AC Milan came back from behind to clinch one point against Lazio at Stadio Olimpico. Diego Moreira was the big hero and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
After the draw against Juventus, Ruben Amorim’s side headed into the game with the aim of getting back to winning ways. However, after a poor first half, they were forced to fight for one point in the second half. They got there in the end, thanks to the new signing Moreira’s lovely brace.
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If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
Short Version
🥇 Moreira (8.5 – MOTM): Definition of game changer! Two fantastic shots to find the back of the net and several good contributions in defence too, tracking back to win back the ball. He should have squared one of the chances, but still, he deserves a high rating here. Well done.
👎 Estupinan (2.5): What can I say. Schoolboy error at the back post from him. It’s actually baffling that he didn’t get to the ball first (on Lazio’s first goal) as he was way ahead of Cancellieri. He wasn’t brilliant on the second goal either, so this is an evening to forget for him. Starting spot gone, surely.
👔 Amorim (5.5): The substitutions were fantastic, as always with the Portuguese head coach, but Milan really could have lost everything after just 45 minutes. Something didn’t work tactically, for the second game in a row, so I don’t feel that he should get a 6 here.
Starting XI
Maignan (7): He came up with some big saves in the first half, including a 1v1 on Zaccagni, and he did well to collect a few crosses too. Strong performance in my opinion, and he couldn’t exactly do anything about the goals.
Gila (6.5): Perhaps you could say he should have done more to block Zaccagni’s cross on the first goal, but in general he did really well. We all know just how good he defends, using pace and smart positioning, but the bold (and successful) passing stood out to me tonight.
De Winter (6.5): He managed to build on the strong display against Juventus with another good one, winning a lot of duels and showing (once again) that his positioning is strong. Not sure how much we can fault him for the second goal, if at all, as Noslin did really well to get there with his head first.
Pavlovic (6): Defensively, I don’t have many complaints about how he played tonight, but he could have done a bit more when offering support in attack. There was one good chance in particular that he headed straight at the keeper from close range.
Chukwueze (6): I like what he did on the first goal, playing the pass through to Rabiot, and he caused some issues for Lazio on the flank. That said, the end product could have been better (especially in the first half) and the tracking back was far from brilliant on the first goal.
Modric (5.5): Not that he was a total disaster, but it would be fair to say that he failed to dictate the tempo of the game. Lazio really had Milan pinned down at one point and in the second half, when the veteran had left the pitch, things looked much better.
Rabiot (6): It was a much better second half from him, after a quiet first 45 minutes, and he was involved in both goals (assist for Moreira’s second). However, I think he could have offered more quality on the ball in general, especially in moment where he doubted himself to play the hard pass.
Estupinan (2.5): What can I say. Schoolboy error at the back post from him. It’s actually baffling that he didn’t get to the ball first (on Lazio’s first goal) as he was way ahead of Cancellieri. He wasn’t brilliant on the second goal either, so this is an evening to forget for him. Starting spot gone, surely.
Loftus-Cheek (5): It’s really hard to assess the Englishman. I thought he did well off the bench against Juventus but today, just like against Torino and Venezia, he didn’t offer anything going forward. Maybe it’s time to give up on him.
Cisse (6): He used his body well, shielding the ball in tough situations, and showed off some nice skill too. There was a bit of liveliness in his final minutes on the pitch, but he arguably could have been more creative throughout the game. Still, it’s enough for a pass here.
Ramos (5.5): Decent movement, a few decent flicks, but that’s far from enough. This was evident when Milan tried to create chances in attack as he was never enough of a focal point (with combinations) to open things up.
When his teammates did send good crosses into the box, the movement was never enough. There was one from Hutchinson that he perhaps should have got on the end of.
Substitutes
Pulisic (7): He added loads of energy in attack and did so well on the first goal, getting control of a pretty poor pass from Rabiot in that moment, before sending it to the back post. It was really nice to see him back on the pitch.
Musah (6.5): Like his compatriot, energy was a key component of his display and that helped Milan cement some pressure, winning the ball back quickly and pressuring the opponents. Passing wasn’t always great, but he was definitely above average tonight.
Moreira (8.5 – MOTM): Definition of game changer! Two fantastic shots to find the back of the net and several good contributions in defence too, tracking back to win back the ball. He should have squared one of the chances, but still, he deserves a high rating here. Well done.
Hutchinson (6.5): Very positive debut from the Nottingham Forest loanee. We saw some good actions on the ball, including a nice cross that Ramos perhaps should have converted. Let’s see if he will start next time out.
Camarda (N/A): I didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
The manager
Amorim (5.5): The substitutions were fantastic, as always with the Portuguese head coach, but Milan really could have lost everything after just 45 minutes. Something didn’t work tactically, for the second game in a row, so I don’t feel that he should get a 6 here.
Finally we’ve got a new Theo.
Hope he never plays on the right again.
Pavlovic – Moriera – Cisse as a left side seems pretty potent.
The regular rotation seems set:
Striker: Ramos (Camarda sub/spot starter)
CAMs: Cisse, Pulisic (Hutchinson sub/spot starter)
CMs: Musah (starter), Rabiot (Modric, Jashari)
WBacks: Moreira, Chuk (Salemaekers [also spot CAM], Bartesaghi)
CBs: De Winter, Gila, Pavlo (Gabbia, Bartesaghi, Tomori)
GK: Maignan
I’d deep-six Estu and RLC for a bit, perhaps they get time in a 3-0 game.
