AC Milan got back to winning ways despite a poor performance against Fiorentina at times. Mike Maignan ended up being the hero, making a mind-boggling save, and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Maignan (7.5 – MOTM): As said, he ended up being the hero with an absolutely stunning save in the dying minutes of added time. Before that, he was also crucial with his distribution and made a necessary intervention on Beltran in the second half as well. One or two poor passes which could have been costly, but great otherwise.
Calabria (6): He did well in the defensive phase, as he often does, but he lacked an edge when going forward. He had two really good chances to cross the ball but failed to find a teammate. Update: after further consideration, his rating has been revised, increased to a 6 for the aforementioned defensive efforts.
Thiaw (6): Bold in possession and that was needed, since Fiorentina pressed high most of the time. Decent in his defensive duties as well, really.
Tomori (6): He was booked, which isn’t that usual, but it was for a ‘tactical’ foul on Bonaventura and the free-kick came to nothing. The feeling is that he could have been more assertive in some challenges, but overall he did a good job.
Hernandez (6.5): It would have been a higher rating if it had been for a couple of really sloppy mistakes in the defensive phase. He was great when going forward today, as evidenced when he won the penalty and with a few good crosses. In the end, his goal was also the deciding one.
Musah (5.5): He struggled a bit with his control especially in the first half. Even though he improved in the second, we know he can do a lot better.
Reijnders (6): It was a somewhat shaky start to the game for him but he grew into it and made a few really good passes. Obviously, the game didn’t really suit him in the second half.
Pobega (5.5): Very late in most of the challenges and had more than one misplaced pass/clearance that could’ve ended up in the back of Milan’s net. The only perks from him today were the physical battles, which to be fair was important towards the end.
Chukwueze (5.5): A slight improvement, perhaps, but he wasn’t incisive enough in the decisive moments. He still needs more time to regain the very important confidence.
Jovic (5.5): The flick for Hernandez was absolutely lovely, but he missed a sitter in the second half when Milan really could have used a goal. Considering how the game developed, it could have been really costly.
Pulisic (6): A few good moments, including the half-volley shot, but he faded as the game went on and was also taken off early (probably due to Dortmund clash). In the first half, he was involved in almost every chance created.
Substitutes
Loftus-Cheek (6): A strong physical presence in midfield and helped out in defence as well.
Camarda (N/A): History was made, becoming the youngest Serie A debutant. However, we didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Krunic (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Florenzi (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Calabria a 5.5?
He made so many interceptions and clearances when the central backs were missing.
He should get the highest rating after Maignan.
Calabria, captain fantastic 🫡🫡🫡
I have to admit that I had to leave just after the 60th Minute, and missed the final 30, but Calabria was excellent at cleaning up defensive mistakes and reading the game while I was watching. His attacking, other than two early runs, didn’t add much, but Chukwueze being relatively useless didn’t help him, either.
I’d have given him a 6.5 or 7, unless I missed something important in the last 30 minutes.
I think so too! He was awesome and he feels very secure and focused when he gets near a situation. Theo on the other hand seems very unfocused and sloppy in defence. But of course they are different players and have different strenghts. Right now Calabria is doing a great job in defence, and was really needed tonight.
Calabria deserves at least a 7.5 because he was Milan’s best out field player tonight
LOL, Thiaw a 6?? Calabria a 5?? They deserve higher.
Anyway, guys, I don’t think we would be able to beat Dortmund with the way we are playing.
So about Chukwueze, I will never understand the reason we didn’t buy Berardi instead. He isn’t even performing better than Salad let alone some people said at the start of the season that he will replace Puli in the blink of an eye. Such a waste.
Is it pioli who insisted to buy him
I don’t know, but whosoever it is needs to be fired from his job. Remember, he will also be playing against Dortmund.
You want someone to be fired because of one signing? Name a single club for whom every single signing is a hit.
Also, I bet you would’ve said the same about Leao in his first season…. And look at him now. We’re not even half way through the season yet, Chuk deserves some time to prove himself (the hype created around him wasn’t his doing).
