AC Milan added another three points to their tally, beating Lazio by two goals to nil in front of a sold-out San Siro. Several players did well and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Maignan (6): He wasn’t really forced to any major saves this evening and his distribution was decent overall. There’s not much more to say, to be honest.
Calabria (6): It felt like Zaccagni had the upper hand on the right flank and the captain often partnered up with one of his teammates. He could have done better on the ball as well, but a decent game nevertheless.
Kjaer (6.5): Strong display from the Dane with many tough duels taken, some won, and a good positioning overall. His pace sometimes haunts him, but tonight he made up for that really with his smartness.
Tomori (7): Another very dominant display at the back from the Englishman. He had one or two chances in attack where he could have done better, but defensively you cannot ask more from him. He was a real sweeper at the back, covering a lot of ground.
Hernandez (6.5): He combined well with Leao on a couple of occasions (on the first goal, for example) but the only complaint is that he didn’t do it enough. The yellow card was slightly unnecessary as well (now just one away from suspension).
Loftus-Cheek (N/A): He left the pitch after just 29 minutes with an injury and we can only hope that it’s nothing serious, with Borussia Dortmund up next.
Adli (6.5): We didn’t see that much of him in the first half, except when he committed quite a few fouls and should have been booked. He stepped up in the second, though, and was heavily involved in the build-up to the first goal.
Reijnders (7): He was really important for Milan this evening. Sure, he missed the rebound chance in the first half but was always going to be tough (and at least he got there). Especially at the start of the second half, he was crucial in Milan’s high press and helped create the first goal. He continued to frustrate Lazio after that and also came close to a goal.
Pulisic (7.5): He easily could have been MOTM tonight, to be honest, but we’ll get to that later. The American looked bright from the start and was one of the few who pulled off one-twos in the first half. The goal was obviously decisive, and he came close to a second after that. Very good overall.
Giroud (5.5): Not his night, which was a shame given that it’s his birthday today. He just failed to combine with his teammates and lacked good position (apart from the one chance in the first half).
Leao (7.5 – MOTM): He had good and bad moments in the first half, no doubt about it, but ultimately he came away from the game with two assists. On the first, it was just what you would like to see with Theo and on the second, he was simply brilliant. He’s decisive.
Substitutes
Musah (7): Another really good performance from the youngster who wasn’t afraid to take on his man on the right. On top of that, he looked really good on the ball and combined well with his teammates until the final whistle. He has so much potential.
Okafor (6.5): It was a tap-in, which must be taken into consideration, but he was in the right position and managed to build on the goal against Cagliari earlier this week. He can be even more involved in the game, but tonight it was tough since Lazio pushed for a goal.
Pobega (6): A good defensive outing and he also made a good pass to Leao ahead of the second goal.
Florenzi (6.5): He did very well in the inverted role and once again looked confident on the pitch.
Chukwueze (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Better from the team, better from Leao. I think Adli makes the team better especially in been compact. Adli is a better option Krunic for our midfield fluidity, I felt Pioli took him out too soon. Better from Leao’s marking I hope he continues and improves.
I’m worried about Reijnders shooting quality, it’s been awful, like very awful he should really improve on it.
He’s not a strikers and is a lot better from long range, Pirlo wasn’t exactly deadly from close range either.
I really hope we start Musah, Okafor and Florenzi start against Dortmund, they are a good team, and we need to deploy our best players. I love how many of us said Musah was a waste of money, and we should have signed a clinical striker or a good holding midfielder, now everyone would be regretting their statement. Tomori is back to his scudetto form, this is what we need from a top player like. Hopefully, we get a good result against Dortmund.
I think Pulisic could easily be MOTM. Adli was great – loved the reception he got when he came off. The whole team was great except for Giroud who was useless most of the first half but then nearly pops up with a goal. Bring on Dortmund. ❤️🖤
Seems to me with a bit of time and nurture Okafor could become a real pitbull in the ST. He works hard and is almost always in the right place at the right time.
