Some more information has emerged regarding the discussions that took place involving referee Marco Serra after Monday’s game between AC Milan and Spezia.
The mistake made by the referee Serra during Milan’s 2-1 defeat against Spezia has dominated the headlines, as he blew for a foul on Ante Rebic instead of playing an obvious advantage, with his whistle happening at a simultaneous moment to Junior Messias curling in what surely would have been a winning goal in the 92nd minute before Emmanuel Gyasi stole all three points.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews), some Rossoneri players went to the referee’s changing room after the match to try and console him, because he was distraught with his mistake.
Among these was Milan’s leader Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who told Serra that ‘everyone gets things wrong’ as per the newspaper, while Theo Hernandez also added: “I missed a penalty today.” A nice gesture from Ibra and the captain on the night, when it would have been easier to let anger consume them.
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Spare him, it was a mistake, let move ahead
I still think he should be suspended. Officiating in Italy is atrocious and if things like these are not severely sanctioned, it will never get any better.
But… We should have scored at least 2 or 3 more goals in the 1st half. We were sloppy, and we underestimated our opponent. We definitely need to come to terms with some harsh realities. Ibra is not a starter anymore, Giroud is just not good enough for our style of play. We need a young, energetic striker. Sadly we’re not gonna get one this season it seems.
Shiva, yes, but also keep in mind that overall expectations may bee a little higher than they should be at this stage. The management said last season that even they didn’t expect to be in the CL so soon. Obviously there are gaps in the squad that couldn’t all be address in one shot last summer, like a productive RW (although Messias has been OK, but in a true championship team he’d be a backup, think Bernardeschi or Kulusevski to Chiesa), a B option to Diaz, and as you pointed out a young energetic striker that also is a proven scorer. This will only be cured in time with consistent participation on the CL and the funds that that will bring in. This summer might be another summer of treading water somewhat as we need to replace Romagnoli and Kessie, before addressing the others. I think Belotti might be good enough to hold the fort for no cost until 2023 when enough funds might be present to bring in a true champion at ST. So to close the loop, this season is about finishing in the top 4 again and proving that consistency. Next season’s objectives will depend on the summer market, it could be another top 4 finish objective or it could be a declared title push. But then I think 2023-24 must be a year where the club explicitly goes for something from day 1.
I’m more mad that this is the standard of refereeing in Italy. It’s hard to trust the AIA with how prideful and resistant to improving they are. For a long time I’ve felt Italian football needs to sack everyone in that organization and start with younger more in touch personalities.
I’m in favor of our captains showing mercy, winning +1 points with Serie A refs, and moving on. We were the better team.