Milan failed to build on their draw against Man Utd as Napoli scored the only goal at San Siro this evening. It was a subpar performance by the Rossoneri and down below are the player ratings.
Starting XI
Donnarumma (6): Made the few saves he was expected to make and generally couldn’t have done anything about the Napoli goal.
Dalot (3): One of the worst performances by a Milan player this season. Didn’t put a foot right the entire game, a turnstile on defence, consistently abused by Insigne and Hysaj down the right-hand side and even on the ball he sloppily gave the ball away for Napoli’s goal.
Gabbia (6): A good outing by the youngster who made his first appearance since early December, after an extended injury period. Looked composed for much of the game, his return is a much needed positive for an injury-riddled Milan side.
Tomori (6): Continued to be a positive presence and showed why many fans are already clamouring for his buy option from Chelsea to be activated, lost Zielinski for a chance in the first half but otherwise had another confident game.
Theo Hernandez (5.5): A relatively poor outing from the marauding fullback, was caught out defensively for the deciding goal, otherwise could’ve had a penalty late on but was denied by a frustrating decision by the referee.
Tonali (7): The young Italian has really grown into his own the past month or so with another much-improved performance, especially on the ball where he looked like the silky composed midfielder we all hoped he would be when he signed this past summer.
Kessie (6.5): The stalwart midfielder looked a bit fatigued having played the full 90 in the past six games in such a congested schedule. Was taken off with 20 minutes to go having not put his usual imprint on the game.
Castillejo (4): A textbook inefficient game from Samu, a replica of many similar games that we’ve seen from the often frustrating winger. Worked hard defensively but overall showcased why he’s one of the prime candidates to be replaced in the summer.
Calhanoglu (5.5): His first game back following a couple of weeks of injury and he definitely looked rusty on both sides of the ball.
Krunic (5): Anonymous for much of the game, he gets some slack after some positive performances against Hellas Verona and Manchester United but remains a significant downgrade on Rebic and Leao down the left.
Leao (4.5): Another lethargic performance from the young striker. Missed a somewhat difficult chance to equalize and generally needs to get better at holding the ball up and making his presence felt more.
Substitutes
Saelemaekers (6): Was part of a triple substitution with 30 minutes to go that made a significant difference in Milan’s attacking ability.
Brahim Diaz (6): A part of the triple substitution and helped the team significantly down the middle, rarely lost the ball and tried his best to link up play.
Rebic (5): Was actually the best of the substitutes coming on but completely undid all the good he had produced with a ridiculous sending off at the end of the game for something he said to the ref.
Meite (N/A)
Hauge (N/A)
If at this last hour we’re still going to rely on the tired legs of Zlatan and Mandzukic to give us goals then we’ve failed in advance,it’s really strange that without Zlatan we can’t score to win simple games,the management needs to solve the CF problem to allow Leao to play at his best position (LWF) they need to buy an already made CF.
We have been saying this all season, got mandukic in January , and never played
Very unfair on Dalot. You put on him the blame of a team that was uninspired. We had only a couple of scoring chances in 90 minutes.
Prepare for Europa league and if we continue like that then no Europe one more year. This team doesn’t deserve to play cl . And if we play cl then we have no chance and finish 4 in group stage. Call me pessimist. I call myself realistic
Agree 100%. Prioritize the Europa League to take advantage of the money and experience it brings. If this team is truly deserving of a CL spot then they’ll still manage to finish top 4.
And dont surprised if we lose bennacer donnaruma rebic and hernandez. These are the only players that can give something more to milan. All the others just below average and some very young for milan shirt
Dalot, Krunic, Sammu absolutely terrible. They should not be part of the project next season. Leao is young but much more effort is needed from him. All the talent in the world but work ethic is extremely questionable. Hakan poor but it’s his first game back. Hope we don’t give him a crazy salary tho. Again Pioli questionable choices and subs. When will someone teach Thoe how to defend?? Why not start Rebic? Krunic has no business playing wing. We have to be concerned we don’t lose CL spot with the way we are playing.
please maldini and co.dont know there jobs let milan’s mr elliott request for me to come i will give milan what the are missing mr elliott wants a young milan filled with high potentials something must be done first sir if you really think you want that.