Call me crazy, but why not use Moreira as the right sided AM so he can use that left foot to curl balls into the goal, and Pulisic as the left sided AM so that he can use his natural right foot to do the same? Bartesaghi at LWB.
Moreiras movements on the right side were not naturally offensive. That’s why in the game against juventus he typically passed it back. His body poisoning when receiving the ball on the left are much more offensive so he flows through it more naturally. Kind of like instinct.
Why play him on the right when he scored two tonight from the left…?
These people always think they know more than what is right in front of our eyes
What?
Well, you said we should call you crazy. There you go.
Moreira is far too slow to be a new Theo. Tonight we needed him to just throw himself at the attack, but in a normal situation he is not nearly fast enough to play like Theo did, up and down the wing.
MM- Gila, De Winter/Gabbia, Pavlovic- Saelemaekers/Chukwueze,
Musah/Modric, Rabiot, Moreira- Chukwueze/Pulisic, Pulisic/Cisse-
Ramos (recipe for success);
Estu gets a 0 for sure. Modric and RLC is probably 2-3. Chuk is also lucky because Estu was so bad. Because of him look at Gila how much has to.cover. he shouldn’t start. This game is on Amorim. Stop experimenting. Play the best football players not athletes.
You give Estupinan 2.5. Come on. He deserve big ZEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
There are people here writing “estupinian is 10 times the player Bartesaghi is”. I saw this this week lol. He wouldn’t even start at Lecce. He is bad.
They’re both sh*t.
We are losing points
Team play slow also defensively we suck
Surely you can’t complain about two away draws against Lazio and Juventus with a brand new coach and half a new team. We are undefeated after four games, which is much better than we were doing last season.
I’m with you on this. This is definitely a glass half full; two tricky away games where we’ve started poorly and come away with points in both.
There are performances that we need to learn from and Amorim is finding what does and doesn’t work still, but if someone had told me at the start that we’d be unbeaten after the first four, including away to Torino, Juve and Lazio, I’d happily have taken that.
Well said, mate. The coach is still trying out different things. So far we haven’t lost, and we are getting better. Mistakes here and there, but, the hunger is there. We will need replacements for Modric and Estupinan. Loftus-Cheek has to up his game. Amorim is getting bolder with his selections, and subs. I see a very strong Milan in a few months.
Surely you can. Especially if you are looking at performance rather than just results. Milan have not put in a good performance yet, even in the wins. We have yet to score a first half goal. We played 2 good teams so far , were completely outplayed by Juventus and lucky to get the draw and the first half of this match was about as bad a half as you will ever see. You are impressed by this.
Remember we were getting results while not playing well under Allegri for a while last season but eventually the results will end up matching the performances.
It’s not a technical issue but a personnel issue, RCL and Estupinia should never get on the pitch again for Milan, best is they should be used as cones in training, RCL is just the worse, big bodied and such a waste of Mass.
Now we know Modric hasn’t got the dog in him anymore for today’s kind of game. Best he is used as a depth player and not a starter or rotation cus he can’t keep up.
I kid you not Nkunkun would have benefited a lot from this system but it won’t be.
It’s clear now how a coach can ruin a good team with the wrong personnel setup. I just hope Amori has learnt this lesson now.
I still can’t believe they didn’t keep Nkunku. He’s perfect behind the striker and could have similar impact to.Pulisic in this system.
He would have repaid his transfer fee over and over again. What a shame he’s gone.
People also act like he was useless last year. Yes he didn’t play very good. But He took the most difficult penalties under huge pressure while everyone was missing left and right. He misses one of those, and Allegri wouldn’t even make it to the last game.
He’s on loan with an option. With our track record he’ll be back next summer.
I watch Como V RBL this week. I expected to see him running hard and being available.
He looked sadly like he did for most of the season here, 80% effort.
I think you are right if he would play with the passion of Chuk or Gila but Nkunku doesn’t seem to want it like that any more.
Maybe times have changed
No. He’s never had that impact anywhere. Why would he suddenly have it now?
Nkunku will be back
It’s not a technical issue but a personnel issue, RCL and Estupinia should never get on the pitch again for Milan, best is they should be used as cones in training, RCL is just the worse, big bodied and such a waste of Mass.
Now we know Modric hasn’t got the dog in him anymore for today’s kind of game. Best he is used as a depth player and not a starter or rotation cus he can’t keep up.
I kid you not Nkunkun would have benefited a lot from this system but it won’t be.
It’s clear now how a coach can ruin a good team with the wrong personnel setup. I just hope Amori has learnt this lesson now.
Mike – 6 – thought he could have done a bit better on the second goal. But, he was brilliant with his feet.
Pav – 6.5 – did the job. Got forward well twice for headers.
KDW – 6 – held the line, but looked sluggish.
Pervis – 1 – switched off and gifted a goal. I cannot believe what I saw and I don’t need to see him again. Bring back Emerson Royal.
Rabiot – 5.5 – abysmal first half.disnt know where to be could move the ball quick enough.
Modric – 5 – give aways. Slowed us down in both directions. Will be ideal off the bench in the last 20 minutes with a lead.
