Milan lost their game against Liverpool 4-1 in the Dubai Supercup but at least won the penalty shootout that followed, thanks to Antonio Mirante. Down below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Mirante (6): He made a couple of good stops during the game and he cannot really be blamed for the goals conceded. In the shoot-out, he made two excellent saves and led Milan to victory.
Kalulu (5.5): A rather anonymous performance from him this evening at right-back, but at least he did well to convert the deciding penalty.
Thiaw (5): He struggled a bit, in truth, and lost Nunez completely on the third goal with some sloppy defending. He can do better.
Gabbia (6): Stood up for himself and won several duels this evening. His technique may not always be the best but ironically he was the one that got Milan out of the most trouble.
Pobega (5): He works hard and puts in a good shift but it’s so evident that he isn’t a left-back. And when he had chances to cross he didn’t really succeed with that either.
Krunic (5): A few good touches here and there, but that was it. Struggled to be in the right position and never made a space-opening pass.
Saelemaekers (6.5 – MOTM): Filled with energy on the right flank, he showed off his skills several times and also scored a great goal after tricking the opponent. Promising indeed for the second half.
Adli (6): Another good performance from him with several good turns and almost a lovely assist for Lazetic after just a few minutes. It’s really looking like he might get a whole lot more minutes in the second half of the season.
Rebic (5.5): Aside from a good ball out to Saelemaekers for the goal, he didn’t really have a big impact on the game (and struggled when in possession).
Lazetic (5): A tough evening for him as he was often first to the ball (and with a nice touch) but he simply lacked the strength. And if it wasn’t the strength, it was the pace. He also missed a good chance at the start.
Substitutes
Vranckx (5.5): Half decent off the bench with some good moves here and there.
Bennacer (6): A midfielder to rely on as always and he’s certainly a player that Milan cannot replace at the moment.
El Hilali (6): Hit the bar with a lovely finish that deserved a better outcome, and was lively when on the ball. A very nice penalty too in the shootout.
Bakayoko (6): Surprisingly not too bad from the Frenchman and he managed to keep control of the ball when in possession, using his size and strength. The less said about the penalty, the better (even though it went in).
Bozzolan (6): He looks very promising and isn’t afraid to take on his man, often coming out on top as well with his pace. Should have started instead of Pobega on the left.
Simic (5.5): He struggled (which wasn’t that surprising) against the Liverpool attack but it was good for him to get some minutes at least.
Bakoune (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
1 x 4… not good… not good at all.
OK, I know that’s just some friendly games, that our team is seriously depleted, many players coming back from injuries etc. etc. etc., but these bad results against PL teams, considering that our opponent in the CL will be Tottenham, well, it’s not something that exactly spells a good omen…
You do understand that Liverpool had players like Salah, Robertson, Nunez etc not to mention Nunez played all 90 mins while we started with lazetic an 18 year old up top? No need to worry because it’s obvious what the big defining factor in this result was…
I understand, Gigi, but even so… well, in the end I’m always optmistic.
Fair enough
Rebić did better than Adli, and he was bad. I don’t know what are you watching, but Adli is good for futsal at the moment, not for real football.
true
No Bennacer and Tonali, no party.
Pobega is not a left back not even close, why is Pioli even trying this it legitimately makes no sense….
Gabbia has been excellent this season and should be starting alongside Tomori for the time being.
We need to keep bennacer 100%
This guy👆 gets its
Milan on this tour brought players like Florenzi and Ibrahimovic, both of them might not even play the rest of this season instead of bringing more Primavera players to gain experience.
Why is Pobega playing as a left back in a pre-season game. Isn’t there a left back in Primavera that could have been called up.
I would understand if you play a player out of position because of injury emergency in an important game instead of playing an inexperienced player, but to do that in a friendly it shows the lack of quality depth.
How bad are Milan youth goalkeepers for us to have to watch Tatarusanu and Mirante
try to be goalkeepers. Neither one of those 2 should be on any team let alone Milan.
Milan has a lot of work to do to start catching up with the big teams in Europe. On all levels, not just the senior team. Our Primavera last season almost got relegated for 2nd time in 3 years.
Forgot to also mention the great Bakayoko. Why is he on this trip, and more importantly, why is he playing instead of some young player? When we know Pioli isn’t going to use him during games because of the awful deal Maldini agreed to with Chelsea
sal is improving. Hes better outside serie a imo
There is this Adli and Pobega problem with this site. Always over rating Adli. He did nothing. Krunic on occasion (who they rated as “struggled to get in position”) had to tell Adli on a few occasions where he needed to be on the ptich and who/when he needed to press smh. How does Adli then get a better rating if he has to be told where he needs to be? He did not know where he was when he was further up the pitch but def improved when he dropped deeper. But even then he gave up the ball around 25min for Thiago to just shoot wide and also on the build up to the shot that skimmed the bar. His passing wasn’t all that.
It’s the same pre-season problem. Videos of simple passes got hyped up when I could do that in my old age and bum knee. They were passes anyone in that role is expected to make. It wasn’t special.
I’m not saying he can’t get there but rn I can see why Pioli prefers Diaz and Krunic in that role
I don’t know about your critique about Adli. Adli hasn’t been playing and I think its normal for players that haven’t been playing regularly to need the regular starters to show and exploit to them the proper movements and positions. I think what the writer is excited about is that Adli looks like he wants to be a protagonist. Which is a good thing. Sure he may not be ready to be a part of the first team, but given CDKs firm and lack of confidence I don’t see way Milan can’t give him minutes. At some point players need opportunities with the team they play for to develop. On the whole if someone like Rebic is playing (and he literally has bricks for feet) why not throw him in and see what we got?
Did you look at the game?
He was no better or worse than say Krunic who literally had to direct him where to be
rebic played better that adli did u even watch
“Thiaw (5): He struggled a bit, in truth, and lost Nunez completely on the third goal with some sloppy defending. He can do better.”
And here I thought Thiaw was already a perfect defender if you have read the comments on this site after the debut match where he played for 10-15mins and blocked two shots. Just go back and read the comments. It’s hilarious.
Like I said. He needs time and he hasn’t proved anything yet. Whether he’s a Milan-level player will be seen. So far he’s not there yet. Despite the two blocks. 😀