AC Milan failed to extend their winning run as Atalanta prevailed 2-1 thanks to a late goal. After a promising first half, the Rossoneri faded in the second and below are the player ratings, with quite a few struggling.
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.
Starting XIs
Maignan (7 – MOTM): He may have conceded twice, but he could do nothing about the goals and was essential in the build-up for Milan. Without his comfort in possession, Atalanta likely would have dominated the affair as the Rossoneri would have had not time to rest. He also made several saves, including a great one on Retegui at the end.
Emerson Royal (5.5): He struggled a bit with his positioning in the first half, as Atalanta easily seemed to pick out space on the right, but he improved significantly in the second half. Having said that, he could have done more on the goal even if everything went fast (and maybe the first header should have been picked up instead). He did help save another goal at the end, though it would have been better to stop Lookman’s effort.
Gabbia (6): The academy product has some good interventions and, once again, got the positioning more or less spot on. He was able to win back the ball as well as block efforts, it’s a shame for the defenders that the two goals came on set pieces.
Thiaw (6): Just like his colleague, it was another very solid display and considering just how lethal Atalanta have been in attack, conceding due to set pieces is a good grade for the centre-backs. Thiaw in particular was strong in the duels and also had some good passes forward.
Hernandez (5): This will sound very harsh given it was a good pass for Leao on the goal, but as the captain of the team, he must do so much more. He often found himself beaten by Bellanova, especially when Atalanta played one-twos which shows a lack of concentration, and his passing in attack left a lot to be desired. Whatever form he used to have, he just doesn’t have anymore.
Fofana (6.5): At the end, he seemed to be the only one trying with the pressing and he was honestly very unlucky in that sense, nearly winning the ball back in dangerous positions several times. He also looked good on the ball and when dropping down.
Reijnders (5.5): It was bound to happen, but this was a visible drop from the Dutchman. The passing just wasn’t there, especially the combinations which almost always failed, and he didn’t add the x factor in midfield that Milan so desperately needed tonight.
Musah (5.5): He was responsible for an incredibly silly foul which led to Atalanta’s first goal, which is a shame as he was okay overall. In fact, he had some good runs forward and this helped, even if the final pass was often missing. Still, it was an obvious and fatal error.
Pulisic (N/A): He had a good chance inside the first 15 seconds but the shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Perhaps he could have done better, but the finish wasn’t bad per se. He was taken off after around 35 minutes due to an injury, so no rating here.
Leao (6): Credit where credit is due for that run and cross for Morata, also trying to make a lot happen in the first half. However, he faded almost completely in the second half and just stopped running on most passes, which you never want to see. Granted that he didn’t have a lot to work with, he also wasn’t hugely successful when he did have the ball – apart from the goal of course.
Morata (6): Right place, right time on the goal and some good combinations overall. Similarly to Leao, though, the second half was a slog for him and the feeling is that he especially should have demanded Milan to pick up the tempo.
Substitutes
Loftus-Cheek (6): The Englishman had some good runs forward and also did well defensively, but it wasn’t spectacular from him tonight.
Abraham (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Chukwueze (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
This season is fucking over.
Maignan: stable as always, no complaints on both goals and some great reflexes when he had the chance.
Emerson: WTF is that excuse of a footballer? roaming around cluelessly, adding nothing to anything. Playing him is losing two players – one for RB, and one for RW because he is so shit you have to cover for him all match. The absolute weak link, we used to have some sort of defensive expectation with Calabria, but coach is blind…
Gabbia: Awesome. at least 7 crucial interceptions.
Malick: Nothing special, was good on occasions.
Theo: Bad season for a great player.
Reijnders: Non existent today, but who can blame him? he is not a 6, he is a 10! Can’t expect him to defend all match
Fofana: Hard worker
Puli: Lost him too soon
Musah: Had to run all match to cover for the shit Emerson fails to do, play football
Leao: Nice assist, I would say the hockey assist was even more impressive but we just have to see more commitment from him. Gives up the fight to easily, mentally frail
RLC: Nothing burger
Morata: did what he is payed for to do, nothing more
Fonseca: Go home coach…
CDK: What a player we lost.
Summed it up perfectly . Idk why fonseca refuses to make subs. He waited till the 90th min to bring chuku on what a disgrace
For real, and it’s not like we didn’t have some men on the bench who could bring some fresh legs at least… right hand side was begging for help, we have 3 players on the bench to breath new life to the game.
67th minute i was scratching all over for chuck… he just got 2 goals on the cup, what are you doing keeping him on the bench when puli is hurt
“Idk why fonseca refuses to make subs. ”
Because he was scared and was aiming to avoid a defeat. Scared little girl tactics. Keeping Musah AND Emerson on until the duo let Atalanta score the winner says it all.
Thats a good summary.
You waited for this game to realize the season is over? It was over in June when we appointed a coach that not even Genoa would show interest in.
It was over when these clowns became managers, ibra, moncada, furlani etc.
Maldini wasn’t wrong on CDK then
So the coach is to be blame, innit?
Spot on.
Gambia MOTM, Loftus-Cheek very good as well.
We need a competitive RB asap.
It’s not over until last match
It’s been over for almost 2 months
6 for Emerson? I swear it’s like people are watching the game in different dimensions. This dude needs Musah to cover his ass all the time.. Even on the goal he was looking around for Musah.. I don’t even want to mention his attacking output… Kevin Constant was like prime Cafu compared to him
Not sure who you are talking to, but since I also gave to Emerson a score of 6, do notice that I strongly faulted him for Atalanta’s second goal and said it was barely a passing score due to him doing decently before that. He also saved a goal at the end. As their goal was his fault but he also saved one, and in many other occasions he dispossessed Lookman, I thought that he barely got a pass because he lost Lookman in their second goal.
