AC Milan suffered a tough 4-2 defeat against Monza and thus failed to reclaim second place in the standings. Individual mistakes were largely at fault and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
Starting XI
Maignan (5.5): Granted that he couldn’t do much about the first three goals of the game, he really should have done better on the fourth. He has let in a few similar goals this season as well and it’s a weakness he must work on.
Florenzi (6): A really good cross for Pulisic, who then assisted Giroud, saves the veteran’s rating here. In fairness, he was decent overall even if there were some questionable moments at the back, and certainly not the cause for the defeat.
Thiaw (3.5): That was rough. He committed two inexplicably poor fouls in quick succession, one of which was inside the box and resulted in a penalty. Then, he was beaten easily for the second goal and didn’t do particularly well on the third either. He’s clearly not in match fitness yet.
Gabbia (6): It was far from anything spectacular from him tonight, but he had some good moments with some interceptions and a few crucial blocks in front of goal.
Hernandez (5.5): Not the Theo we are used to seeing, finding himself turning back too many times and misplacing a few passes as well. His position could have been better for sure, but that might be more of a tactical matter.
Bennacer (5.5): He looked okay, perhaps, but struggled to have an impact on the game with his passing. We all know what he’s capable of on a good day but this was not it.
Adli (5): Way too many poor passes from the Frenchman tonight and lost quite a few duels as well. It was right to take him off at half-time.
Chukwueze (5.5): It was a very bright start for him, creating a good chance as well, but then faded as the first half went on and was rightfully taken off.
Loftus-Cheek (5.5): Apart from a few header attempts in the box, and a nice run here and there, he wasn’t really that incisive tonight. He can do much more.
Okafor (5): Struggled on the left flank, only taking on his man a few times and with no real end product either. He needs to start showing a lot more.
Jovic (2.5): Izzo often plays on the temperament of his opponent and Jovic fell right into that trap. Under no circumstances can you do what the Serbian did, and he knows it too. It cost Milan the game as well, knowing that they were able to score twice with ten men.
Substitutes
Pulisic (7.5 – MOTM): A very good display off the bench by the American, assisting Giroud with a nice flick-on and scoring a fantastic equaliser himself. It’s a shame that it wasn’t enough for at least a point, he would have deserved it.
Leao (5.5): After the goal against Rennes, and the good performance overall, we expected more from him tonight as he just had no success on the left flank.
Reijnders (6): Came on and dictated the player quite well, also covering a lot of ground.
Giroud (6.5): A great goal, using his striker’s instincts, but he struggled a bit besides that. He could have done better in the hold-up play, but he still deserves praise for that goal.
Musah (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
The manager
Pioli (5.5): Even though individual mistakes cost Milan the game, five changes to the XI were simply too many and the Rossoneri also could have had a better tactical approach. The subs nearly got Milan a point, yes, but they were obvious subs to make.
Culprit number 1 : Jovic
Culprit number 2 : Thiaw
Culprit number 3 : Pioli
Jovic has no business playing for a top club, no matter how many goals he scores off the bench. He showed he’s not a serious person and mentally unstable as he’s been through his career. He threw away what his teammates sweat for and almost achieved even down to 10 men, because you know, those other 10 players are serious people.
Thiaw I can forgive since he’s been back from injury and is still young, but God, that was a horror show alright.
Pioli, he never learns. Rotating as many as 6 players has almost never worked for him and he did it again. This one’s on him, too.
Lastly I must say, I hope some people understand how useless some of those bench warmers are. Jovic should warm the bench until he’s off to wherever in the summer. Chukwueze is a joke of a player, discard in the summer. Adli is a second rate player, no business playing for Milan. Okay or is the best of them and he’s bang average, like some of us knew before he signed. His numbers were obvious. Keep but don’t expect much.
Kudos to Pulisic for being the player he is, and Giroud for the professional he is. He could be 40 years old and still a better option than that mad man Jovic.
Another 3 points thrown away. A lot of mistakes to undone in the summer.
Right on !!! Agree with everything you had to say.
Jovic was clearly shoved from the back by the Monza player, and he was clearly inciting trouble and wanted to get Jovic sent off. He play acted like he got slapped. I don’t think it warranted a red!
“I don’t think it warranted a red!”
LOL. B*tch-slapping the opponent is red-card-worthy 100 times out of 100 times. Sure, he was provoked but there was no need to do that. No excuses.
Culprit number 3: Mike Maignan.
The mark of a POOR goalkeeper is one who KEEPS LEAKING NEAR POST GOALS. Why is this the sign of bad goalkeeping? Because the space in which you have to cover at the near post is only about a foot or two.
Mike has been leaking near post goals and other low shots taken right at or through his feet ALL SEASON LONG. It’s become A MAJOR REASON FOR MILAN DROPPING POINTS this season.
The mark of a GREAT goalkeeper is one who can STOP long shots from outside the 18 yard box. Now, the third goal was taken just outside the 18, but I’ve seen great goalkeepers stop those with superb leaps to tip the ball away. Mike was unable to do that and so, as usual, the writer of this story excuses him and says this shot was not his fault. It was indeed, not Mike’s fault, but if he wants to distinguish himself as a GREAT goalkeeper, he should stop that shot, because I have seen GREAT goalkeepers stop shots like that from that distance.
Too harsh on Jovic
Jesus Christ talk about overreaction on Jovic – some fans kill me.
For me, it’s Pioli first. Didn’t watch the game, but, wondered why he would bench Kjaer, for Thiaw and Gabbia combination. Another concern, was Adli for Reijnders. It left the midfield lose, with a central defense partnership that had never been tried. When I saw 2-0 at the end of first half, I wasn’t surprised. But, it’s embarrassing for Milan to be beaten 4-2 by lowly Monza, all thanks to Pioli, and his dumb selection. What was his reason for making so many changes – a second date with a Rennes team we have beaten 3-0 in the first leg? It’s sheer foolishness. The league is still so important to many Milan fans, even if we don’t win it.
Thiaw just lacks intelligence. That is one thing that cannot be corrected. Time to sell to Real Madrid.
Thiaw lacks concentration and experience. Kalulu and Tomori in the year after scudetto have had less screwups. Everything considered, Kjaer offers a higher average than Thiaw.
After Inter game, another really bad game by Thiaw
Surprise, surprise.
Jovic did nothing as the lone striker.
Pretty hard when you get zero service and put players together with no chemistry. I don’t even like Jovic and I feel sorry for the guy cause pioli constantly sets him up for failure.
Jovic is a supersub at best. He needs another striker (Giroud) to absorb attention so he can score. He’s a poacher. This game is proof of that.
Completely agree!! Giroud is also better with a partner striker.
I’m a firm believer that 3-5-2 would work for this squad, I think Leao could do well up top with Jovic.
Exactly. 3-5-2 would be perfect for our strikers.
“Jovic is a supersub at best. He needs another striker (Giroud) to absorb attention so he can score. He’s a poacher. This game is proof of that.”
100% facts.
He did some good passes, but what can he really do when our wingers were non existent, and Loftus Cheeck is not some creator either. He got zero service, prob what frustrated him as well.