Shout out for Tomori.. Keep it up!
Leao and Tomori are my MOTMs. I especially loved how Leao put in the defensive effort. But everyone had a good outing. Great match by the boys. Loved it.
Except Giroud, flop of the match
Dominant performance.
Besides couple counter attacks in the 1st half Lazio did absolutely nothing.
Tomori had a very good game.
Adli looked better defensively today. A little reckless on occasions but he was in the right positions and was physical. Hopefully he keeps improving.
Leao was great. Very direct, no unnecessary dribbling, and 2 great assists.
Pulisic was the most involved forward today. He is growing and getting more and more comfortable in a new league and new team. 3 goals already.
Okafor already matched Origi contribution from last season.
Milan best signing this summer for me is Reijnders. Complete modern midfielder that Milan hasn’t had since Seedorf. He absorbs the ball with his 1st touch. His movement, vision and passing are top level. Needs to work on his finishing but besides that he is awesome.
Chukwueze needs to stop over dribbling and actually look for his teammates instead of being selfish.
On to Borussia Dortmund is next. Milan can’t lose if they wanna qualify for the next round.
Forza Milan
They can criticise Leao and Tomori as much as they want.
They know themselves
Unappreciative fans that only appreciates players of other teams.
Good game, Lazio isn’t an easy team, they are one of the best in Serie A.
The players did put in their best efforts.
Forza Milan ❤ 🖤
Loved the fighting effort from the team this game. More solid defensively, and taking chances. Two goals scored by two new signings. Could have been 5 goals if Reijnders, Musah and Chukwueze converted their chances as well.
Lets talk about the cheers Adli received from the stadium on his change
It was a solid performance from Milan everyone worked hard, I think maybe Okafor should now be our starting striker instead of Giroud if you look at all the top ream’s in Europe they wouldn’t have a 37 year old as their number one forward, I am not taking anything away from what Giroud has done for Milan because he has scored vital goals
Giroud has looked a yard behind everyone else all season on my opinion, which is more than reasonable given his years (Ibra was an exception, not a pioneer). He can definitely still offer something but it’s time to consider options for the starting slot. I like what Okafor brings and you can’t rule out an on form and happy Jovic either.
Good win. Difficult as Lazio played very compact and flooded the middle of the pitch so it was difficult for our mids to break through. Another solid display from Adli always looking to advance the ball and did well defensively also. Hope RLC is ok. Pulisic was great today. Leao wasn’t at his best overall – but his 2 assists shows just how valuable he is – can turn it on anytime beat his man and score or like today, provide 2 lethal assists. Glad we took Giroud out to rest him for Dortmund.
Again I question Pioli a bit. It was obvious Sarri decided to play compact and clogged the middle. I thought he should have brought on Florenzi for more width to counteract Lazio’s defensive positioning at the half but perhaps he’s saving him for Dortmund. Also cringe every time Pobega enters the pitch as they could have called a foul on him when he took Luis Alberto down.
Overall solid game from a difficult opponent.
On to Germany.
Adli is so overrated by fans! Musah is better and should be above him in the pecking order. See, much easier for Adli to look good against freaking Cagliary but he didn’t look as good against Lazio, especially in a sloppy first half. Sure, he is young and can grow especially with more playing time (and I do see the potential) but I don’t buy the hype that some of you exercise. He even got compared to Zidane! That’s so incredibly outrageous and exaggerated, comparing this young (22) and unproven player to one of the biggest legends of the sport! Zidane is several light years ahead of Adli. People compare him to Pirlo too. Yeah, right! LOL
I thought that Adli was rather poor today and was correctly subbed out. And between Adli and Krunic, I’ll take Krunic any day, for now. I do hope that Adli develops into a really useful player for us but he is clearly not there yet.
You don’t like good football.. Krunic is the worst midfielder Milan have right now.. give Adli more playing time.. Krunic i pray to God for him to be out of the whole season..
