AC Milan failed to make it three consecutive wins as they only claimed one point away at Salernitana on Friday evening. A few players did well, but many struggled and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Maignan (5.5): If you only saw the second goal for Salernitana, then this rating might look generous. While that was a huge howler, though, the truth is that the goalkeeper also made several good saves in the game including some very complex ones. Then again, that mistake ended up costing Milan a whole lot.
Calabria (5.5): It was a rather bleak performance from the captain, even though he stepped up in the dying minutes with the cross before the equaliser and then a header that nearly beat the goalkeeper. However, he needs to do much better over 90 minutes.
Kjaer (5.5): He did what was needed from him, more or less, and was subbed off at half-time. However, he lost track of Fazio on the goal – even if the latter did very well – and we have no other option but to factor that into the rating.
Tomori (6.5): The Englishman opened the scoring with a header from close range and it was an important goal for Milan. Having said that, his timing was slightly off this evening as we saw just before the second goal, even if the goal itself cannot be blamed on him. It looked like a pretty serious injury for him too, which is a huge blow for the Rossoneri.
Hernandez (6): Decent defending from him tonight but the attacking output wasn’t enough, even if he combined well with Leao on a few occasions. And Milan probably should have done more with those chances. Pioli also put him in an inverted role again at times, so it’s difficult to place too much blame on the Frenchman himself.
Loftus-Cheek (5.5): Sluggish performance from the former Chelsea man, with really only one good moment, when his effort was denied by the keeper. He was certainly too slow on the ball and was partly to blame for the first goal.
Bennacer (6): He nearly scored a wicked own-goal but other than that, he was solid in his passing and moved over large areas, more or less always available for his teammates. Naturally, he couldn’t finish the game after making his first start in a long time.
Reijnders (6.5): The Dutchman has gained important confidence in the last few weeks and it showed tonight as well. Especially in the first half, he was almost always involved and was smart with his passing/movement. He can be even more incisive, but he played his role well.
Pulisic (5.5): You could argue it was decent overall, but he simply didn’t do enough in the final third for Milan this evening. With Salernitana’s defence being much stronger on Leao’s side, the Rossoneri needed the American to step up.
Giroud (5.5): It is really quite tough to assess the veteran. His flicks didn’t work at all this evening, to tell the truth, but he ended up getting a crucial assist for Jovic. Milan don’t need him for assists, though, even if it is a bonus.
Leao (5): Another player that is incredibly tough to assess. He got the assist for the first goal, and should have had at least one more (Jovic’s double chance), but he also failed miserably at times. And in the dying minutes, he had a good chance to score the winner but completely missed the target.
Substitutes
Simic (6): Played with composure and looked confident on the pitch. Decent, in other words, and when a youngster starts playing with this calmness at the highest level then it’s a good sign.
Florenzi (6): He was forced to play a different role, given the many injuries in defence, but did well and helped Milan apply some pressure at least in the final minutes.
Jovic (6): He scored the crucial equaliser, which some could argue warrants a higher rating, but he also missed two big chances before that. Yes, the efforts were saved by the keeper, but at least the rebound he should have scored.
Chukwueze (5): It was a tough game to enter, granted, but he didn’t really have any impact on it either. Maybe with more time, we would have seen better things.
This mess is made by Cardinale, Furlani and Pioli when they sacked Maldini and proceeded to sign no less than 10 new players!! I ask you, when has that ever worked for a team? We had the experience under the Chinese. Look at Chelsea after their spree…
Maldini would’ve had this team comfortably first or second. Apparently, he even understood Pioli’s time was up and wanted to bring another coach (Pirlo).
Now obviously can’t get rid of Cardinale or Furlani but Pioli’s time should be up. He’s tactically beaten by coaches every other game and the injury crisis should be in part his fault.
Let’s thank him for some unforgettable memories and sack him tonight or watch us miss on top 4 for real this time. No chance in EL either when we can’t even dominate and win against horrible Salernitana of this season. They played us off the park for long periods.
Give Abate the caretaker job.
Another stupid Maldini post. You know they finished in 5th place last season, right? They would not be comfortably in first no matter what. Inter is a far superior team just like last season when Maldini was here. Stop with the Maldini nonsense. And Pirlo surely was not the answer.