Inconsistency is the result when you have a coach who don’t have game plan, tactical awareness and more importantly couldn’t bring a character for the team. When players like leao, pulisic, theo etc individually performs we score, as a team nothing.
Like enough is enough already. Pioli started 6 different guys. 4 of them who’ve had barely any minutes in the new year, some none at all. Inter for games against weaker opponents keep the same lineup and maybe make one or two changes and take a healthy lead and then make their subs. This isn’t the first time pioli has done this and then ends up bringing on his starters to chase a game which makes them WAY MORE TIRED.
First off thiaw what a horrible display but kjear should have started and then been subbed off after 60 minutes or so.
Adli with such horrible passes and taking way too much time on the ball and bennacer still rusty.
Up front he goes plays three guys who don’t even have 90 minutes combined in the new year. This Is where pioli shows he has no clue what he’s doing and it isn’t the first time. Leao came in for what reason? To look like a pretty boy prancing around. Giroud at 37 was running constantly trying to get that ball while leao stands there watching him. So embarrassing. Pulisic I’d take on my team over leao because he works hard and is a team player. I don’t know what the heck is going on with leao, maybe he has given up for this team but I’ve always said he hasn’t taken that next leap. Maignan this season has been so poor, he’s had a few good games but all of a sudden he can’t stop anything.
I’m at that point where I would take Conte next season and sell leao for big money and give Conte what he wants because at least he will win you something. As much as I can’t stand him and how boring he is he’s a winner and can make milan into a winning team.
Agree 100 %
100%
This is not the first time. Every time we start 4+ new players in the lineup it’s gone horribly wrong. Get a lead and then sub out
Milan can’t afford Conte. He demanding heavy transfer fee player and this team didn’t have player who Conte need. 3 world class cb who can play together in back 3. LWB & RWB who can run all day long with superb pas. And 1 holding striker, big strong striker. Believe me, he will quit before the season end. Especially with bad scouting Milan had right now.
Agree
” I don’t know what the heck is going on with leao, maybe he has given up for this team but I’ve always said he hasn’t taken that next leap.”
Probably heard PSG was interested in him and he’s already found a perfect studio in Paris for his rapping sessions.
Leao 5.5? What a joke. If the minimum rate is 5 for only attending on the field, then yes. We should remember that he’s the highest earner. So the way we see him on the field is indeed should be on a different kind of standard.
Just wait and see as people will jump in to defend him and say the Milan goals came only because Leao absorbed half of the opponents and that left space for Pulisic on the right side. 🙂
Do you remember when we were trying to sign Samuel Chukwueze some people were saying we were going to get a Leao on the right flank? HAHAHAHAHAHA……… That guy is an imitation version of Junior Messias. SCARED AS HELL and SO PREDICTABLE. Same with his Nigeria performances. They know he has NO TRICKS. He deserves to play for West Brom or something.
Yeah it’s a shame, Chukwueze is living off a couple of performances against high profile teams (eg the goals against Real Madrid)
However while Leao is inconsistent, when he’s on form he’s 🔥
Chuk is yet to show anything above yes a mid-table sort of player. If he was at Torino or Fiorentina I don’t think we’d be clamouring to sign him.
Saying all that, he’s not the first guy to have a disappointing debut season. I’ll wait til next year before completely writing him off. I’d bet we could sell him back to la liga or EPL without taking much of a loss.
Left footed wonder,my mother could defend him. haha
It’s the result if Milan’s Moneyball approach, rather than relying on a legend with real football knowledge and experience
Oh my God. Another stupid Maldini comment. Like the great Origi, Bakayoko, Ballo-toure, Manduzik, vranckx signings of Maldini…
Maldini sign them as low cost option. Not to mention Milan didn’t really attract good player coz they demand heavy salary. Even marota sign bad player with the same reason Maldini has. like caicedo, Lazaro, Klassen, belanova, kolarov etc
Also Pellegri, Soualiho Mëite, Dest, and spending the majority of his budget on a player who doesnt even fit the formation (De Ketelaere)
What’s that movie again….? Get Over It 🤣
Comparing him with Messias, well we have to put a much more respect to Messias’ name. Not once or twice he came up with deciding goals.
It’s Pioli who wanted a RW with 1 vs 1 ability, or Leao on the right. The more sad thing is that he’s our most expensive signing this season. From last season I’d prefer the likes of Orsolini or Berardi who know the league inside out for our right post.
HE HAS NO ONE ON ONE ABILITY. HE HAS CHICKEN RUNNING ABILITY. and the ability to pass back. TOO SCARED to run at opponents because he knows he can’t win. NO BALLS.
Heeey, don’t go mocking Messias and compare this useless tool to him.
For everybody that complains that Pioli doesn’t rotate enough, this is why. Can you blame him?
I don’t care if Thiaw never plays another game for Milan. He has been awful this season. He may be big and strong but his IQ is zero. They should sell him immediately while there are still some teams interested. He singlehandedly ruined this game.
Jovic showed why he is a bench player. Can’t handle the pressure of starting.
For all the people killing Kjaer saying he is too old and slow, this is what happens when he is not in there, a completely disorganized defense. If kjaer starts we win this game.
Finally, If this game doesn’t show how important Pulisic is to this team nothing will.
This is not on Pioli. The only criticism you can maybe make is that he should have replaced the entire front three at halftime.
It is on Pioli to start with. Have a good one.
Smart coaches rotate every week 1 or 2 players at the time. Pioli rotates once in a blue moon and he rotates 70% of the squad. No coach relies solely on individual players ability than Pioli.
Mediocre coach.
This is not a cup game to rotate 6 players (half the squad), with the front 3 of Noah, Jovic & Chuk, who have not even played 15 mins combined between them since being purchased 7-8 months ago. If they were being alternated and playing 90 minutes in previous games, then these subs made sense.But none of them have ever started a game since I don’t know when…… It was schoolboy error from Pioli
Fair enough, I personally would have used the midweek game against Rennes next week to play most of the backups as we are already up 3-0 but I can’t blame Pioli too much. Pulisic definitely needed some rest and Giroud just played the full 90 3 days ago. Kjaer was questionable anyways during the week with muscle fatigue.
The fact is Milan were in total control of this game until Thiaw lost his mind and started fouling anyone in sight. And then Jovic put the nail in the coffin with his selfish behavior.
Two stupid and selfish players ruined the game. If you want to put the blame on Pioli, OK. I don’t.
Thiaw should not start for this team again. It’s the third time this season he ruined a game for Milan with stupid fouls. And I’m disappointed in Jovic. I liked him, I think he has been doing well coming off the bench, but this is how he acts when he finally gets a chance to start? Sorry, Pioli is never going to trust him again and I don’t blame him.
Exactly!! Should have rested the lads on Thursday instead.
This is on Pioli, as he was supposed to have watched Thiaw in training and understood that he wasn’t match fit yet
Thiaw going crazy and committing stupid unnecessary fouls has nothing to do with match fitness, it’s just pure stupidity, and he’s done it multiple times this season.