Chuck – 7 – ran himself ragged again. Needs to have his minute managed better. Was one of the few playing full speed in the first half.
RLC – 2 – Dude needs to take up surfing or something.
Cisse – 7.5 – another player holding us in for the first half when those around him were sleep walking. Second half held up play effectively and intelligently. This boy is already playing like a man.
Ramos – 5.5 – all hustle but is dropping too deep. Want to see him higher and goal dangerous.
Pulisic – 7 – our set piece taker. Everywhere across the front. Used both feet and looked dangerous in the box. Got an assist.
Musah – 7.5 – MOTM – everything good that happened started with this kid destroying Lazio possession and getting the ball to space immediately.
Moreira – 8 – MOTM – yep a brace and a thumping one at that. But his defense was incredibly effective on the left.
Hutch – 5.5 – very busy but still a bit lost. Time will give us a better idea of what he can do.
Camarda – 6 – brought up the work rate in meaningful way for the last few minutes. Looked like he belonged with the men.
Amorim – 6 – A point away at Lazio. Props to him for admitting to the world he got the starting lineup dead wrong and fixing it. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
I agree with Musah being one of the MOTM, along with Puli and Moreira. Musah was critical for the comeback. He was putting in mad work!
I expect to take heat for it, but he seemed to be everywhere.
I want to see him be more available for the ball in building out of the back. He tends to find a defender too often.
Maybe a year watching Ederson was what he needed
Modric should be ranked same as RLC period. Just because he was a legend in his prime doesn’t mean he gets a pass at 41. He should be ranked 2 just like RLC.
He did most of what he was asked to do and had several poor mistakes.
RLC took a vacation to Rome and won a lottery to be on the field with professional football players.
Modric will have many many uses this season. RLC will be useful for any cash he can bring in on his sale.
RLC has always been useless. Modric didn’t do much in the first half. As Lazio was high pressing in the first half with 4 to 5 players, our go to guy didnt half the legs to open up for the ball and ask for the ball. Let alone contributing in both phases of the game. Something that Musah did very well when he came on. And how did that game change. Again, regarding RLC and Estupinian it’s just just crazy to see them start a game after they have proven themselves game after game that they are useless (RLC seasons since he has been here longer).
To be clear, Musah should be starting with his minutes managed around 70 min with Modric or Jashari.
Pairing him with Rabiot as Rabiot finds form will be really potent. Jashari covers well her le defensively.
He did perform well. I am glad to see it. Hopefully he’d be back with USMNT.
You rate Musah out of old habit. He was a beast, and had one or two misplaced backpasses that didnt matter anyways. Without him, nothing else would have happened offensively.
Agree Yunus was very good
It’s possible I let a couple of passes (that I thought could have made stuff happen) get to me too much.
He’ll get the praise in the fan ratings piece though because looks like he will end up above 7/10 🙂
Finally the DT played Pulisic and to no one’s surprise the match flipped. I wonder what our site favorite Pulisic hater has to say about this one? Right place right time again.
Pulisic was fantastic- looks like he’s finally over his gf…
LOL, I’m still unsure what exactly happened. I know he was hanging out with that country music singer and all of a sudden in interviews he no longer listens to drake and listens to country music.
The problem is that he WASN’T hanging out with Sydney Sweeney. Otherwise he’d be blasting rockets every game.
Finally, Amorim puts in the players who should have started the match.
And away we go!
It’s not a technical issue but a personnel issue, RCL and Estupinia should never get on the pitch again for Milan, best is they should be used as cones in training, RCL is just the worse, big bodied and such a waste of Mass.
Now we know Modric hasn’t got the dog in him anymore for today’s kind of game. Best he is used as a depth player and not a starter or rotation cus he can’t keep up.
I love what Chukweze does with the ball, no unnecessary touches, beat your man, cutback and send the cross in to give your teammates a 50/50 chance of scoring.
I kid you not Nkunkun would have benefited a lot from this system but it won’t be.
It’s clear now how a coach can ruin a good team with the wrong personnel setup. I just hope Amori has learnt this lesson now.
Hopefully Amorim learns from this game. His starting lineups have been bad in all 4 games so far. With players getting fit and new players setting in, he should stop starting games on the back foot.
Love Modric, but in this system he cannot be a starter. He was awful today, just as bad as Estupiñán, who should’ve been subbed off after that amateurish marking on the Lazio 1st goal and never played again.
Moreira should never talk about playing on the right. You going to play on the left and you going to like it. Great 2nd half.
Musah!!! Happy for Musah. He should be a starter. Hopefully finally he would be played in 1 position where he can settle in and not play 6 different positions in 6 games like his first 2 seasons at Milan. He has been awesome so far this season.
Pulisic looked good coming in.
I only seen 4 games from Cisse and I think that long term he is a striker and not a winger or AM. He lacks speed to play wide.
Great response in the 2nd half. Some good opportunities to win the game, but after one of the worst halves I’ve seen Milan play, a draw was a fair result. Lazio was faster to every ball in the 1st half and Gattuso has them play good football. Milan starting 11 had zero speed on the pitch and zero press.
Start the game with the right players
I’m with you on Cisse as a 9 potentially. He holds up the ball incredibly well and will clearly pull the trigger with a sliver of daylight.