Not really, I never said that about Leao because he had a much better season than what Leao is having. It’s not just one signing, btw, and Chukwueze should have never been signed in the first place when you could have signed a much better player in Berardi at the same price. I will tell you this, from everything we have seen so far, Chukwueze will be a bigger flop than CDK. It’s harsh, but I think Messias or Salad can do better than him.
@Doki I think Leao had 6 goals and 1 assist in his first season. Let’s see what Chuk comes up with (bearing in mind that he is not expected to be Leao quality since Leao is world-class). Also, to be clear – I think Chuk has not been good; I’m just saying that it’s too soon to judge.
Your comment only mentioned Chuk, and said “whosoever it is needs to be fired from his job.” Perhaps be a bit more careful with your phrasing if that’s not what you meant, and you meant they should be fired for other signings as well 🙂
Berardi is 5 years older, would have demanded a higher salary, probably would have demanded a starting spot, and may well have cost more (considering Sassuolo made enough sales so that they did not need to sell him). The comparison is not a fair one. Also, and this is more subjective, I think he shines for a Sassuolo team the same way Chuk shone for Villarreal. He hasn’t been tested in a high-level team and I personally don’t rate him to do well.
@Doki I think Leao had 6 goals and 1 assist in his first season. Let’s see what Chuk comes up with (bearing in mind that he is not expected to be Leao quality since Leao is world-class).
Your comment only mentioned Chuk, and said “whosoever it is needs to be fired from his job.” Perhaps be a bit more careful with your phrasing if that’s not what you meant, and you were also referring to other signings 🙂
Berardi is 5 years older, would have demanded a higher salary, probably would have demanded a starting spot, and may well have cost more (considering Sassuolo made enough sales so that they did not need to sell him). The comparison is not a fair one. Also, and this is more subjective, I think he shines for a Sassuolo team the same way Chuk shone for Villarreal. He hasn’t been tested in a high-level team and I personally don’t rate him to do well.
@PrinceP “You want someone to be fired because of one signing?”
… Maldini had entered the chat lol 😂🤣🤣
Especially since most football transfers end in failure!
Now sacking the agents it’s a different story.
@IKWYDLS 😂😂😂
Calabria and Pobega deserve higher score
Pobega complete more passes to La Viola than Milan 🤮
Clearly you did not watch the game. Nor did you actually look at the stats.
Imagine the Jovic chance falling to Camarda. Honestly, I was one of the few who got excited about Jovic’s signing for reasons best known to me but then it’s sad to say the transfer hasn’t really worked out. Maybe it’s our system but the guy just looks completely lost somehow. I hope he does better in the next game.
Me too I expected better chance to recapture his Bundesliga form, he’s only 25.
But lost is the right word. Seems to be frustrated, low confidence and not involved in play.
Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t actually suit leading the line, at Eintracht I believe he played SS behind a big CF (Haller?) We don’t play that system. So yes I hoped he’d be good his stats in Florence last season weren’t bad but can safely say so far for us, Jovic has been a flop 😞
Giroud is back and fresh for BV09 in midweek 😀
Forza Milan
An important win despite Leao and Giroud absent. Mike definitely a MotM.
But holy fkin smeagol for Jovic to missed out that golden chance in the second half. We seriously needs a good striker in January or next summer.
Also. Another mediocre appearance for Chuk despite Pioli gave him a full time play. This guy doesn’t deserve 30 million price tag and more like 5 or 6 million.
A win to say the least.. but a very disjointed team, players seem to be overdoing, overplaying and not enough movement off the ball when we have possession. It’s just a pain to watch these days as a fan. The players seem off by a mile both in composure and focus. I hope the coach knows enough to give Magic mike some rest and allow him recover from his injury. Forza Milan
Jovic ‘s rating should be 2.5 and nothing more he was just moving up and down the pitch
What a surprise. No Krunic in the staring lineup = a win. Will that stop Pioli from starting him against Dortmund? Absolutely not.
Overall not a strong performance but considering the injuries and suspensions a good result.
A little harsh on Calabria. He did well defensively, and he’s never going to be great offensively.
If there is anyone left still defending Chikuweze and saying he just needs more time, please stop. That guy is terrible.
On to the next one.
You know what, I think CDK was a better signing than Chuk. He can’t even have a decent 90 minutes in his favored position.