Krunic lovers are delusional. How can someone be so negative towards Adli the past two games after sitting out a year? His passing and overall distribution is light years ahead of that donkey
I pray to god you also get injured and are permanently crippled as well
I think these are all Krunic’s own burner accounts, no other reason to be that blind.
Our midfield hasn’t looked better in a long time and definitely Krunic should be our 3rd/4th stringer in the midfield. Just doesn’t bring anything to the table.
Once Bennacer comes back there is really no reason to play him anymore (baring injuries) and just ship his ass to Genoa or another middle of the pack team.
I think you are being a bit harsh on Adli. He played well in his first two games in an eternity,in a new position …surely he is no Zidane or Pirlo but he has great vision and composure, good passing and is quite elegant reminiscent of another era, plus he is still very young.
I still like Krunic though and he is important , Musah is turning out to be a little beast, RLC is fitting in nicely with his physicality and Reijnders is simply awesome. So our midfield has different characteristics and options now and when Bennacer returns it’s going to get even more interesting.
Forza Milan
Player won’t develop on bench.
That’s what I said. Re-read this part of my post: “Sure, he is young and can grow especially with more playing time (and I do see the potential)”
But you said you will take Krunic any day, so where is the playing time for Adli to grow?
Adli can come as a sub, he can play for a full half sometimes. He can even start against lesser opponents. But Krunic is still the more experienced, more solid player. Krunic is very underrated by fans but his colleagues and his coach know his value. He puts together mostly very solid performances and still gets bashed here; it’s unreal. Is he a brilliant player? No. Is he world class? No. But he is a very useful player for Milan and a lot better than people here give him credit for. What I think is: if we had a tough opponent and we need a starter for #6, I’ll take Krunic over Adli, at least for now. This can change once Adli grows more experienced and perfects his skills more. Adli is only 22. The enthusiasm for him is nice but still largely unwarranted. I do acknowledge that it is hard for him to perform at a top level after one year almost not playing. But I’m still unconvinced after a good performance against arguably the weakest team in the league (Cagliari) and a so-so performance against a better team, Lazio. Krunic on the other hand since the last part of last season, and throughout this season until his injury, was basically only having good and convincing performance, being praised by Italian journalistic media everywhere, but persistently bashed by fans here. This bashing here is pretty much the only one we see. Serious soccer professionals (analysts, journalists, coaches, teammates) have only praise for Krunic.
Look, see what La Gazzetta dello Sport said about Adli against Lazio: “il peggiore dei rossoneri con un 5,5: “Adli In ribasso rispetto a Cagliari. Non si smarca, raggio d’azione limitato, lanci mollicci. Almeno cresce un po’ nella ripresa”. The worst rossonero! Over here, though, people are gushing about his performance. See the disconnect between professional soccer journalists who see his performance with suspicion, and fans here who overrate him? Why is that? Let’s be realistic. He was good against Cagliari but definitely not as good against stronger Lazio. Sure, Lazio has only 7 points but they signed 6 players at the very end of the transfer window and are still settling down; Lazio is a strong team. They should not be underestimated. That was a way tougher opponent than Cagliari, and Adli isn’t yet ready to put together a top performance against a stronger team; it’s as simple as that. He will grow and improve, I think, but for now all this hype is unwarranted.
I’ve not been one bit an Adli fanboy and I love the work he’s done in the last two games.
Shock horror – I also admired what Krunic was doing before his injury- it’s ok to like both even if neither is that special, albeit Adli has age and the excuse of inexperience on his side.
He’s reminded me mostly of Tonali actually. I’ve never seen anyone with half a brain compare him (or anyone else for the matter) to Zidane but I’ll take your word for it.
Yep, Salernitana’s head coach, a Serie A coach of all people (yes, Salernitana is not that good but the guy is still coaching for Serie A), compared Adli to Zidane. You can take my word for it as it is public record and was a matter of an article right here on this site.
