AC Milan suffered a massive defeat on their home turf, conceding three against Udinese, and the player ratings aren’t exactly filled with positive comments this evening.
Milan desperately needed to win after the defeat against Napoli on Easter Monday, which suddenly brought the top-four race back into question. Due to many chances missed and poor defensive displays, however, they lost again and in an even worse manner.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
Short Version
🥇 Modric (6): Milan created a lot of chances, so the build-up definitely wasn’t the issue today. If anything, Modric did really well to move the ball around and also to find the wingers in some good spaces.
👎 Leao (4.5): The jeers at the end from the entire San Siro crowd said it all. He missed several good chances tonight and certainly wasn’t so successful with his passing in the final third either. A summer sale has never felt so realistic.
👔 Allegri (4.5): Why Leao as the striker? Why no Tomori, who has proven to be way more comfortable in a back four? These are just two of many questions. It’s almost as if he’s tanking the season finale to join the national team…
Starting XI
Maignan (6): He conceded three goals, so you might be surprised to see a 6 here, but the truth is that his defence completely abandoned him. Besides, the goalkeeper had a great save on Davies in the first half (tipping it into the bar) and then a very good low stop in the second half. Positioning on the third goal wasn’t as bad as the defending.
Athekame (5.5): We have to take into account that he only got 45 minutes, but aside from one good run into the box, he didn’t add much to the game. The final pass let him down after that run too, so it’s not like it really led to something.
De Winter (4.5): He was bad on the second goal, even if the cross was pinpoint, and he definitely could have done better on the third. He gave Atta both time and space to find that bottom left corner, which made it very difficult for Maignan even if there’s a near-post argument to be had here. Revised to a 4.5 upon further reflection.
Pavlovic (5): Davies was having a field day in many of the duels with the Serbian, including just before the second goal. The Milan defender was definitely a bit all over the place today. The Milan defender also missed a big chance in attack that he should have scored with his place.
Bartesaghi (5.5): Unlucky deflection of course, but you could also argue that his movement on that counter-attack could have been better, even if it all happened very quickly. Some good moments in the build-up to note, so 5.5 seems fair given the defensive struggles.
Ricci (5.5): As I have said so many times before when grading the midfielder, it was a very bland performance. He felt a little bit sluggish on the ball, which hurt him in some good spaces, and there was really only one good cross to note (just before he got subbed off).
Modric (6): Milan created a lot of chances, so the build-up definitely wasn’t the issue today. If anything, Modric did really well to move the ball around and also to find the wingers in some good spaces. As I highlighted in the short version, he was the best (even if the bar was super low).
Rabiot (5.5): He always made himself available, and therefore saw a lot of the ball, but his decision-making was far from the best today. A couple of poor shots taken, some balls lost in Milan’s half, and so on. Not enough for a 6 by his standards.
Saelemaekers (5.5): Quite unlucky not to get a goal, seeing as Okoye made a monster save on his volley, but otherwise the Belgian wasn’t that successful. Probably more so the fault of the manager, switching from right-wing to right-back at half-time, but the No.56 also could have avoided some silly mistakes.
Leao (4.5): The jeers at the end from the entire San Siro crowd said it all. He missed several good chances tonight and certainly wasn’t so successful with his passing in the final third either. A summer sale has never felt so realistic. Revised to a 4.5 upon further reflection.
Pulisic (6): He made a lot happen. Fired just wide with a curling effort, had a shot blocked after a good run, found Leao with a great cross, and helped set up the Saelemaekers chance with a smart pass to Bartesaghi. Can he do even better? Yes, especially with his shooting, but it was enough for a 6 in my opinion.
Substitutes
Fullkrug (5.5): One good miss, followed up by a good flick for Fofana. He gives and he takes, but he’s taking when it matters and giving when it doesn’t.
Fofana (5.5): Added more energy to that side of the midfield but sadly, he wasted a pretty big chance after a poor first touch, making a mess out of that Fullkrug flick.
Nkunku (N/A): I didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Jashari (N/A): I didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Loftus-Cheek (N/A): I didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
The manager
Allegri (4.5): Why Leao as the striker? Why no Tomori, who has proven to be way more comfortable in a back four? These are just two of many questions. The Fullkrug sub was almost comical. It’s almost as if he’s tanking the season finale to join the national team…
What a spectacular collapse by Milan… Maybe now we can put to rest the talks of switching to a 3 man front line. Our defense simply can’t tolerate it without 3 CB’s. Our RB/LB’s just aren’t good enough defensively to support it.
But you gotta wonder why Max decided to start without a 9 again if he’s trying to play 3 upfront. Time and time again we see that Leao can’t cut it in the middle of the box, always making the wrong decision.
Yes, in my opinion if you even suggested this with last years results and same defenders you should be considered a joke. Not you specifically, but in general. It was obvious.
It’s bizarre how bad we are with a simple flat back four.. I mean, these guys are supposed to be professional footballers – they’re supposed to be able to adapt, play in a variety of positions, in a variety of systems when called upon, but they look like Serie D team when asked to make a simple switch… and it’s not like we were playing Real Madrid either… unbelievable…
Bartesaghi is dodgy even in back 5 but you kind of let that go as he is still a kid and you can’t play kids without some mistakes. But the rest…Tomori is a better defender than all of the others, and by far. As just a defender. Not ball playing, passing, crossing and all this irrelevant sh*t that defenders are rated by today.