Yeah it’s a mystery how Milan won the Scudetto with Maldini when we were supposed to finish 5th or worse. I’m not saying he’s the greatest ever manager, he had his mistakes, but he knew what he was doing better than this lot. As I said, a footballing person of certain experience would know changing half the team and starters will not end well, but I guess you’re too stupid to understand that. It’s ok though, everyone’s entitled to their (stupid) opinion.
Dude we literally finished 5th last season, one season after the Scudetto, only Juventus’ punishment propel us to 4th place..
So there’s no guarantee at all we will comfortably at first or second position if Maldini still at job. If you look at the players bought, they are mostly the same as those reportedly wanted by Maldini – RLC, Pulisic, Chukwueze. Maybe the difference, we will still have Tonali (that will still be banned for 10 months) while we don’t have Reijnders and Musah… Means there will be even smaller midfield pool than now. So there’s no telling if we will be in a better or worse place if Maldini still at helm.
Milan’S injury list hit like a train and no doubt that’s affect our performance by a lot. It’s not fully the management or Pioli’s fault.
Excuse me when did you hear Chukwueze as a Maldini target?! Or even Pulisic?
There was talk of Loftus-Cheek, and Berardi. We don’t know who else he had in mind, but he was going to sign a striker too.
What I’m saying is, a few additions to that squad would’ve definitely worked better than an overhaul. History of football proves it.
Actually Pulisic WAS linked to us last season. But anyway, why can’t we stop with the damned Maldini posts? This poor performance by practically all 11 players has NOTHING to do with Maldini and everything to do with Pioli. Would Leao be performing like a 7m per year player if Maldini was there? Would Maignan have made the save? Would Theo have more goals and assists? WOULD WE HAVE LESS INJURIES??? NO. What’s going on has been the story for the past two seasons. They have a good game, then a terrible game, then a good game then a terrible game. Sometimes it seems like they’re the best team in Europe and other times like a pub side. This is all on Pioli. It was the same way last season. Anyone not seeing this is a zombie.
Really if Maldini stays Thurman will be in our team.
Wow and De Kettelare not such terrible with a good coach
Thuram is at inter and not at Milan because inter offered him more money not because Maldini wasn’t there to whisper him sweet nothings in his ear.
And also, Thuram is a better fit for inter. He is not a n9. If people actually have seen inter play, Lautaro is the anchor in the attack while Thuram roams left and right. He plays more as a 2nd striker/winger.
He plays something that leao would play in a 2 man front.
I know facts aren’t you strong point but they finished 4th and more importantly qualified for the champions league for the 3rd season in a row.
Discounting the points that they knew they had in the bag due to Juve’s inevitable point deduction is a strange thing for a fan to do.
They finished 5th (4th) last season (just 4 points away from 2nd position) with 1/3rd of the current squad and lots of injuries. There were 10 players added in the squad and strengthened. Last season, Milan had Messias, Saelemakers, CDK, Origi, Gabbia, Krunic, Tata and Pobega in the bench to replace injured players. It was a miracle Milan reached 4th and UEFA CL semis with such a squad, thanks to Maldini, Leao and Tonali. These were the stars along with Maginan and Theo.
Now there are Pulisic, RLC, Chuk, Reijnders, Okafor, Jovic, Musah, Romero, Sportiello.. yet are already 11 points behind league leaders with a strengthened squad.
What was achieved last season was a MIRACLE with such a Serie B looking squad and injuries!
You’re right – he wanted to replace Pioli with Pirlo – a man who displays close to zero talent as a coach. Where would we be now if Maldini had got his way? About 3 places off the bottom of the table I’m guessing.
“Oh that was just a rumor!” Right… and Pioli has a full head of hair.
I guess we never know now, would we?
I mean, I was not a fan of Pirlo the coach but he still did win a Super Cup and a Coppa Italia with Juventus. He certainly had some interesting ideas but a lot of faults too.
Let’s not forget Pioli before Milan was rightly considered an average coach, too and it was Maldini who hired him. A really successful era followed as we finally got ourselves out of the banter era and won a Scudetto. Not bad instincts eh?