Fair enough, I missed that. It’s an utterly ridiculous comment, so with that in mind, ignore it and don’t let it affect your opinion of him 👍
Fair enough. Like I said, Adli has potential and is still young. But to compare him to Zidane and Pirlo at this stage is utterly ridiculous. Yes, my opinion of him is not bad. I just don’t understand how WILDLY overrated he’s been. He is a meme player: a guy that everybody online loves to hype for little reason. As a passionate Milan fan, I do have the best hopes for Adli and will root for him to develop his potential, to have more playing time, and to do well for us. But he’s not there yet and the way people are talking about him, it’s like they think he is the second coming of Jesus Christ! I’ve rarely seen such unwarranted wild praise. I actually think that this might damage him. Fortunately it does seem like he has his head firmly set in his shoulders, otherwise too much hype can derail a young guy. I hope he doesn’t believe that he is as good as people say he is, so that he keeps trying hard to perfect his skills and keeps developing. I do like him. I just think currently Musah is better, and I also don’t think he is a Zidane or a Pirlo, at least not yet.
Well Paulo Sousa played with Zidane at Juventus so he knows, also Zidane was massively overrated, Totti and Rui Costa were by far the better Trequartista in their day, Rui even proved it on the pitch and head to head, in Serie A and when they faced each other in the Champions League.
LOL, Zidane overrated? One of the greatest players to ever play the game. FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and the 1998 Ballon d’Or. 1988 FIFA World Cup champion. UEFA Euro 2000 champion and player of the tournament. Also player of the tournament and Golden Ball WC 2006. Named the best European footballer of the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. Champions League champion. Intercontinental Cup champion, twice. World Soccer Greatest XI of All Time 2013. IFFHS All-time Europe Men’s Dream Team 2021. And more and more and more (list too long to reproduce here). He won it all in his career and earned the recognition that he deserved, by people who know the sport. So, at some point Rui Costa did better than him? Look at his ENTIRE career rather than some isolated performance.
Who is Adli compared to Zinedine Zidane?
People are comparing a 22-year-old who hasn’t won anything yet, to one of the brightest and best all-time legends of the sport who won all the important tournaments and accolades? You guys are out of your mind.
Pulisic, what a class act! MOTM for me, even above Leão who was a close second with his two assists. In 3 games out of 7 for Serie A, I thought Pulisic was the MOTM. He only performed poorly when coming back very tired from international duty and a long flight. Today he played box to box, tracked back to help the defense, was dangerous and incisive and could have had a second goal if Provedel hadn’t pulled off an impressive save.
If it weren’t for poor finishing and Provedel, CP could have easily had two goals and two assists.
He pretty much did everything right, today, other than one overhit cross and not scoring his second chance. MOTM for certain.
Last match, Pulisic was fairly poor, but had two moments, and both created goals. I think Leao’s match, today, was basically the same one CP had during the midweek.
As I said about CP against Cagliari, if you can have an off day, and still contribute to two goals, that’s pretty good, but Leao did NOT have a MOTM kind of day.
Agreed, 100%
What a ridiculous thing to say. Leao created both goals today. We don’t score if not for him, and on the second one he did 99% of the work, all Okafor did was tap it in.
Goal saving tackle potentially for Florenzi at the end and his distribution was solid. Glad to see him hush the people saying he was done and a waste of money. He was among the best in his roles at Roma. Yes no typo, he could play defense, wing in the midfield or upfront. He is solid as can be. Glad he is back and healthy. I wouldn’t count out a player who made it to our national team so easily. He has the heart of a lion.
Theo looks a step behind his normal self and seems to have lost his explosive push off when initiating runs. That makes me wonder if he is at 100. He could be tired after a few seasons of bombing nonstop.