I don’t watch the crap anymore give up months ago I don’t no how pioli has got away with it . The one chance to go second and he makes a complete balls up of it. the players that he brought in are all second rate players . One sure thing inter wouldn’t buy any of them. So let’s get rid of pioli and all the deadwood and get the real ac milan back.
You are correct,the coach has show you guys that always complain start jovic,start okafor some players are better super sub until they understand very well.
Sunday league indeed… ugh…
Pulisic, superb, what a show! Played only 45 minutes and produced a goal and an assist, and other dangerous plays. Fabulous.
Gabbia, Giroud, Florenzi, and Reijnders get a pass. Possibly Theo too who at least tried although he missed Leao in the first half, and Leao didn’t play so well in second half so no help for Theo.
All the others, poor, very poor.
Adli was bad. The midfield improved immediately once Reijnders was subbed in for Adli. Again, he’s just an overrated average player. Some people here seem to love him. I have been unconvinced.
Thiaw and Jovic, a disgrace. Not entirely Thiaw’s fault, he’s been back recently from 82 days out and is not fit. The fault is Pioli’s, for starting him when he is obviously not in game condition yet. Still, the PK he conceded was indeed his fault; a rookie’s mistake. Jovic should know better; you slap an opponent on the face, you get a red, and that doomed Milan. Thiaw and Jovic were responsible for the dropped points (together with Pioli).
We have no more Magic Mike. Maignan has been just an average goalkeeper, lately. He was again beat at the near post. He hasn’t saved a PK in ages. He was caught with the wrong foot on the ground in Monza’s second goal, then, couldn’t jump up to stop it. Maybe only their 3rd goal wasn’t entirely his fault, but when he was in good form, he used to stop this kind of goal. We need to sell him and buy Di Gregorio.
This was one of the worst games played by Milan this season, and in great part it is Pioli’s fault who made too many changes from a group that was winning consistently, bringing in players who aren’t well, and allowing a lineup that clearly wasn’t working, to play a full half and get behind 0-2. And it wasn’t that necessary to rest so many starters because of a game on Thursday against a Rennes that showed practically nothing of quality at San Siro and is already behind 0-3.
Once more, a team ahead of us (Juve) gives us an opportunity to leapfrog them, and instead, we manage to fall a further point behind them.
This kind of mismanagement by the head coach is one of the main reasons of how inconsistent we’ve been.
Well stated sir.
I’ll moan about this again too. Puli gets a goal an assist and worked his ass off to win the ball. He did this with a man less and Leao a shadow of himself. He gets a 7.5. what gives?
Giroud deserves better too for same reason IMO.
Leao worse for same reason. And where was Theo the captain? He sprinted the field chasing possession shortly after Jovic lost his mind. Then … Crickets.
Just kept hitting back then send and got thru after third try.
Tells me it’s not me specifically that is the problem but the load of all users on the site.
Both Adli and Reijnders are no.8 players, who should be playing further up the pitch because they can pass well and dribble past defenders. But Pioli uses them as defensive mids, who don’t know how to defend or keep the ball. The only player who is playing in this position correctly is Bennacer.
On contrary, RLC with his huge frame and limited passing skills, can be good as a no.6. He can keep the ball. But Piolu plays him in the no.10/8 role. LOL… Pioli does the opposite)))
Pioli did the same with Kessie (who is also a defensive mid) converting him to a playmaker. I think Pioli has no clue about the no.8 and no.10 roles. He has mixed up those players and their positions.
As far as team selection, why is Thiaw playing a full match right back from an injury? Also, Okafor, Jovic, Chuk who have never played more than 10-15 mins in previous 20+ matches being asked to start ALL TOGETHER AT ONCE?? Pioli is just stupid, tbh!
I agree regarding the CDM part, but RLC is not a CDM, we need a new CDM. Al Musrati would have been perfect, but he joined besiktas😞. Weiffer, Redondo or Youssouf Fofana would also be be good. A ball winning midfielder is what we have lacked since Kessié’s departure.
Maybe Pioli being an actual qualified coach who has won the Scudetto doesn’t care about allocating arbitrary positions to people based on some outdated numbering system….
Who cares if he played Kessie in AM we won the Scudetto!
Finally ! Someone who understands how dumb our couch is.
1) Too many changes to the starting line up tonight. Pioli would have been making two or at most three changes and then once game was in hand, pull some guys off in advance of Rennes.
2) To say Leao looks disinterested is an understatement. He needs to step up or be sold.
3) Pulisic was fire.
I am posting comments too quickly. How about you?
I am pretty good at diagnosing these issues and you have my email. Ask me for help AdminPeoples. I’ll provide 2 hours for $Free.99.
me too.. they just don’t want critics
When I post short messages it seems fine. Long messages get a “too quickly” error.
Well sometimes short ones like this too.
Given the number of comments is rising very slowly after such a game and on a weekend it is likely a problem of load (too many concurrent users) and sometimes easy to fix.
Sometimes the long message appears to save but doesn’t appear.
Then when I send same long message again it says duplicate. This means it is in the database but flagged not to be displayed (which is okay if that is your intent)
By the number of messages I am sending and the speed I am sending them, the posting too quickly algorithm is measuring the wrong thing.
So likely a problem in the message validation code and maybe a problem of underprovisioned infrastructure.
Because we lost as well, if we won no one interested in the comments, when we lose, the community is busy blaming
Its the same every time, they have some problem with the comment section. I’ve been on pages with far more comments and this problem didn’t existed.
EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.
LOL!!! IT’s frustrating…
Probably at the “thundering here” stage with so many folks resubmitting quickly and out of frustration it’s created an even bigger problem. Your logs should tell you (webserver logs, Nginx or httpd most likely)
It happens daily…. Post more than 3 comments and all of a sudden “You’re posting Too quickly”…
(Happened again as I tried to post this LOL!!! )
This issue has been happening for quite some time. I am perplexed that it hasn’t been addressed yet considering the volume of people complaining about it. If they are getting a new commenting system, fine, but at least address this issue in the meantime. I have no doubt this impacts visitor engagement which is likely a key metric for them.
Heck, I have had it happen 3 times trying to reply to this post.
They just need to contract it out to Disqus or something…. Probably don’t have the budget for it.
For a low-budget site (Seeing as how they are looking for Patreon subscribers) it runs reasonably well.
(You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.)
I’m sincere in my offer to help. I enjoy the articles and much of the engagement (like yourself Honest). It’s been fun learning the game this way.
1
Backspace and or space/backspace on either comment or username usually works for me. Also don’t click twice on the ‘post comment ‘ button as it’s easy to accidentally click twice there. Otherwise yea it sucks
Monza 4 – 2 Milan,
Monza last goal at 90+5 by Colombo assist by Maldini,
and still when we criticize game like this, they so called “the true fans” will barking us to support another team
Back to where we were with squard rotation… Over changing in the line up kills the already nonexistent team chemistry. One or two changes, okay. But to change the entire front line is so dumb and it’s a deja vu. I just pity jovic cus he was set-up to fail.
Bar a few good games where RLC scored can we agree that his positioning in games is terrible, I cannot understand why we play a 2 man midfield and RLC just ball watches and marks space, it bewilderes me.