Sad state of things when Tomori is our best defender … There’s a reason Allegri needs a couple of solid CB’s, and an upgrade in midfield, and a 9 worht a da*n huh?
I don’t mind Tomori but I agree it is a bit sad that he is the best. Considering Milan defenders of past he isn’t even in the same universe as many of them. And when I see people writing superlatives about how good is Pavlovic I get dizzy and nauseous.
I mean you can say De Winter is ok but if there was a experienced defender instead of him there would be less mistakes and more points. That is how it works in most cases. Same goes for no. 9 instead of Nkunku, for 40M€ .
I dunno man, I’m sure if Tomori was in there today he’d have been making just as many c0ck ups as the rest of them.. He’s bench player level for me at best..
I agree, neither of our CB’s work well in a flat 4. They are decent when there’s 3 of them – strength in numbers. Allegri knows this, that’s why he hasn’t been using a back 4. He just had to prove it to us.
Tomori was recently called into the England team due to his recent solid performances. His absence was a contributor to this terrible defensive performance and the result.
I absolutely disagree with you. Tomori in a back 4 is no better than anyone who played today. He is prone to stupid challenges and rash tackles in recovery. Just rewatch all of the last 2 seasons.
You are so dumb it beggars belief.
Ok. Try some English lessons.
The England coach does not agree with you and Udinese just walked through a Tomori-less defence with ease…It’s not me you are disagreeing with…you are disagreeing with reality. Which is typical in here.
That 2nd goal tells the whole story. The header in between two defenders and there was only ONE Udinese player in the box at the time. Where’s the communication? The team goes silent at the strangest times. Without 3 cbs the players look isolated for some reason.
Exactly. This was the Milan from last year and part of that was the 433. The left side is just wide open in that formation. Leao offers no cover, when ever Bartesaghi is forced up there’s tons of space. The 433 in the first half was kind of a false 9 situation but again that doesn’t work either b/c Leao is simply no good in the center. Some of his attempts looked unprofessional that’s how out of place he is there. That’s why I really think he could be gone this summer. It’s that, or buy 4 new starters to rebuild the team around him, cuz that’s what it would take. He isn’t Messi, so that’s a no. It makes more sense to buy a CB, an elite striker, and add depth.
I dont think this killed a front 3, but hopefully killed a front 3 with Leao as a striker. Please play Fulkrug in that spot instead.
The traffic cone?
I say try Nkunku there, as long as Leao and Puli are flanking him. I’m convinced it could work.
Is Santi injured again? I didn’t see anything but I would much rather see him up front than Fullkrug or Nkuku. Early in the season, he showed real chemistry with Pulisic up front. The other two have shown absolutely nothing so why not give Santi a chance with real minutes if he’s ready to go?
Yes this! Start of season Puli and Santi had great chemistry and Puli was scoring goals. Some will argue that “Leao is most talented we have”. That’s fine and great but he has zero chemistry with anyone on this team now. The only player he ever had any chemistry with was Theo…and he’s long gone. So long as Max keeps playing Leao and Puli it will be like trying to mix oil and water. Just doesn’t work.
I guess this will stay a mystery why Allegri doesn’t put Gimenez upfront flanked by Leao and Pulisic.
Why are you guys so hung up with back 4 or back 3? We haven’t had a good performance ( despite the final result) in good knows how long. Eventually bad performances bring out bad results. Leao has been playing as a forward for a while eventhough failing badly there, same with puli. Gotta play with a formation that fits your best players’ characteristics. Allegriball sucks period, it’s been doing so for a long time. Having said that, the management is the one to blame. Too many nobodies in management that have different ideas. A successful club picks the kind of football they want to play and buy or utilize players based on that style they want to play. Basically have clear ideas where the team and club will be in the future. With this management everything is hectic. Buy players out of panic, or buy a players just for a discount and hope to bring him to his glory days, instead of buying a player based on what the team actually needs. We haven’t had a solid Cf since giroud. We lost tonali in midfield but we got modric who can only deliver half of the season at best since he is 40. We got rabiot who is a great player, absolutely a beast but he is a muscle. Absolutely needed but again a muscle . Than Richie and jashari, 2 of the same. They may develop to 2 of our midfielders that we may need in the future but without playing time that will be very unlikely. Been quite for most of the season, but this talk of back 4 or back 3 is the culprit here is just not right. Allegri is the one to lead us to our glory. This current management will definitely not bring us there either. They are too chaotic and lack proper vision for the club. Eventually that effects the team and the final results. As a long time milan fan, I always hope that next year will be better than the last, learn from past mistakes. With this management highly doubt it.
Correction: Allegri is NOT the one to lead us to our glory.
I agree with almost everything except that ALEGRI will not lead us to glory. This has always been why alegri football is a bad concept to build a winning and dominant team on. I have been saying these 2 things for a while now, the formation doesn’t matter if you are going to just play the same brand of football and Milan doesn’t have a good defense, they play defensive football with a good keeper and it can be a mirage if you blow over it. Milan have great players but they don’t get a chance to shine cause alegri don’t use them right. That midfield today was atrocious, why would you play 2 players that practically play the same position along with a defensive midfielder in rabiot, where is the creativity coming from
All comments here relate to criticism of formation, manager and players (which are valid) but let’s not forget the clubs hierarchy and give them a free pass. Repeating the same mistakes over and over (selling our best midfielders, Tonali, then Reijnders, buying Emerson Royal, then Estupinan, hiring Fonseca, then Conceiciao, failing to get a proper centre forward, centre back(is De Winter an upgrade on Thiaw?) defensive midfielder,and right back. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of blame to go around but the leadership of the club has too often proved itself incompetent, looking like they’re making it up as they go along. Why can clubs like Bournemouth and Brighton consistently scout and buy (at a low cost then sell for 50-100M) talented young players but Milan can’t get their act together enough to sign one top class player?