Most of the time I rate Emerson a 4, 4.5, a 5… I consider him to be a horrible player. But tonight he was a bit decent, thus my giving him a pass, tonight only, something I almost never do for him.
Emerson is not really at fault at the goal, this is an almost impossible situation to defend. The mistakes are from Theo and Rejnders that do not get the ball on the first post. Overall he did a good job against one of the best player in Seria A. The big problem of Emerson is with the ball: he is technically one of the worst players I have seen in Milan in the post banter era.
Decent in what sense, everyone attacks Milan from the right, even 80yr old woman will beat this guy Emerson nonsense, nothing royal about him, he needed Musa to assist him, playing Emerson is playing 2men less for Milan, every attack from the right keeps my Adrenaline high, cos it’s a safe passage for the opponent
I blame Musah for the lose. Mike gave him the ball rather than passing it he try to drive forward (Fonseca asked him to pass more) and he lost the ball which led to the corner.
He was the one who committed the first foul that led to the goal. I wish saladmaker was still hear
All the players our coaches say that are not good for their style of play are the players that always play milan like hell.
CDK look at how is playing with total confidence, Adli ,maldini ..
We dont always have a quality coach to handle milan ,always a low call coach..
Can you imagine this royal playing for milan Am better than him ,i will play the rb better than him .
We need a quality coach
The defending before the 2nd goal which lead to the fatal cornerkick was absolutely horrible. The whole right flank was like a void which Atalanta used.
I watched the game and it was so boring. It seems Fonseca had not prepared the game well. The best Milan can get this season is the 4th place.
During the week this site was talking about how great a mildfielder Reijnders is. Yeah, he plays well in some games, but tonight he could hardly be worse.
Imagine if Pulisic at some point gets a serious injury and stays out for, say, 4 months.
Rejndiers can’t defend. I would prefer Tomori or Teraciano to be tried as a DM at this point. Rejndiers as AM. Pulisic on the right wing and get rid of Emerson. We are a top team who can’t play with RW cause our RB needs another player to baby sit him, ridicilous. We should have got Belanova in the summer.
💯
(I was agreeing with the last sentence)
Milan gives up 2 goals from set pieces. Outside of that, Atalanta did nothing, and the conversation is how Reijnders can’t defend.
And then he tops that of wanting Tomori to play as a DM. ” Football Genius “
I will also note that “flawless” Maignan could easily have punched the cross that CDK illegally headed into the net after boosting himself on Theo. Mike lets quite a few of these go over the course of a season. It’s his Achilles’ Heel.
Also, why not try Tomori at RB? He’s got the pace for it. Since Tomori can defend better than Calabria and Royal and is faster than both, we won’t need to play Musah at RW to cover RB. Why really don’t need offense out of our FBs if we have Leao and Pulisic on the flanks. We need a 10, and it should be Reijnders pushed up. Benny can’t come back fast enough. In the mean time, play Musah next to Fofana.
We need a DM more then anything so we can control the mid, and to free Reijndiers to go in attack where he is at his best. Otherwise he can work as a RB too but only defence wise. Not sure if he can cross and go past players forward. I think he will transition better as a DM cause he is a high line CB.
Im tired of explaning for idiots like you, just cause Atalanta didn’t score goal from open play it doesn’t mean they didn’t did anything. They had other good chances that could have easily been goals, and they also controled the mid in the game, which is important… Also CBs transition to DM the best. What do you think Kessie was before playing as a DM ? Just go watch Soccer.
Ha ha ha maybe you should go watch soccer , cuz your understanding of football is on soccer level.
Atalanta did nothing outside of the 2 goals, they control nothing.
Playing few games in youth level as a CB and then transitioning to DM while still young is not the same as making a CB who has never played as a midfielder to play midfield at 27, genius.
Kessie played as a midfielder since he was 19.
CBs transition to DM the best! 😂. There is more to being a defensive MIDFIELDER, than just being able to DEFEND.
And he actually calls someone an idiot.
Until yesterday you were one of the biggest Redbird supporters. Now when things don’t work, you came here to explain to the people who were saying that this project won’t work from the start what and how it should be done lol. You are not just an idiot, you are one of the worst kinds of idiots, who no matter how many times gets things wrong, still thinks that he knows something.
In modern football even strikers are demanded to take part in defensive duties. If indeed Reijnders can’t defend, he has to learn to.
I think Milan lost track of the game at the moment Pulisic had to make place for RLC. The attacking department melted away.
Indeed, Emerson was at fault for Lookman’s goal; no matter what good he did elsewhere tonight, he lost Milan the match. Atalanta was not good enough to win without a bit of help.
The attacking department became Leao. It’s like going back two years to when he was the only offensive outlet. This is what happens when you play Musah at RW.
That’s because Milan was too defensive and Reijnders couldn’t even get on the ball much …
As I have said in the past, I like Reijnder’s speed running with the ball. With another coach, he could achieve much. But it does not change the fact that he has issues with consistency; he does have that issue with the Netherlands as well, AFAIK. Yes, Fonseca had not prepared the game well, but it can’t justify the fact that Reijnders was practically a shadow on the pitch. IMO, Atalanta was aware of his danger, so they prepared the right tactics to get the worst out of him tonight.
People are talking about the scudetto race bring over. I think Milan will struggle to qualify for CL and Europa League this season.
Coach choices are horrible. with Musa Playing in “Right Wing”, milan is effectively playing as a 5 – 2 – 3 formation. Which is fine… But at the 60 minute mark when Musa and the mid field has obviously slowed down, why not make subs???
Why not move Musa and put another CB in and move Royal to be the Wing Back? especially when Atlanta put a whole new front line on??
Why not put chuku on much earlier or Abraham instead of RLC??
So many bad decisions by the coach. I blame coach and management. this is deserved when they got rid of Maldini the way they did. The club has no direction.
