AC Milan were on their way towards another win but ended up losing tonight’s clash against Spezia. A controversial decision from the referee prevented them from extending their 100% record in 2022.
Starting XI
Maignan (6): He made some good saves this evening and he couldn’t do anything about the goals. He was very unfortunate to concede twice, that’s for sure.
Florenzi (6): It was a decent display from the right-back but nothing out of the ordinary. He had some good passes and also made his way forward often.
Kalulu (5): Most of the things he did were really good, especially when driving forward, but two of his mistakes resulted in the goals. Lost his position completely on the first one and lost the ball on the second.
Gabbia (5.5): He was decent but struggled in some duels, often arriving a fraction too late, but just enough to put off his opponents. It could have been better, though.
Hernandez (5.5): He missed a penalty in the first half, failing to hit the target, and he wasn’t really that involved in the attacking phase this evening. We all know that he can do so much more.
Bakayoko (5.5): He looked decent overall and had some good interventions but his sloppy passing wasn’t nice to see. It’s something he really needs to work on to even have a chance of playing when the starters are back.
Krunic (6): He was often present and helped his teammates when in tough situations. He got the assist for Leao’s goal with a nice ball over the top, which obviously helped his rating.
Saelemaekers (6): He looked quite good this evening as he was heavily involved and had a few good shots that were saved by the goalkeeper (he saved a lot this evening).
Diaz (6): It was a positive sign from the Spaniard tonight as he was successful with many of his dribbles and thus created some space for Milan. But there is still room for improvement.
Leao (7): Although Milan lost in the end, this man must be praised for being a constant danger. He won the penalty that Theo missed and also opened the scoring with a nice dink.
Ibrahimovic (6): He was very unlucky not to get on the scoresheet as the Spezia goalkeeper somehow kept out even his good efforts.
Substitutes
Messias (6): He was robbed of what would’ve been the winner as the referee blew his whistle for a free-kick just before. Other than that, he wasn’t spectacular but his finish sure was nice.
Calabria (6): Added some energy to the team and looked good on the ball. His return is important, that’s for sure.
Giroud (6): Won most of his duels and this helped Milan create some chances towards the end. It’s just a shame about the final score.
Rebic (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
READ MORE – AC Milan 1-2 Spezia: Gyasi nets late winner as the Rossoneri fall victim to officials again
First of all Kalulu is not the one to blame.
1. As i stated 20 times before Ibra is too f-ing old to play 90 minutes, he should only come in the last 30 minute or so and only if needed.
2. Pick one f-king player to shoot penalties and stick with them. Even if its Mike, stop f-ing around. At this point we’re just throwing 200% chances away.
3. Milan needs to be more aggressive when it comes to refs during and after the games. Obvious mistakes like these should cost those clowns their entire careers, instead of slap on the wrist that this moron will probably get, if that.
4. Bench Brahim already. He is useless.
1. Besides Leao (who disappeared towards the end), Zlatan was the only one making things happen. He did more than the rest combined.
2. They previously chose Theo to shoot penalties, so technically they did stick with him. But if he can’t hit the target, maybe it’s better to switch (again). 😉
3. No they don’t. That changes nothing. Except makes the team look like bunch of pathetic whiners (just look at Juve for example).
4. Maldini is even more useless. Messias? Maaaan, he was terrible. Once again. So… Bench Diaz for who?
A 4222, 4321, or 4141
Agree Messias was terrible — his first touch lost the ball/possession i think 4 of the first 5 times someone passed him the ball.
Bench Diaz for Kessie when the AFCON boys come back. start Tonali and Bennacer at 2 defensive/holding mid positions and start Kessie further up the pitch. I think that plus starting Rebic on right wing and Leao on left with Giroud and Ibra splitting the 90 minutes like 55 to 70 minutes for Giroud and 20-35 mins for Ibra each match.
agree, many do not think Saelaemakers is any good ,so be it but, today he was having a decent game,why take him out for Messias ? Tip your hat to their goalie.