This is all water the bridge, I’m just bringing it up to point out the mistakes of our current managers. They made serious errors.
But Maldini was that man who preferred Pioli over Ragnick… how much titles he has zerowhy story with Pirlo can not be repeated??
”
You’re right – he wanted to replace Pioli with Pirlo – a man who displays close to zero talent as a coach. Where would we be now if Maldini had got his way? About 3 places off the bottom of the table I’m guessing.
“Oh that was just a rumor!” Right… and Pioli has a full head of hair.
”
But… It does seem even Pirlo would have done better job than Pioli the Butcher.
He wanted to go for Pirlo, because with no budget given from owners to even sign players, Milan would be lucky to even have Pirlo. No coach would want to manage such a squad under owners who only want to keep all the profits in their pockets and never sign a single player with their money. The only reason Milan were able to buy many players this season was because of Tonali sale. Next season, either of Leao or both Theo and Maignan will be sold to make more transfer.. Hopefully, we will not be relegated by then. Good luck with American owners! Banter era already started in 2023-24 season with bunch of clowns at the helm.
Who of last seasons players would you have kept? Messias, Saelemaekers, Origi, Ballo-Touré,
De Keatelaere, Tata? Only one half decent that we lost was Diaz. And Tonali like someone said wouldn’t be playing anyway and the we wouldn’t have gotten half the players we got. Most of the new players are clear upgrades from last year. Problem is that we still have no system of play and also that Leao is playing like crap. Also that Pioli keeps playing Giroud even though his form is horrible and Jovic’s is very good. The multitude of injuries have really hurt the team too. It completely stops the team from getting a momentum.
Today was the worst game of the season quality wise. I get so angry watching the players walk around and not even trying some periods of the game. Maybe Pioli is too soft on them? I don’t know, but they need to shape up…
There’s no leadership Peter on or off the pitch
Quality of players is irrelevant here. They might be better individuals but we will never be better as a team this season. Changing too many players at once means at least a season lost regardless of the quality of new players.
Just look at Chelsea and all those world-beaters they got simultaneously. So yeah, for example we were probably better off with Saladmaker or Messias instead of Chukwueze…
Quality individuals should be added to the squad carefully. These scatter gun approaches to player acquisition never ends well.
You said the same thing on Football Italia liveblog. I didn’t get a chance to respond.
It’s not that bringing in 10 new players won’t work. It can, just need more time for everyone to settle in. Like when you buy a new car you need to break it in for a 1000 mi or so before you start flooring it… Same thing here. Midfield is new. Needs chemistry which has been hindered by the injury crisis.
If anything I’d say the injuries we are suffering is what’s really derailing this season. I’m not saying Pioli is not at fault here. He is a limited tactician we all know that and need a leap in quality. But there isn’t much consistency he can achieve with having to constantly plug holes due to injuries. Especially in defense.
As for Maldini, he was a better presence in the locker room than he was a director at face value. Take his last name away and review his transfer activity – very average. For all the talent he brought in, he also took in as much deadwood. But his presence and motivation was on point. Combine that with Ibra’s presence and that’s how we won the Scudetto. Not because he was a stellar director.
I am more devastated by the injury to Tomori than the draw, I don’t think we are prepared for what’s to come against Sassuolo.
Yeh me too. I’ve given up with the season at this point – more due to the injuries than Pioli. Although I admit he’s not the greatest coach in the world.
It’s almost inevitable we part ways this summer. But priority number one has to get to the bottom of the injury crisis. I’ve never seen it this bad ever. At any club. Even during the banter years.
Agree 💯. We used to have an injury crisis every year now we have one every week. How a coach – whether that’s Pioli Motta Guardiola – is supposed to focus on winning games with players dropping like flies every week is beyond me. We saw how we started the season with a full squad and RLC and, you know, centre backs – we were top (I think) after about 7 games……
Thanks for replying btw – you’re one of the few guys on this site who possesses the rare skill of being able to discuss football without getting hysterical and throwing around insults like a 10-year-old.
I had to sleep off my disappointment before commenting.
