Sandro Tonali might have saved his former captain Davide Calabria from getting a red card during last night’s game, a video has shown.
Towards the end of the first half, in the 40th minute, the Spanish referee Sanchez Martinez whistled for a dubious foul. Calabria wanted to speak to him about it, and despite him wearing the armband he was yellow carded for exaggerated protests.
After the yellow, Calabria continued to remonstrate with the referee, even walking up to him. It was then when Tonali intervened, pushing Calabria away to avoid him getting a further punishment.
visto questa clip almeno 100 volte ormai e ce l’ho da neanche 5 minuti ora mi uccido pic.twitter.com/SnIDoYmVMz
— sih 🫶🏼 (@timecanhealus) September 19, 2023
I thought it was pretty clear for all to see and also a great move from tonali as calabria was pretty much up in the red corner and could have been further carded had he not been calmed down.
Yep. Saw it too. He helped him out there, Calabria still remonstrated with the ref after the card smh. But he also did have a point as he came over to him as Captain, that act should be viewed differently
I fully agree, that is unless he actually was rude to the ref but i was starting to get nervous as calabria was unusually angry 😀
It was something familliar last season.
Tonali should come back home…
he should and propably one day will.
Tonali saved us from playing with 10 men
Tonali isn’t some legendary player, but it was more what he represented and what he still is that feels so bad to see him gone. Milan doesn’t have many Italians left and he’s actually a quality one. On top of that, he is young and can grow to be top class. And lastly and most importantly, he was living the Milan dream.. boyhood fan of the club, signed by a Milan legend Maldini, even called Rino and took his number to live on (8), and was our centerpiece in the midfield, reliable, rarely injured, and with the necessary grinta and Milanismo, and our future true Capitano (Calabria is just ok as a captain).
Objectively the team didn’t drop a ton in quality with him gone, but it did take a massive drop in il cuore Rossonero and in the overall feel of the squad, which for me is more important as it’s why I watch in the first place. Hopefully sooner rather than later he’ll be back to take up the mantle again
And for me the team DID in fact drop in quality not because of Tonali’s technical quality but because the things you’ve described are actually important to a TEAM.
Tonali gave the team an identity, consistency, and leadership. You can’t put a value on that.
Galactico’s very rarely win titles. TEAMS do.
Look at PSG last season. A team with a front three of Messi, Neymar and Mbappé failed to win the French league title, and Messi, THE Greatest Footballer of All Time, struggled.
Very few teams win back to back titles and it’s usually not because that team has got worse or the other teams have got better. What actually often happens is the title winning side signs new players to improve the squad and those new players disrupt the delicate harmony within the squad that actually helped win the title.
For example Milan won the Champions League in 02/03 and the Scudetto in 03/04 with Maldini and Nesta. In 04/05 they signed Stam. Stam was a great defender but he disrupted the Maldini and Nesta CB partnership who began to be rotated with Maldini also playing LB and Stam playing RB. Milan finished that season empty handed, including suffering that defeat in the final.
The same happened with Juve when they signed Ronaldo, the Real Madrid Galacticos when they had too many Gaalcticos, and of course PSG.
Any team – football or otherwise – needs an identity.
The worst thing is we sold Tonali and sacked Maldini the same summer we knew Ibra was retiring.
We lost three absolutely massive characters that were central to this rejuvenated Milan. Two of those were entirely self-inflicted.
I’ve said before, for the owners (not the manager or the players) our expectations have to be that we do better than last season ie higher than 4th and mining. QF/SF of the champions league and probably some silverware.
Otherwise this summer’s overhaul by the owners (nobody else) must be considered a failure. We made all of those changes and spent all of that money and we went backwards?
Not good enough.
Agreed. They should have sold Magic Injury Mike instead. GKs are replaceable. Tonalis aren’t
and then they will call u AC Maldini or merda in disguise
Newcastle fans are pretty angry at Tonali after last night and the comments he made during his interview. Some comparing it to Lukaku, typical English media BS.
then they can sell him to us next season for 20-25 mil or loan him back to us if they are so dissatisfied 😀
No lost in quality yes…I still love Tonali despite that am still an advocate of selling him to fund our mercato. #ACMilanTonali
Newcastle fans are not unhappy with Tonali, they just don’t think he played at his best. Tonali is well liked in Newcastle and the feeling is he will get better and better
Having followed Newcastle off and on for many years now, and having watched their Saudi PIF fueled rise to the top four of the EPL last season I can say with some authority that:
1. A HUGE part of their success last season was due to a very intense and aggressive mid field press, followed by immediate and direct offensive attack (no sideways or backpassing there).
2. The keys to that mid field press were Joelinton, Joe Willock, and Bruno Guimarães.
3. Joe Willock went out with a hamstring tear May 18, 2023 and re-injured it again in August, and more recently had an Achilles injury of some sort, and is expected to be out for some months. He may never get back to his best self. Joelinton and Guimaraes have also had injuries. Guimarães may be carrying an ankle injury from last season that seems to be slowing him down this season.
4. So there was good reason that Newcastle went for another great midfielder, somebody who had made a name for himself, anyway. That is why they got Tonali for anywhere from €64.00m – €70.00m
5. Tonali has NOT been anywhere near as good as Joe Willock was. Willock was much faster, quicker with his feet, and much more of an offensive threat. Just look up their fbref stats.
6. Of the four midfielders, Joelinton has the best defensive stats, and is the best all-around midfielder. Tonali is easily the worst. He really is having a hard time with the constant sprinting required by Howe’s midfield press, and is often slow to press his man. Howe has subbed him out at around the 60 min mark in almost every game.
So, yeah, the Newcastle fans are beginning to notice.
This is true if u look at the stats. But if u look at the game, u will notice that he is lost 40% of the time. Confused during build ups whether to drop down (like in Milan, like Kessie/ Krunic did) or push up more like Premier League team. Also surprisingly, his pass is more careful and safe compared to PL players.
This will repair itself when he plays more. and his stats on paper will go up too. Just like when he plays for Milan the first season.
Honestly, i just hope Newcastle owners will be impatient and sell him back at a discount% price. Rich arab people are known to be impatient
Tonali that most of u criticised last season or are we talking about another Tonali here?
@Malda Exactly what I wanted to mention, thee same guy everyone castigated. Now it’s not even up to 5 games and y’all professing love for him lol.
It comes natural for Tonali….Milan is in his DNA