1. Ibra did nothing except waste a few good chances, he created zero and contributed less than zero. He is slow, and distracted because he is chasing some imaginary records he needs to beat Ronaldo. He is not even half the player he was just 2 years ago. He is great if he doesn’t have to worry about conserving energy, last 20 or 30 minutes, he can be explosive and give it is all, but playing him from the start is like playing with 10 players most of the game.
2. Well if 1 was true then Giroud would have been in game and he would have scored. So… There is that.
3. We lost to Atletico because of that, and countless other games because we were to weak and too dumb to fight for ourselves. Check other ligues, this is how modern football is played. We lost this game because of that, slightly more pressure on the ref and Gyasi would have been sent off in the 1st half.
4. Fine, but transfer window started 2 weeks ago, and we are still contemplating fucking central defenders and playing without proper trequartista and right wing entire season. Saying that we just need a defender and with it the squad is complete is ridiculous, even borderline idiotic.
Agree Kalulu not to blame and agree Ibra needs to play fewer minutes. He blew several easy chances that Giroud would’ve finished. Gabbia actually more to blame on first goal IMO as he was too far back and kept Spezia onside.
That’s ridiculous. First of all Giroud would not have even gotten in position to take the chance that Ibra had. The only thing Giroud is good for is getting his head on the end of crosses. That’s it. Ibra adds much more overall to the offense. The goalie made some really good saves today.
I would respectfully disagree. Did you see Giroud’s bicycle kick goal for Chelsea in CL last year knocking out Atletico Madrid? he also can score w/ his feet and is a better passer than people give him credit for. The time Ibra received the pass w/ back to goal, he turned and put it right to the keeper. very early in match he absolutely blasted a ball WAY over the bar and wide when a more accurate less powerful shot was a better choice. then a bit later in the half, he chose to go with a less powerful shot trying to pass it into the far corner which was an easy save for Provedal and in that situation a more powerful shot was what was required. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ibra and his hold up play and chest passes/headers and thru balls or flick on passes wide w/ his back to the goal are FANTASTIC. he’s great. I just think he could’ve and should’ve done much better on like 4 or 5 occasions today and if he did, just once, we win the match. that hurts. Giroud is the type of guy (he has been his whole career, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc.) where he can go 20 minutes w/o touching the ball, but when he gets his chances, he converts. he needs more minutes… and all due respect to Ibra, but he’s 40 and w/ all the injuries he’s had on our team past 2 years, it probably would be smarter to play him less.
I disagree on that. Ibra gets stronger as the game goes on. A lot of his goals have come late in the game, even in today’s game he was more dangerous at the end of the game nearly scoring twice. Like you say Giroud can go most of the game doing nothing and then score a late goal, but it’s the rest of the game that’s the problem. And Giroud makes Ibra look fast. That’s a problem.
Shiva and DB, thank you both for making assessments that I completely agree with.
K, you say “Ibra gets stronger as the game goes on.” Come on, be real. Today’s Zlatan doesn’t have the mobility or endurance that he did just 2 years ago, let alone that of Giroud. Ibra can’t run to the ball. He can score from a standing position, but that means the team is effectively the playing with 10 men. Don’t believe the hype. He’s a liability. Not a 90+ player, not a starter, but a 30 minute super-sub at best.
Sorry Shiva he is the one to blame but he’s young and if we had a better mid he wouldn’t have had to push up so far. Great prospect but people make mistakes. Either way yet again we missed a penalty, got screwed by the ref and were awful with our finishing today and those were bigger mistakes than kalulu’s imo, but still doesn’t erase his errors.
I hope I never get to see the ugly face of that referee again. Having said that, our performance was subpar too. But what can you expect from a team that has Krunic/Bakayoko pair in the midfield? I think it is unrealistic to aim at Scudetto this year, give that we keep losing points against teams like Spezia. I hope we have Bennacer/Romagnoli back before Inter/Juve games.
Yep. This was the match that decided the scudetto. The loss wasn’t a surprise to anyone as people knew Baka-Krunic was the midfield couple.