Bizarre to start Leao in the center of a front 3, instead of on the wing. That smacks of plain stubbornness from Allegri.
yes it does…He must have zero faith in Fulkrug and Gimenez.
Where are Allegri’s boys? Imagine a total collapse and we finish outside the top 4? Starting Leão as a lone striker 🤣🤣🤣 what a muppet.
It’s beyond dumb – I give up with him…
“Here’s your 433, now fvck off” Sincerely, Allegri …
hahaha
Yeh we got trolled…
LOL!!! So that’s why we lost! Allegri wanted to make a point! 😀 😀 😀 😀
Well played, sir. But we’re now one step closer to playing Europa League though… 🤷♂️
And I would not blame that on Allegri if it were to happen. He has been over-performing. Milan isn’t a #2 or even maybe a #3 team in the standings. But maybe Max can keep it together to secure CL …
Hahaha. Their defense of their tactical genius of a coach is getting weirder and weirder. Lmao
I’ve been laughing at these comments it’s really funny atp. lol
Dindudre it seems that everything is funny to you. Do you know how many Serie A titles does Allegri have? Who is better than him in history?
How many do you have? Have you kicked a ball twice in your life? Stop being ridiculous, you are the only thing funny here.
realno nismo ni za evropsku ligu
Not gonna lie, this exact thought crossed my mind
Allegri’s boys?
Look you at stick with the manager and players through thick and thin.
A good, wise and skilfull coach will shape a team according to the characteristics of the players he has at his disposal, he will not try to shape the players in a rigid and limited way in his only tactical arrangement that he is willing to play.
It is equally true that all those who have dealt with transfers in recent years have brought several mediocre, untalented and unambitious players. For one good transfer they have made 5 other poor transfers. Our group of players is now full of mediocre players from all points of view.
I do not trust Tare, he is a very weak and uninspired sports director when it comes to bringing players. Moncada has nothing left to look for at this club, he has proven that he is a mediocre scouting chief, and Furlani should have left this club a long time ago.
Milan needs first and foremost skilfull managers, with a modern vision, who can put a new project from the ground up and a new and suitable coach for this project.
I agree, but which manager will create a winning team when the sport director and other staff can’t even get 3 players he asked for? Allegri asked for exactly the same players he is still asking for next season. Real no 9, with experience, experienced defender. That is what he asked, what he got? Even if Allegri is the worse manager on the planet, you should give him what he asks and then when he fails fire him. What Tare and Furlani did is set him up for failure and everyone is blaming Allegri.
True. Tare, Furlani, Moncada… whatever one of these clowns has bringing Nkunku to Allegri when Allegri chose to play 352 system in situation that we have Leao and Pulisic two wingers unfited for Allegri’s system…😆😆
I wanna ask Jerry Cardinale…why you sacked Maldini ? For what for ? Because he would never have agreed to the sale of Tonali, right? Because Maldini with all his mistakes, anyway much smaller than those who came after him, had a clear strategy and some ambitious goals that required investments not the search for immediate profit by selling players, right?
If Milan misses the Champions League for the second year in a row, Cardinale demonstrates his lack of managerial capacity and proves himself to be a weak leader, without vision and it is demonstrated that by dismissing and replacing Maldini he lost more than he gained with selling the best players of this team.
Well that was obvious, Maldini got fired after he said in an interview that the next step is to invest a bit more, and the core of the team is already there. He was right but instead Milan got a new revolution, and it seems destined to repeat every 2-3 seasons. Ridiculous.
And Nkunku for 40M instead of a no. 9 Allegri asked is sabotage. It is like someone wanted to sabotage Allegri and got him Temu version of Leao/Pulisic for 40M instead of a number 9. And then, in January they bring Fullkrug. It is trolling or Tare/Furlani are the most incompetent people in charge of any club anywhere. I personally never liked Allegri or his football, ever since he got Pirlo out of AC Milan. But you can’t be unfair and put 100% blame on him for what these noobs in management did, even if you hate the guy…
Yes, Pulisic is so unsuited for the system that he scored ten goals and the team was in first before Gimenez got hurt.
The championship lasts 38 games. Nobody cares what happened after 10 or 15 games…
The point was his suitability for the system, not his form.
100%
We don’t even have an organization chart. Everyone is doing their own thing. Who’s calling the shots? Confused system creates confused mercato and a disjointed team that we are witnessing.
Wait wait wait…haven’t you all been screaming for 433?? Well you got it. Haven’t you all been saying Ricci should be a starter and that Barteshaghi is a good defender? Well folks you got what you asked for and guess what?…wrong, wrong and wrong.
Did anyone call for Leão as a striker and has Pervis covered himself in glory? I thought Allegri was a genius so Fofana being dropped to the bench was because mister knows best 🤣🤣🤣
See what happens when Allegri listens to posters like you? disaster!!!
LOL. Savio thinks Allegri listens to fans. How sad is that. Unless he really does… Which makes him the most incompetent coach ever to coach any club in Serie A ever. 🤷♂️
Oh bb, I imagine you skipping down the yellow brick road to see the Wizard of Oz to get yourself a brain. I am hopeful, but doubtful at the same time. still love 433?