100% – he thinks he’s Ronaldinho in the middle of the park or the wing unfortunately…
Agree with you on Alpha. He just seems too thick to be wide.
Agree Cisse isn’t speedy, has an awkward gait. But a good shooter with intention. Pretty good on the ball.
RA should learn now that estupinan and rlc must never touch the field again, not even for copa italia!
He also need to learn that modric is way past his prime, no shame on benching him.
Maignan
Gila – KDW/Gabbia – Pavlovic/Barte
Chuk/saele-Musah-Rabiot/Jashari-Moreira
Hutchinson-Puli/Cisse
Ramos/Camarda
Hutchinson a starter? Just because he is left-footed or what?
yes , because he is left footed , and rabiot seems lost and alexis is alexis. so hutchinson who plays like pulisic on the ball should be a starter.
I’ll have to put my hands up and give credit to where it’s due. But I have to say that Musah is a critical player in the middle of the park for us. I now see what Amorim sees in playing him. He has the energy to close spaces and enough guile to get himself out of trouble. If he can minimize his errors, I think he’ll be quite good. I think having Rabiot as security helps his game too. Just like last year where Fofana wasn’t exactly my favorite, he was meant for Allegri’s system…I’m getting the same vibes here with Musah under Amorim.
Pulisic what a player and a game changer along with Moreira. Moreira also tracks back hard and I’m very happy to see that down the left side. Great stuff from the two of them.
Hutchinson also did well given that it was his debut (I think) and played only a few minutes. It’s quite hard to get into the rhythm of the game in such a short time. I’d still prefer Cisse and Puli as our attacking mids though but Hutchison is a reliable sub.
Speaking of the opposite of reliable, can we now just dispose of RLC and Estupinian for good? I’ll leave folks like Mk/K to run the mental gymnastics about how good RLC is and that every coach “prefer” him…. Yes, until they don’t. Everyone eventually sees the fraud in him. Dude is big and strong for nothing. Even Hutchinson did better in short cameo than he’s done all season.
That team in the second half should mostly be our starting team from now on. I’d still prefer Cisse over Hutch. Great comeback. Our dominance in the second half was better than Lazio’s dominance in the first. We should have won it in the end but on the balance of play I think the draw if fine. If Lazio had a third goal in not sure we’d overcome the hurdle.
Also, side note… Didn’t realize Kessie went back to Atalanta 😯
Yes. on Musah. Has decent IQ and a great engine.
Not sure I can agree about IQ yet.
Amorim simplified the game for him considerably. But Musah is 23 and like others have said he is playing in the same position now.
We will find out if he does have that IQ as he gets more responsibility.
I saw that Kessie went back to Atalanta. I could believe it. I thought he was going to Juve.
The first ever 2.5? Lol
Amorim loves yapping away at press conferences about attacking football, possession, pressing, etc. and then can’t even field a proper starting XI…Maybe by Christmas a lightbulb will have gone off in his head that RLC and Estupinan aren’t even fit for the bench and Moriera should start on the left… Shocking decisions so far but I guess it’s to be expected after seeing the sh*t show he created at United… But Michael Douglas didn’t see any of this coming…
Michael Douglas?
The rabbit died
Cardinale…
he’s a pope now lol. gerry the pope
It’s crazy cus we have proper players to press the whole 90mins, alternating Jashari and Musa give enough energy to hold the midfield, expelling RCL and Estupinia from this team, doesn’t affect us a bit.
What bugs me now is this.. Amori asked for ball playing CB and we have 2 of them right now but the way the team is setup so far doesn’t allow them to utilize thier ball playing skills to the fullest, it’s just laughable.
I’m with you – nothing makes sense right now. If he’d just fielded the right players from the beginning… sheesh..
Yeah, don’t expect that to change. That would mean him admitting he was wrong and he will never do that. Stubborn and arrogant. Of course after the match he puts all the blame on the players and not himself for putting the wrong players in the wrong positions. Literally everyone knows Pulisic is our best option at AM. Not RLC, not Saleamakers, or Rabiot. But Amorim has to show everyone that he knows better. Same crap as at Man United. I don’t expect him to change.
For all those making excuses for him, did Pulisic look injured or not fit to you all?
This coach’s arrogance has already cost us points.
I suspect Pulisic could’ve played against Juve – otherwise he wouldn’t have been p*ssed at not playing… I don’t get the optimism from some on here when we have a coach who’s asked what’s 2+2 and replies 5…
Let’s hope so, because he loves dead weight and fans where inter fans.
He didn’t create a sh*t show at Utd, he inherited an almighty one and wasn’t given time to fix it. He acknowledges himself, he made mistakes and didn’t understand the magnitude of the project but that’s very different to creating a sh*t show. I live in Manchester – Utd fans still massive have massive respect for him. Carrick’s honeymoon period is over now too…
Was it a coincidence Man United looked 10 times better the second they fired him? They barely lost a fmgame the rest of the season. Should’ve been a red flag , but somehow Milan management thought That’s one guy.
I would like to think that Amorim will learn something from this match about who our best players are and where they should be playing, but after watching him at United I really doubt that will happen. He is as stubborn as he is stupid. Pulisic just made him look like a fool for playing anyone else there. But I don’t expect anything to change.
In hindsight it was criminal of Amorim to start Loftus & Estupinan. He has to stop with Estupinan in particular and realize that Loftus just cannot impose himself no matter where you play him.