A game to forget. Forza Milan
The rotation is not the problem in and of itself.
It’s the way that the rotation happens in such a jarring way.
Thiaw, Chukuwueze, Okafor and Bennacer have hardly played at all in recent times. That’s 40% of the team that has no chemistry with the player next to him.
Pioli started rotating this way last year, too. It’s bad squad management. We knew the need to rest players was coming. Player need minutes before they’re asked to start.
“The rotation is not the problem in and of itself.
It’s the way that the rotation happens in such a jarring way. ”
This. 100%.
With the chance to move up, Pioli takes his foot off the gas.
I wish Pulisic could celebrate the end of his drought.
I would be okay never seeing Chukwueze in the pitch for Milan again. He can’t be as bad as he has looked, can he?
Adli, Thiaw and Leao were very poor today. I hope this is just a blip and not the beginning of a trend.
Good fight back from the team though. Pity it fell short.
I’ve been a critic of Chuk while hoping he’d “get it”. He apparently had a pretty terrible AFCON as well. So sadly I’ll agree. Let him come on in the last 10-15 min when we are two goals up. loan him to Atalanta next year with a sell on clause 🙂
I also was willing to give him a chance and still am (next season, when I forget the poor performances he had this year). He just hasn’t shown anything at all. Receives the ball, stops and either dribbles into the defenders legs or (more often than not) passes back to the defenders. It doesn’t seem like an issue of confidence but a lack of decision making. As long as they don’t take a significant loss, Atalanta seems like a good destination for him ala CDK.
today is when i miss kessie
RLC lack any kind of passes or is unfit for the no. 10 role. Some went on to compare him to Kaka 😅🤣 Sure he can mak some headers, but it is passes by your no. 10 or no. 8 that wins you matches. At least Reijnders can do thag but Pioli opts him as no. 6. Just weird! It should be the other way around. Milan lack both these kind of players. Earlier, atleast there was Diaz and Tonali. For Maldini, RLC was an addition to them to play as a no. 6, and never their replacement. But after he got fired, Milan sold both Diaz and Tonali, putting wrong personnel in the midfield positions
Diaz was on loan from Real Madrid. His loan expired.
You did see him play last game right? We’re talking about the same RLC?
I saw him play last game.. Did not impress me one bit with his football passes or dribbles. He cannot do neither. How is he playing in the no.10 position? Messi, Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldinho, Iniesta, Hazard, etc.—these are the players that need to be playing in that position. Did you see that in RLC vs. Rennes, other than headers (which no.10s barely score, as they let their feet do the talking). RLC is absolutely the wrong man to play that role. For me, he should be playing in the position that Reijnders or Adli play, and one of them should switch to no.10 (because there aren’t any better players in the squad atm)
The problem is you’re comparing him to The Greats – he isn’t there. but he is powerful, physical and drives forward well. Scores goals. AND stretches defenders creating space. That’s exactly what he did against Rennes.
Don’t expecting him to play like Kaka. Take him at face value.
We saw nearly the same thing from Thiaw earlier in the season. He proved it should be Tomori and Gabbia starting tonight. So we can take away that as a learning. (Boy was I wrong about Gabbia last summer)
So six changes was it (Jovic, Okay, Chuk, Benny, Adli, Thiaw) and we clearly were not in sync. Then we make three changes right at the half (Giroud, Puli and Reinjders). That seems like a panic reaction given three windows left and Monza on their second choice keeper.
Jovic lost his head. Hope he knows how to make up for it. He clearly knew he was getting the red and didn’t even protest. He’d just been warned a couple minutes before.
Giroud is done an injustice here IMO. He’s a 7. Look at him press even with Leao behind the half way line. He not only got the goal he was a force for getting possession a man down.
Puli is the same. Goal, assist and constant ball pressure.
Musah broke lines, carried beautifully a couple of times and cut out several passes.
Leao … Dude has to be hurt. No explanation for what we saw otherwise.
Too bad didn’t claim second place tonight. Hopefully we show up with the pride shown by Giroud and Puli against Atalanta next week and was this terrible taste out of my mouth.
Forza Milan.
(This is no longer a duplicate comment)
Leao was off with a pack on his leg Thursday. Pretty sure he wasn’t 100%. Hope he recovers for this Thursday.
Yeah they had him hooked up to a tens unit at one point as well. That usually means a knock with some serious swelling. Hoping he is well too. Given we have a 3 goal lead in the tie I hope we will be cautious.
Tens unit do literally nothing but feel good at the moment. Pioli needs one hooked up to his brain.
Fcking…….. Lazy !!!!!
So much overreaction here, it’s the first poor performance for ages. Anger at Jovic’s stupidity I understand, irritation at how bad Thiaw was is fair. Beyond that, it’s not symptomatic of a trend when the team has been playing well, let’s move on to the next one.
People above saying Chukwueze is a disaster (his first season in Italy and very interrupted), RLC is useless (been fantastic in recent weeks), Adli can’t play (been very good recently, but has hardly started with Bennacer before).
The team needed some rotation. Personally, I was expecting some resting in the Rennes game instead of this one. The subs haven’t played together and there were too many changes. It happens, we weren’t going to win the league anyway and we’re well clear of 4th still.
you make too much sense don’t clam the people down they want to rage. This is Piloi saying F you to all the haters.
Warning!
There’s too much common sense in this post. That is not allowed on this block. What happened to “Pioli is Useless” and “Everything is bleak and future is compromised”.
You’ve been warned.
“It happens, we weren’t going to win the league anyway and we’re well clear of 4th still.”
Except we’re not. 7 points ahead Atalanta who has 1 less match. Should they win it, it’s 4 point. And on Sunday it’s the 6-point-match Milan-Atalanta. Lose that one and it’s 1 point difference. Have you noticed the form Atalanta are in? Not an easy task to get even one point against them. So… Back to back losses to Monza & Atalanta and we’re only 1 point ahead. Then there’s Bologna 3 points off of Atalanta. They’re coming closer too.
I’m sorry this is why you have backups. All I hear is to play J, O, and C. This loss is not on Piloli. This was on the players, some of whom could not kick the ball today. Jovic’s red card was unexplainable. Chuck was a 5 at best. You guys are so generous with him. Okafor was absent. Thiaw continus to be impulsive. I can’t see him and Tomori playing together as you need a stabelizing central defender. Musah has issues (mainly his medium and long range passing), but man can he carry the ball forward and with his speed is good on defense.
DEAR ADMINS:
Please fix the comment section on your site. Between “You’re Posting Too Quickly” and “Duplicate Comment Detected”( as a result of the first error) It feels like SadoMasochism trying to post here…
Pretty sure it’s good for the Algo to have many comments on your posts, right?
Many comments don’t even appear at all.