You didn’t reply to any of my points. More rot. Bro if you think that was a 433 you don’t watch football. Yes defensively they came out in a 433 but on the ball that was a 361 turned 352. How many times did we see both Leão and Pulisic on the left wing or Leão next to Saelemaekers? Bro that’s not a 433. At half when Füllkrug came on it looked more like a 433. Why would a 6 drop in between the two center backs in a 433? Doesn’t happen. You try pushing your Fofana and Pervis agenda when they simply are buns. Enjoy your Allegri snooze to an end of the season collapse.
That’s a lot of amateur mental gymnastics you’re trying there…433 ended in disaster. You were wrong, as usual, embrace it.
“Why would a 6 drop in between the two center backs in a 433? Doesn’t happen.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA. Please, stop. I’ve seen st**id things written here but you win.
Were you watching Hajjball’s video on YT? LOL!!! 3-6-1?
433 je u redu ali ne s ovim igračima !! koji suna krivim mjestima !!!
🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍
Saelemakers 100% didn’t deserve a higher rating than De Winter or Pavlovic. He always gets 0.5-1 higher rating that he should.
Alegri must go
Losing 0:3 vs Udinese at home at this phase of the season is quite surprising to say the least.
Fans and media for months, if not all season, have been clamoring for a 433 even though Milan doesn’t have the players to play that system especially defensively and the one time Allegri starts with 433 Milan gives up the most goals in a game they have given up this season while scoring none. Stick to 352.
Hey, but we saw Leao in his natural position. I have missed watching Leao and his useless, fruitless attempts in 1v1 on the left. He has been figured out long time ago. He can’t beat anyone of the dribble, all his shots or crosses hit the defender 1 meter in front of him and those rare crosses that get thru are 20 yard high or away from any Milan player. I’ve missed seeing that greatness.
Mike Grella on Leao: Watching Leao at the end of a scoring chance is painful. He goes with his head when he should have used his foot, or uses his left when he should use his right foot.
As I’ve said years ago, Leao is only effective on the counter attack, outside of that he is useless.
Fun seeing another great performance by Ricci. As useless of a signing as Bertolacci was.
Allegri, stick to 352 until the end of the season and stop forcing Leao on us. Give me Nkunku Gimenez in the next game.
BTW, Donyell Malen has been in Roma less than 3 months and has scored more goals in serie A this season than any Milan player.
It’s not a 433 problem bro. It’s a tactical issue. The difference between us playing the 433 or 352 with Allegri is whether we lose by 3 or 1. I have never complained about the 352 neither will I complain about the 433 cos my biggest issue is that we have a very very clueless coach that has no tactics. Inter plays 352 and they’re just fine and even give up a lot of goals with that formation. It’s all about what tactics the coach employs in the offense that helps dwarf the issues of the defense
Yes, Inter has actual wing backs that can both defend and attack. Compare to Milan. Dumfries is 200 times better than Saelemakers when defending and better when attacking. Di marco – Bartesaghi. What you people expect is top results with team that was constructed badly. Inter has 5 strikers that would be starters at Ac Milan. 5!!! Wtf are you talking about tactics? It is PLAYERS FIRST, NOT TACTICS.
Didn’t we just lose two matches with your precious 3-5-2? 🤦♂️
It’s Allegri’s 352 formation bb…keep up.
Reading Comprehension.🤦♂️
Milan doesn’t have the players to play 433.🤦♂️
Just because you play in 352 or any specific formation, does it mean that you are never allowed to lose a game or 2?🤦♂️
Also isn’t Milan 3rd on the standings using 352?🤦♂️
Finally, I despise 3 man defense, but again Milan doesn’t have the players to play 433.
Z, bb won’t understand what you are saying. I do though, Good points.
“Also isn’t Milan 3rd on the standings using 352?🤦♂️”
Until next week. Next Sunday we’ll be 4th. And after the Juve match on 25th we’ll be 5th.
I’m saving this comment for end of the season LOL
We are in free fall! Somehow everything before the match smelled to me that something like this could happen. Allegri has completely lost his way in the last few rounds! In the worst case scenario, they could even be left without a place in the Champions League. I don’t know about the others, but I won’t watch them again this season out of protest. (P.S. I congratulate the audience at the stadium who paid dearly for tickets to watch this charade…)
i dont wanna see anyone asking to change tactics ever again the tean was rebuilt for 3-5-2 NOT 4-3-3
and yh we lost bc of that if we go to europa im gonna kms fo real
Built for 3-5-2? Say that to Pulisic & Leao. 🤣🤣🤣
Oh, and Lazio, Napoli, Cremonese, Parma and Viola agrees too. 😀 😀 😀
Leao and Pulisic miss sitters and 1v1 with the goalkeeper because of the 352?
Yeah that’s it.
A proper striker would have scored 3 yesterday from Leao’s chances in the 4-3-3. And if an aunt had balls he’d be an uncle.
Dear bb that’s why 433 won’t work with this group of players. NO proper striker!!!! Leao is not a striker. square peg, round hole. Milan’s biggest mistake in the window is not trying hard enough for Hojlund. I agree with you about a proper striker…he is a proper striker and would have had 2 or 3 yesterday. But again, 433 won’t work…let it go!
“433 won’t work…let it go!”