He at least had the remedy in bringing on a fired up Pulisic and the grossly underestimated Musah, who is essential in this two man midfield for the start of the second.
Moriera became our new hero tonight , I hope he can continue to become a pillar in this side and start regularly, He showed us what he can do!
I agree. If there’s ANY use for RLC it would be to throw him in in the last 15mns or so IF we’re up, to bulk up midfield and win free kicks.
Or, to have a big body in the box when the other team is sitting back and ACM is just launching crosses into the box.
We’re a good 2nd half team.
Well we saw 2 different version of Milan today. Slow and sloppy in the 1st half and modern, fast, aggressive Milan in second half. First of all Estupian and Rlc should not start under any circumstance. We have the players to take their spots, if everyone else is injured or something bring in primavera guys instead of these 2. 2nd Modric. The old man SHOULD NOT start either (maybe agaisnt low block teams, big maybe). He is old and can’t keep up. I’ve been saying it for a while. Should be benched period. Even Musah out of all the people dictated the game better in the second half than Modric did in the first half. There was a moment in the first half when Amorim kept calling him out. Also, I gotta be honest, Musah is making me eat my own words. What a fantastic display by him in the 2nd half. Kept asking for the ball, something that Modric didn’t, and helped tremendously in both phases of the game. What an obsolut beast Moreira is. Not only for the goals, but did good defensly and always a threat up front with his speed. Where have you been pulisic. He played like a seasoned AM tonight. Dropped in the midfield, picked up the ball and created. Something that our AMs didn’t do in the first half and agaisnt Juve. Even Cisse did the same thing in the 2nd half. That understanding between CMs and AMs was in the first half was just great to see. All 4 of them rotated amongst them and suddenly there was no more whole in the midfield. Even all 3 departments played tighter in the 2nd half. That second half gives me as a fan hope that this team can do well if the right players play. Hope Amorim starts with that second half lineup (+/- musah). No Modric, RLC, Estupinian and we’ll be ok.
Rabiot was a marvel to watch in that double pivot…glad he was restored to that position. The team will need a bit of time to grow…they need to learn quickly to deal with a high press team, that is what nearly cost them the game in the first half. One weakness RA need to work on is getting the team to play for 90min. The 1st half was a disjointed affair with a lot of stray passes…whatever he told them during the break certainly did the trick. I just hoped he realized what a liability Estu is and relegate him to the bench for the rest of the season. Of all the suspect players who were given 2nd chances he just never raised his hand. We need to work on the leaky defense as well, we cant afford to concede in nearly every game…Forza Milan
To the stands…
What are you blaming Chuks for? You guys always have complains. If he was that bad he wouldn’t play 90 minutes. Watch the game and stop criticizing. There is always a but!
“Gila (6.5): Perhaps you could say he should have done more to block Zaccagni’s cross on the first goal,”
What do you mean he could of done more ?? He didn’t do anything to block the cross. He should of been pulled from the game right after that.
Exactly.
Moreira has packed Estupinians bag and dropped him off to the Airport. We hope he never plays again.
Moreira looked kinda slow on defense. Hopefully I was imagining it otherwise that could be a liability, since our defense is already questionable. He’s good at attacking though so thats good.
Mila first 11 is Musa rabiot pulisic ceisse Samuel chukwueze morera Ramos gila de, winter pavlovic/estupinians kell Mila last season against Lazio 2
He twice chased down and disrupted Lazio wingers who had a head start down the sideline. Not sure you were watching the same game? 🙂 Maybe you were thinking of Estupinan?
Amorim promises man utd fast aggressive football, convinces the club owners to get him the players for it, they did and he switches to an unrecognizable opposite of the promised high press football…
Then gets sacked, and someone else comes in and uses his players and initial idea to take man utd from the bottom half of the table to 3rd place…
Feels like it’s milan’s turn to witness thesame pattern!
Watch Moreira on this match its like we watch theo on his prime.. congrats 🎉
This game told me a few things and while it was tough to see thay first half maybe it was necessary to show amorim never to start estupinan and RLC ever again. RLC is much better as a 15 minutes left in game substitute, while eatupinan shouldn’t see the field anymore.
This game also showed that musah and rabiot are the pairing to go with in the middle. I love modric but he cant be starting every game and it showed in the first half how poor rabiot was and then when musah came in, how strong rabiot was in that position.
The first half was truly disastrous. Couldn’t string 3 passes together. Couldn’t defend and zero creativity and no high press at all. After the juve game and that first half I thought to myself that if this is the milan of this season were in big trouble and will be lucky for a top 8 finish.
Ill give amorim credit for the halftime changes cause they were absolutely spot on. Moreira what a performance. I said after the first game that it took just that game vs juve to see that moreira would be much better on the left and he exploded today. I hope estupinan doesnt start again.
Musah I have to give credit where credit is due. He looks like a different player this season and while he may still make some poor decisions his pace, aggression and breaking the lines have been fantastic. He won so many balls back and opened it up for rabiot to do his thing.
Pulisic. About time. Playing this formation its hard to see hoe you can not play with pulisic because it demands players with skill and pace. Whether he starts with cisse or Hutchinson, these are the players that need to start there, not rabiot or RLC.
the second half is how we should be playing a whole 90 against any team and if they can do that im positive they can finish top 4. Its all on amorim now to play the perfect pairings in every department so they can build consistency.
