Since the 2016-17 season, we have published our player ratings for every single AC Milan game. Discover how we go about deciding them: What is the scale, what affects the ratings and why may they differ?
We pride ourselves on always having a comprehensive coverage of AC Milan games, both before and after. One key component of this is the player ratings article, which always sparks great debate among the Rossoneri fans in our comments section.
Since the very start of this website, we have always put a big focus on the player ratings and we now have an impressive archive to show off. However, we also understand that ratings are highly subjective and there can never be a right or wrong answer.
To help you better understand our motivations, and in turn the ratings, we will go through everything you need to know below.
Our player ratings scale
As most of you know at this point, we rank the players on a scale of 1-10. This scale, however, has a bit more nuance to it as while it may be easier to get a 6, the leap to an 8 is significant. For example, we have only ever given out a 9+ on a few occasions.
Below, you will find the general guidelines that we always follow when deciding the player ratings. Take them with a grain of salt, though, as these are guidelines after all:
- 1-4: Terrible
- 5: Very poor
- 5.5: Poor
- 6: Good (gets a pass)
- 6.5: Good with a plus
- 7: Very good
- 7.5: Very good with a plus
- 8: Outstanding
- 8.5-10: World-class
What affects the player ratings?
You might wonder, how do we decide if someone is ‘very poor’ or even ‘outstanding’? Many factors come into play, in truth, and since we are not a statistics page a lot will depend on what we see – as humans.
We are AC Milan fans at the end of the day, and we experience the games with the same emotions as everyone else. Having said that, it’s only natural that a striker will get a good rating if he scores a goal, just as a goalkeeper will be bumped up if one or several good saves are made.
It will also depend on the game. Scoring two goals against a relegation side in Serie A does not have the same pedigree as scoring a brace in a crucial Champions League clash. We can all probably agree on that, and this is something that stats sites perhaps do not consider.
Finally, the ratings will also depend on the outcome of the game. While many of the poor defeats often are collective breakdowns, this will inevitably seep into how we judge the players as well. Again, that is ultimately the result of us being fans.
Example: Luka Jovic got a 7.5/10 after scoring two goals. You might think this justifies a higher rating, but the following comes into play. Coppa Italia clash against a heavily-rotated Cagliari and he missed a good chance before the goals. Not outstanding, but very good indeed.
Are the player ratings always fair?
No, as ratings are highly subjective, this is simply impossible. We do try to be as consistent as possible with our ratings, aided by the fact that the same writer – Isak Möller – has done them for every single game since March 2021.
There will always be a difference in opinion, though, and that is why we have the comments section. We want our readers to join the discussion, expressing their opinions, but always remember to keep a good tone!
I’ll give Isak a 7.5
For very good work with an extra plus for his promptness in producing the ratings.
Thank you sir! A respectable grade, I’ll take it 🤝
With a name like Möller on the back of your shirt, there is always the potential to be world class. Keep up the good work!
Will try 😎
How about substitute player? How many minutes he need to be considered have rating?
How if he just enter the pitch in last minute and have assist, do you will still rate?
Thank you for all efforts so far. Keep it up!
I think this was the problem all along. We didn’t know 6s were “good” because in school 6 out of 10 is a D/D+ which is marginal at best. 7 out 10 is adequate. 8/10 is good and 9/10 is excellent. Anything below 5 is a fail.
But to have a large range out of the scale be world class is problematic imo (8.5 all the way to 10). That’s a whole 1.5 bin. An 8.5 performance should be different to a 9.5 performance but they’re still both world class somehow??
I think a reminder on the ratings scale each ratings would be a good move esp to remind myself 6 is good lol 😂
Haha yes this article was long overdue, apologies for that. It’s similar to the Gazzetta dello Spot, and I agree the 8.5-10 span is big, but that’s mostly because the factors are circumstantial then.
Rest assured, we will update this article along the way (if needed) and it will be linked in every player ratings piece moving forward 🙂
This is good to know and I generally find this site’s player ratings to have more credibility than the larger newspapers due to not attributing a significant weight of a single event (example: playing poorly but scoring a goal, or having a great match but making a single defensive mistake) to an overall match rating. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the kind words!
I do think that if a forward plays poorly for 90 minutes but then engages in a solo run and scores a winner, he should get a bigger rating because he won the game for us, regardless of poor play during the rest of the match. What are forwards for? For scoring goals. Yep, in soccer, goals count, haha. You win if you score more goals than the opponents… haha. So, I couldn’t care less if Rafa, for example, seems lazy and unfocused, in case he then goes and scores a winner. I’d still value a lot his performance as a decisive one that won the game. Recently Pulisic against Sassuolo was given a lower rating for not doing so well for most of the game but then he scored the winner, and Isak’s comment was that he needed to do more. What he did, though, was good enough for me. Do more, how and why, if he scored the winner and even thwarted two of the opponents’ dangerous counters? That rating ignored that Puli also had a very good defensive performance, that game. So maybe my personal criteria for ratings are a bit different from Isak’s.
But yes, it’s all good, it is stimulating to disagree and have stuff to comment about.
That rating you’re referring to, without thinking back too much about my motivation, could easily be a bit ‘wrong’ too. But he did get a 7, which on our scale is high.
As said they will not always be fair, it happens, but across a season they will even out. Pulisic, in particular, has usually got good ratings too
Yes, I think you generally do well and some subjective things come from what you said, that you are also a fan, and that’s something I value. We love this team and our passion makes us a bit biased sometimes, and that’s cool. I always like to read your ratings and then I make some comments; it would be boring if we all agreed on everything. Disagreement is stimulating (when dealt with appropriately and respectfully). I value your contribution to this site. Thanks for what you do.
Thank you, and I couldn’t agree more 🤝 Comments from you guys help me improve and reflect on the ratings more. Forza Milan!
Nice work, not 100% perfect though. Can you rate the coach too?
It is something we have thought about, maybe we will implement it soon!
One thing that you guys rarely seem to give Pulisic credit for is his defensive play. His fbref numbers for interceptions and blocks are steadily climbing up – he usually goes goes back on defense and buzzes around looking for the chance to get a turnover (he isn’t very aggressive about either making tackles or one on one take ons – probably to avoid injury) and when he gets one, this is often the start of a Milan offensive movement.
Chukwueze doesn’t do hardly any of that, and also tends to be a turnover machine, which is why often times when Pulisic leaves and Chuk comes in, the wheels come off of this Milan team.
Even when Pulisic doesn’t score, he is often involved in this defensive work.
👏
This is simple awesome and like the ratings for the game today, I hope you provide a link to it in every subsequent ratings article.
Whether I agree with the rating or not I _always_ appreciate the perspective and pause to consider my own. I look forward to the discussion generated by many of the thoughtful milanista here.
Finally you leave room to adapt the system over time. A humble thing to do and I look forward to the tweaks and discussion that would ensue!
Isak I understand this is not a stats site but I wonder why like y’all do with GdS you are not creating content around one? Is this a specific choice?
Thank you for the comment and absolutely, this will be linked in every player ratings article 🙂
Do you mean that we should do an article just based on the individual stats? It’s not something we have thought about a lot, above all because there are so many stats sites out there
That is what I had in mind. Sort of like y’all provide the GDS player ratings I’d probably learn a lot if you sourced stats in some similar fashion and commented on them. It’s the commentary I’m interested in similar to the articles you write breaking down tactics.
I find coming back to the comments on player ratings a day or two later a few folks have bolstered their ideas with numbers and it’s been really interesting. I am a numbers nerd though so take the suggestion with a grain of salt.
Good idea! We will have to look into how we can do that in good way