Your statement of being more disappointed about Tomorri getting hurt really resonates with me as well. I am concerned about Kjaer too as that was a heck of a shot to the head he took.
I’m going to point out a silver lining here. Simic had to play 20 or so minutes with Theo as his partner. He was physical and he was largy effective.
Do you think Real and Barca injury situation similar to ours? Muscular issues seem to be more frequent a d more serious this year around Europe.
More due to injuries..
Yess.. pioli is alwsys right!!
When milan beat Newcastle and monza with many players injured, you say pioli got his tactics right.. but now drew against worse team than previous opponent.. it is due to injuries..
I know it is hard for piolifanboy to say “it id on pioli”.. because pioli is always right..
The fact that Leao and Theo are just allowed to be reckless and do whatever they want needs to be addressed..and that’s what Pioli doesn’t do, the two of them literally do what ever they want walk around the pitch and smile like they’re untouchable..it’s time to drop Leao….play Public on the left…this guy is more interested in smiling for the camera than taking things seriously…Theo is lucky…but I would say drop him too and let Bartesaghi play then considering how useless he has been this season..this is what happens when you have a weak coach…not even Eric Ten Hag is this useless at the cancer which is Manchester United. Pioli needs to go
I have been saying it, our players especially Leao have a very unserious footballing attitude and the coach has failed to address it.. I have seen enough of this coach and he needs to be shown the way out ASAP
100% Dave Pioli is Milan’s Achilles heel from day one
Forget about the Scudetto Milan fell over the line with.
We forget what happened to Pioli at Inter Fiorentina and the other clubs he failed at, but Milan management like his style? Domestically a disaster and Europe the same, what more can he do to this great club?
Injuries are outrageous Pioli!!!
Exactly right. We either need to sell Leao and Theo for a fortune or bring in a manager that can actually manage them. Or maybe Ibra needs to slap these spoiled kids around a bit.
Leao fanboys will point out how many goals and assists he has but the fact is that he should have at least double if he took the game seriously. I wish I could get paid $5M/yr and not show up to work half the time.
Leao ain’t perfect but I don’t know who you think has been carrying attack these last couple of years apart from this seaoson. Also Leao when you look at clubs players was underpayed for awhile. It’s not like Ibra’s known to be a team player either as multiple times he would make himself above the team.
It’s because leao, theo and giroud are pioli’s talismans.
He doesn’t have any strategy whatsoever.
Every single game he hopes for his talismans to do the miracle and win the game.
The sooner the management realize pioli’s scudetto is a fluke the better.
You understand tactics when you watch the game, right?
Pioli was using Theo to invert inside. Can make runs and maraud in that position. It’s more on Pioli than on Theo.
Leao has always been streaky but with 5 in midfield his game suffers especially.
Seriously?
Maignan killed the game with howler he deserves 4.
Also Calabria 4.. can keep his guys on defense.
Leao deserves 4, and I mean 0 bcs he did nothing but 4 just for the “assist”.
Giroud played? Also deserve 4.
RLC deserves 3.
I don’t even mention Pioli Rating
So Leao provides an assist for a goal and gets a 4. Giroud does nothing all game and also gets a 4? 😂 Your scale is terrible.
Well Giroud also had an assist on the Jovic goal. I think they were both poor in this game.
Another poor performance by most.
A little harsh on Kjaer. That wasn’t his man who scored on the corner. They were playing some sort of zone and it was RLC who picked up that man. Not a surprise tho as Milan always struggle with set pieces.
I was screaming at the TV for Pioli to bring on Jovic sooner. Not knocking Giroud but he really had nothing today. Would be nice to see Jovic from the start as he only played 20 minutes and could have had 2 goals.
Overall it’s the same problem. Milan really have no offensive gameplan unless they are playing a team that plays wide open like Monza did, then they struggle. You can see that the players don’t know what to do when they get the ball, they are looking around and throwing their hands in the air. Pioli’s only strategy for them seems to be lobbing crosses into the box and hoping Giroud can get his head on it, which if that is your gameplan then you should at least have someone that can deliver a decent ball in. Which leads me to Calabria. If I have to see him lob another weak balloon ball into the box I’m gong to lose it. No pace , no bend just straight up into the air where there is no chance for anything to be done with it. He is not good enough.