I think Amorim got the starting 11 completely wrong this game. But you have to give him credit because his subs so far always make a difference.
I would say the second half lineup is pretty close to a great base 11 for us, outside of Hutch – he’s still an unknown. I’d start Puli and Cisse at the 10’s.
Midfield is where things get tricky. AMorim is right because Modric is ineffective when we have to chase the game. Musah provides more dynamism (even if it isn’t always error free) and has been pretty dependable so far this season when getting out of pressure and driving forward. I think it makes sense to start with Rabiot and Musah in midfield and bring in Modric at around 70 minutes to control possession and pace if we’re up. Otherwise, Modric only makes sense in the middle of a midfield 3. He isn’t dynamic enough for a double pivot and I’ve been pretty consistent on this.
The failed experiments that are RLC and Estupinan need to finally be put to rest. Good Lord! How long will we continue to jam those square pegs into round holes? If we’re gonna allow our wingback to get blindsided by an attacker behind him, then bring in Bartesaghi and at least have him learn from it. Estupinan isn’t changing.
Happy for Moreira to have made such a palpable difference. Very early Theo vibes on both goals. Guess it makes sense to put players in their preferred positions.
Agree – Amorim’s subs always have to make the difference because he balls up the starting XI… I was pleasantly surprised by Hutchinson- looked confident/ comfortable on the ball had a great strike and put in a fantastic cross…
Those two were abysmal. When push comes to shove and the pressure comes, or they beed to initiate to open the game, they always crap the bed. They gotta go. Moreira was refreshing. Unlike Estup, he tried to create overloads, looked motivated, ready to pounce, trying to make it happen. Some balls…They were marking Cisse so someone had to rover close by and force them to commit to one or the other, if both then another space opens up wide, so good strategy and execution when pockets opened.
One important point to note is that most of the first thing didn’t play the preseason games and now Amorim has to evaluate the team on a game by game basis. Rabiot still seems lost on the pitch and his passes are really terrible too but he works hard so that’s a cover.
I also hate that serie A is still doing the cooling breaks cos that cooling break killed our momentum for sure. We could have scored a 3rd goal if not for that break as momentum was on our side.
2 draws against 2 top serie A teams is not bad. On to the next game.
It was like 84 today. It’s done by temperature and I’m ok with it as it’s a player safety issue.
Great point on the cooling break – I remember when footballers used to be able to play in hot weather…
I don’t think Amorim will achieve anything great with 3-man defence and these starting line ups. It’s crazy to play with four wingers at the same time (Cisse, Moreira, Pulisic, Chukwueze). On the first half we could not defend due to the lack of wing backs. If he wants to play this system, he has to play with Salamaekers and Barteshagi. Moreira and Chukwueze can be used behind the ST.
RLC and Estupinian should not play for our team anymore.
RLC has to go…not enough conviction to make his size and strength work in any aspect of the game. Not creative enough or skilled enough to break lines with passes in tight situations because he seems to be in a daze. Doesn’t drive the box or finish opportunities. He’s always hovering, half way there, looking like it can unclog, then nothkng doing. He has great speed and strength for his size, technically gifted, that being said it is in perpetual stand by, fn cruise control. He lacks a consistent competitive edge. It drags down the team. Jack in the box, will he pop up to do something or stay hidden in his hole? ohh here he comes, nope, just showing his eyes like Wilson from home improvement. Bench him once and for all. Put someone who competes. Enough already. The Espooppee..and of the Midfielders..good riddance Games we say there wasnt enough intensity, is usually when he starts
just lack of sharpness, reaction times and urgency..he is capable on paper, in theory…flying grades, top of the class in school…then put him on the market, in the real world, when it comes times to make it count, draws blanks then freezes, deer in headlights all the time..Sorry to see because hechas it all then delivers nothing..
Ramos
(Camarda)
Cisse. Pulisic
(pulisic). (hutchinson=
Moreira Rabiot. Musah chukwueze
(barte). (Jashari) . (Rabiot). (Saele)
(Modric)
Pavlovic Gabbia Gilla
(Diawara) (de winter), (tomori)
Maignan
(Toriani)
This should be our first and second team for now as we still need one attacking midfielder one center defender and one holding midfielder to compete with Rabiot and musah, Jashari can replace Modric in this team, estupinian should leave this team as well as luftus cheek, one AM one CM and one CB, and we are good to go, we all know that our transfer is not complete yet, I believe in this milan with the right players playing, not seeing cheek or Rabiot as an attacking midfielder,.
Be Winter will be the problem later. this game shows sign
Wtf – I take it back – you’re clearly 8 not 14…
what? joker you took back so much trash? lol
no wonder smell so…
Meanwhile Amorim is doing his job for which he is accountable for. I take 8 points and Zero losses, and I like the guy and his integrity.
