Journalist Luca Serafini has questioned Stefano Pioli’s decision to not start Ismael Bennacer for AC Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Torino last night.
Pioli opted to make multiple changes to his starting line-up compared to the team that beat Dinamo Zagreb in midweek with Fikayo Tomori coming back from from suspension, Tommaso Pobega coming in to face the team he was on loan at last season while Junior Messias, Brahim Diaz and Divock Origi all started in attack.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
However, it would be fair to say that the decision to play Pobega from the start was not entirely successful as the Rossoneri struggled to gain any supremacy in midfield and were sloppy in possession. Bennacer came on at half-time but for Tonali, which raised some eyebrows.
Serafini spoke to Milan TV after the defeat and he was eager to highlight a particular area where Milan struggled, pointing the finger at a decision not to play a key midfield cog.
“Bennacer is an essential element for this Milan. Something was missing in the middle of the field. Pobega felt a lot for the match against Torino and he played very nervous, as did Pellegri on the other side,” he said (via MilanNews).
Why rotating players in every game what is bad if we have a first eleven and have changes as the game progress
So should we keep on using same playars right?
They should question Maldini and Massara instead, why they haven’t provided Pioli with quality options so he doesn’t have to play the same players every 3 days in a packed schedule
Budget
Inter got Asllani on loan from Empoli. He would have been perfect back up for Bennacer.
And they got him early in the summer, unlike Maldini who got Vranckx also on loan on August 31st.
Benfica got Enzo Fernandez for only 10 mil. He is a gem. Milan was too busy trying to convince Renato Sanches to turn down 6 mil from PSG and accept their 3 mils.
Budget is an issue but there are ways to be creative and work around it , work faster and be proactive instead Milan is constantly in reactionary mode
Maybe the coach dont want these players and/or when Milan asks for players the clubs want more money? Eg if Firoentina asks for my player in I might tell them 10m but if Real Madrid asks, I’ll probably say 20m. Don’t assume 1. We didn’t make moves early and 2. That the price is the same for everyone. We’re just being priced out of the market
Also Enzo is not the same position as Bennacer nor is he special. Don’t see the fuss..his stats aren’t great either.
Remember we didn’t have a figure for the budget for most of the summer due to the limbo in ownership and we were preoccupied with CDK which M&M had to pull teeth to get that money. You’re asking for quality options, they come with a price. Is Aslani really quality? How much has he been used? Not much
Enzo stats aren’t great?
He is a central midfielder, what stats do you want? What are Bennacer stats, 1 g 1 assist per season. There is more to football than stats. And he is playmaking midfielder.
Asllani true ,isn’t playing for Inter, but he would have played for Milan because Milan doesn’t have a backup for Bennacer. Pobega, isn’t it.
The point I’m making is that teams manage to cover their needs with 50 million budget.
And the fact is still that our management sucks when it comes to sales, which is another source of revenue and extra budget.
Napoli sold 2 players with 1 year left on their contract for 65 million combined. That’s how they could afford the Simeone, Raspadori, Kim , Kvara.
Milan under Maldini and Massara haven’t sold players for combined 60 million throughout their 4 year stint as directors and players like Giggio, Hakan, Kessie, and even Romagnoli have left the club in that time frame.
It’s not all about ownership. Sporting directors should do their part too. That’s over at least a 100 million that walked out, and Milan got 0 in return .
Let’s not pretend to be blind to facts
Whoa what happened here 😂
I think there are two good points here. We don’t act quickly enough when selling players before contract expiry AND we’re also working with a low budget.
“This is business”
Then why you keep blaming Maldini and Masara when you knew they’re not the one who own Milan?
“It doesn’t matter what the player says. You set a deadline, and if there is no agreement by then, he has to be sold.”
It does matter. If the player says they wants to stay then why they keep delaying to pen the paper? If they pen the paper then Maldini can work to sell them.
“Sign the contract by December 31st. If not, both of them should be on another club by January 31st.”
Lol that’s not how it works. You’re thinking like a fkin amateur who only knows football from video games.
“Give me another club that has lost 4 starters in 12 months span for free.”
Madrid lost these players for free
– Marcelo
– Isco
– Bale
– Jovic
Barca:
– Pjanic
– Puig
– Dani Alves
– Neto
PSG lost these players for free:
– Di Maria
– Rafinha
Munchen lost these players for free:
– Alaba
– Boateng
Now please be quiet and go play your FIFA games. You’re too young to talk about business or how to do transfer players.
WOW.
You need to learn to walk away when you have nothing to back up your argument with.
Marcelo, isco, Bale , ,Jovic, Neto, Pjanic, Puig, Dani Alves, Di Maria , Raphinha, Boateng, Alaba.
Sir do you know the date and year you are living in currently.
Outside of jovic who is trash, puig who played for Barca as much as Adli plays for Milan and Alaba, the rest of them are washed and old.
What are you even talking about?
Milan lost 4 actual starters not someone that was a starter 5 years ago.
Maldini believing not 1 but 3 players makes him look like a fool. He is in charge of sales, not the ownership. The owner certainly didn’t tell Maldini don’t sell Giggio for 50+mil , just let him walk for free, we will make up those money by cutting our players salary.
LoL Man said Bale. Bale played more golf rounds than actual games for Real in the last 4 years
“It does matter. If the player says they wants to stay then why they keep delaying to pen the paper? If they pen the paper then Maldini can work to sell them”.
You sound like a child.
They keep delaying signing the contract because Maldini doesn’t set A DEADLINE.
You know what a deadline is in the real word?
You have a deadline to pay your car loan, mortgage, credit card ,taxes. If there is no deadline none of is will pay any of those bills and will keep delaying, as the players have done with Maldini.