Adli looked creative, confident, his long range and through balls were a slightest way off the mark in accuracy, just missing the weight in his depth. He will find that bit of precision he lacked on occasions tonight with more games and some touches on the pitch in competition. Still had fantastic movement and good closs passes, decision making, more daring as well as efficient than Krunic. Hands down, no debates a much better player. We should have gotten 15 million from Lyon at the end of the window. Krunic is overrated, barely does anything and lets everyone around him carry him. He does the bare minimum and people here applauded him as him he was making wine out of water, when he was actually producing water out of wine. We needed more skill across the midfield and his displays against superior level clubs showed it, he sucks, he is mediocre on his best day. Adli took his spot. Sell Krunic, nevermind giving him a raise.
Tomori was clutch. Musah was leaving it all out there. Chuk seems to be finding his timing, I think he might be 2 to 3 games/appearances away from finding his for.
Leao and Pulisic have been combining incredibly so far. I knew a healthy Captain America would be a steal for us.
Rudolph put in one heck of a shift. Had he covered less ground I feel he would have had more in the tank to burry a goal.
We are seeing how used to mediocrity we became with Messias, Krunic, Salad etc. With speed across all positions, we are in a better spot to offer constant threats.
Spot on assessment. Theo will get back to his usual self and Chuk will mature and refine his decision making in time.
yeah Chuk definitely plays at high speed, those kind of players need to fine tune their rhythm and get some game time to turn tries into success. He came in late this summer so it is normal he is adapting and finding his way. He should be a positive addition to the team.
Even if he doesn’t score much, I still see him as a contributor because he will draw attention and coverage towards him to open channels for overloads. He is a kind of player that can be effective without showing up on the scoresheet but still play a role in creating situations that will tire defenses. They can’t sit back and wait for him like Messias or Salad. They have to respect his speed and skills. That wears down opponents and makes us harder to defend. Those split seconds to make deadly plays and have tine to set goals up are found that way.
The window we had this year needed to come last year, or at least half of it. Better late than never.
I think Theo probably had more time off due to the intense schedule from last summer as well. If he isn’t injured, then he is still finding his optimal speed. I think it also might be that we have more players that are fast enough to drive the play on the other wing and through the middle. Musah and Rudolph are driving forward more than we were last year. Inherently makes Theo’s runs less necessary.
I was so angry and disappointed with the derby that I haven’t watched Milan’s games in almost a month ! Tonight against Lazio I couldn’t resist and I turned on tv. Pulisic played fantastic, Leao decided the game with two assists but can not pass against setting defense! Musah reminds me incredibly of Kessie, and Adli could possibly play in the top 11. We need a new striker.
Again completely wrong rating in regards to Adli and Pobega. Adli should have may be 5.5. Too slow in build up phase, not great passing either, too soft on the ball. Pobega — so you said yourself great defensive performance, great pass to Leao, but for some reason 6. Really? But really? Why are you pumping that Adli guy?
You think Pobega had a better game than Adli? lol someone take this guy’s keys, he’s drunk
What was wrong with Pobega game? He was not worst than Adli defensively and he made a real contribution to the goal. These are just facts. You guys can’t read stats and that’s sad.
Nothing wrong with Pobega’s game but Adli contribute more to the victory so I won’t rate him lower than Pobega.
Pobega was able to play the pass to Leao that ended up securing the victory because Lazio were coming forward to get an equalizer. Adli had to play against Lazio that play defensively, it was his involvement that help unlock the scoresheet and force Lazio to come forward.
Pobega put in a couple of challenges but mostly charged around giving the ball away and bundling into people. As usual. I’m surprised he got a 6.
Good win. Tomori was brilliant. Leao was great and created both goals. Pulisic was brilliant and all over the pitch making great runs and recovering the ball. The fact that there are still people on here who want Chuku to start over Pulisic is bewildering.
Another very strong performance by Musah. Remember the guys on here who were saying the idiot American owner only brought in the American players for marketing purposes? Who looks foolish now?
Florenzi has earned the starting spot. Calabria always looks shaky, always having trouble 1v1. Florenzi meanwhile made a brilliant goal saving block and never looked in trouble on defense.