AC milan is not and will never be a Scudetto winning side when inter is around
At least Milan will always have more UCL trophies in the prize cabin. Some things never change.
No need risking heartaches with Milan disappointments this season… The mistakes were made even before the season started. Maldini and Massara were virtually inactive in the transfer window, living with the delusion that the squad was complete.
No reinforcement, and no renewal talks, until they were shocked by Donna and Chala, and now Kessie. The Management is not proactive, and it was indeed stupid to think that this squad could challenge for any domestic trophy, let alone the Champions League.
We may not know if the funds are available, but the choices of players brought in don’t strike determination in the hearts of the team and the fans.
Diaz, Messais, Bakayoko, and Giroud, were all unnecessary transactions. If you stand on building a competitive team, that’s understandable when we see the management going for young players. But panic-buying to make a false statement is pretty much insulating to the fans and the club.
I’m not one for splashing cash in football, but if Elliot is not ready to invest in the club’s successes, then I think the club should be sold.
Pioli can only do so much with the players he has. If the players aren’t good enough, you cannot turn them into superstars during training.
We need a clear idea on the club’s direction. As for me I don’t know what Elliott’s plan is. Maybe they aren’t interested in the sport. Maybe they just want to steady the books, and sell to make a profit.
But in all. It’s heartbreaking. We are nowhere different from what happened last season, I think we are even worse this season, because the competition seems less and we can’t take advantage of it.
This season is over, we need to look ahead to the future.
Yep. Pioli has made leao and tonali into 2 great players, and he needs other players to work with
Yeah I had this crazy idea before and everyone jumped on me when I said it.
Just imagine every transfer window investing in just 1 or 2 decent players, and keeping the ones you have and that you know have potential.
Not signing useless Yoko and instead keeping Pobega. I mean, who in their right mind thought that Chelsea player that never played for Chelsea because he wasn’t even good enough to warm their bench and spent most of his career on unsuccessful loans in clubs that in the end always sent him back. Madness.
Gettin Pellegri and sending Colombo on a loan… physically hurts to even think about it.
Messias, Giroud, Diaz. There are maybe flashes of something there, but they do not justify money spent on getting them not even close. A proper trequartista instead of those two would have been a way, way better choice. And we were linked with Faivre, Ziyech, Luis Alberto, Vlašić… but nah, we’ll get Messias
Y’all need to consider careers in sports management, or even better – investment. Buy low, sell high, make a billion or two, take over Milan, and take it to the top of the world. We’ll be eternally grateful!
Hindsight is 20/20, and I don’t trust anyone who says they called Diaz a bad buy in 2021. Your mind is probably playing tricks on you – suddenly you remember being skeptical even as your hands were waving goodbye to Calhanoglu and your lips were whispering “we don’t need you”. Oh, and the 12-win streak at the start of the season? Surely you weren’t excited.
And if you’re an adult seriously contemplating what Elliott’s plan is (make a profit??? oh noes…), you need to wake up to the reality of professional sports. There are two modes a club can operate: as a business (generating profit or at least growing enterprise value) or a billionaire’s toy (and/or political tool). Fans love #2 because that gives the club an unfair advantage over the less fortunate competition, so they can go butt-kicking lowly teams living on 10% of the budget. That’s what FFP is intended to tackle. And this is the fundamental reason why Milan has been struggling after the end of the Berlusconi era. In the absence of league-winning business fundamentals, the league can be won only accidentally (when stronger teams self-sabotage like Juve this term).
If it’s a business like anyone else’s, then you gotta live with the fact it’s a competitive environment, change is slow, there are no magical turnarounds.
Think of it this way – you inherited a small business from your uncle. It’s running debt and has negative cashflow. More debt means more interest paid means more losses. Your equipment is outdated compared to most of your competitors. Some of your employees are overpaid. Oh, and due to corona restrictions you’re only open 2 days a week. Still, you’re slowly turning things around. But then you’re invited to a family reunion where you get berated by people working 9 to 5 jobs. Aren’t you interested in winning the market? Remember how well your uncle ran it in 1988! Why don’t you go and hire some A-players? Do you only care about profits, what about the community?? Get it together buddy!
