Carlo Pellegatti has been left with a ‘bitter’ taste after AC Milan were unable to get all three points against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
Milan did everything but score against Newcastle United as they were frustrated in their opening Champions League group stage game. It was another type of pain compared to the derby as they dominated, had 25 shots and yet couldn’t win.
They had nine shots on target against the Premier League side, conceding just one shot on target in the 95th minute. There was a lack of composure in front of goal which Rafael Leao was guilty of above all.
While Stefano Pioli can be happy with the response from his team after such a bad response, it does make qualifying for the knockout stages a tad more complicated given this is a game the Rossoneri will have been looking to win.
Pellegatti spoke during an interview with Radio Rossonera and offered his reflections on what was a frustrating night for Milan.
What kind of feeling did Milan-Newcastle leave you with?
“It left me bitter and worried, because it was the easiest match of the six games, on paper. It proved to be an easy match, it’s a shame that Milan weren’t able to put the ball in the net. They were three points that I thought I would take home until the end, it was truly a shame.
“It was important to win to forget about the derby and to avoid having the same questions about the match against Verona. As a sense of unease, certainly not that this is the case, it reminds me of Milan 0-0 Cagliari before going to Bergamo in the last match. Then everything went well, but that wait is similar.”
We remained waiting for the goal to come, and it didn’t…
“It’s a coincidence. A player was speaking to a colleague today at Milanello, he said: ‘Match identical to the ones against Torino, Bologna and Roma. The goals came there and not here’. If you write to me that from now until the end we will have 25 opportunities per game, I will sign. Also because out of 10 games you win 8.”
Rafael Leao was given the title of MVP…
“I hope someone from UEFA picks up the phone to whoever elected him. Surely Oppenheimer went to see the film, then they called him and told him to assign it to him so he never makes a mistake.
“I would have given it to Tomori… Today I’m nervous, even the criticism has annoyed me! You have seen the value of Tomori, here we are also discussing whether the Earth is round when Milan are not doing well. He is indispensable for the Rossoneri.
“Leao must aspire to become Mbappé, who doesn’t close the amusement park every now and then. I don’t care about the slightly awkward heel turn, I haven’t fallen off his bandwagon. Leao is our great champion.
“Someone said to me: ‘Are we sure that before the renewal there was a queue of people who wanted it?’. In England, that kind of player isn’t crazy…’
“Yesterday on a throw from Maignan that didn’t reach him, he got nervous. But, I repeat, the amusement park cannot close every now and then if it wants to reach Mbappé’s level. Otherwise he remains a great talent, not a champion.”
Is Giroud’s ankle still a problem?
“It could be, I’m not saying no because I don’t know. Bench? There’s a good dilemma against Verona. I think there could be Chukwueze, Okafor and Pulisic. Leao won’t play them all from the first minute, against Hellas it seems like the ideal match to let him rest from the start.
“Be careful, since I’m nervous: I don’t want to keep hearing that we need to play the starters immediately, always. Why did we spend 140 million otherwise? If we believe that Chukwueze, 30 million, Okafor, 15, Pulisic, 25, are not capable of beating Verona, it means that we have wasted 140 million.
“Some say yes and some say no to Chukwueze. I liked it, a little more concrete in front of goal because I want shots. It’s a start, if this is it it’s not good, but he seems like a player who knows how to put the ball in and doesn’t do dribbling for its own sake.”
Yes, it was maybe the easiest considering the amount of shots and Newcastle staying back but I think Dortmund is the weakest club in the group. 5 games to go. Also, if you are worried this early you obviously do not believe in the team or the players…
Love the team. Love the players.
I don’t trust the coach.
Hopefully he pulls a scudetto out again but I’m skeptical.
I’m also skeptical. This scudetto is between Juventus and Inter. Defenses win scudetti, and both of them are better defensively (Juventus in terms of tactics, Inter in terms of tactics AND personnel) than us. For us to take the next step and become consistent title contenders we need a new coach. While we’re stronger overall than last season, we had no excuse to fail to be the likes of Salernitana, Udinese, Cremonese, Roma, Empoli, Bologna and Spezia. Spezia who for some reason gives us as much trouble as Inter. Anyone who wants to beat us just needs to play counterattacking 3-5-2.
Love the team. Love the players.
I don’t trust the coach.
Hopefully he can pull out another scudetto but I’m skeptical.
This will come back to haunt us when the final points are tallied
Home and away 6 points and steal a couple off the other two should have been the plan
Not taking our chances certainly makes it harder. It’s not doom and gloom yet. I think we can take 6 from Dortmund and if we at least get 1 away to Newcastle (but hopefully 3) we can lost both against PSG and still qualify. I think 8 points will be the magic number for 2nd place in this group.
yes in december we will miss the 2 points hardly, anyhow it was a good performance, leao was kind of funny yes but now we have more quality up front and we cannot offload everything anytime on his shoulders. We need benacer back very soon and we have a RB captain which is not ucl proven. Also Popega had not his best day, unlike RLC. Also take of chukwueze to that time was a mistake.
Luck was the only reason Milan didn’t win…
here we are also discussing whether the Earth is round when Milan are not doing well
Haha good one.
Newcastle doesn’t have the strongest offensive talent in the group, but after seeing this match, I think they clearly have the strongest defense in the group.
You only need to see one statistic from their fourth place finish last season: 33 goals given up all year, equaling ManCity for the best in the EPL.
So, I would be surprised if they make it out of group, but don’t be surprised if they scratch out more 0-0 draws in their away games in Paris and Dortmund. Being in the EPL and down in the dumps for so long, this club are an English Master Class in the 10-0-0 formation and the low block. A surprising number of their starters and off-the-bench players are still from that era of trying not to lose by defending with their lives.
Their home games at St. James Park are another story. In front of their fans, they feel obligated to open up and play offense. SJP is an intense environment, very hostile to visiting teams, but their own fans can sometimes get harshly critical of their team when they crater, like their recent loss to Liverpool in the final 10 minutes, while leading 1-0.