You guys can keep eating apples all you want but I think we had a great start of the season and from here onwards it will only get better. Good night and Forza Milan 🖤 ❤️
Yep and Milan is already behind several teams in Serie A. Because of Amorim selection..
very true, but only 2 players were at fault, moreira had a trash game vs juve and pulisic wasnt 100% fit . maybe he could of played barte and musah and rabiot at am or salad , but who knows
A few thoughts. No real positive and negatives today because everything in the first half was negative and everything in the second half was positive
1. It was awesome seeing Moreira tracking back and dispossessing Lazio even after he put two in the net
2. If Moreira doesn’t score a brace the man of the match was Musah…he absolutely controlled the midfield
3. Pulisic couldn’t have played 15 minutes against Juventus…really?
4. Estupian had the worst play of the game and it was such a bad play… but I thought Modric played the worst. Multiple bad passes, offset by no great passes. Too slow to help on the second goal. Only one defensive play I can remember. Too slow, two small, not passing well enough for this role. I keep thinking the only place Modric can play is attacking mid
5. Rabiot, Cisse, and Chuk deserve credit for bringing it in the second half, but they also deserve blame for being invisible in the 1st half
6. Amorim gave Ramos a breather…finally! You cannot expect a striker to press all game and then force him to play 90 every game.
7. Because Milan got run over it has kind of gone forgotten but Mike had a ridiculous save against the Lazio striker alone on goal.
8. Pulisic is good….every body remember now?
9. So far this year that was the worse half of the season by Milan, and the best half of the season,
10. The XI that started the second half…more of that please
11. Although I am worrying about Amorim being too stubborn to be effective, Changing 3 at half is a bold move and humbling for a manager.
12. Forza!!! Keep fighting boys!
I agree with your takes.
everyone here could see that RLC, Estupinian should have been upgraded… including the gaping hole in CCB area. hopefully, this game taught Amorim to abandon these trash for good.
Alexis not being used as LWB is beyond me. We get that Saelemakers has tendency to go in the middle, but Puli has Cisse to sub him. Let Alexis play wingback role, ffs…
Hutchinson isn’t a star player, talented with good qualities but you can’t say we have left CAM role solved… RLC is unusable, Rabiot is better in double-pivot and Omar is very raw at his age.
unfinished mercato is starting to bite us already in the a$$
we still have to play vs Como, Inter and Napoli… might be 6 points we will lose out on. just have to make sure that we win vs the fodders.
That’s Amorim type of thinking right there…
You’ve got Moreira, Bartesaghi and Estupinan for LWB position. Saelemaekers is an RWB and always has been.
Tonight we all saw perfect example in Moreira, of why Amorim should not be playing players outside of their natural positions.
Alexis played well during Roma loan spell, also he was LW for Bologna…
he is not new to left flank… idk what are you talking about
Pulisic shows his quality. Moreira, for the time being, is much better on the left than right. He still needs to prove it more.
On the 1st half, Barte should be in for Estu.
Giving Camarda 5 minutes at the end of the game is not doing anyone any favours. If Ramos hasn’t scored in 60, he should come off. That way we give our back up striker minutes and confidence. Only then will we have start to have competition for the number 9 position.
Estupinian’s rating is too high. Terminate his contract
Estu and The Cheeks must leave in January. Bring in 2 players that are at least alive not brain dead. But what a great second half.
Chuk is overrated
We could have won this game. We dropped 2 points thanks to Estupiñán. I hope he never starts again. At best he should be the backup of the backup. Then, sold.
Even though our first half was rotten, I think we can do well as long as Amorim learns a few things from this game (and Juve’s game).
1) Don’t play Moreira out of position in the right side He belongs in the left side. What a difference! Horrible in the right against Juve, MOTM in the left against Lazio!
2) NEVER, EVER start Estupiñán again! Especially, not over the briliant Moreira!
3) Realize that Pulisic is WAY WAY WAY superior to RLC. Don’t ever start RLC over Puli again. Only if Puli is injured or exhausted, RLC should play. And the way Hutchinson played today in his short cameo, not even. RLC is capable of good games but like one out of eight. He also shouldn’t be more than the backup of the backup.
4) Ramos has been a bit disappointing and we need more from him but it is not entirely his fault. Amorim needs to tell his wingers and attacking midfielders to feed him more. Ramos could have easily scored two goals today, perfectly positioned to just tap the ball in, had the ball been crossed to him, but Cisse and Moreira ignored him and tried to score themselves; both missed. I still believe in Ramos.
5) Musah and Chuck are completely changed players under Amorim. They have both been pretty useful. If Amorim had a finger in that, well done. See, Musah even played better than Modric, today! I had given up entirely on Musah, deeming him not even a soccer player. I guess I was wrong. This may be the season when he finally explodes. By the way, the official rater here was too harsh on both. Both deserved better scores than they got from the official rater. I thought that Chuk was actually the only player who played decenty well in the first half, and he improved even more in the second half.
————-
I’m puzzled with Amorim. He subs extremely well. He seems to always accurately diagnose which players are underperforming, and he yanks them out with no hesitation (even sacred monsters like Modric). That is good and shows capacity to read the game. But then, why exactly doesn’t he get the lineup right to start the game, and then he pretty much needs to correct his poor starting lineup choices in the second half, and bring in better players from the bench?
It’s not for nothing that all our games this season were scored in the second half.
Isn’t it about time for Amorim to know his roster well and realize that Moreira is way better than Estupiñán and Pulisic is way better than RLC??? Estupiñán and RLC should be just relief players when the true starter is tired, injured, or suspended, or there is need for rotation against an easy opponent. Estupiñan shouldn’t have started against both Juve and Lazio, and RLC shouldn’t have started against Lazio. Let them play in Copa Italia or against some lowly Europa League opponent. Not against two good teams like Juve and Laio.