New coach same ol putrid defending on set pieces. Maybe one of the reasons why Milan is bad on set pieces is because the GK is scared to leave his goal line. On the CDK goal he has to come out and at least punch that ball out. Same story just like vs Liverpool and many other occasions.
Outside of the set pieces Milan actually nullified Atalanta attacks. Emerson had his best game in Milan jersey defensively pocketing Lookman until he lost him on the goal. Going forward Emerson was horrendous.
Musah was the worst player today. Both goals came because of his silly fouls and lost balls.
Offensively Milan did absolutely nothing, especially after Pulisic went off. Just a bunch of silly unsuccessful flicks and flops and Maignan holding the ball.
The 2 CBs, Fofana and RLC get a pass, the other players were not good.
I think we are doing even worse in set pieces and crosses under Fonseca, than we used to do under Pioli. It seems like given that Fonseca in his days of being a player, was a defender, he would have figured it out by now. Still, like 80% of the numerous goals we concede are in this kind of situation, so I consider it to be a huge failure by the head coach.
Dropped. The. Ball. Again.
Atalanta is good but this game they were nothing special and we missed another opportunity to try to salvage something out of this season.
Emerson and Theo have been poor all season and it’s probably no surprise that the goals came from poor coverage by both.
The game was heading to a 1-1 draw, but again defensive lapse in concentration, and will lose another one.
Fonseca approach wasn’t attacking enough and maybe deep inside. He was OK with the drawer here. But it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna go anywhere, and I’m not even sure management cares as much at this point. Just more or less less of the same, long faces at the games. They are prepared to play the long game without a plan for any immediate changes.
Meanwhile, if we keep playing this way, we will miss out on top four and I probably won’t blame some of the top players if they want to leave and play for more ambitious club actually challenging for silverware.
Atalanta played us off the park.
The goals came from set pieces but they completely controlled the game.
It’s really between them and Como as to who I’ll start supporting once I finally give up on our empty shell of a club.
Yep. Atalanta was fat superior. Once we take off the red and black shades for a moment ppl will see. Simple, effective football by them
Far not fat. Although they’re probably that too, they’re just good at everything lol 😂
“Meanwhile, if we keep playing this way, we will miss out on top four and I probably won’t blame some of the top players if they want to leave and play for more ambitious club actually challenging for silverware.”
This. Except it’s not “some of the top players” but all of them. Why would anyone want to stay (except Gabbia who’s a Milanista)?
Agree on Theo being our worst player. Mind you that he’s our captain. With greater power comes greater responsibilities kind of s**t. And he’s doing the contrary. His speed is also all gone now. The fact that we have no alternative is just another proof of mediocracy.
He did provide the hockey assist for the goal though but yea not his best outing.. neither all of our players
#Fonsecaout
Never thought I would see CDK bully anyone, but he made Theo look like a little b!tch. That’s our captain? And Maignan bailed him out with a great one 1 v 1 save or Theo would be responsible for 2 goals conceded. And now that his offense is nonexistent, what does Theo offer at all?
I imagine a day when this team can learn to defend crosses and set pieces…We’ll be unbeatable then.
Let us know when we should make judgements about our season and when to figure out this isn’t working. Thanks 😁
Fofana had so many misplaced passes, it’s was difficult to watch. He really needs to work on that aspect of his game. It’s not enough to be able to bully midfielders into dispossessing the ball, he needs to be effective also with the immediate pass afterwards.
On a positive note, Thiaw looked like beast. Great game from him. Let’s hope Pulisic is ok.
Agree. Thiaw and Gabbia were solid.
Some great challenges when needed.
The mistakes were all on the wings.
Giving away the free kicks and poor back post defending.
But Atalanta are a top side and it was a good test to see where this team really is.
What does Emerson add?
Physicality. That’s it!
Other than that he’s a huge liability. Clueless, out of position and the most horrendous passing technique since CDK last season. He’s got so little versatility it’s chocking!
Haven’t beaten atalanta in bergamo since 2021 and people are upset we lost?
What did yall expect?
They didn’t even have gasp on the sidelines, just another proof how well oiled machine they are…
It’s about how you lose sometimes .. You put your heart out and try to win it no matter what – I wouldn’t be mad if we lost like this but man starting with the time wasting from the 60th minute it’s absolute disgrace. And yes they are such a good oiled machine with squad depth and everything – it just points out how clueless our managers are and how poorly is our team constructed. If these Americans have even a peanut of a brain they will just fire everyone from Moncada to Ibra to Fonseca and rebuild this team I would say even from the winter because I don’t think we will make top 4 going like this
Win some lose some.
It’s note like we played well and deserved a draw.
It’s no news our sqaud isn’t properly constructed and that the people pulling the strings are clueless.
I think the muricans will play around with Milan for a year or two more then realise they won’t get their way and will move on..
“people are upset we lost”
WTF is that attitude? Yeah, we are all fine with losing to direct competitor and losing out on UCL. Superb. Everything’s fine. Great. Let’s turn into a midtable team with no interesting players to watch. Sounds good.
Why upset for losing? FFS… Some people…
Think it’s a normal attitude..
People who get upset over something they have no control over are the strange ones
And only overly optimistic people though we could get a result in this game.
So without hindsight, we never stood a chance and a loss was more than expected imao!
So yeah begin upset over losing a game we had no chance of winning is really fûcking pointless..
“So yeah begin upset over losing a game we had no chance of winning is really fûcking pointless..”
No chance of winning? Yeah, why even bother traveling to Bergamo to play the game either. Why did you watch the game if there were no chance of winning? Sadist?
Indeed..it would’ve been better for them to stay in milano and rest a bit.