Sure, the 3-5-2 is doing a fabulous work for us. Look at the last 3 results before Udinese. It brought us 3 points out of 9. That’s the “we’re getting out of TOP4-pace”. Sure, let’s keep on using that. And with no strikers at all. Because what’s better than playing with one striker out of position? Oh I know!!! Playing TWO(!!) strikers out of position. Let’s make both Rafa & Pulisic completely useless on the pitch by playing them as strikers. I mean, that has to work, right? It’s not like Pulisic and/or Rafa has ever excelled as a winger, right?
Back 4, back 3, back 5, it does not matter. As long as there’s no workable system, it’s a matter of time before collapse. What’s happening now is teams have figured out that we can’t press and when we do it, it’s so disjointed that to bypass players is a piece of cake, that’s the exhibition shown today and so far by all small teams.
Alegri hasn’t much to offer, he should be shown the door come end of season. There is no system in which this team operates.
Imagine if Allegri had listened to this forum months ago…Milan would be mid-table.
Savio then what are we now
As of today 3rd. But…
Savio we are mid table team if you know or not no cl no Copa italia no scudato = mid table team
Man, even if you are 5th you aren’t a mid table team. No that isn’t = mid table team. The term couldn’t be simpler and more clear. 20 teams, mid table is around 10th position.
Max mid table teams are thse not competing titles
Five things we Learned
1. Tomori must start
2. Fofana must start
3. Ricci cannot start
4. Bartesaghi is a LWB not a LB
5. 352
6. Opinions are like arseholes
7. Nobody on here can seriously claim to be a fan of AC Milan or even the sport of football or just humanity full stop.
My My…take a nap and come back to us when you are rested.
Yes the person defending the players, the manager and the club needs to calm down not all the arseholes hurling insults.
Those are called observations not insults…but if you’re a hammer everything looks like a nail.
Hard to rate players when practically nobody did well. Maybe one can say that Modric was decent earning a 6 therefore by default he’s MOTM. I disagree that Mike earned a pass. He continues to concede in the near post and fails to interrupt crosses. Athekame, De Winter, Pavlovic and Bartesaghi all had defensive failures and all failed to earn a pass. Alexis had a superb volley ; his best attempt of the season but unfortunately the keeper diverted it to the crossbar; otherwise Alexis looked confused. Ricci was pale; Rabiot much below his standard. Rafa tried hard, even tracked back to recover some balls, looked fitter physically and had a good long distance shot (slightly high) but his attempts as a center forward (which he isn’t and won’t ever be) were truly laughable. The one redeeming point is that something that could have changed the entire game unfairly happened to him: he was fouled by the last man. Could have scored without that foul. The defender should have been red carded for DOGSO. Instead, the incompetent or biased ref called a foul for Udinese. Puli also tried but again displayed inaccurate shooting, off-target. Still, he was one of the few who maybe earned a pass. I feel that only Modric deserves a 6; Puli maybe 5.75, and all the others at or below 5.
Subs, Fofana helped some, again missed a scoring opportunity; below a pass; was still the less bad sub; maybe 5.5. Fullkrug useless as usual; why didn’t Allegri think of Gimenez? Nkunku, Jashari, RLC s/v.
Allegri, a disaster. Wrong lineup and the formation change obviously didn’t work (especially when he insisted in placing Rafa in the middle), except to show that indeed we don’t have the roster for a sustained 4-3-3, contrary to what the fans think. But if you want a 4-3-3, go with Tomori rather than Athekame, and go with Puli on the right, Gimenez center, Rafa left, instead of Alexis-Rafa-Puli. Allegri earns a 3. I think that the idea that he stopped caring for Milan due to eyeing the Azzurri, doesn’t look absurd. I feel that we won’t make top 4. We are collapsing at season end.
Allegri gave us what MANY were calling for – a 3 man attack, wobbly one at that. Now everyone’s begging to go back to 352 🙂 Precisely what he was out to prove.
I disagree with you on Mike. Two of the goals were deflections. And the header was pretty much unmarked because our defense fell asleep. I can’t fault him on any of the goals.
As for Modric, this might not be a popular take but he slows down a lot of the play for stability and our attack is slow and predictable. Not all his fault, because we don’t have the players for a quick build up, but he holds on to the ball too long before passing.
Maybe you’re right regarding Mike. Modric, I don’t agree with you. Sometimes he passes fast, even flicks. He often sees who is more open and precisely delivers the ball to that player. The problem is that he doesn’t have brilliant players to pass to, but he does his part and does it well. Again, his stats today show the most touches and the most precise passes. Without him we’d be even worse.
Sure, Allegri gave us a 3-man attack but maybe at least subconsciously he sabotaged it to show to everyone that he was right when insisting with 3-5-2. Because if you want to go with 4-3-3, why keep Rafa center; why not have a 9 as the center? And when you finally decide to fix that, why bring in the utterly useless Fullkrug? Shouldn’t he have tried Gimenez who by now is probably closer to being fit? Neither of our forwards is great at 9 but maybe Gimenez minus the ankle injury is the least bad, there. Maybe it’s better, or at least less bad, to have a partially fit Gimenez there, than any of the other four forwards.
There is a point in saying that now we blame Allegri but he was never given the true 9 he asked for; giving him Nkunku was absurd; getting rid of Jovic and Abraham and getting Fullkrug was absurd. Allegri could have done better with a better and deeper/longer roster. He was dealt a really bad hand by the incompetent administrators.
