Alvaro Morata was not happy with the fact that he was taken off at half-time in last night’s defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, a report has claimed.
After the near-brawl in front of the cameras between Sergio Conceiçao and Davide Calabria immediately after the win against Parma, the unpleasant episodes inside the Milan dressing room continue.
According to Tuttosport (via Calciomercato.com), there was a further moment of player-coach tension during the damaging defeat against Dinamo Zagreb last night, which saw Milan drop into the play-off zone after starting the night sixth.
If against Parma it was Calabria who did not hold back at the end of the match in front of the cameras, this time the protagonist was the Spanish centre-forward Alvaro Morata, replaced by the Portuguese coach during the interval.
The choice was made to bring the striker off despite being 1-0 down to Baturina’s, but with the Rossoneri down to 10 men due to the red card that Yunus Musah got. Morata did not take the change well at all and did not hide it inside the dressing room in front of Conceiçao.
The former Porto boss had made his mind up, however, and sent out Samu Chukwueze for the second half. Tammy Abraham would come on but not until the 82nd minute, so Milan were without a recognised striker until then.
Even with Morata on, they were playing like without any striker up front. He doesn’t add anything to this team but a number. Same as half of the players in the rooster.
This is a tough one. On one hand you have the side of him that, most of the time, is pretty ineffective in front of goal. And on the other side, you have a leader, runner, hard worker.
For the lack of goals he has scored, he brings good movement, and his passes (90% of the time) are fantastic that bring the wingers into the attack.
We must remember that with two different managers, it takes time to adapt. If the players aren’t making the right runs (there always seems to be a huge gap between the midfield and the attack) or the correct passes, then how can morata be affective? I actually think Milan played better football under Fonseca. There was more thought towards the pass and movement for the space. Agreed that Conceciao brings the higher intensity and pressing…. But when do you actually see it??? The last 10min, just like under pioli.
And here lies the fundamental problem, the squad. I really enjoy reading everyone’s comments, sometimes it’s better than the article itself, and what we all agree on is the average squad we have. I read in another article a few days ago that there’s too many divisions and factions in the squad. I mean, seeing the photo of Camarda breaking the rules with Theo, Calabria &co made me a little worried about the role models.
I watched Deadpool & Wolverine again the other day and it suddenly occured to me (SPOILER ALLERT) Milan have lost their “anchor being(s)”. Tonali held the team together on the pitch and Maldini off it. Losing them both has completely destroyed the team both on and off the pitch. They were both the heart and soul of the team. Mike, bless him, tries his best and I like him as a captain, but I think it should be Fofana or Reijnders, purely because they are not surrounded by any controversy and their extra efforts always brings up the rest of the team!
There’s so much that can be said about this team but I think I should come to the crux of my point. In order for this team to grow, we need a completely new restructure of this club, and by that, out with the deadwood who don’t want to be there, and more Italian players. Management that actually know their roles also. I mean, I can turn on Football Manager and put together a better team than these guys, honestly. I appreciate and can see the vision of Gerry, we’re making a profit now, wants a stadium ect, but let’s not forget that the profit wouldn’t have been possible without Gazidis, Maldini & Massara!
Players don’t look happy, and are missing that spark of enthusiasm! We need players that want to fight for the club and are thrilled to wear these fantastic colours. Yes we have history, great history, but if we continue to live in the past then nothing will ever change in the present! Holding on to Tomori, Theo, Leao is just pointless, when their football and attitude is telling everyone watching that they’ve already left. I really hope that this summer will be a complete revolution of football and the team.
Here’s my ideal team (realistic), based on my favourite Milan team. 4321. Mike:Walker,Scalvini,Thiaw,Udogie:Fofana,Ricci,Tonali:Pulisic,Reijnders:Giminez.
Extra signings: Quentin Timbers, J.Cardosso, R.Rios, Fillipo Mané, Raspadori, J David.
Fully integrated: Kevin Zeroli, Camarda, Liberalli.