First of all, we didn’t lose. That was a draw, given that CDK’s goal was illegal, out of a blatant offensive foul on Theo. So actually we kept the hugely prolific Atalanta offense (47 seasonal goals scored before tonight) to only one goal which could be called a defensive improvement… but oh well, it wasn’t enough.
This said, the biggest lesson this game demonstrated is how important Pulisic is for this team, in terms of constructing plays, disorganizing the opponent’s defense, and leading the team into coming out to play for the win. Because tonight there was one Milan with him, and another one without him. Sure, he could have scored in that first action, but he actually did shoot well but the goalie was excellent in saving it. In any case, let’s hope that the muscle injury isn’t a serious one because without him, we’re in even more trouble than we’re already in.
Maignan, 6.5; several important stops compensate for arguably being a bit static in CDK’s (otherwise illegal) goal. On the second goal he couldn’t do anything.
Emerson, 6. At one point he was a 6.5 or even a 7 but then, after mostly containing Lookman which isn’t easy, he lost him and allowed Lookman to head the winner in, free, so even after a rather decent display, he still failed so, barely a pass.
Thiaw and Gabbia, 6.5, both did well, both had no part in this defeat. It would have been worse without them. There is no doubt that they are the best CB pair.
Theo, 5.5. Should be lower if not for the pass to Rafa that started our goal. But other than that, he again lost defensive duels and was not incisive in offense. At this point of the season, I regretfully have to acknowledge that Theo has regressed and is just not the player we used to admire so much. He doesn’t seem happy at Milan either.
Fofana, 6. Some good actions, some lost balls. He wasn’t dominant as in previous games, and that’s two in a row so it’s a bit concerning.
Reijnders, 5.5, a pale shadow of his recent spectacular performances. Again finished poorly a good scoring opportunity which he used to do last season then had stopped doing this season, so to see it happening again was disappointing.
Musah, 5.5. Tried hard but also failed in their second goal and missed a scoring opportunity; nothing much positive from him tonight.
Pulisic, 6.5 as his importance is clear by how poorly we played after he left, injured. He didn’t do a lot in terms of scoring or assisting but the sheer drop in production after he left warrants for him more than a passing grade.
Morata, 7 for the first half with a great goal but 5 in a disappearing act in second half, so, 6 for the average.
Rafa, the same applies to him. 7 for the first half with a great assist and other dangerous actions but a disappearing act in second half, so, also 6 for the average. He didn’t get service in the second half as Theo faded, Puli was not there, Abraham when he came in didn’t show the same chemistry with Rafa that we saw last game, and Morata also faded. So everybody played poorly in second half and Rafa unfortunately was no exception.
RLC, 5.5; good play that should have resulted in a goal but that was the only positive action; his lack of quality as compared to Pulisic was painfully evident tonight as we couldn’t construct good offensive plays with him on the pitch.
Chuk, no vote, no time to do anything.
Abraham, no vote; it didn’t even seem like he was playing as we barely saw him after he came in.
Mister Fonseca, 5. Was it on his instructions that the team visibly didn’t try to win in second half, appearing content with the draw and even trying to waste time? Do that against a powerful offense like Atalanta’s, and you’ll lose. QED. I don’t give him an even lower score because while we had Puli, the team was working fine, and there isn’t really an alternative to be the sub for Puli if the latter comes out with an injury without incurring in a drop of quality, so Fonseca was a bit unlucky in losing such an essential player while facing away such a difficult opponent. But then, wait, let me change that. Make it 4.5 because we conceded twice in set pieces (although in one of them, illegally – the ref and VAR suck). How come Fonseca, who as a player, played as a defender, can’t get this team to correct the defense against set pieces??? It’s been happening over and over and Fonseca should train the team day in and day out for hours until we stop conceding in set pieces.
Agree with much of what you are saying.
But cannot agree that CDK goal was a foul.
Just because Theo flops like he’s been shot in the back, does not make it a foul.
CDK jumped straight up. Got higher. Jumped earlier.
Protected the space he claimed.
Nice goal.
Poor back post defending.
Perhaps Mike should have took the chance and punched it.
He should know by now he can’t trust any of his full backs…
Oh no, it was a foul. Go to Milan News dot it and look at the sequence of photos and the comments of a former ref. Definitely a foul. Not only CDK put both hands on Theo’s back to jump higher, but his knee also propelled Theo to the ground. His action prevented Theo from playing the ball, and he relied on Theo’s body to jump higher. That’s called an offensive foul, every time, by every competent ref in the world.
” That’s called an offensive foul, every time, by every competent ref in the world.”
LOL. Nope. That’s a 50/50 call. And even that is being generous. Most refs don’t blow their whistles on those goals.
CDK goal was a good goal.
As seen on multiple angels by viewers and VAR.
Atalanta deserved to win.
Having played a good first half it is sad to see the team time wasting and diving (Theos worst atribute.
Our team gave up and deserved to be beaten. The manager is a horribly stubborn person and the management a bunch of hapless b00bs
Luigi go play with super Mario
Bro have to disagree on CDK goal. He jumped high, no push, hands were down. On the front angle you can see how far he jumped. Didn’t realise he had hops like that. and even if it was chalked off I’m still sure they’d put another one in on us
If it wasn’t for his contribution in previous years, I’m having strong doubts that Theo would have been a starter in any top 10 team in Serie A right now. He is either boycotting the team until a better contract is offered, or he is experiencing a total regression. He never jumps for crosses, he is awful 1vs1 and I can’t remember the last time he had good game offensively. We have shocking fullbacks, probably the worst in Serie A right now. Thiaw and Gabbia had a great game, but it was for nothing. There are players who are bringing down the team time and time again, yet our clueless coach keeps relying on them. We are our own biggest enemy.
The season is officially over. Couldn’t care less for Europa/Conference League and we know it’s a matter of time before a better team knocks us out of the Coppa Italia and Champions League.
