The Italian media have not been kind to AC Milan after their 3-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund last night which leaves their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.
The scores in Tuttosport’s ratings (via MilanNews) reflect what was a very difficult night at the office for a number of players, starting with two supposed leaders in Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud who both got a 4.5 out of 10.
The full-back gave away the penalty and also decided to leave his man for the goal that made it 1-2 while the Frenchman missed a penalty after six minutes and from then on he never recovered in what was a very frustrating performance.
Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez and Rade Krunic didn’t do well last night either as they got a 5. Half a point more was given to Malick Thiaw, Tijjani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic.
The only players to get a passing grade were Fikayo Tomori, Yacine Adli, Samuel Chukwueze and the substitute Luka Jovic, who was unlucky at the end when his header hit the post.
How did Maignan get a 5 in this game? He was horrible. 2nd goal was his, a different keeper would get that one, not sure what happened on that one. 3rd goal even worse. He didn’t deserve to get a higher rating than any other player.
A better coach in this team can see that Adli is better than most of our midfielders at spreading the ball if given the constant opportunity but Pioli prefers players (Krunic) that can only pass the ball backwards.
A better coach can give Simic and Bertasaghi a run of games after there performance during the pre season rather than putting on Krunic in CB role.
A better coach would only play Giroud in for 20-30 mins a game rather than 90mins.
I know most of you think Jovic is terrible but I don’t think so. The guy puts himself in good positions but due to our tactics, he doesn’t get much service so I blame Pioli for that. This guy scored 15 goals while with Fiorentina! A team we have better players than. So maybe blame the coach for his performances. Even Chukwueze is a very good player. He just needs a better coach. Pioli is our biggest problem. Even a blind man can see that.
Fire Pioli plsssssssssss
You just speaking my mind, 38y striker that can’t play with foot nor even control the ball, it is even better to strike with a defenders.
We are playing without a complete striker and the coach doesn’t have a plan B, non of the player shoot a shoot at goal
Agree with the comment here.
Only item I’d add is I still don’t understand why Reijnders never gets any heat here and everyone thinks hes great. Very little defending and always offers nothing going forward. He might not put in consistent performances, but Pobega at least is a bit more physical. At a very minimum, the midfield should be rotated a bit more and RLC was also flat yesterday, they dont automatically deserve starting roles over Krunic/Pobega. Adli played great and while not all of them fell, he was able to pass between defenders and move the ball forward in a way that other playmakers haven’t been able to do, adding a new dimension to our play. Deserving of more playing time.
I have to admit I was disappointed with my favourite player Olivier Giroud,,,he not only missed a penalty but his hold up play was poor…I thought Aldi did well , as did Loftus cheek .also thaw .in fact when he went off we became a shambles at the back .in the first half we played reasonably well , and looked the side more likely to win ,,however when thaw went off we completely lost the plot ..yes chakuzee was our best man and indeed scored a incredible goal ,,but later in the game he also faded and tried to overdue things ,instead of delivering a decent pass .
We must beat Newcastle , but can’t see us doing this .
If we did then I would fancy Dortmund to win against PSG …of course all this is wishful thinking 🤔.
We have a very good set of players ,,but do not work together as a unit …
Bro I blame this loss on you. You didn’t give us the pep talk before the game and have been missing for the last few games. Its no coincidence that our form has dropped significantly since you’ve been away 😁
Pioli had everything right, Olivier missing the penalty was horrid sure, but in reality the problem consistently has been the backline and lack of support thereof. I knew going into the half that the only that the match would go wrong would be if Pioli made questionable subs when it was needed….boom….lo and behold, Thiaw goes down and opts for the most mediocre player on the bench in Krunic who has been consistently mediocre at his PREFERRED position the entire season and sticks out of position in a high stakes match having Florenzi, Bartesaghi and Pobega as proper backups that were WAY more equipped and prepared to handle that center back defensive responsibility.
Pioli has consistently done this. He’s reactive instead of pro-active and the loss to Inter last CL Semis and this season at the start foreshadowed the same problems that Milan have had for years and failed to address in the off-season.
The team needed reinforcements in the backline and in the Center Forward position and instead over saturated the wing and center mid areas that were unnecessary to reinforce. Reijnders has been poor the last couple of games and prefers to attack and move forward than to defend, and yet he’s constantly given the defensive midfield role having Pobega (a veteran of the team) on the bench. They get rid of Saelemaekers who was doing amazing as a super sub and get Chukwueze who is nowhere near as clutch as Saele and occupies the same position as Alexis while costing them 25 mill. They don’t spend the money to buy Brahim Diaz who was a good 10 for the team in the center and they buy Pulisic who’s been great but consistently played out of position which is why there’s constant fluctuation in his performance. He plays Left wing or false 9/ #10 role in the CAM position, but he hasn’t been the problem. They had an amazing prospect in Lorenzo Colombo who plays a traditional 9 and instead they also send him away on loan and bring in Okafor to overcrowd the left wing for no reason and he can play a 9 role but don’t give him enough games because Pioli is too busy and reliant on Giroud (who I love) which is fine, but he cannot be playing 90+ min games at this stage of career having suitable options on the bench.
The problem here is and always will be…. Pioli. Milan should have won everyone of those games they lost…he has been consistently outclassed and outcoached by Inzaghi in the derby and Piolo just doesn’t have the capability to making the adjustments necessary to take this team to the next level. I don’t know who they’re going to to replace Pioli, but it needs to happen right away.