The only way Pioli should be allowed to return as manager is if they hire some offensive coach to come in because Pioli has no ideas in that area.
Oh yeah, and I hear he and his staff are looking into the injury problems… four years running now.
Rafael Leao has a low level mentality. Lazy, self-sufficient, no leadership , no ambition , inconsistent. Good fisical and technical qualities but very , very low mental force. He will never be a top player like Vinicius, Haaland, Mbappe or other top current players.
And I don’t want to forget…
#PioliOut
#FurlaniOut
#RedBirdOut
Leao isn’t inconsistent. Quite the opposite, He’s bad or horrible for 5-6 matches and then steps up for one only to return to being bad for the next 5-6 matches again.
Calabria gets a low rating no matter what. He made some crucial tackles and did good in attack but still get the same as Maignian who did a ridicoulous blunder. Not that it matters to much since in general this game was a mess but still, give credit where credit is due.
Calabria has clearly become everyone’s scapegoat. The reality is there was much more to criticize of Leao’s performance than Calabria’s. Calabria wasn’t anywhere near the worst on the pitch for Milan. Was he great? No, but there is plenty of others to point to if we feel the need to deal out blame for the dropped points.
Thank you. I made a comment about Leao on another post, somehow a lot of people are giving him a pass. I think if Pioli swaped Leao instead of Pulisic and brought Jovic earlier on, we would have prob walked away with 3 points.
Everybody protects leao they crucifie calbria the hardest player on the team as far benching leao I am sure front office has a lot saying 3 months without a goal really blame the coach
I’m sad about tomori’s injury.
Kjaer was borderline trash(sloppy).
Since pee-holee has been shying away from playing young Cbs (Bartesarghi and Simic) with Tomori out, all his cards are gone.
Will he play with a back one; Theo at the back?
Jovic should have started this game (should start the next 3 games)
Bitch ass baldie
Kjaer was trash?
He commanded the midfield in the first half bringing down balls with his head and putting them on our players. Sorry sir, IMO it was great to see him back.
When you have a clueless coach and your supposed best players were the worst players on the pitch from both teams, you end up with barely a draw vs. the worst team in the league.
Maignan 2nd time this with a howler. He got saved vs Lecce but he cost the team tonight. His value is going down this season. He even had the nerve to complain to his teammates for not blocking the Candreva shot. You gotta save that regardless big man.
Mazzocchi had Leao in his pocket and bullied him for the whole time he was on the pitch.
I’ve never seen a forward with worse shooting technique than Leao.
Giroud should not be a starter anymore. Don’t care about the assists, he was awful for 90 minutes. He is awful in the build up or hold up play. Jovic should be the starter, Giroud should come of the bench when you chase a result and you need a target man in the box. Outside of the box Giroud is useless.
Biggest problem of all is the bum a*s coach. Another casualty of his stupidity is Tomori. Kjaer was back , Simic has a good game instead of being proactive and thinking long term and starting those 2 vs the worst team in the league, he starts Tomori, who has played every 3 days all season long and now he looks to be out for few months as well.
Get rid of him tonight.
You should have fired him at the beginning of the season, at least fire him at the end.
Put in a caretaker, anyone but Pioli.
Jovic has 3,4 games in a row when he plays well in Giroud absence and then Pioli doesn’t play him at all or play him very little in the next 3 games, like Giroud is Van Basten or Shevchenko and he deserves to start every game.
Whole new midfield and Milan still plays the same stale style of football. Zero creativity, zero passing combination, zero off the ball movement. Everything Milan does is 1v1. Be that in the midfield with Reijnders or RLC running forward with the ball after they beat their man or Leao, Pulisic, Chukwueze on the wings going 1v1.
Enough of this. FIRE him tonight
I agree with all your points about the coach. Pioli’s tactical limitations are clear and obvious sense last season and if management can be dinged for anything it’s not changing coaches in the summer.
Maignan will ALWAYS save us more points than cost us. Cool your jets, Pal. I bet you were praising him after the Newcastle game. What about the Monza game?
Short memory.