With current Theo & Emerson our flanks are the worst in the league. I cannot understand why any coach would field Emerson time after time.
We actually gave Kalulu to Juve and brought in Emerson. This management is clueless. Maldini, CDK, Kalulu and we are here struggling. Liberali had a great pre season, we have young guys who could better these players we brought in.
It’s like this management just set Milan on self destruct. Without any clue we let Paolo go and what’s Fonensca doing mehn!
At this point, we should just realise no European game next season. We are crawling back to banter era. This is such an eyesore.
As horrible as Kalulu was since the scudetto season, he’s still 10000x the player Emerson ever will be. And to think we paid more for the worst Brazilian ever to play football.
Injured doesn’t mean horrible.
This game give us lot’s of answers. We can’t say we did not turn up because we did and made a good game of the 1st half.
Pulisic went off and RLC came on and we lacked any threat there after.
It was a poor choice by the manager when our right side needed help, Chucky seemed the obvious choice.
It is now again obvious that when we lose an important player like Pulisic (who is overworked liked many others) we can’t cope.
We have far less depth than Atalanta and that was the difference.
Our players also seemed to give up on trying to win.
We now have a fair reflection of where we are
Atalanta are a well oiled machine.
Milan are not.
Fonseca needs to use the bench more and earlier.
Reijnders was quiet.
Emerson some better moments but was also beaten 1 v 1 a lot.
Musah same. Defensive work good but he has major limitations in attack.
Theo looks like he needs a break. Shouldn’t be captain.
Overall I’d say Fonseca lost points because of poor use of the bench
I’m glad Chucks didn’t come on earlier. Because somehow, we would have blamed this loss on him.
Interesting to see how we kept asking that he should have come on earlier. Milan is just clueless. Now we want to sell Tomori we just seem to lack ideas on what we really should be doing with our players
Our defense is soooo solid without Tomori so we can sell him, right? 😀 😀 😀
Moncada will be thrilled to go back to his notes from 5 years back to find a superb CB from France. Or would Spurs have EPL’s worsth CB for us to buy? I bet they’d be thrilled to get rid of another deadwood.
In a long time, this is the coach that is exposing Milan players deficiency. The first 30 minutes was totally what the coach intends Milan play will be but how can you play such a game when even your best players can’t give reasonable passes. Theo is doesn’t know more than to run and shoot. The blue print for Fonseca is Liverpool pattern. Leao passing is utterly poor, Theo the same, RLC poor, Musah poor, Royal poor now tell me how this team will perform? This isn’t about the coach, it’s about the majority of our team lacking the basic football skills of passing and playing one touch football. All most of them know is to hold the ball for long period before passing.
“it’s about the majority of our team lacking the basic football skills of passing and playing one touch football. ”
EXACTLY!!! Just watch ANY OTHER team play and it’s so painfully obvious that Milan players can’t even make simple passes. I can’t even remember when they last played as a team either. It’s all about the individual efforts.
Saw the match…RLC and Royal should never play again. Theo needs new challenge and he lacks motivation, fire Fonseca asap or sell both Leo and Theo
Sell Leão? He’s one of the only players still playing well. He completed his 10th goal participation tonight with his assist (only 1 below Pulisic’s 11).
Leão is definitely not the cause of our problems.
As for Theo, I am disappointed with him. Both Theo and Leão had poor starts to the season but while Leão recovered, Theo did not. Not sure if he needs to be sold, though. I’d say Fonseca and the management need to figure out what is holding Theo back. A player like Theo can’t suddenly unlearn how to play football. There is something else going on with him.
i dont defend anyone and i say it as i see it but i think we have improved as a team compared to a month ago. atalanta right now are the most inform team in italy . the first 10 seconds could have been a goal, there was an offside goal in there too but what i saw more than anything was the quick passes up front to break free which i really liked.
our biggest problem is clearly set pieces. but its been like that for 10 years. we simply cant figure it out and it feels like 90% of the goals we concede come from set pieces or crosses. gabbia and thiaw cannot be blamed, i thought they were both solid.
theo doesnt look like the player he once was. out of form perhaps, but he seems slower ,passes are poor and its like he cant shield a ball.
while emerson has improved since his first games the right side has been an issue for milan for years.
midfielders are doing whats asked of them. fofana is sloppy in some passes,great in others and his work rate and defending is strong. reijnders had a quiet game but he had to defend more today which is his weak spot.
leao has been so much better in my opinion because his work rate has improved so much. fonseca has done well with him. those flicks and assists if only theo was in form.
were most likely out of the scudetto race but i knew that once fonseca was hired. although ive seen much improvements in this team in the last month we need to go on a run of wins to get back up to the top. its sad because i think we have quality players. except on that right back side.
Fonseca 1,57 ppg for now ,just as expected,thats approximately his stats through his coaching career
We got exactly what we paid for. On another note, how is Conte doing? Oh right… Napoli are also getting what they paid for. Coincidence?
Thats excatly what i said and meant my lovely copycat
Wait! The two of you are two different ppl or are you talking to yourself? 😂😂😂
IDK man. Pink bb doesn’t seem to like purple bb though.
You realize that Atalanta is one of the best teams in Europe right? Milan played away. I think had we gotten away with one point it would have been an A+ game. I think the game plan was executed very good. We played a well controlled game. The passing was good, defending was good apart from the two set pieces where we lost the far post twice – again. Which is horrible and unforgivable. Milan need to change how they defend at set pieces. Theo can’t be trusted at that area by himself. We have lost so many goals by his defeat.
I am not mad at all after this defeat. Not like I have been many other times when we lost points. Mainly Cagliari, Torino, Parma, Lazio. So many unnecessary lost points.
This wasn’t a bad game like those have been.
And you realize that we were 9 points away from top 4 with the first part of the season almost over, right? Playing for a draw under any circumstances when you are so far off from the supposed “minimum” season goal is suicidal and a sure sign of a mid-table mentality which is exactly what this coach and management brought to the club.