Finally, why is Pobega coming on? Ever? Especially for defensive purposes, it makes no sense.
P.S.
Still not missing Krunic at all.
Krunic is a good back up player at DM, its a shame he is injured as it leaves us light on options
Yes, would rather have Krunic come off the bench when protecting the lead than Pobega. I think Krunic would be useful in that role. But not a starter.
I’d still take Krunic as a starter over Adli and possibly even Bennacer.
He’s far more solid and his set pieces against Newcastle were some of the best I’ve seen from a Milan player in years.
It’s quite obvious that if Adli hits one long pass the media and therefore certain fans lose their minds, and any mistakes are dismissed as youthful exuberance.
The fact is he should’ve been booked at least once and he was actually quite slow on the ball. Had Krunic put in the exact same performance the exact same media and fans would’ve criticised him.
The most random thing is how Pioli has only now decided to start playing him!
How is exactly was Calabria shaky?
And he’s performed lots of last of goal saving tackles over the years.
Just get behind our captain and stop moaning.
I don’t want to make it too big, but the pass from Adli that lead to the first goalis is what this Milan team lacked the most in recent years.
Bennacer beside, none would do such passes but rather pass horizontal or to the back , to play it safe.
He passes the ball through two opponets, if you are generous even three.
There is an alternate method of rating players called “packing”.
And these type of passes Adli did, where you pass vertikal though the pitch and though oppents are highly rated in this method.
Also this skill seems not to be very much learnable, I guess its in the nature of a player.
I don’t want to name names but not many of our middlefield players of last season seem to have it
Exactly! It’s what a lot of people don’t realize. Our attack gets stagnant a lot of times because if Leao or Theo don’t have spaces we just pass lateraly and no one breaks lines by either dribbling or passing aggresively between defenders.
We do miss Bennacer a lot in that position, but it’s at least a breath of fresh air to have a midfielder that can command and add into attack.
Our depth for the #6 should be Bennacer, Musah, Adli, Krunic
First game that I felt we were dangerous in possession. Good game boys. I’m still not completely on the RLC bus though. When he’s on the pitch I’ll focus on him but quite often he seems mostly irrelevant unlike Reijnders.
Chuck needs to pass the damn ball sooner.
Good game boys!
I couldn’t watch the game.
What i liked about the goals was that they were well constructed moves. Thats something we have long been missing, relying on individual brilliance or opposition mistakes.
That gives me real optimism
this
Reijnders and Pulisic; signings of the season!! Just Excellent.
Musah clearly has serious potential.
Hope RLC injury isn’t too serious.
When you see the Milan subs coming in this season, it just gives you confidence… compared to what we’ve been used to in recent years.
And now to Adli. I was sceptical about this deep midfield role for him. Today I had my eye keenly fixed on him, not to necessarily judge his match performance, but to see If I could notice any iota of potential and the characteristics required to play there. And this is my verdict…
Considering all the positives, and all the negatives I observed, and if Adli himself is willing to make that switch, and ready to put the work in, then he himself could be more surprised than anyone else of what he could become. I think even Pirlo himself “would be impressed”
Great observation. I like to call it the Pirlo role. I think Pioli has finally realized that it’s the ideal one for Adli. He doesn’t have all the skill or vision of Andrea (nobody does) but he’s promising. He seems calm and ready to work hard. His ball possession gives the rest of the team time to reorganize and his passing creates attacking chances. If he keeps playing he will gain more and more confidence and could become a key element for us. Same goes for Musah. Lots of talent.
I think Adli has the technical side down, almost comes to him naturally. Now needs to work on the tactical and athletic sides. Positioning, timing, speed, quickness, strength, aggression, tackling, ….. whoooff!! That’s a lot. Difficult to have to learn a new position all over again already so he needs to work. But all begins with the big one MENTAL READINESS
Probably he might develop in that role faster in a double pivot.