Call me a dreamer, but this would be incredible.
A hard working, compact team, with flashes of genius from the midfield.
Thanks for reading. Wanted to write something for months.
Good post
Leader? Morata can’t lead his children, don’t be ridiculous. Everything else you wrote is correct, but Morata a leader? He is a mentally unstable manchild, not a leader of any kind.
A striker is judged by goals and sometimes assists. Not running, not leading, not work rate, those are additions but GOALS.
At least that was the metric used for the greats and icons of the game from. Past gone times.
And if morata cannot even do what he was brought for, then he is a liability plain and simple.
This was clear from the start that morata was never a good buy. But as usual people were carried away with captain of spain, athletico Madrid plays, winning a lot, and bla bla bla.
But not focusing on how much he was a good goal scorer. The first and most important metric of a striker. And now weeks later we here now….
Clean up this team, change with the new one, who will fight for this shirt
guy just doesnt deserve to wear #7. To much weight
This is on management.
They had an opportunity to nip it in the bud after the Lazio cooling break fiasco but instead they allowed the overrated divas to run roughshod and publicly disrespect the coach. That set a bad precedent for the rest of the squad to behave the same way. That’s why you have the Calabria’s and Morata’s act the way they do.
Milan’s season was doomed after that cooling break. At no other serious club that kind of behavior would have been tolerated without any consequences for the perpetrators.
Wholesale clear outs are needed this summer, management and players, starting with the divas.
A single bad apple can rotten the entire basket right?
But I wouldn’t let any player of the hook. If Morata is having a good season or was having a good game, I would understand, but has he done till now ? Aside from diving, being called offside and complaining to referee, I see nothing from him.
He was supposed to bring leadership with his long career and him being captain, but in the end I can only see frustration and stess in this roster.
He should be let go off by the end of the season, as well as maaaaaannnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyy others.
Forget squad revolution, we need a squad demolition. We’re starting back from scratch.
This season Theo, Leao, Tomori (penalty vs Fiorentina) now Calabria and Morata, all have behaved unprofessional and disrespectful towards a coach or a player. Those 5, plus Maignan are your captains and leaders. That right thers is all you need to know about this team.
This Milan team is built around those players. Management built a team on weak and unstable base.
Exactly. Wrong players and wrong roles. No real leaders (Flo injured). Hopefully Walker can shake things up a bit.
Giroud is a real example of what a striker must do in front of the arc. Neither Moratta nor Abraham, both together can’t compare to the frenchman. So it isn’t a fact related to any trainer but here is the quality of the player
The only thing management can do is get players out of the door or change the coach, which is what they did.
The mistake they made was not showing the door to Tomori. We need the money and he’s garbage. Selling him would have also given a chance to Barteshagi.
He was nonexistent on the ground so that he could be substituted. He is aware that his input is poor!!
Morata was invisible, and not just this game, but for many games in a row now. Aside from being called outside, he made no real attempt at scoring in games now.
He has NO right to complain about being subbed out.
Actually he shouldn’t even complain if he is taken out of the squad list.
Last time Real Madrid got him, they kept him for a single season and then let him go to Chelsea. We should do the same.
Morata, you’re a journeyman for a reason.
I would actually laugh at this point if Conceicao quit and told the media what a mess the club is.
But really, the board need to back him. Sell whoever he doesn’t want (however ‘important’ they may be) and bring in the players he does. I said last night, I would take 3 year in the Europa while Conceicao and a new sporting director rebuild us from the ground up over this merry-go-round of hapless Moncada bargains. This is getting worse than Banter.
Morata unhappy? for me its even strange that he started at all. Abraham is not the best either but e.g. the assist for Okafors chance was a lot more than Morata did in all games together.
Even with the combination of Morata and Abraham, we have no strikers. They are both useless.
Beyond useless. I don’t get it why Camarda is on the bench watching those two waste chances week in week out.
At least Camarda will develop with so much playing time.