In my high school and (brief) college career, we stuck the right back on the back post for corner kicks. That defender was responsible for the first 3-4 feet from the post, paying particular attention to balls that went past the goal that would be slammed/headed by weak side attackers. Center backs and midfielders (and taller attackers) were playing either zonally or man to man to head the balls in the box. Any competent college coach can teach this. Theo is similarly lax when he’s on the back post. Grrrr.
Handicap players ,coaches and management…..🤮
I’ve been saying it since last season. It will take several seasons to re-build the team. Let’s just hope things move in the right direction with a clear playing style, a smart transfer strategy, and a plan to incorporate our promising youngsters. It’s a shame because we were in a good position after the Scudetto and the Champions League semi-finals. Milan were once again talked about internationally, in a positive way, on shows like CBS Sports and ESPN. Time, predictably, is vindicating Maldini. Poor planning and the lack of football knowledge has led to many bad transfers and Milan out of the Scudetto race before Christmas for two seasons in a row. Losing Diaz and Bennacer was out of our hands but getting rid of CDK, Tonali, and Krunic was unnecessary. The same goes for Gabbia, Kalulu, and Simic. Luckily, an injury crisis brought Gabbia back.
We had good wins against Inter and Real Madrid but, like PSG last season, those seem to be exceptions, not the norm. We still don’t have a clear style of play or stable starting eleven. We have some good players but we need more. To be more exact, we need a clear vision of how we want to play, and sign the right players for that.
We didn’t need to rebuild the team. That was the critical error
But we sure need to rebuild the team next summer as at least Theo, Leao, Reijnders & MM16 will leave as they want UCL. What’s left after that? Not even a midtable team.
Nah that’s just making the same mistake again. we just need a better coach (and this is coming from someone who will always defend the coach btw). It came down to planning. Our management bought a Honda and expected to drive like a Ferrari
At this point, I’d take a Honda as they are more reliable. 🙂 Or a Subaru.
Milan plays like a Fiat – always in the shop.
Even qualifying for the CL is going to be very very hard. Once Juventus figures out its attack, that’s it. Napoli, Inter, Atalanta, Juve = the top 4. If we miss out on the CL, Theo is definitely gone (probably is regardless), probably Tijji, and maybe Leao. The “project” is on a knife’s edge right now…
We’ll get top 4 ahead of Juve. Relax. Theo is gone no matter what happens. I’d expect Leao and Reijnders to stay. It’s Moncada who needs to leave, and Bonera. Barteshagi and Zeroli would be regulars off the bench is Bonera could do his job.
Thiaw was between the incoming ball and Lookman, he should have cut it out before it even reached him.
Gabbia was so good, it sucks that partnering him with these idiots constantly causes us to lose points and concede goals.
Should’ve played Gabbia-Tomori.
Talk about biassed. Thiaw prevented a 99% second goal from CDK with a tackle just in front of him. He had a great game and it’s ridiculous to blame him for any of the goals that were entirely on the fullbacks + partially Mike for the first one.
Results speak for themselves.
Gabbia-Tomori (win V Inter)
Thiaw-Tomori (win V Madrid)
Gabbia-Thiaw (draw v Juve and Lost v Atalanta)
The entire formation of tonights game and Madrid’s match was the same, bar one player.
Tomori played against Lazio and Fiorentina – we lost. What kind of a biassed, random statistic is that? And how is a clean sheet vs Juve an example of Thiaw and Gabbia not playing good? You should drugs, they are not good for your health.
Fiorentina was lost due to penalty-gate. That was not on the defense, more on Theo and the other players not respecting Fonseca’s hierarchy.
Against Lazio, Tomori played with another Man-To defender in Pavlovic. I’ve been advocating forever here that Tomori and Pavlovic should never be played together. Both like to go up and challenge, leaving massive holes at the back.
Best pairing is a player who goes up to challenge (one of Tomori or Pavlovic) plus another defender who sits back and covers (Gabbia or Thiaw).
With both sitting back to cover, you cannot push good attacks back, you can only react to them and defend. We saw it in todays match.
Tomori sucks even more this guy is done… have watched this guy play the past 2 years let alone recent games
Dunno how ye pick these ratings sometimes. I know he’s English but that shouldn’t make RLC free from criticism. He lost the ball so many times in that game and wasn’t taking up the right positions to progress the ball. Once he came on we had almost no attacking threat. He dropped too deep and then took too many touches. Absolutely sick of seeing him being tries as an AM.
Emerson poor all round except for the tackle. Fonseca got the tactics in the second half wrong and insists on trying RLC as an AM.
Theo’s reputation is killing him with refs and he’s getting punished by the refs for diving or overacting all the time. Personally I don’t think it was a foul tonight. Theo felt some contact but not enough and instead of actually defending he thought he’d throw himself down like he has been for too long now. He can be brilliant but he needs to take more responsibility with his defending and let a foul be a foul and not always try to “win” a foul.
First half we played ok but Fonseca is too conservative. I think as Milan fans we’d prefer to lose 3-1 playing good football and trying to win the game than trying to play for a draw and losing 2-1.
It was a disappointing game to watch. Though Milan was getting better after the last three or four games, again, we were very weak against Atalanta, especially our midfield. I truly believe we have an OK Squad, and Fonseca usually plays with an attacking style, but today, we were not there at all on the pitch. Atalanta controlled the game and deserved to win. Lastly, we truly need a strong substitute for Morata. Abraham adds so little to the team.
CDK….lol
Well done kid well done. What a player we threw away. Now worth what 60M???
Where are all the idiot Redbird Lovers who used CDK signing as a reason to fire M&M – very quiet now lol. Fkn idiots
How many more chances are we going to give Fonseca???? He’s trash. Move on for god sake to save the season and hope we can still grab at least 4th. Embarassing.