For those saying not to blame Pioli, who picks the starting line up? Who requested most of the new players in the summer? Who is supposed to hold the players responsible for their attitudes and performances on the pitch? Who never subs Leao out for bad performances or attitudes? Who let Thiaw continue playing when he was clearly having his SECOND horror show (the other being the derby). Who picks the training sessions and sees who can play where? Who is responsible for consistently rotating players in a way that doesn’t require you to make FIVE changes at once, most of them being your star players lol against MONZA (in context it isn’t easy). The same schedule is sent to everyone, no excuse to rest 5 players for a Europa playoff match against a mid table French team when we’re already up 3-0 and it’s on a Thursday not even Wednesday, come on. I can guess that if Zlatan were the coach he would have taken both Leao and Thiaw off. He wouldn’t have cared that Leao had just gotten on. You could see it in his face in the stands, he has standards. Yea it was a wild game, but as Milan we should be better than that. Pioli has let this attitude fester in the squad and we now have six red cards on the season, SIX. Is that just one player or just the players being players? No, it’s the coach. We are Milan and this is unacceptable, we need standards and we need to always fight to win no matter the context. Giving up and saying oh we aren’t going to win the league anyway, what are you doing with your time on here then? We don’t play attractive football and aren’t winning trophies, what the heck are we doing then with all the money and resources, just scrapping by for 3rd? No, this is Milan. Did you hear Berlusconi’s predictions for Monza, winning serie A by next year? That man had vision even if it was over the top b/c that’s what it takes to win. Forza Milan.
Pioli isn’t faultless for sure, but sometimes just yelling into a pillow after a loss like this would be more objective than ^^^
If you get really mad you can bite the pillow too.
The comments “error” really need to be fixed. It been a while now.
Pioli gamble with the starting lineup, he thinks Monza worth the risk, I would just rotate at Rennes because we are winning 3-0. I guess Pioli doesn’t want to take a risk because he knew that winning Europa League would be his best bet at retaining his job
Well I have bad news for him. As long as there are teams like Liverpool, we will not win the Europa League. At this rate we are not even secure in our top 4 position with a tough schedule looming. We desperately need a new coach to take us out of this mediocrity.
This. There is the time and place for rotations. Thursday’s match would have been it.
I said this last season and I am saying it again. Play what’s in from of you, take every game seriously and don’t rotate half your squad. Especially, when they have not played together and players might be coming back from injury. Pioli did it last season, it failed and it failed again today. Games like this, that’s really exposes Pioli’s tactics. Pioli basically just threw away 3 points.
He will all over Chukwueze’s Milan tombstone.
As usual we score a lot and concede a lot. These inconsistent performance would be the norm for the rest of this season
Clueless Pioli decides to rotate half the squad against a Monza team who were out for blood. Totally predictable. Just when some start to think he’s a good coach (I never did) he delivers another fail. PEOPLE, PLEASE UNDERSTAND HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MEDIOCRE COACH. He didn’t become great all of a sudden after 20 years of mediocrity. The Scudetto had everything to do with leadership from Ibra and great skill from several players, and of course the big clubs being very poor that season. Since then nothing but failures. That’s Pioli. I want a coach who actually screams at the players when needed. And has some clue about tactics. Hoping that Theo/Leao/Pulisic makes a good run is NOT strategy.
Screaming at players doesn’t make them better… You have kids? Does screaming at them work?
I have kids. Never really tried screaming. Should I?
Is that you Stefano? You seem to reply to a lot of posts critical of him. And the players are not kids but adults who get paid millions. Nice false equivalency though. I like coaches that at least get mad when players make massive mistakes. All the good ones do it. Pioli just stands there. But no worries, he will be gone in a few months. Sorry, bud.
Mediocre coaches don’t win titles.
In fact about 0.0000000001% who have ever managed in football full stop have won titles.
Add to that the fact that he has one of the highest win percentages of any Milan coach in history AND the fact that we’re in fact third/nearly second and it’s very hard to take you seriously.
He (like most modern coaches) rotates too much.
The responsibility lies with the people who gave him the tools to rotate.
When he asked for lots of new players he should’ve been told ‘no’ like in most normal organisations.
We can’t all go changing half our teams no matter the business case.
0.0000000001%??? So about 1 out of a trillion coaches have won titles? Yeah, we definitely need to take you seriously. Get back to me when Pioli wins another Scudetto. I suspect I’d be waiting until the end of time.
Look at you getting all pedantic having written off one of our most successful coaches as “mediocre’.
But I’m sure the imaginary coach in your head will deliver endless titles.
It’s hard to compete with people’s imaginations.
Leao, Giroud, and Pulisic all played heavy minutes two days ago. Also, Leao came off complaining of some muscle issues. While their replacements were terrible, AMC lost the game because of the midfield and Thiaw. I am not a big Aldi fan and today was a perfect example as to why- slow on the ball. doesn’t hold up play well, defense is suspect, and not a good medium range passer.
Odd that you pass over Jovic. The single biggest reason Milan lost was his red card.
Perfect game to bring everyone back down to earth and remind all of those that screamed we were back; that Pioli should stay because we are second place and have just as many points as our Scudetto year so why replace him; and that Jovic is amazing and could be signed as our new # 9. There is a reason Jovic was available for next to nothing.
Reality Check.
Shame we wasted golden opportunity to overtake Juve. But doesn’t really matter I guess. Scudetto is lost. All that matters is top 4 finish for UCL and Redbird are happy. Barring natural collapse we should be able to hold that.
Focus on Europa. We have a solid chance to win that. Let’s pray
This game was full of individual errors, which made it reeeeeeally difficult to come back. I don’t think we can use this game to gauge our progress…
But there’s a reason we’re in third place, because if we won the games we were supposed to, we’d be within touching distance of Inter…
Of course LOLOLO pops up as soon as we lose – so predictable it’s frightening…
Well well well. The worst part for me was Monza’s third goal. I still had the belief around that time that we’d take points and after working so hard to get to a point we just collapse due to our porous middle once more. The space that opened up was just head shake worthy. That goal was gut punch and the 4th was obviously us being desperate to regain the point. I said before playing on Thursdays is going to affect us in the league one way or the other. And Pioli’s hands are tied. Start the regular starters, they’re gonna be tired and we’d be asking where the rotation is. Now he rotates and we see how bad the quality off the bench is for starting roles (note, the bench is perfectly fine being the bench.. Jovic is an excellent super sub, Okafor is a decent SUB). Some blame has to go to Pioli for over rotation esp against a dangerous team. But this game was still winnable or pointable. But we’re scoring and I guess the new players are doing well /s. Shout outs to RLC for another stellar performance after a week of articles on him..hope to see more this week too to rate that performance..
No Pioli’s hands are not tied.
These are footballers not doctors and nurses working in emergency wards.
It is absolutely ridiculous that professional athletes cannot play a couple of times a week.
Every other sport manages it including individual sports like tennis.
And the whole logic of rotation becomes even more ludicrous when you pull a load of players off at half time (thus killing their confidence) and then make your stars work even harder because they’re now chasing a game.
There is no rhyme nor reason to the rotation.
It’s just a coach with too much DEPTH.
Like someone looking in their wardrobe with too many clothes.
Choice is not always a good thing.