“ Sure, Allegri gave us a 3-man attack but maybe at least subconsciously he sabotaged it to show to everyone that he was right when insisting with 3-5-2….” LMAO
Allegri is such a genius to you that he sabotaged his clueless tactics to show us he was right all season long with his clueless tactics. Yall are too funny with your defense of your tactical genius. 😂😂
Do you know how much is 2+2? If yes, this questions should be simple for you. Who do you blame for the bad result in a season where the manager doesn’t get the players he asked for? It should be simple, but I can see most of you can’t get it. I’ll help when you fail with the reply.
Leao has the attributes for a CF and it does potentially make his game less predictable but it’s just not working in the games for whatever reason
I presume he puts in good displays in training. It just doesn’t convert to the matches.
I agree with all of that.
And, yes, Modric does slow down the play.
Agree with all of that.
I go back and forth on Modric slowing down the play. Sometimes I wonder if he wants to go faster but his teammates are never in the right position which forces him to hold it. I could be swayed to either side pretty easily.
There’s the issue that for whatever reason in Serie A in 2026 the balks moves incredibly slowly, and Milan in particular are bad at this since the Scudetto winning season and under Allegri the play is even slower.
So this isn’t the “real” Modric.
But….there are times when he and others take sloppy touches or too many touches or turn their backs on open players.
For me the person who moves the ball the quickest is Bartesaghi. He plays 1 or 2 touches an hits early crosses every time.
Pavlovic can only play in 3 men back line. He tries to join the attack way too much to be one of only 2 center backs on the pitch especially when Bartesaghi also likes to go forward. In this game they looked defensively just like they did last season. Udinese was feasting on Milan’s left flank.
De Winter had a worse game than Pavlovic.
Allegri should have kept Athekame on and subbed Saelemaekers.
We are actually lucky it was only 0-3.
Now we see why Allegri plays such a defensive style of football. If he opens up Milan is immediately vulnerable to concede a goal.
Finish the season in the way that got you the 3rd place and then think about a change in set up over the summer.
Athekame can’t defend well yet. Too raw and inexperienced. As was Bart on the other side for that matter. They all need to make mistakes and learn.
Ok, Hope this ends the 433 conversation….Milan does not have the personnel or the coach to play an effective 433. This game put an exclamation point behind that. Can everyone move on now?
I think people were presuming when Allegri said he’d play 433 he’d play Leao on the left, Pulisic on the right and Gimenez down the middle. And the defenders wouldn’t suddenly turn into crash test dummies…
Yep. Gimenez has to start. Leao can’t play centre forward and this season he can’t run. If his injury is so serious, he’s finished. It’s Kaka’ in his last season all over again.
Well uber, you may be right. I’m holding out hope that we get the REAL Leao that is in there somewhere. I doubt we’ll see him back to his best in a 352 though. Pulisic either. Injuries haven’t helped as you say.
“Allegri agrees with jeers from Milan fans but insists 4-3-3 has ‘nothing to do’ with defeat”
Allegri, Says. 4-3-3. Has. Nothing. To. Do. With. Defeat. 🤷♂️
Yes, it is the bad players that were signed last summer and the ones that were kept from last season, after conceding a bazzilion goals. It is obvious to anyone that actually wants to be factual. If they got the players he asked maybe it would be different, we will never know. But we got Temu versions of players he asked so…
Strange game to be honest, just nothing seemed to work…All goals are bad mistakes by our own players. I am more and more convinced that the coach determines the team’s success. Como is a case in point. If Udinese can beat us 3 nil with no player of note then a coach can and will make a difference. We can shout all we want about not having the right players but the coach ultimately plans and strategize…you use what you have to get what you want. Man U climbed the table after changing coaches. Barca is littered with development players. Milan has been playing poorly all season, grinding out result after result to be where we are. It is simply unsustainable. I am still optimistic about a top4 finish, however something need to change seriously going into next season…
This. I always say Allegri is a dinosaur, Do Como have better players than Milan? Yes they are still below Milan (even if the won next match) but they played and scored so much better. They know what they are doing, unlike Milan who is clueless on the field.
You must be looking at the league table upside down…Milan are in 3rd. Or maybe do a handstand?
We need a manager that can play the 3-4-3 tactic good. Our defenders are not good in a 4 man backline.
Allegri have Fullkrug and Gimenez but start with Leao as a 9 OMG. Start with Leao Fullkrug and Pulisic then sub Fullkrug with Gimenez.
Not sure what they were presuming, but it ended in total disaster.
We don’t need new players. Fabregas is the one we need.
Oh absolutely Milan needs new players especially if you want fabregas as a coach. He uses skilled players. Skilled players that Milan doesn’t have right now.
Fabregas isn’t a miracle worker
Milan has 12 more points this season than they did last season after 32 games.
Has this team actually improved under Allegri if we take into account that last season they played in the UCL as well, won the Supercopa and played in the final of Copa Italia.
Only 12 points difference even though you only play in 1 competition, basically
once a week instead of every 3 days for most of the season doesn’t scream improvement
The claimed “improvement” is thanks to Modric & Rabiot – not Allegri though.
Well Rabiot only joined because of Allegri being at Milan? How is that not thanks to him? 😀
Without strickers its imposible play football today. We not have striker from Giroud so its realistic. We only can win if deffend if we think we will win then we lose game.
Sell half team and bring new is only way.All Italian football now is garbage
I’ve got a bridge for sale bb…it’s all yours for the right price.
