defending his defending at all costs.
But no such excuses for our longest serving player, captain and local hero.
Whereas Pavlović had the excuse of having to mark two players, when Calabria also had to mark two players…well off with his head I say.
As most have spotted the formation is leaving a lot to be desired so it’s difficult to judge any players including Reijnders who still doesn’t seem to have a position beyond ‘Person Responsible for Some Nice Touches’.
Certainly the full backs weren’t helped by the failure of Musah aka ‘Mr RAW!!!!!’ and Person Responsible for Some Nice Touches not covering the flanks or the center or anywhere really.
I wonder how long it will be before the vultures turn on Pavlović. I presume it will be after they turn on Fonseca, who in fairness, is not doing himself any favours.
What a time to be alive.
Musah had 3 tackles and 1 int..in 65m
Reijnders had 0 tackles and 1 int in 90 min
RLC had 0 tackles and 1 int in 90 min
Theo had 0 tackles and 0 int in 90 min
Fofona came in and turned the ball over 7 times (same amount as musah) in 20 min and had a nice chat with theo while parma went and scored the game-winning goal.
Theo, Fofona and RLC are paid are more and are in their primes…how is it that you can see that people might turn on a player without reason and not see that you do that with musah?
I think Calabria played hard but doesn’t fit the tactics and Emerson does as seen when he played for Conte…I think Fonseca thought that Theo could play that role as well as a defender high up the pitch because of his strength and speed. Hopefully, he is just not in shape, and it will get better…
Pav was a legend…exactly like from his highlights. he is a special signing. Especially at that price.
Maldini – the greatest LB ever – said you’ve already made a mistake if you had to make a tackle. Nuff said.
As another has pointed out the number of tackles is not actually a great indicator as it means his positioning his not great.
He said it himself he didn’t know where to stand!
Calabria has the advantage of being an actual proven winner. He is a Scudetto winning FB.
Musah came from a mid table Spanish team.
Pav has also not won anything of note (outside of Serbia).
Once again wild speculation as to what a player MIGHT do is given precedence over what a player has ACTUALLY done.
So you coach the team and prepare the drill called: “ when leao ditches the pressure system. Here is what we do. Leao stand here uninterested. Midfield…you are gunna wanna drop because it makes no sense to pressure when a defender has that much time on the ball. Ok let’s work.”
I agree that tackles and interceptions don’t equate to great defense but they are playing a system where the defense is high and the midfield and fullbacks are going to generate the most. Great back lines are not gunna get many tackles. When the gameplan is to rush the ball so that they send it towards the middle of the field. The midfield and fullbacks are the ones in position to grab it and counter…
If stats aren’t your thing…then the how the team looked with musah in the game vs after he was replaced by fofana is just as convincing…granted fofana has only been with the team a short time.
Musah didn’t might play well against psg and Newcastle and dortmund last year, he did…what is this might…
Well said.
I’m not trying to saying calabria is bad. Just that he’s a better fit for a system that isn’t playing fullbacks as wingbacks…he worked hard…also I am saying that it was impressive that pav played two positions and won 7 of 8 tackles. This happened. It’s not in the future. He actually did it…
Liberali time for trequartista?
Fonseca out
Gerry out
Zlatan out
MIND THE GAP!!!!!
It’s on Fonseca. He has to figure out the defence, sooner rather than later.
Milan is creating chances, if we are able to hold possession we would be scoring multiple goals.
We are betrayed by our defence and our midfield.
The full backs are too exposed, and are do not appear motivated.
He got hired because no one else was available. That is a problem with Zlatan having power. There never was a coach he got on with, so I can’t see people wanting to work with him.
I’d like to add 6th point if I may:
6. Emerson will make us appreciate Calabria more.
In theory yes. But the haters will keep in hatin’…
6. Fonseca is the new Giampaolo.
Personally the 433 would make sense, but it would require the coach to man manage someone like fofana. Have him drop inbetween the two cbs when the fullbacks push up to form a back 3 and you will basically have a 3-4-3 in attack and 4-5-1 in defense
The problem is not that hard to see and not that hard to fix unless the coach is a stubborn jackass. Our players are too high up the pitch. Everyone on this team thinks they are an attacking player.
Parma didn’t even go through our midfield, they bypassed it entirely. Just right over the top to the wings where our fullbacks are nowhere to be found. Calabria is always out of position and doesn’t have the pace to get back and Theo plays higher up the pitch than Leao half the time and doesn’t ever seem in a hurry to get back to defense. Basically Tomori and Pavlovic were the only ones playing defense and even they were too high up the pitch.
I’m honestly not seeing a difference in tactics right now from Pioli, just less effort being shown by the players which is troubling.
But apparently if we just benched RLC all our problems would be solved.
This is only a problem if the opponent is given time on the ball to make accurate passes…so the problem is that they were given time on the ball to make accurate passes or the team played too high. But playing that high in itself isn’t a problem. If you caught the man city game, their CB played much higher than tomori and pavlovic. But their front 4 were able to create two turnovers that they turned into goals…the front four against Parma didn’t win any challenges.
Well this is the problem, same problem that hurt Pioli. Everyone wants to play like Man City. The problem is if you try to play like Man City without the Man City players… This is what you get. Stop trying to copy other teams and do what’s best for the players that you have.
They won’t be man city obviously but pavlovic does have many of the characteristics they look for in a can but I’m saying they can play a high line, they just need better reactions from the front 4. I think morata, pulisic reijnders and chuck or Saelemaekers are very capable defenders. At minimum it’s what they should do next game (no morata though)…and evaluate from there…
That is what happens when you fire a coach who is very limited but guarantees CL spot and hire someone like that. I think everyone was shocked when Fonseca got hired.