Agree, also Pioli did not ask the management to sign a new CDM, and he plays Reijnders CDM and wastes his best qualities and also has the midfield being exposed defensively. Its just three balla carriers in midfield who can’t really defend(before Bennacer returned), and that won’t work against most top teams.
Theo better than Pulisic and the same as Bennacer? Are you kidding me! Theo is currently offering nothing to this squad.
I like Calabria but it’s becoming apparent he’s a backup. Jovic is starting to settle in and I think he would also be a solid backup striker. However, we need big time Striker, RB and DM. Last, please fire Pioli and the entire strength and conditioning staff.
Agree
In general the problem is the same as in the past couple of games and in the past season. And its name is Pioli. I said long time ago, Pioli can only play counter attack. Which works when other teams see you as a weaker side and play open against you. However since Millan invested so much in the past couple of years no one sees them as a whashed up team like when Pioli first came. We need a coach who understands top level atacking football and not some coach with mid table Italian team mentality. This team outgrow Pioli long time ago. He never grew himself and stayed the same coach as before. He needs to go.
I think a bigger problem is that Pioli got attacking mids for his 4-3-3 but he’s trying to teach them how to play defense to help Bennacer (the only DM we have).
So we get hit in transition and get scored on, especially by good teams. Hell, even by crappy teams like Udinese.
Just imagine if Leao has the mamba mentality of Osimhen or even Colombo????
Yep. Leao has the physical ability but no work ethic. If he’s not in the mood, he is a big zero all match long, and Pioli is scared to take him off. That is the mentality of a mediocre coach.
You mean when he carried the team en route to the Scudetto in ‘22? That Leao?
Classic Pioli & Leao comment. Remember the 50s? Back in the day that duo got us the scudetto all by themselves. Just the two of them. No one else contributed, The scudetto was 100% theirs.
NO ONE SHOULD EVER CRITICIZE THEM BECAUSE WE WON THE SCUDETTO YEARS AGO THANKS TO THEM!!!! LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Right?
Stop living in the past. Past scudettos don’t keep us fans warm at night. After every horrible game (and result) we all should just start reminiscing the “golden years from the past” when Leao scored goals and Pioli was on fire, right? That will make eeeeeverything alright. Love it. Ah yes, thinking back the scudetto year really makes up for the yesterday’s match and forfeiting the scudetto race already before Christmas.
Ah, the joy. Scudetto. Build by Leao & Pioli alone. Good times. Goooood times. Now let’s give them both a solid 10 for yesterday. They did bring us the scudetto after all.
ACM and Maldini’s Heir live in the past and sleep with Scudetto stuff animals. ACM is more realistic about the club’s situation but Maldini’s Heir needs stronger depression meds.
I’ve said it countless times. We go back to a 4 3 3 and the defence is in shambles, Calabria is completely out of place, and the attack has zero creativity.
This is leao’s worst season so far. Go figure, after you give I’m the pay raise and the number 10. Fine he gets assists but he constantly makes so many errors and horrible crosses that go straight out of play, shots that go into row z. You think a player like mbappe makes those mistakes so often? Don’t think so. Whether that’s because of a change of formation or he just doesn’t care who knows.
Zero ideas up front which has always been our problem,, a team defends so easy against milan because it’s the same crap. Pass side to side pass it backwards and put in a lousy cross.
The midfield especially in a flat 3 are either all attacking or just completely out of position. If Reijnders is carrying the ball why is loftus and bennacer going up too? Loftus and bennacer should be tucking in and playing more of a defensive form when he goes up. We don’t need them to attack, we have three forwards already!!! The verdict? Get countered.
The defence, utter shambles. They’re just horribly positioned all the time, more so in a 4 3 3. When we constantly have a gap in midfield Calabria just doesn’t understand to stay in his position and he’s always caught out. Is that pioli’s instructions or is Calabria always wondering where he should be. All we do is concede counters and set pieces. Everyone is clueless.