We’re on track to make the top four without drama and it’s an amazing result. Before last term we couldn’t do it in 7 years. Watch some games from 2014-2015 and feel blessed with the team we have today.
So disappointing and a bit unlucky that their keeper made 6 spectacular saves on us; but I still don’t understand why he is bringing in Messias for Saelemakers instead of Rebic earlier. As soon as Rebic comes into the match he creates so much danger and opportunities — great crosses, nice give and go one touch passing in middle, pressing, speedy runs. He can play on the right side and you leave Leao in the game who is in such great form!!! Why take him out!??!?! Rebic played on right side for Croatia’s run to World Cup final and did well! Play him there! He’s much better than Messias and he’s better than Saelemakers (though Alexis was better today).
Indeed. Messias was definitely the worst on the pitch and if Rebic would have gotten more minutes, Milan would have surely scored (an allowed one).
Messias and Baka both so sloppy in possession. Just terrible.
Giroud came on in 70th and Rebic in 84th and they created more chances and danger than almost everyone who played most of the match (other than Leao of course and Ibra created some good chances too).
Agree with you fully. We should field Rebic on the right side and play him together with Leao. I think they will create one hell of a duo together and terrorize the opponents from left and right. The problem with Messias is that he is too one-dimensional and predictable. Hopefully, Pioli plays Rebic and Leao together in our forthcoming games.
I would even argue leave Salae for a little longer and then bring on Rebic for him. Messias only contrbution was his disallowed goal. Salae was close and Rebic was more dangerous.
Once Alessio/Tomori back and AFCON boys back, if we start matches with these 11:
Ibra/Giroud up top
Leao Kessie Rebic
Bennacer Tonali
Theo Alessio R Tomori Calabria
Maignan
Tha’s actually a REALLY nice starting 11. If we are lucky enough to manage to have them actually stay healthy, then I do think we could still compete for Scudetto w/ Inter. If one of the central mids is on a yellow card or gets a knock, can bring Krunic in. Kalulu can sub in for any of the back 4 positions. if Rebic gets a knock then Saele can come in. If Leao gets a knock, then move Rebic to left and put Saele in. Brahim maybe could be better off bench for Kessie too?
What do you all think?
Yes, however .1 we will lose kessie eventually, and I would like to see tonali play a few games as the cam, I would like to see if Diaz is any good as a sub, giroud should start and ibra be giv 30mins per game. Also like whenever pioli subs giroud/ibra on for cam, works well
yes, of course I know we will lose Kessie after this season; but I want the Scudetto THIS YEAR!
Ibra>giroud.. ibra did alot of nice things today unlucky to not get a goal or 2 also…
If the squad cannot win matches like this against when palyers are out then the chances of us winning is low.
Maignan, eh
Theo had to stay back and protect the weak cbs which is why he didn’t attack heaps. Kalulu and Gambia did what they could, but gabbia isn’t great and kalulu isn’t a cb.
Florenzi is extremely underrated.
Krunic is best as a dm, creativity not needed there, bakayako is good at defending, but can’t pass.
Yes, Diaz did get on the ball today: pioli told him to drop deep and most of the passes he made were useless. Saelamakers was a bit better at attacking, but that isn’t hard, leao is great, but bcs he was only one doing anything he lost his energy midway through the second half. Ibra was eh but I like giroud starting more, he is more clinical. Ibra should take pens bcs his conversion rate is similar to Theo’s, but mentally he won’t be poor bcs he misses one, rebic is good but pioli’s fatal flaw is that he makes substitutes too late; he gave rebic 15 mins, most people take 5-10 to settle into a game, normal coach would give 20-30 mins. I think it would be better to buy florenzi than messias
This is what happens when management and ownership won’t support the team , won’t spend, and hope they continue to get lucky. Well just like last season their luck is running out. They let their starting number 10 go and didn’t replace him with anybody. Diaz is not capable and they have no backup for him. Right wing is still a problem. They’ve lost their two starting CB’s to injury and won’t sign a replacement. Sad. It may already be too late but they need to sign a CB and attacking midfielder immediately. Look at Inter’s roster compared to Milan, how can they expect to compete. Martinez, dzeko, Barella, Calhanoglu, Perisic. They are bringing Sanchez, Correa, Vidal, Dumfries off the bench. Milan has to do better.