@K, Chukwueze reminds me of Castillejo…. Playing without a motive…. I don’t know if he needs time to understand the League, he plays like a 10 year old. He’s too fragile and very easy to mark. I hope he doesn’t take anymore time before he finds his confidence. He’s killing our game!!
I’d actually prefer Castillejo to him. At least he had a few good moments, and played with some courage. Chuku not only is completely one footed but also dribbles with his head down and has no idea what is happening around him. I don’t know what they saw in him. I’d take Messias over him anytime.
I agree with you. 28M for him was such a waste.
Castillejo was a hardworker. He could run whole 90 min here and there, and he was a good asset for defense.
It’s just his physics didn’t let him become a decent attacker for Serie A.
It’s crazy how some people keeps piling up on Krunic who played from the sub when there’s Chuk who played like garbage for 90+ minutes.
While Mike saved the win, he was shaky the whole game. Coming off his line in strange ways, missing plays on the ball, poor passing. Honestly, he seemed not 100% fit to me.
Calabria is my MOTM. He was everywhere. I’m surprised to see such a low rating for him here.
I have been really harsh with Chuk. Today he clearly knew where to be. He was playing effective defense. He was available all over the field and the others found him. He still dribbles too much and doesn’t seem to know where his mates will be, but even this was noticably better. I wouldn’t rate him different but I’m happy with the improvement and a full 90 minutes.
Same with Pobega. He makes mistakes. But he made fewer. Wouldn’t change his rating but I see progress.
Pulisic was looking tired and I was glad to see him come off. This is more about seeing Puli deal with the reality of his players than Puli fitness. It did seem like we moved to a 442 after that and we seemed to play it well in the sense of parking the bus.
Theo finally looked like I’d expect him to. Glad this happened.
Musah needs to sit a bit and study how he can use his work rate to better effect. I really like this guy, but I’d like to see him off the bench to change games. Sadly I agree with his rating.
Jovic was (barely) adequate as third choice today IMO. Having watched the shot he missed several times I don’t think the keeper is getting enough credit getting his foot out like that. He also finally looked like he knew where to be and where to expect team mates. He seems to me to not be 100% fit either based on the way he moves. It was good to see him running a loose press.
Given this was an entirely different front line and our midfield changes constantly right now I felt we played better as a unit than I was expecting.
Forza Milan! Bring on Dortmund
A lot of uncertainty in Maignan’s actions indeed. One of his worst games.
Honestly we were very lucky to win, we played and created nothing, and the most glaring thing to see was Pioli’s performance, can he honestly say he could not have improved the play particularly in the second half, he simply lacks the bravery to change things, why did he not try and insert Adli in this game, it would have been perfect, we lack imagination and creativity, even Chukweze should have come out in the middle of second half, Romero and Traore were available, Pulisic was far better the him, at this point in time, we are in the end credits of Pioli at the club. We cannot move forward with him..
the only positive thing today is the history camarda made
‘we played and created nothing’
Just say it you didn’t watch the match.
And you want Pioli to play Romero which is play worst than Chuk? Lmao.
It is sad to see this match after the way we started the season. We tried to control the game, playing inverted full back, building up and keeping the ball. Now we are unable to control the ball and resist pressing. Injuries are not the only explanation.
My observations as well, I am just wondering what changed. With that strategy I was believing Milan will surprise many teams. But I believe the confidence drops from the coach to the players.
I think that the losses we accumulated (especially those by a big margin) hut the coach and the team mentally. And the lack of leadership meant that we don’t seem to know how to bounce back from it.
I agree confidence bas a big role. After the derby defeat Pioli changed to a more direct and conservative approach, while small adjustments would have been sufficient. Now we are a team with no control, also when we are leading we play long transitions and try to arrive as quickly as possible to the goal. And this is also a choice by Pioli, otherwise you can’t explain Pobega on the pitch because he is absolutely incapable of controlling and passing the ball at this level of football. Pioli needs to restore confidence and try to control the game with the ball, but now may be too late.