It’s sad how Pioli had wasted this talent for a long time . Lack of game time is Clearly obvious in his game
Has Pioli learned how to fully control the game? At least against significantly weaker sides, which in Italy is everyone except Inter/Juve/Napoli. Our squad is strong and deep enough now that top 4 should be EASY in Serie A, in fact we should be challenging for the Scudetto. And it looks like we actually are. We should also qualify from our CL group. Newcastle and Dortmund are not better than us, even PSG is beatable. After the mercato my only worry was Pioli but he might just be able to achieve those goals.
A depth! A REAL depth! That contributes! Sorely missed last season. Musah looks on point. I’m not worried with him starting against BVB. REIJNDERS always fantastic. Goals will come. Glad Adli is playing more. Refreshing to see.
Funny not to see any comments from Maldini’sHeir lately since he’s been proven completely wrong and all of the new signings have been great.
And the Krunic fan boys who thought nobody else could fill that 6 role are nowhere to be found. IDKWYDLS
Hmm strange isn’t it? Or Passive Aggressive Sunbeam (Bartholemo) still whining about Cardinale.
Try working crazy hours and looking after two young kids in a different time zone…
I’d still take Krunic over Adli as I’m sure Pioli will when he returns.
Krunic offers the same creativity with fewer mistakes.
What about all those people who wanted Pioli sacked?
The same creativity? Haha no just no
The same creativity? If you had any credibility left, it’s gone now. You can argue about Krunic’s defensive abilities all you want, but saying he offers the same creativity, I’m sorry, you are not a serious person.
At least I give you credit for showing up here again after being so incredibly wrong about every comment you have left here in the past months.
Once again a person cannot be “wrong”. These are opinions.
In my opinion, Krunic’s ability to move the ball quicker and more decisively, as well as his variation and set pieces (his corners against Newcastle were some of the best I’ve seen) makes him more creative.
Doesn’t Adli just show how football is so unpredictable?
Even if you rated Adli you’d never have predicted after a summer of 10 odd signings Pioli would finally decide to play him!
It’s just so random but also typical of Pioli who generally takes a year to start using players. But even that statement is wrong because he’s immediately utilising his 10 odd signings.
So how does anyone know anything?
For my part I predicted the team would struggle to gel and overcome set backs. Well it’s had a massive set back on derby which it’s overcome and gelled!
Tomori was written off by many and now he’s back to his best.
All of this could change next week but for now this was a really solid performance from a really confident team against a very decent opposition.
I don’t want to make it too big, but the pass from Adli that lead to the first goal is what this Milan team was missing in recent years.
Bennacer aside, theses passes would barely happen. The ball would be played rather to the sides or to the back.
There is a method of analyzing players called “packing” and these type of passes, where you play vertical through the pitch and opponent players is highly rated.
Adli passed the ball through three opponents and takes them out the game.
This skill doesn’t seem to be much learnable, I guess it’s in the nature of a player.
I don’t want to name names but most of last seasons middlefield player are not much capable doing that.
Also, finally Milan has a functioning right wing that scores goals and takes pressure away from Leao.
I’m very positive about this team and it’s capabilities.
This ! And he made a similar vertical pass to RLC through a number of opponents as well. Then made a pendulum movement to the right to receive the ball back, presumably to spray it down the right wing, but unfortunately RLC wasn’t able to control the ball in that situation. The potential is there. He needs a lot … Waaayyy lot to learn though. But I’ve looked in a crystal ball, and I’ve seen what he could become.
I like Leao to stop play like a Trequartista. He was always failed beat his marker in deeper positions, but he always beat his marker at final Third, like in this match vs Lazio with his penetrations at Final Third.
Leao really is like Thierry Henry : He needs at the Final Third often, and dont drop deeper. He is better to run take killer balls at final third. Leao’s strong point isn’t his technique (Kvara is better technically), Leao’s strong points are speed & respond. Leao looks very comfortable at tight space in final third and making fast decisions. Not drop deeper and carry the ball for a long time. Our other midfielders are better to do playmaking than Leao.