Yes, there is no question that Inter is far deeper w/ more quality off the bench. We do need to upgrade CAM and right wing (or, at least for right wing, as I’ve said repeatedly today and other days — just start Rebic there for this season); but I fully agree with you that after he lost Hakan to Inter, we needed to spend to get someone there — Isco was talked about, others, but we got nobody. that 10 position is our biggest problem IMHO (outside of general lack of depth, of course).
And we will see how good their squad is and how luck we were to draw against them on the 6th of feb
Oh, and Diaz scored as a sub earlier this year versus this very same Spezia team late in match to break a 1-1 tie!
Messias lacked determination and speed in this game, bakayoko passing is ridiculous and lacked conviction. Dias improving in helping defence, but still lacks strength.
its clear Elliot Mgt target is only to finish for CL position, but we might loose the spot if no new reinforcement, because other teams are strengthening and we’re not. Fan base not happy at all, and Milan’s excitement vibe is losing momentum this could hurt commercial opportunities in the future. Its apparent Milan will become a mediocer team in europe who can’t compete with likes of porto, sevilla, everton, ajax, lyon and the likes. We’ve been winning pure to physicality and determination and youth talent only, current squad depth is just not enough.
The 4-2-3-1 formation sucks. Leaves a lot of holes back. Immediate switch to 4-3-3 with Tonali as regista, Kessie to his right and Bennacer to his left. Leao-Rebic on the wings and Ibra up front. Brahim and Samu back in Spain, Florenzi back to Rome, Alexis competing with Calabria for the RIGHT BACK and Berardi in for the right wing
Nice one but the coach will not do it bcos Italians are very stubborn. Do pioli looks like a coach that wins trophies. Even wen inter milan had all the quality players yet ( PIOLI) was sacked. Why can’t he played rebic and ibra up front, allow Theo to join the midfield along with bakayoko and krunic then calebra cover for theo and florenzi cover for calebra. We’ve played 2 to 3 games now with baka yoko and krunic all these games we lost them. So why is this man not using his senses to make the formation. When using baka yoko and krunic have a creative midfielder next to them otherwise the midfield will be zero
Kalulu was 100% at fault for the second. An easy,decisive clearance would have solved his problem. Anyone who does not see that,should start watching curling. It is beyond me how Theo is the pk taker.Florenzi for example has a better shooting technique,and is overall a much more composed player than the Frenchman. Diaz actually played a decent game,for once. Moved well without the ball,popped up in various places of the field,and did not give the ball away with dumb dribbles.
One more quick note….Maldini and Massara ARE NOT GIVEN FUNDS TO PURCHASE PLAYERS!!!! Everyone needs to understand that and stop blaming them. They are not dumb,they see what we see,but without funds there isn’t anything they can do.
Extra note: they can’t be given extra funds because of the UEFA ruling against Milan. The team is obliged to balance the books on it’s own force without the owners putting in external funds or Milan will be excluded from Europe again. That’s due to the previous owners, not on the current owners. Elliott got the best out of the ruling because initially it was worse. Everybody thinks it’s just on the owners to put in some money and that’s it.
but other fans won’t understand, fortunately you know.
This is certainly not an excuse bro. Even with the little they were given, they still made dreadful decisions; Bakayoko for Pobega (with the latter coming in already injured, and Maldini hoping he’ll recover and just slot right in), Giroud (old and unreliable), keeping Krunic, and also bringing back Diaz (who for the most part has hidden behind the awesome performaces of those around him). If you say Maldini and Massara aren’t being given funds, I wouldn’t give them any money if I controlled the Elliot group, they haven’t shown they can acquire value for money.