Oh please we play in Europa League on Thursdays not UCL on Tuesday and Wednesdays. It’s a massive difference I’ve pointed out before. Most teams who have the Europa League committment suffer in the league. Also why is there no rhyme or reason for rotation? You want to just run players into the ground like we did earlier in the season and end up with no centre backs?. Your analogies are always so off the mark. Like u think because they don’t punch in a clock that footballers don’t need rest because they have more “free time” than the average person. Professional footballers need rest too. They travel, run a 10k, travel back, gym, physio, run probably another 10k in between not to mention mental exertions from tactical training in and out of the game. It’s about timing….they played less than 3 days ago. The extra day matters. And to your wardrobe analogy, you really don’t want to be wearing the same clothes over and over again. They might get torn and worn out fast.
Dude, this Maldinis Heir (who can’t even spell Maldini’s correctly) is some kid (at least I hope he’s a kid) who thinks he knows so much about everything and acts like he’s some authority in this forum. Compares football to tennis and doesn’t understand why football players need rest. Man, some people are clueless beyond belief.
he should have went with our starters, try to get a lead in 30, then do subs progressively. Midfield was terrible. No cohesion and our wingers were abysmal too. Very lackluster performance.
Yea I thought we shouldn’t have rotated so much. He could have just put Chuk and Jovic. Not them plus Okafor. Plus all the other guys are just coming back too like Malik and Benny. Notice how much more chemistry the guys had when the regular starters were on the field.
“The space that opened up was just head shake worthy” – How so? Made perfect sense. We believed we could get the winner, pushed for it and left exposed in transition against a team with a numerical advantage. That was always the risk… At 2-2 it would be strange not to push for the winner and gamble.
i have no qualms there.
Nah. This is right after we got the draw. Was time to sit back and take your point and go home or if a chance come to you take it.
The amount of energy expended to get to that point you just don’t give it up in less than 2 minutes later. We didn’t need to risk conceding at that point. It was Monza who needed to take the game back to us after having blown a healthy lead 11v10. Why ay 3-2 we put Musah at DM. They got it backwards, should have done that at 2-2. It was a bad setup. In no world that makes perfect sense to risk your hard earned point with less, tired, men on the field.
“Nah. This is right after we got the draw. Was time to sit back and take your point and go home or if a chance come to you take it.”
Nope. The momentum was there to grab the 3 points. Too bad Thiaw decided to completely f*** it up for the 3rd time for the night. Point would have been awesome. A win incredible. And now everything went into the trashbin. Imagine us getting into the Atalanta-match with a 2-3 win with 10 men. There would have been no stopping us then.
Ifs and buts. IF, big IF, we went into the game with Atalanta winning 3-2??what?? , they’d still beat us. These things don’t scare them. Lol 😂
Bro we’re playing 10v11, those guys were tired. Down a man for a most of the half. A draw with 10 men down, away, is a great result. A loss was always a loss but we handed them the win. 2 minutes….2 minutes later in which you gained a point, you lapse concentration??? Literally on the restart. Come on bro. I checked the goal again. It wasn’t like it was a counter or anything. It wasn’t the “left exposed in transition” like ACM1899 is suggesting. That i could excuse…. but Monza built up the goal smh meaning we had time to set up our defence, sit back and counter. And Reijnders missed his defensive responsibilities as did Musah/Thiaw/Puli or whomever it was that was supposed to be right back where they attacked from. Its inexcusable buddy. And our pivots/midfield is poor defensively. They costed us
@bb and ACM1899. The one olive branch I’ll offer is that I do get wanting to win the game. I get it. but not at the cost of giving up a point so easily and in the way we gave it up. I think that’s where our differences really lie
“Ifs and buts. IF, big IF, we went into the game with Atalanta winning 3-2??what?? , they’d still beat us. These things don’t scare them. Lol 😂”
You’re not a player yourself I see. If you were you would know that coming from 0-2 behind and winning the match will boost the morale a helluva lot for the next 1-2 matches. I didn’t even hint that Atalanta would be scared and couldn’t care less about them but I’m suggesting that the Milan players would have had the confidence needed to beat the most in-form team in Serie A ATM.
“Interesting…
Pioli, Leao, Jovic, Thiaw, Mike, etc have been criticised heavily for this loss, but nobody has commented on Florenzi. I’m surprised he even got a 6. That guy is a flop in defending. Calabria makes mistakes, but most times I’ve preferred seeing Calabria on the pitch.”
Interesting indeed. Florenzi was nowhere near the incidents which lead to the goals (even if it were Cafu or Tassotti himself as the RB there it wouldn’t have made a difference). In fact Monza created nothing while that guy was on the pitch and didn’t make mistakes. Managed to get the hockey-assist for the first goal though.
“You’re not a player yourself I see” lol..I could say the same about you or anyone else in this comment section. We don’t know who we all are are we? 😂 But I do remember playing with 1 man down and how brutally hard it is to make up for your teammate’s absence.
On the game, We took the whole half to get back level. The players were tired plain and simple. I handed u the olive branch for why we needed to pursue the w, and u did the same for me saying a draw would be incredible. So let’s leave it at that 😊
In the end we both got the worse outcome
ANother dumb comment form IKWYDLS. He can barely contain his joy that Milan lost. Talking about the porous midfield. You do realize that we were down a man for almost half the match at that point, right? Or are you commenting without seeing the match again? And Monza had created almost nothing up until the point that Thiaw decided to ruin the game.
So funny that he goes after RLC and no mention of Thiaw whatsoever. If there is a list of reasons as to why Milan lost this game RLC would not be anywhere near the top of it. But I guess anytime he doesn’t score 2 goals and carry the team on his back he’s terrible. And what was that dig you made about Pulisic during the week? Keep hating buddy.
All we heard about all summer was DEPTH.
DEPTH. DEPTH. F$$KING DEPTH.
The last thing we needed was DEPTH.
All Pioli and most managers do with DEPTH is rotate endlessly.
It’s what they do with the 5 subs rule. Gotta use those subs. Palladino nearly threw the game away because of his 5 stupid subs.
DEPTH.
Apparently DEPTH can overcome any problems.
Players can just randomly hit the ground running with 5 other random players who they haven’t played in a competitive with in months.
It’s just elite football, of course they can.
DEPTH.
What kind of message does it send out to:
a) your own team;
AND
b) the opposition,
when you use your DEPTH to rotate half the squad?
For a) it’s an instruction – a specific instruction – that the game is easier – drop your levels, we can use the DEPTH.
For b) it’s a wind up – a specific wind up – that we think less of you.
This is in one of the top leagues on the planet against a team that is in the top 100 club teams on the planet.
With THREE of our former players – of course.
It’s a bit of theme really?
How many of our former players are scattered around Serie A making life more difficult for us?
7 in the top 4 teams.
1 at Bologna.
2 at Roma.
1 at Fiorentina
1 at Lazio
3 at Torino
3 at Monza
That’s a lot of DEPTH.
And a lot of faffing about on the transfer market.
Whether Pioli stays as manager or whether we hire someone new the main job of the board is to give them a squad of 18 players and a proper medical team.
That’s all the DEPTH you need.