Onto pioli. We will probably lose top 4if we continue with him. We haven’t had consistency nor good games all season long. We no longer have a healthy cb which all our injuries are fluxor issues.. He constantly keeps trying to make the 4 3 3. GUESS WHAT PIOLI, IT’S NOT WORKING. he’s brought this team as far as he can and santa better be nice this year and gift us a new manager because he’s been way below par this year. I consider this game a loss to salernitana and we should never lose to salernitana. I can’t even enjoy watching games anymore. Feels more like a chore that I have to watch rather than excitement.
The problem with Leao is, even when he plays terrible football like today, such is his talent that there’s still a chance he comes up with a goal or assist (like he did today) and that could make all the difference. Pioli has done a great job with him but now he needs another coach to improve further. Someone needs to change his attitude and mentality, that is if it can ever change.
That’s probably what Ibra was brought in for. Tough love.
True.. Alex Ferguson or Ancelotti would’ve kicked them out of the dressing room..this guy doesn’t hold the players accountable because he doesn’t accept blame for anything either. A toxic disaster. I’m pretty sure even an ape could’ve read this game better. And this man has 20 years experience as a coach somehow.
SAF would have given the entire lot the hair dryer treatment, yanked Leao off at halftime and made at least two of the team cry.
That’s just at the halftime break.
Everyone played poorly but especially Leao. His head was in the clouds, possibly because he doesn’t feel challenged by weaker teams.
AC Milan are a much more cohesive attacking unit with Chuk and Pulisic up front. Pulisic was bad today too. Played too timidly, lacked explosiveness, and accuracy.
Team played like it was a practice not a real game.
Milan are consistently bad! The poor performances are never ending and even the games we win are not convincing! The coach is useless and the players are lacking quality! We never seem comfortable and do not build on some half decent performances, we just keep taking backward steps. I saw Inter sweep this team aside and we barely got a point against them and they are bottom of the league. The difference between us and them is astronomical at the moment. Injuries or no injuries, we have been struggling for a prolonged period of time. It’s time for a change of coach and ownership if possible. I’m sure a better coach could bring out the full potential of some of these players and introduce a style of play that is worthy of Milan. We need new ideas and a fresh start.
I am not sure what game these raters are watching. The midfields do not provide service to the forwards. Pulisic (especially) and Chuk can sit out wide all game and never get the ball even when open. The midfielders hold on to the ball too long. Bennacer was the best midfielder. Leao was terrible today.
Leao was the poorest on the pitch tonight. Could not make a pass, hit a shot on target not hold onto the ball without giving away posession. You could perhaps excuse that if he played well defensively but as well all know, he is exempt from defensive responsibilities.
That said, the entire team should share the responsibility for the dropped points tonight. There was little movement, organization and the effort seemed to have gone missing. Pity as this result really hurts in the standings.
Leao and Theo get your heads out your arse and get some boots that aren’t shaped like a banana at the end that stop you from slipping/falling over on every occasion. Reijnders stop doing it all then undoing it all with naff end product. The mental drop in intensity is so agonising to see because all I think is, you don’t see inter or juve do this sh*t. 3 points is still 3 points no matter where or how you find them. The injuries, the lack of fight, the lack of end product, the running around like headless chickens, the demeanour in our body language is all indicative of what this team has become. A bunch of over inflated egos playing more for themselves than the team. Theo is no captain. The player I really feel for the most is jovic. Geezer gets treated like a mongrel fed on scraps, professional from what I see, he’s not kicking off, he’s playing for a contract and the shirt and he’s getting crosses nonchalantly clipped in to the first man to be constantly booted back at us. We are f@ckin awful and it feels like 2013 again. Time to switch off. 1 step forwards 2 back. Buy a striker. Fix the training regime and change quick. Trust in the process at zero
What do you guys think of Abate as a temporary coach ?
No not yet, we need an experienced hand to guide players like Leao and Theo and hold them accountable. Tomori gives everything even in a bad performance and these guys just smile and wave even when we are losing. They aren’t Milan material.
What irritates me the most is that Leao keeps on laughing during performances like these. Gattuso would’ve left him with fewer teeth right now. He needs to go be a rapper if he wants to be a rapper, he’s not taking the badge on his shirt seriously.
We need to sell this guy before the rich clubs realize that he’s just a kid. Get $100M and buy 3-4 players that actually WANT to work for us.
when you are targeted like that. You either have to laugh or your gunna end up punching guys in the face..I’d rather he stay on the pitch.