Maldini brought in Tomori and Tonali
Many did not believe in those players too
Dont live by the hype. One day theo is best in the world, a month ago many here wanted to sell him
Now some drama quee above thinks we would lose to Everton hahaha
You have a point though; but it has been all about riding on luck, and most times it doesn’t always work in our favour. Let’s say Maldini and Massara had access to funding at their demand, Tomori and Tonali would not be bought, that’s for sure. But like they say “Necessity is the mother of Invention”, and our limited budget lets the management gamble on otherwise “sub par” talent, hoping they can make a difference and maybe explode to be the next “best thing”. How long can we continue with this trend? We certainly can’t get it right this way, or win a trophy. It will take years of “Trial and Errors”, which we are currently being subjected to, Season-in-Season-out.
You know what, we’re used to refs being shit, but it’s our own damn fault we lost.
Both of our our strakers were in their prime when Cesare Maldini was a strapping young lad. I don’t even count Pellegri because he is a waste of air.
All of our RWs have a combined IQ of a slightly retarded turnip.
Don’t even get me started on loaning out Pobega and getting Yoko.
We deserve nothing, that’s exactly what we got.
Pioli should bench diaz for ten games he is way to complacent.
At times I think that leao is too good for us.
Better yet, send him back to Spain
Bakayoko is a shitty, Krunic is an average. Pioli is in love with Krunic and AC Milan got Bakayoko in the last day. Milan plays low budget in transfer market, got some very good cheap deals but also some flops (Bakayoko, Pellegri). When Kjaer got injured, Milan should rush to got his replacement right away, but Milan did nothing. When Romagnoli and Tomori unavailable, Milan still does nothing. Milan knows Kessie and Bennacer will be unavailable in January 2022, but still does nothing. Milan wants to win Scudetto on low budget. No, it is not that easy. The Milan Management have not learned this lesson.
Not Bakayoko’s fault. He’s a Casemiro-type of regista being used as a Modric-type of central mildfielder in that shitty 4-2-3-1. Pioli should switch immediately in 4-3-3 or he will shink
That has been my point man. The management is not Proactive in handling these things. They probably thought about the absences during the African Nations Cup Tournament, but who did they get to stand in for Kessie-Bennacer? Loan out a rapidly developing Pobega and bring in an injured slow Bakayoko, and a certain Krunic who is at best a 3rd choice bench-warmer in any serious football club. It would take years of “Trying and Failing”, and we still wouldn’t win a trophy with this sort of policy on Low budget spending.
Milan can get van de beek of manutd, isco of Madrid, draxler of psg to help the team
I want to conclude the match too starting with the fact that brahim. Its really not his fault why hes playing that bad. He doesnt have the height. He loses his aerial duels. Giroud was good as second striker tall and strong. Rebic should play when ibra is there because he knows him well u saw also. Right wing is trash. Also to mark bakayoko had clear oppurtunity but he passed theo instead. Tht shows his lack of confidence. Also was sloppy. Krunic was good bcz it was spezia. Leao was cool but he always never chooses ibra. He crosses to someone else. Sal was good but not enough tho. On the defence theo was fine but that penalty mhm. Milan need a penalty taker we only have giroud. Kalulu gets less blame but man when u got the job u have to stick with it everyone knows he like to attack but he had to know he should stay back. Gabbia was actually good. Florenzi was much better then calabria really. He used his experience in the attack to go through defenders and had good contribution unlike calabria who just brought strength but didnt pass and went himself. The subs were not that good except rebic, giroud.