Mike – 6
Pav – 6.5
KDW – 5.5
Pervis – 0.5
Rabiot – 6
Modric – 4
Chuck – 6
RLC – 1
Cisse – 6.5
Ramos – 5
Pulisic – 7
Musah – 8 MoTM
Moreira – 8 MoTM
Hutch – 6
Camarda – 5.5
Amorim – 6
(Amorim should give Saelemaekers a chance in the second half if Chuk performs poorly in the first half.
We need a world-class center-back to partner with Gila and Pavlo. I’m not too convinced by KDW)…
Not impressed with Amorim. Starting 11 was a joke, introducing the 3 players at halftime had such a profound impact on the game that it doesn’t leave me saying what great subs the manager made but instead I’m asking what the hell is he thinking to have not been playing these guys (Puli and Moreira) the last few weeks. Puli didn’t just magically get fit this week and Moreira didn’t suddenly start looking better than Estupinan. This was always going to be what happened, so why didn’t he know this after observing them for weeks?
Cisse has Ben a revelation but he’s not the playmaker Puli is. And don’t even try to compare Estupinan to the other options. I think we’re being horribly mismanaged and if the optimal lineup was utilized we should have won this game and who knows what would have happened against Juve. Basically I’m just pissed!
Amorim is someone who’s ready to die alone on the hill for his ideas and philosophy but I really hope he’s flexible enough to field his players where they are supposed to play or not – Moreira on the left, Saele on the right, Puli in the starting lineup and RLC on the bench.
Mike
Gila Gabbia Pavlo
Saele Musah Rabiot Moreira
Cisse Pulišić
Ramos
There’s no other way but this.
yes
Amorim is someone who’d d*e alone on the hill with his philosophy but I really hope he’s changed and flexible enough to adapt and field his players where they should play or not – Moreira on the left, Saele on the right, Puli in the starting lineup and RLC on the bench.
Mike
Gila Gabbia Pavlo
Saele Musah Rabiot Moreira
Cisse Pulišić
Ramos
This the only way to play with this current setup.
Yesterday we also saw what happens when Chuk turns off in defensive phase, Gila was working his arsche off for him on that flank.
I’ll die on it with him if we play like we did in the second half – 11 monsters.
But yes, he now has to stop tinkering and understand his best side, especially for big games like last night.
I think there will be games that will be for Chuk and games that won’t. He does track back but that’s very different to ‘defending’ and the reality is he’s never going to do that well. We call them wing backs but they are more deep lying wingers and I think we ultimately need a box to box midfielder who can defend first and foremost who can slot in.
I’ll d*e on it with him if we play like we did in the second half – 11 monsters.
But yes, he now has to stop tinkering and understand his best side, especially for big games like last night.
I think there will be games that will be for Chuk and games that won’t. He does track back but that’s very different to ‘defending’ and the reality is he’s never going to do that well. We call them wing backs but they are more deep lying wingers and I think we ultimately need a box to box midfielder who can defend first and foremost and can slot in.
The negativity on here is hilarious. Four games! Three of them away, and two against sides that will be around us at the end of the season.
Yes, the first half was very poor, but the second half was the best half of football we’ve played in years – that is the potential of this side!
But apparently Amorim is too ‘stupid’ to see it (even though he created it 🤷🏻♂️). Who exactly is the god-like vision of perfection people want as coach? Maybe we should sack him and bring in Carrick for half a seasons bounce, would that finally make us happy?
Pulisic is back, we have a new superstar, we have kids coming through, everything is better than it’s been in ages, but ok moan because we drew away to Lazio 😆
Did you not watch the first half?? That was ugly my friend. Especially when you consider the quality of players that he did not start.
I agree with most of what is said here, but we need to remember it’s a long season, injury will come, and we will need to rotate. What I like best about Amorim so far is he uses all 5 subs. RLC has a place in this side. He can play pretty well defensively and offensively, but he’s not truly great at anything at this point. I’m convinced Amorim had given complicated instructions for first half and they just did not get it or somehow Lazio had figured us out, because the press was a shambles. I want to see Saalemaekers at RWB and Moreira on the left, with Chuk rotating in on the right. I really liked Puli in the free 10 role. It will hopefully be a very long season, so all of these guys are going to need to contribute. Let’s not bury Modric yet. Modric with Musah beside him to do the running looked just fine. Pay too much attention to Modric and Musah will carry forward. Too much on Musah and Modric has the passing range. They make a good pairing. We had both Rabiot and Modric high in the press and then Cisse and RLC behind them and they looked clueless. So I’m not sure it was players – it might have been that Gattuso was beating Amorim tactically. We could not press nor beat the press and that’s the whole point of Amorim ball.
I know this will not be well received but Puli needs his minutes managed. We all know other coaches from other teams will watch this game and see the tale of two halfs, the weakness of Christian is his ability to stay healthy that said some coaches will say to defenders “for us to win you need to take Puli out of the game”
I have no issues with this. Manage his minutes.
Anybody else notice the disappearance of Oulmighty? Maybe he did follow his boyfriend Leao. Or maybe it was Leaos burner account. Either way good riddance