You do understand that Fiorentina has the second best possession rate in Serie A thsi season right? We were expected to have less of the ball.and thus less control. Thank goodness we realized this and hunkered down in defence rather than beat them at their own game ie better in possession than us
Calabria was great. Too low a rating for him. Thiaw was also great. Jovic is a traffic cone. At least he passed the ball well to Theo when the latter earned the PK. Chuk actually helped a lot defensively, and had some good passes. I thought he was more decent than usual. To everybody who is complaining, the team is banged up, with lots of absentees, and we still beat a good team (Fiorentina is not bad at all). So in my book, this was a very good evening for us. Stop complaining, be positive. Forza Milan.
Guys stop saying stuff about Chukwueze he’s a great player it’s just that he struggle just like Leão when he struggled first time with Milan but with zlatan back I think the club will be bigger jovic and chukwueze will have a bigger comeback from how they were just y’all wait
Idk I thought Chuck looked ok tonight, he grew as the game went on and you have to admit he worked hard. In fact by my count he won more tackles than slowbega
Mike and some decent and desperate defending saved Pioli’s job for now. The team had no clue what to do going forward. Theo and Puli made a couple of runs and that was about it. Jovic had a good pass but missed an absolute sitter and was a traffic cone otherwise once again. In the 2nd half we even managed to get pegged back by a mediocre Fiorentina.
This rating is a complete JOKE yet again. I am not even going to start. Except for Mike (hard to miss) everything is missplaced. Complete rubbish.
Absolutely terrible ratings. I don’t even know where to begin..it’s almost they looked at their hate-chart and went with that
I know that this is a bit “out there,” but I think that if I was Pioli, I’d lineup with Okafor on the left (if healthy), Camarda as the point of the spear and Pulisic on the right.
Even just defending to hold on for six minutes, Camarda looked more dangerous than Jovic, and we’d have a track team up front that would allow us to pin back Dortmund’s defense (or we’ll be able to turn them around, running at their goal, all match.
We can always slide Okafor to the middle, move Pulisic to the left and bring on Chukwueze, if Camarda looks out of his depth.
As an absolute Slowbega hater, I just say he’s easily MOTM (him or Mike). Dude was everywhere. Helped out in defence, was able to pick out spots on the offensive end.
Camarda looked like he pressed more than Jovic did the whole match lol 😂..he seems to have bulked up since the last time I’ve seen him play which is good. Whatever little I saw I liked. He didn’t look out of place at all. Kid has a future.
Tijjani is a bit of a mystery. He does everything well enough for you to include in the team but nothing exceptional. His positioning on the defensive end needs serious work. Not sure he knows where he needs to be.
Musah was clearly tired from international duty. Excellent timing on the sub from Pioli.
Overall however there’s something not right with the midfield..
What a save by Mike who I presume will be out next game due to the way he limped off the field. He seemed to be injured whole game, likely muscular.
Chukuweze did well imo. He defended and helped out in offense. This was closer to his Villareal self. He just needs to tidy up a bit more and learn what’s required in this league .
Can’t tell you how happy I was with the park the bus in the last 20 mins..I was like finally they’re starting to get it..the only issue is our countering is poor. We had the pace for it too.
Btw for those calling for Italiano to take over…..he’s now lost 4 out of his last 5 lol. Wonder how that would go down in Milan.
Rating here are trash! They didn’t look at the game
Great 3 points to collect 😁
Onto the next one
5.5 for Calabria!? That makes no sense at all
Already submitted a comment but the more I read the more my jaw dropped. You’re going to give the SAME rating for Calabria as Jovic? That’s wild
For musah i agree he lost too much ball control.
Reijdner have some great pass especially that magical pass through pass to calabria but calab choose to shoot instead of crossing…but sometimes reijnder take too long too pass so the timing is lost…
Pobega great defense today. Intercept, blocking, covering for theo is great. For offensive atribbute as usual he is not that extraordinary at at that aspect so i think its okay
Chukwu as always from the start of the season, i think his bigger probpem is decision making, he got the quality…but i dont know why his dribble not as brilliant like at his former club….and of course he must adapt his decision making to serie A system…
Jovic is bad and good. Bad because he still cant score despite 1 on 1 chance. Good when he give decisive pass to theo. But overall at least he is more useful now than before.