That’s why the deadline exists.
If they don’t tell you work starts at 8 am, people will probably show up whenever they feel like it.
Leao has to have a deadline till new years after that he needs to be sold, otherwise the amount of money Milan can get for him in the summer goes down.
And again, Maldini is in charge of sales, not the owner. You can blame the owner if they don’t want to give him money to buy players but the sales are on Maldini
You do know that Maldini and Masara aren’t Milan owners right? So go ask Elliot why they only gave Maldini and Masara €50 million.
Was 50 million not enough to get Asllani on loan from Empoli or get Enzo Fernandez for 10 mil before Benfica snatched him?
How about Kvara for 10 mil?
Or how about Anguissa as a Kessie replacement for 15 million?
Those are 4 players that could have fit in the 50 million budget and still have some money left.
Also, if Maldini and Massara want a higher budget , maybe they needs to learn how to sell players instead of letting them walk for free.
Hindsight is 20-20.. no one knew how Anguissa and Kvar would have performed..Aslani isn’t even playing for Inter
Kvara is LW and Milan already have Leao and Rebic. I doubt you even know Kvara name before he played for Napoli.
All those names outside Kvara doesn’t give guarantees they will played well either.
And players who left doesn’t want a renew after Maldini offered them good salary. Did you even follow how Dollaruma and Cashie keeps saying they loves Milan and wants to renew but they keep delayed the negotiations?
How you can criticized Maldini and Masara who produced great results with very limited budget to keep Milan afloat?
My guy, are you even reading what you are writing?
This is business, and everything is fair in war and business. Unless it’s pen to paper, you don’t take anyone’s word. And it’s not only 1 situation but basically 3, Giggio, Hakan and Kessie in back to back years.
It doesn’t matter what the player says. You set a deadline, and if there is no agreement by then, he has to be sold .
We are basically in the same situation with Leao and Bennacer. Oh, they love Milan.
Sign the contract by December 31st. If not, both of them should be on another club by January 31st.
Give me another club that has lost 4 starters in 12 months span for free.
Yes, they have done some great work purchasing young , up and coming players, but they have also done horrendous job selling/re-signing players.
2 things can be true at the same time
You asked me to show you a club who lost their starter for free in the last 12 months and i showed you the proof.
Now you’re in denial because you can’t accept the fact that Milan isn’t the only club who lost their starters for free lol.
And selling a player is not hard either if the player ask the management they want to leave Milan 1-2 year before their contracts runing out.
Milos Kerkez for example. Yes he’s not a starter but he wants to leave Milan and find a club where he can play more. So Maldini sold him to AZ Alkmaar for $2.20m, a profit for Milan, and Kerkez got more playing time in AZ Alkmaar. It’s a win-win solution for both side. No drama or delaying the negotiation unlike Dollaruma, Cashie, and Kebab Snake.
Again, you are clueless as FVCK and only judging from one view without enough knowledge. So please be quiet and go play your video games. Period.
Make sure you check the date on your phone so you can remind yourself that the year is 2022, not 2018, because none of those players, with the exception of Alaba at bayern, were starters when they left their respective clubs.
But I see it’s a waste of time talking to you.
You have a good night in your Maldini themed pajamas
Not the reason we lost. Pobega (who is not good for a 2 man mid but good for a 3 man) even won the ball back to lead to our first big leao chance. We didn’t convert our chances and then kalulu had a few bad moments. It happens. But the reality is that pioli shouldn’t be running 4231 with this team, It doesn’t suit our qualities, it’s obvious.
Pioli should stop rotating the players and take every single match like a final match and fix the very best 11 against any team. Pioli doesn’t learn from pass experiences at all why drop bernacer for what reason play ur best 11 after 70th minutes u can make changes that’s fine.
So you want those 11 players burnout and injured. Good thing you’re not Milan coach.
Well said. It’s like some fans(?) want Milan players to get even more injuries due to lack of rotation.
4231 is the right formation for us and anyone who says we need to change formation, don’t understand football… its not about formation, its about the players!
Pobega lacks technical ability , he can win a lot of balls , but can’t make a clever pass or helps his defence to ease up the pressure while the ball is with our defenders!
Tonali and Bennacer does this really well and so did Kessie …. we need to buy a player who is not only combative , but good on the ball… I think Enzo Fernández would have been great for that role and he was cheap , we were after Sanchez and in the end we didn’t get a good player to replace Kessie…
Aster Vranckx was a good buy, but for the future, he is not ready !
I think it is better for Milan to sell Pobega and try to get the maximum money from his sale and then use the money to get a good CDM… there are lots of good technical players out there! We can even train Adli for that role, Adli has all the technical qualities to play in that role.. nowadays a CDM is like a playmaker, they are the new playmaker of the game , they dictate the pace of the game and are the ones who starts the attack and makes all the distribution!
Pobega is not that kind of player to do this!! I really respect and like Pobega, but the truth is that he does not suit our system! He suit a more physical midfield
I like how everybody has figured how we lose and have the ideal solution except for our coach. 😀 😛
Then next this journalist will ask why Pioli keeps playing Bennacer when Milan plays every 3 days.
No wonder this serafini guy stuck as a journalist and not coaching any team.
Make sure you check the date on your phone so you can remind yourself that the year is 2022, not 2018, because none of those players, with the exception of Alaba at bayern, were starters when they left their respective clubs.
But I see it’s a waste of time talking to you.
You have a good night in your Maldini themed pajamas
You should take the L and shut up, Poli boy.
Come back when you got technical director as your job and win a scudetto like Maldini. Of course in real life, not in video games lmao.