Emerson?? hahahahahaha!!! What a signing!!! And we gave up Kalulu for this donkey?
Management = A+ for utter incompetence in the transfer window and the hiring of a useless coach and A+ to Gerry for destroying what was once an up and coming promising team – two years removed from UCL semis – seems like 20 years ago. Wow
Most Milan players were poor but the main problem was the approach of playing solely not to lose the game out of fear of the opponent.Atalanta are good but not to the extent that Milan should give them such respect ,especially when we need to close the gap to the top ourselves. So personally I’m more disappointed with the approach.
You could see from the formation ,the football and subs that the approach was fearful. And that can mentally affect some players negatively.. Leao is an idiot but he rightly looked frustrated as the game went on. Fofana too whom you’d see urging his teammates to move out and add some pressure.
The Milan I want to see shouldn’t intentionally play for a draw in conditions were the team needs more (who was going to be super happy with a draw anyway!), and worst, going on with it ineffectively and ending it unsuccessfully. I’d rather the 2-0 lost to Napoli or even a 4-0 with that performance than this one. It’s embarrassing failing while appearing as a coward.
Reading the post-game interviews – so, Fonseca blames the referees and claims he was “scared” by them tonight. Morata, on the other hand, refuses to seek such excuses and says we didn’t deserve to win. Boy, the difference between a real champion and someone who’s biggest achievement is getting to top 4 in France, is really telling, isn’t it? We need a “Morata” on the bench and in the management. You’re not going anywhere with losers and a mid-table team mentality. We’re lacking a key foundation – players having respect for their coach. What’s so surprising about our current league position? The players were never the same after the clowns fired Maldini and sold Tonali. It was a clear sign of a downgrade that badly influenced our key figures on the pitch.
If I had time, I would calculate what % of our goals we gave up on the back post. I would guess it’s 20-25% of goals given up. Why we don’t stick the RB on the back post to defend each time makes no sense. We did this in high school and college soccer for a reason.
And over half of the goals are due to poor defending/choices by our RB & LB. Perhaps even 75%.
Milan is finished for the season. They will only play catch up football. Living in hope is too naive at this level and cannot see any success now or the near future for this club. Big head with empty brains.
the Fofana 6 / 6.5 … death/taxes/and Fofana getting a pass…why is he the lowest rated player outside Theo on every website but you come here and find out he tried hard but was unlucky…those sites must not use luck in their calculations…
Both him and TJ had a bad game, despite trying their best. Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the genius on the bench not rotating them ever, including against Serie B sides. Even if Musah is not a typical midfielder, it wouldn’t do much damage to field him there against frickin’ Sassuolo. Same goes for RLC who Fonseca actually did play as a CM during the summer friendlies. But no, the genius is waiting for Isma who is at least a month away from being a valid option without even mentioning the time he’ll need to start playing, you know, well after all the injuries. It’s not only the coach’s fault, though. Getting rid of both Pobega and Adli without bringing anyone was just another moronic move from the clown duo. Zeroli was supposed to be a bigger part of the first team, but I see zero signs of this statement being even remotely true.
I don’t disagree. Also Musah and Reijnders are undefeated as a double pivot…wins vs psg, Newcastle, draw at Dortmund. 3-0 vs Rennes and 5-1 vs Calgari…Parma they both started but musah was subbed out at 1-1 for fofana and Parma scored immediately…it’s a pretty natural pairing…they dominate the middle of the field vs lesser competition
Pobega had to leave. Deadwood.
Had to watch this on replay so it felt like looking at it as a neutral. Atalanta is a far superior team to ours. It’s a well deserved victory for them, can’t take anything away from them. I had said before the match about their preciseness. Their passing is clinical. We’re not at those levels even though we have a better team on paper. What I also notice is their simplicity in the way they play. It was absolutely beautiful to watch. Find the free man, pass and move. Football can be simple and Atalanta is the epitome of that.
For us, we are what we are. I thought this game was probably the most important for the season so far as it would have let us know if we’re truly making progress. And maybe we have but certainly not top2-3 level. We only have 4th place to play for and that’s about it. That’s our level though we can be much higher. Even that’s up for debate.
Our offense was non-existent especially in the second half. We had nothing to offer in that half. We parked the bus, we didn’t set up for a counter….there’s a difference. They man marked Leao out of the game and our build up was poor. We made cowardice subs (RLC) and a lack thereof. Our game plan including double inverted full backs was such a nice ode to Pioli /s. We were so rigid and the tactics were so clear to see, we were passing out of formation positions. Amateur stuff. It was a tepid display.
MOTM for me was Gabbia, he was the only one who caused problems for Atalanta. They avoided him in the second half.
Those wins against two out of sorts Real and Inter really had people for a moment there.
And I’m not sure about Mike as MOTM. Balls into the pen box should be his…either lunch clear or take. Those were sus
The lose is on Musah, he committed the foul for the first goal the lost the ball for the 2nd goal that lead to the corner.
2 inexperienced decision let the team down
If corners are goals the final score was 7-0…a blow out. And Theo had a great game, he didn’t give up a single corner, just a free shot on goal for their best goal scorer. …Gabbia, Thiaw, Emerson, Musah and Mike are the culprits.
The coach is a mess. Laeo, Reinder, Royal, Morata should have been taken off earlier if the coach has confident on the players on the bench.
Almost six months in charge. No clear cut playing style. Just eleven players running around aimlessly.
Winter transfer will come and the management will start looking for some rusty players here and there
Can’t believe we gave up kalulu for this mediocre Emerson🤦🏻♂️. There’s no way juventus would let him go.
Mediocre? Let’s not hype that piece of cr@p. He’s the worst RB Serie A has seen for years. Maybe ever.