A few thoughts
1. What a mess
2. 20 shots…3 of which were on target. Make the goalie keeper work. Good things can still happen after the ball hits his hands. Nothing good can happen fter you miss the frame
3. I hate jumping all over the manager as soon as there is a loss….but come on! Saelemaekrs has to play at all costs?
4. This game screamed for Pulisic on the right, Laeo on the left, and one of our strikers up top. Allegri got 3 of the 4 incorrect
5. Ricci went and grabbed a ball after a foul with 13 minutes into the game….at the time I laughed and said not a good sign that I didn’t even notice you were playing. That continued. Ghost.
6. There was a play in the first half where Laeo came back to get the ball (good) turned with it and attacked the defense (good) then made horrible pass and gave the ball away (bad) it caught Milan with too many men forward and the counter attack was on. The one person who could have got involved in the defense of the counter (Rafa) was the last man back. This is not Mbappe who scores and assists every game. You cannot win with a player who doesn’t suffer AND doesn’t produce.
7. Here is the truth. We do not have one good defender in midfield, no good defenders at fullback. That is just weird roster management. I guess would be different if Jashari and Ricci developed like we hoped.
8. I was encouraged by Pulisic. Except for not putting that ball on the frame.
9. Someone for the love of God run to the posts! You either make for a good target for crosses, or drag the defense out of shape. The only time this happened is when both Saelemaekers and Rafa made a run. And Rafa blew the chance.
10. Mercato priorities. In order
A. Fullbacks
B. Defensive midfielder
C Striker
11. Well here we are. 6 games left and because of the small roster and Allegris unwillingness to rotate Rabiot is gassed, Saelemaeckers is gassed, Modric is gassed, Bart is gassed.
12. Come on Milan…get your shit together
There was nothing positive from this game at all so I am putting on my USMNT hat. Aside from the wide shot, this was the first time Puli has looked like himself this calendar year. He was passing to everyone on the pitch with no tunnel vision and his ball control on those runs was superb. Hopefully he can get the scoring touch back to help keep them top 4 and get into top form for the World Cup.
Modric and Puli were far and away the best players out there for Milan today. Maignan may not be fully at fault on the 2nd or 3rd goals but he certainly could have done more. Doesn’t deserve a pass. Salad had some good play and some not. Leao actually cleared a ball from Puli off the line for Udi that was destined for Salad to slot home at the back post. Disaster at CF. No hold up play at all. Ricci had some good defensive recoveries but otherwise absent. Coach… poor. Poor roster selection and tactics. Really the best thing in this game was watching Puli in the first half trying to make everything out of nothing. All his chances he generated. All of Leaos chances Puli generated. No goal. No assist. But he looked clearly like the only dangerous Milan player.
“Why Leao as the striker?”
Allegri wants Saelemaekers out there.
I was shocked by how bad ACM’s defenders were. They should play a back 6 they were so poor. I didn’t realize they were this poor.
Jim, do you recall that only a few weeks ago there were articles stating that Milan had one of the best defensive records in Europe’s top leagues??? I checked, they did actually!!….What was missing/changed tonight? There’s your answer. Most posters in here don’t like facts, but I’m sure you do.
I think today we saw that they can’t defend against speed or 1v1s. Their positioning was terrible. Yes, when you were keeping players back to provide cover for them they were better, but then the offense sucked.
Tomori needed to start as did Fofana. The balance of the team was completely off. Di Winter has been in top form. What happened to him last night? 433 and no Tomori back there and no Fofana pressing and winning midfield duels in front of him (Ricci was invisible). Allegri made two mistakes, the lineup and the formation (Bartesaghi is a good LWB but a terrible LB). Allegri has to own this disaster.
It was a bad day on the office.
Switching to 433 was a mistake mainly because they lost midfield cover especially with Fofana dropping to the bench.
Bartesaghi has been blamed for any goals conceded on the pitch or in the universe this season but he was at fault for the goal. His main mistake was not closing down quicker and getting tighter. This risked a more unpredictable deflection. Of course he and Milan were then unlucky.
One mistake and a bad performance doesn’t change the overall picture of this season.
Whilst the team is now at risk at falling out of the top 4 that remains because of dropped points to Pisa and Cremonese.
The club doesn’t need to undo everything just to beat Pisa and Cremonese (and Udinese at home).
Tweaks are needed.
Mainly to the attack.
A Milan goal would’ve changed things. You can’t go this many games without scoring.
Leao and Pulisic just aren’t working, and Saelemaekers is taking too many touches.
Again going back to Bartesaghi another thing he brings is early crosses.
It’s noticeable how many youth players who have come through at Milan and in Italy have this built into them.
And another reason why the club and Italy needs to back youth.
Modric is a legend but he took too many touches in this match.
They need to move the ball quicker and accurately.
And they need a striker. Desperately.
Correct, It was a bad day at the office, but this wasn’t Bartesaghi’s first mistake that has led to goals and pts dropped. He is good at crosses as you say, but terrible at defending. He is a LWB, not a LB. He needs to be far away from our goal with Pavlovic backing him up.
Most of the “mistakes” attributed to him this season simply weren’t.
He was not at fault at all last week against Napoli.
The ball was flicked off De Winter’s head that changed its trajectory and it landed straight on Politano’s fought who volley it first time.
There was a ‘penalty’ he conceded where a similar thing happened except that time the ball was volleyed first time across his body from a yard away and hit his trailing hand.
Full backs tuck in to protect the goal. That’s standard defending. And that happens constantly in the game and people don’t notice because it stops goals and chances.