Seriously can anyone explain to me how:
– tennis players can play a match every 2 days during tournaments (no DEPTH);
– basketball players can play multiple times in a week;
– rugby players can play a game a week which involves getting hit by multiple cars each week,
but precious little footballers can’t play every few days.
Apparently medical science in football has gone backwards.
Back in the day teams managed to play 40-50 games a season with squads of 16-18, but ‘modern football’ (or is it the transfer market?) requires 2-3 players per position.
Players must be pigeon holed such that we need 2 specific players for every specific position.
Here’s what I’d do with the squad.
Sell 15 players (seriously we have squad of like 35 and that’s not including the billions of players we have on loan) and give Pioli or whoever a core squad of 18 with the balance made up of youth and seniors.
Off the top of my head the squad would look like:
Maignan
Sportiello
THE BEST YOUTH KEEPER WE HAVE – PICK ONE
Theo
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EITHER BUY JIMINEZ OUTRIGHT OR WE USE BARTESAGHI
Gabbia – DO NOT TOUCH
Thiaw OR Tomori – SELL ONE
Simic
Kjaer
Kalulu/Florenzi – SELL ONE
Calabria
Bennacer
Reijnders
Musah
Adli
RLC
SIGN A PROPER AM
Pulisic
Leão
Okafor
Giroud
SIGN A 30 GOAL A SEASON STRIKER
End of.
Anyone not listed is sold.
Anyone out of loan sorry the squad’s too massive.
I agree! We only need a top flight goal scorer and thin out the number of squad players.
Too bad because there is a good chance we sell Leao in the summer move Pulisic to the LW, keep Chukwueze for the RW and splash the cash by bringing in a bunch of 20 million quid players hoping one hits like Pulisic did from last summer.
If you tell me if I have to offload a player from that defense it is definitely not Thiaw, and specially not Florenzi, who has played far better than Calabria, who has been a liability for this team all but one season when he was decent. Thiaw is a young player who will make more mistakes if he is handled correctly and not put in a difficult match as a starter after 3 months out. For the rest, I can agree but two young players like Simic/Bartesaghi in the defense is too much, and I am not even counting Gabbia who looks a lot more composed and mature
I agree with most of what you said, I would rather have 16-17 starters than 10 starters and the rest depth player.
Here’s where I disagree:
‣ Defense:
Tomori is our most consistent defender by far, and we need to keep him at all costs. The ones we should be selling are Thiaw and Calabria, we sell Thiaw for 30 mil and replace him with Buongiorno, play him LCB and see if we can play Tomori RCB. Else we think of another signing for the RCB role. We replace Calabria with Arnau Martinez (if we can)
‣Midfield:
A defensive midfielder is far more important to us than an attacking midfielder, we need one who can tackle, some names are:
Redondo, Youssouf Fofana, Florentino, Weiffer.
‣ A thirty goal striker will cost at least 60 mil, and we cannot make those signings under this management. We can hope to get a young, talent who has the potential to be a 20-30 goal striker. (Šeško, Zirkzee, Guirassy or maybe Gimenez)
Thanks but Calabria is our captain!
He’s untouchable.
A club is nothing without a captain.
We can’t keep chopping and changing captains.
He’s also marked the best players in the world and Serie A out of games.
Thiaw and Tomori are not our captains and so are disposable.
Why would we solve one problem (getting rid of excess defenders) and then replace it with another problem (another defender)?
Players are problems. Every new player creates a problem so we add as few problems as possible to solve specific issues.
AMs and CFs are match winners so are problems worth having.
If we can’t afford both then we spend 60m or whatever we have on a striker.
We prioritise and focus. And don’t sell our captain!
This is an interesting post.
“Seriously can anyone explain to me how:
– tennis players can play a match every 2 days during tournaments (no DEPTH);
– basketball players can play multiple times in a week;
– rugby players can play a game a week which involves getting hit by multiple cars each week,
but precious little footballers can’t play every few days.
Apparently medical science in football has gone backwards.
Back in the day teams managed to play 40-50 games a season with squads of 16-18, but ‘modern football’ (or is it the transfer market?) requires 2-3 players per position.”
I’m not an expert, but each sport is different (different qualities required, recovery needed,…) so trying to make sense out of football by comparing it to different sport won’t get us anywhere.
What I can say that footballers are required to SPRINT (which you don’t do in tennis), in a MASSIVE pitch (unlike Basketball, tennis, volleyball,…) for LONG duration. These 3 combined can cause massive amount of damage to the body if not managed properly.
You say teams we used to play 40-50 games a season but that’s less than today. In the past, many leagues had around 30 games per season, supercoppas were only 1 game, the UCL was shorter and most importantly, players played way less frequently with national teams.
“Off the top of my head the squad would look like:”
Onto your squad:
-Goalkeeping: no issues for me.
-Defense: I’d say keep both Florenzi and Kalulu. Kjaer is getting older and it’s a matter of time before he’ll have to quit and then you’ll be left with only 3 CBs. I’d keep Tomori over Thiaw.
– Midfield: All the players you named are not good defensive midfielders. We need to sign a player like Kessie or Kanté. Maybe we need an AM, IMO Adli and Pulisic can play in there.
– Attack: Okafor hasn’t proved to be able to play in the right wing, so we need another right winger to supplement Pulisic who, remember is injury prone. And as much as I’d want a 30 goals per season striker, who are you thinking of ? This will be extremely expensive.
thrilled to see our academy thriving with Italians making a mark on a big game, problem is, they were not dressed for us…Rub-In Softest Cheek was playing Sunday league football, no aggression or hunger, clueless and non reactive, completely aloof, dosing off on the field. Okafor site watching, looking at Softest sleep, trying to catch a nap before him, and Jovic looked like he was trying to make something out of nothing. No incision from our midfield or flanks. Prety sure our guy wanted to punch our team for such a terrible showing. Regardless, on a one year contract, with a bad reputation following you, this can’t happen. Cost us a game we had to win
That was absolutely not what cost us the game kiddo. We were already 2-0 down, and conceded to more because of terrible defensive displays. His absence has no effect on Thiaw and Theo defending like grade schoolers
Go look at the scoresheet and see the players involved in the goals scored against us kiddo.
Poor defense sure, the midfield and attackers were brutal as well for most of the game. Defense isn’t only the backline. Our transition and attack also have a role in our defense. They didn’t perform their duties, at all. Loftus Cheek was caught sleeping, disengaged and completely unaware in many important moments.
I’m a Pullisic fan. Followed him at Dortman and Chelsea, now at Milan (my personal favorite of the bunch). Pullisic has that rare combination of technical skill and creativity. What he’s lacked is a consistent mental focus like he showed in today’s game: playing the ball forward (instead of constantly playing the safe ball backwards, constantly taking players on, making dangerous runs, and demanding the ball from his teammates. To reach the next level, the superstar level that carries the team, is to play every game like he played today’s second half.
Two notes for Pioli:
1). Unless you’re in command of first place, you’re fighting for every point. Even when you’re playing a “lower graded” team. Start your starters, get control of the game, then substitute them off early, IF everything is under control. I guaranty you that 9, 10, and 11, all wanted to start.