He gets to see up close how to NOT play as a striker. But yeah, it would be better to let him play for Futuro instead of sitting on the bench every matchday.
Learn how to read the game. The striker is the last man in the assembly line. If his teammates aren’t productive when it comes to chance creation, he will suffer. Milan have struggled to feed their strikers consistently all season. That’s why Morata and Abraham look ineffective.
Absolutely!! Morata has no moral justification to complain, he is utterly useless, he plays like amateur, he is not prolific and he just added “offside master” to his credentials
Milan is deservedly in 13th place, they are not a top 8 level team honestly.
In my profession they say, “tactical corrections cannot undo strategic blunders” but this holds equally good everywhere.
The management needed to loose the match AND ~16 millions to realize stop gap arrangements like Morata and Abraham will do them harm than good.
We are desperately in need of an excellent striker upfront, a real midfielder to give some respite to Tiji and Fofana (look how many minutes they have already played)
Theo has been excellent for 3 consecutive seasons prior to this but he is but a human, this dip in his performance should also be acceptable, what is not acceptable is that we didn’t find his proper deputy in the last 4 years.
the sooner this is realized, the better
Oh.. No..
The coach have high tension character. Now the player follow up. After calabria, now morata. It look like the dressing room is distress room.
Sell around 7-8 players, inclusive Theo, get back Adli and Sealemakers who always fought for the team, buy a top scorer and use 3-4 of our young players. Introduce a very tough policy and everyone who does not follow it, he must be punished. Perhaps it will help.
When did Adli fight for the team? maybe you mix up fighting with shopping some NBA jerseys and a little talking about liking the club etc.
Adli fought for the team.
He was one of the few that showed heart and grit for the badge and shirt.
Morata should look for another club and he should take theo and leao along with him.
Oops! Calabria and his elder brothe Emerson too
All these issues am so ashamed of the management because if we had great players this issue of fighting wouldn’t have happened as every player will fight for position. We played without striker when Morata came out and that was the only option the coach was left with. The management who are porous as the owner are garbage. The pedigree they enjoy today as Milan owner and management is the work of those who spent good money acquiring great players not the ones who are stingy and poor in spending. Garbage
spot on
Morata can chill he isn’t helping Milan as Giroud did .. Milan toughest matches is save by Pavlovic and chuku.
It’s easy, zero goals unhappy man, find another club
Utter lack of leadership in the outfield 10 is the clear issue. OK Maignan tries but he’s not out there in the mix.
Scudetto year you had Ibra, Giroud, Kessie, Tonali, Kjaer…..all gone now.
Zero leaders and this is what you get.
I don’t even know how you would go about fixing this disaster… Gut the entire team? Wholesale changes?
This management could do that, BUT since they are the ones that got us in this mess in the first place, does anyone trust them to actually fix it ???
OR, bring in a DS and let someone competent navigate through these rough waters. Someone with experience in Italy.
Next one up, it will be Walker the new signning. haha
Puli is much more dangerous in the box than Morata or Tammy. I don’t know if he scores that goal in Croatia if Morata is in the box jamming everything up.
Maybe we just put Pulisic up top until we get a 9. He’s our best pure finisher at this point.
The confusion that there is inside milan these days is incredible. No long term plan, no idea of how to move forward consistently – nothing – just improvisation and living from day to day.
Maldini was kicked away … and we never knew exactly why. Seems he was no grovelling puppy.
Now we have a bunch of clowns, idiots and fools who started with €20 million for a €40 million striker but at the end had to lump it – got morata in summer and is now on the way out. Got pavlovic and were prepared to send him away – okafor was dumped back by leipzig …… have been unable to offload jovic …. supposed to have been chasing ricci for the last six months …. tomori on the way out ….. leao enjoys extended holidays on the pitch ….
WHEN WILL THIS MISERY END FOR MILAN TIFOSI?????
CARDINALE, IBRA, FURLANI, MONCADA, SCARONI —- OUT NOW.