Wow the Dalot hate is palpable. Yes Dalot’s pass was the start of the build up to the goal but there are at least 3 to blame and also concede that it was a very good interception. Castillejo was being too fancy receiving the ball, Kessie made a horrendous mistake with a terrible tackle (note he is one of two who supposed to be protecting the back) and Theo was far too slow to get back to track his man ie the goalscorer Politano. I thought the biggest error was by Theo and then Kessie. Not even sure why he’s up when the other full back is also up, basically leaving two CBs as cover. The elephant in the room is Theo, not Dalot. The faster ppl realize that all teams are now taking advantage of his poor positional play defensively down the left the better it would be for all involved. I think we should move Theo to left wing and play Dalot as LB.
Yes Dalot’s pass was very early in the build up but I’m more upset we didn’t organize on defence once the error was made. We had time to do so.
Another disappointing game! Dalot and Hakan hopeless. Someone has to teach Tomori that there are other nine players on the pitch besides the goalkeeper! Rebic has commitment a stupid episode that proved to be dear! Leao non-existent! Saelemaekers and Brahim were excellent and should be given more space. Brahim is fundamental for the team’s future. Cannot understand why Kessie was replaced! He was the one leading the team. Forward line needs to be reinforce with solid players. Hopefully this nightmare is over.
I must say, leao’s work ethic is poor. Look at Mbape when he was 19, Holland at 19. You can see their work ethic, passion, commitments. Leao is just too lazy. He lacks mental strength, physical strength for his size. Poor positioning too. When there’s a cross about to come in, leao is still strolling just right outside the eighteen yard box, when he’s supposed to be in the smaller box ready to poach, as well as pulling the defenders away creating a space between them and the midfielders in the box.
Cahla is poor. He’s supposed to be like the second striker, yet he drifts towards the left or right wing, crowding the gameplay, leaving the main striker alone in the box.
I believe pioli is not teaching these guys attacking strategy. If they were being taught, perhaps we would have been seeing creative link up play in the final third. This is a far cry from the way they linked up last year. I believe coaching commitment from pioli is declining, there’s no strong criticism on players from pioli.
Last thing is, they shouldn’t have let Bounaventura leave. He still remains a true number 10. He is definitely the only player that has the intelligence of quick transition and play link up within the box. He’s unselfish and has vision. Cahla’s vision is poor and even though he’s fit, it will be the same thing. Creative midfielder doesn’t really rely much on fitness but intelligence, and Cahla is short of this. It’s best to let him go and save money.
Castiljeho, Krunič, Dalot, Leao su več duže vrijeme apsolutna nula !!!! Ne sudjeluju u konstrukciji igre, i guraju klub unazad !!
There was no use blaming player for the poor performance,pioli and Milan managements they have to realize that they don’t deserve UCL at all. If they want it change Pioli or maldini as well. Why they keep player such as castillejo, krunic . If they don’t have budget ,promote primavera players such as El hilali, Olzer .
Pioli should also be scored.
He is an average Coach,lacks technical skills.
He prefers to use average players first, when there is a problem he starts Fielding the ist team.
While not use a winning team first and get to use the average to support?
if i danielson should be incharge of milan i love youth football i will love to coach milan team for me i love fast playing type of players milan management are very very slow in terms of buying players if am employed as a milan coach i have few players
for me i will keep players like hauge,brahim diaz,leao,tonali,kalulu,donnarumma,gabbia,d.maldini,theo,bennarcer,promote el hilali,olzer,plizzari,and sign bryan gil,ocampo poveda,boubaka kamara,leonardo balerdi,camavinga,timothy weah,halland younger bro