3 points. Great win in the end. But we were made to suffer. Lazio’s defence was very solid but was great we broke them down in the end. Pulisic was my MOTM as he was always a threat and should have had some calls go his way. Leao left me feeling frustrated as sometimes he just needs to learn to control the darn ball 🤦♂️. But he helped with the assists and I could also see why people would give him motm too.
Tomori has been in crazy form this season (if he had laid it off for Leao or Giroud in the fast break he’d by me motm lol) and I hope it continues. Okafor I’m liking more each game. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to do alot with scrap minutes as I predicted he would get before the season started but I’d pick him to start now tbh. He offers a different dimension to the attack and can hold up ground balls too. He movements remind me of prime Rebic. Giroud may only have the aerial over him but apart from that Okafor seems to know where to be and where the goal is, is fast, can dribble and shoot 😁 and now for the part where I’ll get crucified as I’m not sure what’s with the Adli hype is about. I thought he had a very poor first half but improved in the second. Each of our DMs have a different style and u can like all of them at the same time, which I do, and that includes Reinjders, Musah and K. Adli had some misplaced passes both ground and lobs but he also was aggressive in the tackle and that makes him opposite to say Krunic. Reinjders is more guile and Musah is straitup aggresssion. But that’s an evaluation thing, it’s not wrong or right, just his (Adli) characteristics. To me he left the defence exposed on too many or occasions and was found wanting in terms of positioning and reading certain situations / movements into space ….but you do get the risky lob over the top and more forced progression. To each his own. And for the love of the game please please dont ever compare him to Pirlo or Zidane Not because his hair bounces like Pirlo’s when he runs makes him Pirlo. He’s miles away from the level that Pirlo played. Pirlo was one of the absolute best in the game in his position. The less these comparisons are made the better for his development
I would argue that Giroud’s passing is also a big advantage over Okafor. He has setup many goals this season with his passing. Okafor is a very good option to come on like he did in this game and finish it off.
I think you know what the hype is about Adli. It’s refreshing to see a DM with vision and creativity that can open up the game with his passing instead of the safe, robotic play we have seen. Krunic is at his ceiling and it’s not that high. Adli’s ceiling is much higher and people are excited about it. Keep on low key hating tho.
See this is exactly why I don’t want to comment because everyone seems to be riding an Adli wave against two teams that have not been doing well this season. And they call that low key hating. I, once more, literally said what you said about his passing abilities but you ALWAYS seems to ignore that and go the Krunic hate route. You’re obsessed with him. You can’t even let a comment slide without mentioning Krunic. I talked about all players who played the 6 but YOU only saw Krunic. Smh. Its like talking to a toddler sometimes. And I’m not the only one to say he had a bad first half but improved in the second. I just added areas where I think he can improve and why he’s different to other players incl. Deer and Musah. Your an id.iot who thinks because someone is critical means it’s hate. All of our DMs being something different. I appreciate all of them.
Last time around everyone and their mom was talking up his passing percentage. Why not this time? Because it’s a paltry 80% instead of 90+? Call a spade a spade. He didn’t have such a good game but ppl still hyping up dude.
See I didn’t want to do this because it would really sound bad, but everyone goes on about Krunic back passing when vs Lazio that’s exactly what Adli did..but it’s bad when Krunic does it and great if Adli does it? You guys need to make up y’all minds. It’s either back passing is bad for everyone or not. Last game Adli had only 200 progressive yards out of a total 700 + yard. This meant he passed 70% of his passes backwards but let that not blind your hate for Krunic or love for your boy Adli. It is what it is.
Agreed!
Glad we’re watching the same sport!
This was a good mercato bringing quality players. the only regret we will have at the end of the season is R. Orsolini.
We could have him cheaper than Chuwk, italian, knows the league….