2). Start playing Pulisic in the center of the pitch behind Giroud. He’s like a pesty, little gnat. He runs circles around defenders in tight spaces, and would be in a better position to feed Leoa on the left, Chukwueze on the left, Giroud in front of net, or to take the shot himself. Your offense would be unstoppable.
This guy still wants to start Chukuweze!! Please Pioli, don’t listen to him.
From man of the math to flop of the match. That’s football mate.
BRB going to find the comment I made in the summer about Chuk being a poor man’s Saelemaekers.
Was right 🙂
There is only ONE CHANCE at this top level. CHUKWUEZE wasted it. Saelemaekers was useful. Chuk is USELESS. I’m telling you.. This is the APEX of his career. He cannot go any higher than this. He should consider himself very lucky Milan purchased him. After this it will be Bolton Wanderers.
You screamed for rotation, you got rotation. Now shut up. Thiaw was always poor, nothing special. Hope we can sell to Bayern or someone. Chuk is a Bournemouth quality player and makes me miss Saele/Messias. Jovic plays when paired with Giroud. No DM will keep harming us.
Same ol’
Well I got that wrong – didn’t envisage 5 changes meant Jovic slapping the opposition and Thiaw playing like a 60-year-old. Of course this means we’ll be lucky to scrape into the top four and will obviously crash out of the Europa next week 4-0. If we had CDK Salad and Maldini this could’ve all been so different….
60-year-olds don’t make that kind of childish, amateur errors though. They know better not to kick everything that comes near – especially in the penalty box when you had just tripped the first opponent literally 1 second ago.
Yes, it was a completely insane sequence by Thiaw with no reason whatsoever as Gabbia had them man covered in the box.
Followed up by the second goal where Thiaw looked like a matador getting out of the way of the Monza player. It was so shockingly bad that I might want to investigate if Thiaw is betting on games. ANd not on Milan.
Mess around, find out. You’d thought that after 4 years of experience of games at the highest level, this coach and these players have now understood how to deal with these types of games, yet here we are again with a team full of itself and immaturity.
It’s one thing to rest 1 or 2 players at a time, maybe make subs in the halftime in order to avoid injuries. Starting with 6 new players, most of whom rarely played together. Having DEPTH doesn’t mean starting with a new team every new moon and all these seasons, Pioli has shown that he doesn’t know how to rotate a team.
During the first half, our attack was TOOTHLESS as Okafor, Jovic and Chukuweze pretty much never played together. And frankly, they showed why at best, they’re just benchers.
We keep getting beating by teams who play with 3 at the back and who rely heavily on counterattack. Some of the goals they scored was pretty much them being unchallenged by the halfline !
Thiaw, I know that he is rusty, hasn’t been playing for a while and is coming from injury, but god what a horrible performance. And this is not the first time he has played so recklessly and costed us. I think someone should talk to him, seriously.
Jovic showed why so far, he can’t be the lone stiker (unless it’s against the B team of Cagliari), and his conduct was simply unnacceptable.
There is not a whole lot Maigan could have done about the 3 first goals, and you could say that the game was already sealed before the fourth, but man he is becoming more and more like an ordinary goalkeeper. If he wants a big contract, he has to show something big.
Giroud, please don’t go to the MLS.
I’d say the only good thing, is that with Juve and Atalanta drawing, our position remains secured for now, and maybe this was a game where some level of experimentation was allowed.
I’d add that since it’s so easy to score against this team, please be careful against Rennes.
And finally, to those who thought that we somehow become better because we had a streak of wins against teams who are trying not to get relegated, wake up to reality.
Disasterclass in rotation
Okafor hadn’t started a league game since early November – over 3 months
Jovic and Chucky hadn’t started a league game since early December
Bennacer – Is gradually building himself back from a long injury, plus Afcon etc
Thiaw – played a few mins v Rennes having been out for 3 months
Some people say we should rotated others now crowing about why we should not rotate.
The reality is simple, it is imperative to rotate when playing so many games.
It is also important to keep squad members fit and sharp and confident. I would include back up goal keeper in this.
What you don’t do is wait until an emergency and then throw players who have had no time in. It’s not going to work and it is not good for the players.
Another advantage of consistent rotation is keeping starters motivated, fighting for their place
There have been plenty of chances to start Okafor at LW or RW with the other starters. He is a good player
The same can be said of Jovic.
Simic has been given very little time recently
It really is just madness, no rotation and then rotate half the team.
Shout out to Musah and Pulisic who came on and showed great spirit
Agree 100 %.
I’m glad finally someone understood it.
Rotation is not about starting a new team every new moon with players that barely played, it’s about incoporating new players as frequently as possible for them to gain experience and to be part of the team. So when the time comes for them to be starters, or when the regulars can’t play, the benchers would actually know what to do.
Pioli pretty much always start the same players until oblivion, and when it’s time to think about Okafor, Chukuweze, Jovic,… He starts them together at the same time while some of them didn’t play in monthes and don’t know how to play together.
Then they fail, and all of a sudden our bench is bad.
Our bench is not bad because of the lack of players, but because their incorporation is very lacking.
It’s frustrating.
You could also argue the reason we signed the likes of Pulisic is because he had not had a settled role at Chelsea. Now he has better consistency
Good management is keeping everyone happy, motivated, fit and sharp
That way you can change as needs be without a massive drop in performance
SJF you’ve summarized it PERFECTLY!
the bench isn’t bad. But I also think some of them belong as super subs like Jovic. Like u said, I wished Okafor and co could have been introduced gradually and YES, Pioli had many chances to do so over the course of the season. The idea of rotation is not this one. When I thought he’d rotate in Sunday, in my mind was just Jovic and Okafor, not almost half the squad🤦♂️. That’s on him. It’s just poor overall long term game management
Interesting…
Pioli, Leao, Jovic, Thiaw, Mike, etc have been criticised heavily for this loss, but nobody has commented on Florenzi. I’m surprised he even got a 6. That guy is a flop in defending. Calabria makes mistakes, but most times I’ve preferred seeing Calabria on the pitch.
The only good thing I saw with him today was offense with the ball, of which it lead to the goal of Giroud.
His marking was awful, giving the attacker enough time and space on what to do with the ball. Total crap!
For me, deserved a 4. For the assist, I’ll upgrade to a 5. Nothing more.
And please, can this season be over and let’s get rid of this coaching staff. I don’t know what Bonera even does there. Not as though he was good in his time. Get us De Zerbi. It’s about time we have a playing style.
I found it amusing that we could not make vertical passes. Always going through the sides. What the heck!
“Interesting…
Pioli, Leao, Jovic, Thiaw, Mike, etc have been criticised heavily for this loss, but nobody has commented on Florenzi. I’m surprised he even got a 6. That guy is a flop in defending. Calabria makes mistakes, but most times I’ve preferred seeing Calabria on the pitch.”
Interesting indeed. Florenzi was nowhere near the incidents which lead to the goals (even if it were Cafu or Tassotti himself as the RB there it wouldn’t have made a difference). In fact Monza created nothing while that guy was on the pitch and didn’t make mistakes. Managed to get the hockey-assist for the first goal though.