I simply cannot understand why Fonseca keeps insisting to play Emerson Royal instead of Calabria when it is so obvious that he is the weakest point in the defence!!!! There are others player who are not serie A level, amongst Abraham, Morata, and Pavlovic. Others are literally struggling; e.g. Loftus Cheek, Musah, Theo, Okafor, Chuweze, etc. January coming the club should offload some players and get some decent players.
There simply aren’t ANY excuses for fielding Emerson. Ever. I’d even put Sportiello on the pitch instead of the worst Brazilian ever to play football (if you can even call it football what he’s doing).
Honestly not our most terrible loss. Given CDK’s goal which might or might not be a foul, Pulisic’s early injury (although was RLC really the best option to sub him ?) and that we were playing in Bergamo against Atalanta which was on a 8 games winning streak (now 9) we can’t really complain all that much.
Having said that, we were essentially in a mission to be in a top 4 position and now we might be ninth by the end of the day should Bologna pull an upset and 9 points away from the top 4 by tomorrow should Fiorentina win. Losing to Atalanta might have been “ok” if we didn’t lose so many points to Parma, Lazio, Torino and Cagliari but it’s not the case. We had our backs against the wall and we failed.
Maignan: MOTM on our side. He essentially saved us from what could have been a way heavier loss. Last summer I said we should consider selling him giving that he was injury-prone, but right now he is far too crucial to us and should be renewed.
Theo: I don’t know if it’s his relation with Fonseca, him being mad because everyone who brought him is now gone, if he has personal problems of it’s a symptom of playing too often for too long, but whatever Theo was in 2021/22 is no longer here. In the past we were ok with him being a bit average in the defending department because of how much he brought going forward, but right now he doesn’t even do that.
Emerson: He should do us a favor and quit football. He has a PHD to focus on so he should be ok. The man can’t defend, doesn’t offer anything going forward and can’t even mark in a corner. We fielded a RM to cover for his defensive mistakes and even that wasn’t enough. Not only he is not an asset, but he is a liability. We traded Kalulu for this….
Gabbia & Thiaw: It’s not every day that we lose but with the CB being good. There was some mistakes here and there but they did play well and Atalanta’s goals (especially the second one) weren’t really their fault.
Reijnders: Him being so poor defensively is exactly why we should get a CDM this winter.
Fofana: was among the better players, but since we lost the midfield, can’t really he did that great of a job either.
Pulisic: Didn’t see enough to comment on him. Hopefully this injury isn’t too bad. I hope…
Loftus-Cheek: might well be his best performance of the season (which is tragic) but not that much really. His passing is sus, his dribbling is sus.
Musah: The man is not a right winger. The sooner Fonseca understands that, the better.
Leao: Gave an assist and was quite active in the first half, but since then nothing much happened. But he deserves a good rating.
Morata: Did what a striker should do, but he wasn’t very present aside from that.
Fonseca: I said a couple of weeks ago that he had only a few serie A games to turn things around, but currently we’re sinking even deeper. IMO if we lose or draw another serie A game he should be relieved of his duties (I’d even sack him with a win). Of couse Ibra and Moncada should go with him.
Yet again he was out-coached, Atalanta was the better team and produced most of the attacks and subbing Loftus-Cheek in, while he was that this player neved produced anything this season is also a suspecious act. In the second half, he looked like he essentially gave up on the win, while we were so far from the fourth place…
Guess the morale is, get a mid-table coach and you’ll get mid-table results. Pioli’s case was a bit of a fluke but that won’t work each time. The Ukrainska Premier Liha is not a reference.
“IMO if we lose or draw another serie A game he should be relieved of his duties (I’d even sack him with a win).”
They did that with Giampaolo if my memory serves me right. We had won but…it was the way the team played that convinced management (Maldini and co at the time) that it wasn’t the direction they were hoping for
I don’t understand iwhy Fonceca doesn’t put a extra player next to secund goal bar with corners, we have received to many head goals.
You get what you paid for – banter era standings.
Mike was responsible for some of the corner kicks scored by opponent,bcos he doesn’t come out to claim his ball,he just sit on his line,sometimes as a goal keeper u come out to claim ur ball especially the ones dat r close to d goal post but Mike just sit at his line,dats his achile heal as once said
Acmilan did very well but it was the issue of pulisic but in that case Acmilan should have shifted Reijnder to Attacking midfield while Loftus cheek should partner Fofana in double pivot as simple that was our mistake but in January we should get an attacking midfielder then leao deputy while musah and chukwueze will play their role as winger.
Why Fonseca still there,what Management think about it
In my opinion, the thing that killed the game was subbing on RLC for Puli. There were two better options.
1. I’d say Chucky was decent when he came on with barely any time, and last time out he scored a brace. Putting him instead of RLC would give this team offense, and we had none in the second half (IDK about the first one, didn’t see it)
2. Abraham could have come on with Morata as a 10. Inter, Leece, this worked, why not try it again?
So, Fonseca’s mostly to blame for the loss, and sell Emerson and RLC. Whenever Emerson was on the ball, he was on it for too long. So when he passed, the player already had people on him.
Dude Theo must get out of the squad by January. quality is there, but attitude no and that’s why we need a good left and right back or change formation or smth.
He’s no captain material. And I HATE his diving (And Morata’s for that matter. I NEVER dive when I play) but out of the team? He is widely regarded as a top LB, and he’s had some good performances this season along with the bad ones, so I’d disagree. I’d just remove his armband because I don’t want his mentality spreading because he’s supposed to be the respected leader (he clearly isn’t). And we just need a deputy so he can rest, considering Terra is a RB (He should play more btw). Like, give Bartesaghi a few more minutes.
Even if you’re subbing RLC, have him play with Fofana and put Reijnders higher up, Fonseca ruined our game with this sub.