They only notice when it goes to a wider attacking player in a position that is far less threatening and something unfortunate or brilliant happens.
However the key is that when the ball goes to the wider player the full back needs to close down quickly. Bartesaghi was too slow and left too much space for the cross. The further a defender is away the more unpredictable the deflection.
It was a clear mistake today. It wasn’t a mistake in most other games. And you’re not going to find a defender on the planet who doesn’t make mistakes.
Before today Milan had one of the best defences. Defence is not the issue this season. It’s attack.
Had Milan scored more goals they’d be title contenders.
If Tomori and Gabbia were there, the score would be different
yes, it definitely would have been different.
Pulisic getting a pass for what? He should be graded as harshly as Leao if he really is a star player. He was in his “natural” position and got completely shut down. Leao is not a striker and any striker without service will struggle. The midfield and his attack partners didn’t really no anything to help him. Grade pulisic and Leao on the same curve. If Pulisic is a “star” he should be on the star grading curve. And if he’s not, stop comparing them as the same class of player.
Leao gets vilified for underachievering yet pulisic gets lauded for overachieving yet their stats are similar.
We actually have proof that if you build the right team around Leao he is a world beater. Can you really say the same for pulisic?
Leao is not a striker and has never been a great finisher. Expecting him to lead the line well in 4-3-3 is absolutely crazy. Especially against a back 3/5. No accounting for that in his rating?
As for Pulisic, you can see his teammates (not just Leao) get frustrated with him for not taking risks. Modric, Rabiot, and Saelemakers (and others) all have been visibly frustrated with him on the pitch since the derby.
Rewatch a match or two if you dont believe me or didn’t notice.
Go for it.
Don’t blame Pulisic for Milan’s problems. If it wasn’t
for Pulisic’s outstanding play in the first half of the year, Milan would be below 10th place. The problem is that Pulisic and Leao have mental problems they are dealing with. Allegri cannot be expected to solve a players mental situation. If Allegri was given a proper number 9, things would be a lot different.
Milan owners and management would rather spent $40 million on a mediocre player instead of 70 or 80 million on a productive number 9. They would rather run the risk of no Champions league.
They may get what they do not want which is no champions league football.
Juve -3 from Milan… Milan are risking getting out of champions league. Idk what needs to change but again, none of our attackers hve scored since January…
Nothing to worry about says the Allegri-fanatics. It’s not about the beautiful football but results. And we’re getting them, right? 1 win & 3 losses in the last 4. That’s what a quality coach does, right? And you can always compare this to last season too. They say we were 8th.
Well… I don’t think is makes a difference whether you finish 8th or 5th as there will be no UCL. And I say that’s where we’re going at this pace. If even that. But TOP4 is utopia with Allegri in charge. Just look at the results. Not last year’s but the last 2 months. All you need to see.
Allegri fanatics?
They’re called ‘fans’.
But hey you dislike the coach, the play, the players, the country (you dislike Italians) but you just love ref and black (same they rarely wear it)
The only fanatic here is bb…the Anti-Allegri fanatic. Most in here are simply Milan fans. Not fans of a coach bb. You need help my friend.
Very normal result for this squad. From Managers, to defenders, to mid-fielders to attackers.
I dont understand Allegri’s tactics, what is he trying to prove.
Big changes must come in the management first and then in the squad second.
I don’t like blaming Alegri but this one he messed it up. . If you are switching formation , make a switch properly and play ur best player at thi moment. This team has a very fragile mentality even with experienced players among them. Why in d world would you put Leo as striker when u know he is good at winger ????????? Also why is Tomori on the bench ? Allegri will end up destroying Leao and we will end up selling him cheaply and later d sale will come back to hunt us .
Leao & Pulisic have packed their bags already. The only way either of them would stay is Allegri taking the Azzurri job.
Don’t be making mistake , if they pack bags ,who are going to buy ??? Do u think this owner is ready to spend ??? The best thing is for the coach to adapt or adjust his formation to suit the kind of players we have. It’s so sad that Alegri will use his tactics to kill our two best attackers
Don’t be making mistake , if they pack bags ,who are going to buy ??? Do u think this owner is ready to spend ??? The best thing is for the coach to adapt or adjust his formation to suit the kind of players we have. It’s so sad that Alegri will use his tactics to kill our two best attackers
As ACM1899 stated we have overperformed and massively so. Anyone who has watched Milan play most matches for 90+ mins, firstly sorry for your suffering, secondly we play, as a commentator of a different sport said, puke football. Its just horrible to watch. Slow ponderous back and forth between defense and midfield. Sure, you could maybe justify it in the first half of the season given our league position, but the truth is we fluked so many matches, narrowly snatching undeserved points after lacklustre performances. Propped up by the class and experience of Modric and Rabiot, they glossed over the deep fundamental flaws of the squad, the management, and the club itself. So we will limp towards the finish line, hoping to secure top four. Who knows, maybe the summer might bring positive changes …
Good comment.
why not 3-4-2-1 formation?
Pavlovic, Tomori, De winter
Bartesaghi, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi
Leao, Pulisic
Gimenez
Just last weekend against Napoli Bartesaghi was caught ball-watching and left his man completely unmarked at the back post…goal. loss.
Furlani and Tare is couple idiot with some transfer market waste money for Gimenez,Fulkrug,Nkunku u can buy Osimhen,ex empoli back hahaha for Milan u must kidding wake up with ur joke bro,u 2 make milanisti cry, once again Alegri with defend style to mana circus in milan