4-2-3-1 loser formation, immediate turn to reverse tree 4-3-3 with Tonali regista and Bennacer-Kessie with him. Leao-Rebic on the wings, Ibra on top. Brahim-Samu back to Spain, Florenzi back to Rome, Alexis back to defence, Berardi in for the wings
brahim cant be an attacking player and our midfield with baka was clearly good and bad. He really has 5 good plays and 5 or 6 bad ones. Honestly tonali was one thing needed. Bennacer might come now so its good. kessie to play cam if he doesnt leave plzzzz. he would be so good there.
ratings by me would be dont mind if i do bad sry.
maignan 6
florenzi 6.5
kalulu 5
gabbia 6
theo 5.5 bcz pen miss
bakayoko 5 this isnt like u can play good + bad all the time.
krunic 6 was good and active really wanted to prove something that he and baka can do it unfortunately his partner huh.
salmakers 6
brahim 5 lost his duels he cant play in any attack position he needs a position change and a leave too maybe bcz he doesnt seems to be a part of project.
leao 7 great play but needs to give more support to the striker
ibra 6 unfortunate he tried so well and should have been on the scoresheet. He should also be taking free kicks for milan as he is good free kick take but idk how doesnt he do well in penalty its his issue for always in my opinion. But he and leao were great.
subs
messias 5
giroud 6
calabria 5
rebic 6
Ik my ratings arent accurate tho and many might disagree sorry if so.
My Rossoneri….. and hopes of the Scudetta flushed down the toilet. My takes from the game……Love Theo and cannot believe he missed it,and everyone says Ibra old, tired, slow….to me perfect qualities for a penalty kicker. Yes he is all of the above,but his presense has more value than many wish to accept. We had a lot of good shots, but their goalie had the game of a lifetime. As to Krunic,blah blah blah,I would have moved Florenzi to mid (he has played it before) when Calabria came in. Theo should have pressed his defender more as he was a hair away from getting another yellow and being sent off. Rebic is a beast as to strength especially with back to goal. Reminds me of Kessie. Tonali sorely missed but the rest will probably do him good, has played a lot of minutes. Saelaemakers had a good game and do not understand why Pioli put in Messias. As to Baka good at middle of pitch for headers….but that is it, telegraphs his passes and just is too slow to react (lazy) on any decisions to move, he is “one” pass too late, indecisive, Florenzi and Theo avoid passing him the ball if you watch closely. We cannot win consistantly as we cannot field a team or get play consistantly.
I completely agree with the your comment on Ibrahimovic, all the names above would be rated 5 and down if Ibra didn’t raise the bar.
Ibra’s presence has mental affect on the team. many of these names were ordinary players before he joint the team.
so now inter is 1 match down so bologna lol who expects from them. So inter go up 53 milan 48 5 points if milan win inter still 2 points so a draw (not against milan) so milan could go up on head to head. But hopes are on the edge.
This match highlights just how bad we need an attacking mid and Berardi at RW. We need quality. We have the quantity, we need quality now. And once we have cash we need a top striker too. Our attack is bad. Facts.
we need AM most. other positions are fine i just dont understand why rebic isnt RW why. Kessie if he doesnt leave then we are set with AM. Then i am fine. And a striker who can be used if ibra and giroud are injured bcz dont waste money here bcz rebic also goes there leao also can so fine. But if ibra retires then get 1 top.
I don’t understand your rating, how did you rate Diaz/Krunic/Saelemakers at 6.
Diaz made ZERO contributions in the last few games he played.
Krunic, other than the assist, ZERO contributions in all the games he played.
Saelmakers, since he started with Milan, can not give ONE SINGLE cross to strikers in addition to ZERO contribution in forward.
We have a lot of personnel issues when compared to the top teams in Serie A.
Against Spezia, we were clearly the better squad, but were unlucky finishing. If you can’t score with that many opportunities, nothing else matters.
Bakayoko makes 2 mistakes for every 1 good touch.
The opposition doesn’t respect Baka and leaves him in space, dedicating more manpower to defend their defensive middle, clogging things up.
PREDICTION
D. Maldini has a defensive pedigree and someday will play a more central position, rather than up top with his back to the goal. He would be much preferable to Bakayoko in midfield.