Pulisic, i think he is the saviour of milan this season. He is an intelegent player when you look at his positioning, decision making and build up play. Luckily he also have brilliant dribble skill so i think he is more than leao in some aspect.
Yep agreed with this assessment
Chukwueze work his socks off for the team in the match yesterday. That is effort and desire to contribute.
We will take this as a positive improvement for a guy that lacked preseason training and minutes in matches to be in top condition coupled with the injuries he suffered.
It is glaring that he is lacking confidence that is required in his role to become decisive.
Hopefully, the 2 back to back matches will help him get back his rymthm.
The fact is the Rossoneri needs chukwuze to become important and decisive in matches.
Exactly. The signs are there. He’s showing glimpses. He only runs into trouble because of how Serie A defenders play. Once he figures that out I think he can come good. But this game showed he’s starting to learn. He also tracked back as was required of him
“Calabria (5.5): He did well in the defensive phase, as he often does, but he lacked an edge when going forward. He had two really good chances to cross the ball but failed to find a teammate.”
“As he often does”???
F#%k off.
Pobega was our best midfielder.
Why does this site hate Milan youth players so much???
The site hates Krunic, Calabria and Pobega (they used to like him before until they saw some games lol)
They rate defenders for offense for some strange reason. Calabria is a defender. …his number one priority is defence… did he do it? Yes and very well to boot…..nuff said.
The site like most of the media targets these players as part of campaign to feed the transfer market.
These players have been identified as the next ones on the conveyor belt.
Because this site care more about clicks and satisfying the brainless angry mobs.
The rating of Pobega should be 6 his defensive contribution was superb but his passing was horrendous as always. But Calabria worked so hard, did you see how many times he cleared the ball due to bad positioning of our centre backs. He deserves a 7 rating anything less than that is a disgrace, same with Thiaw he didn’t put a foot wrong through the game.
Bro I’m no Pobega fan but come on. Dude was quite good this game and actually held it down for us in the early parts.of the game while everyone else were sorting their feet out
Massive win. Not a great performance but massive win and winning is all that matters.
Not much else to say except it was great to see such fight. This is the sort of game that is decisive over the season. A couple more wins in the next couple of games could get us back on track. A couple of defeats and things could get hairy for Pioli.
Chukuweze, the part i dont understand he always looks down and dribbles, something you need to get it out of the system at the age of 12, hope i am wrong but its not looking good for him
Camarda didnt really have a chance but 10 for the effort, he was sprinting the whole time. I would play him over Jovic any time, nothing to lose there.
Honestly this team fielded should have done better, Pioli needs to change something, after such a good start soecially against Roma we just lost it
Fiorentina isn’t a bad bunch and I think after the last couple of games Pioli just wanted the win. So after us getting ahesd I think we just tried to survive. Actually getting the chance Jovic got was good, but I didn’t expect Milan to keep pushing and be naive again and lose unnecessary points. To be able to survive a game like this is a needed strength that we should be happy about. And remember that we haven’t been goid at home this season, so actually getting a win at San siro feels good. Despite it just being a 1-0.
Why didn’t chuk take the pk? Bou needs a goal
In January going after Mason Greenwood would probably wise as we could get him for cheap now
waste of money. dont need a winger
Wow! You really want someone like him at the club?
I don’t think fans would be too happy, particularly our female fans.
No thanks
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who thought Pobega played actually well (guess I owe him an apology ?). If he improves his passing, I think he can be useful, not as a starter, but in some games.
I thought Calabria played well actually, there is definetly not a lot to say about him, in contrast to the other fullback who, aside from the run and the penalty, did a lot of mistakes defensively, but fortunately Pobega was there.
I wasn’t impressed by Reijnders, guess the first two games were a bit of a fluke. But he’s also a bit out of position. I think it’s clear that he doesn’t like to be the man in front of the defense. He also started every single game, perhaps resting him should be considered.
Chuk and Jovic did better than their previous games, but overall it’s still a poor performance.
Pulisic, well, not his best game (as he didn’t always played as a LW with us), but again he is so important so us.
Man I feel bad for Jovic, dude is playing with 0 confidence. I didn’t see any reason why RM paid 60 million yet.
Hope he regains form, but he looks severely unhappy on the pitch which is a shame for a talent like him