The owners must do everything to bring Thiago Motta in the Summer. That guy is performing miracles with a barely mediocre Bologna squad. I watched their Coppa match yesterday. They shut out Inter the whole time then when they finally conceded in extra time, they switched to an attacking approach and won! They’re also 4th in the league and rising.
After next round Bologna will be ahead of us on the table. How about that?
Milan shoul go shopping in Salerno this January.
Mazzocchi for the right back position. Totally outplayed Leao.
Also the young midfielder with n99 Legowski was very impressive.
Perhaps legowski’s better we need new DM
Should have taken Leao off and moved Puli to the left. The numbers don’t lie. Puli is a better player than Leao.
Pulisic did nothing either
I was going to create a post about this, but you beat me to it.
Even the reporter mentioned that the right side of their defense was the strongest, but two-thirds of the attack was the midfield doing their best to find Leao or Theo on the left, most of the other third was the long ball to Giroud, and a few times, a defender or midfielder who was in trouble pinged an under pressure pass to Pulisic (or Chukwueze) with no chance of them attacking successfully.
As other posters have mentioned, I don’t know if this is the nature of the players or the instructions of Pioli, but watching Pulisic play for Milan (when Leao is on the pitch) is like watching Hojland play for Manchester United. You know that the talent is there, and every once in a while he gets thrown a scrap, and feasts on it, but the midfield provides precious little for him to do ANYTHING with.
Both played bad today. Move Pulisic to the left for what? To watch Chukwueze fumble and bumble around on the RW. Pioli saw the writing on the wall like we all did at the half and he figured might as well give Pulisic an early night.
That’s the last straw!! Draw against last bottom club? Area u kidding us? What would be better christmas present than NEW COACH and NEW STRIKER and CB, “ladies” and gentlemen.
Because no respectable coach will take over a team half way through the season with players he didn’t request.
Even non-respectable coaches would do better than Pioli though. Get a random guy from the nearest gutter and he’ll do better too.
We need a new CDM and a medical team
Agree. RLC consistently refused to get the ball out wide to Chuk and Pulisic even though they were open. Either one of them could have actually created chances if they were given the ball, but we just went backwards or forced it down the middle. Salernitana used their wide players way better than we did.
Oh look Milan dropped points against a newly promoted team – again.
It’s been going on for decades.
As I keep saying to win the Scudetto all you have to do is beat Salernitana. Not Inter. Not Juve. Salernitana.
The team that beats the most Salernitana’s will win the Scudetto.
It was the secret to Juve’s dominance and the dominance of Ferguson’s Man Utd, Pep’s Barcelona and the Bayern Munich sides that own the Bundesliga.
All you have to do is beat teams that are worse than you.
That’s why this obsession with making the team ‘better’ usually doesn’t work. ‘Better’ than what? Salernitana?
You don’t need to sign 10 new players to beat Salernitana. In fact using the experience and understanding of your existing players is probably going to give you a better chance.
Savic scored again which is good. Can the club leave him alone this January rather than trying to find something ‘better’.
Oh look Milan dropped points against a newly promoted team – again.
It’s been going on for decades.
As I keep saying to win the Scudetto all you have to do is beat Salernitana. Not Inter. Not Juve. Salernitana.
The team that beats the most Salernitana’s will win the Scudetto.
It was the secret to Juve’s dominance and the dominance of Ferguson’s Man Utd, Pep’s Barcelona and the Bayern Munich sides that own the Bundesliga.
All you have to do is beat teams that are worse than you.
That’s why this obsession with making the team ‘better’ usually doesn’t work. ‘Better’ than what? Salernitana?
You don’t need to sign 10 new players to beat Salernitana. In fact using the experience and understanding of your existing players is probably going to give you a better chance.
Savic scored again which is good. Can the club leave him alone this January rather than trying to find something ‘better’.
You mean Jovic? I think with so many CB’s out, Furlani can’t afford a new striker. Will need to bring in more CB’s (to injure).
I agree Jovic should start. Giroud was useless today. He’s only good once every three days or so.
Giroud anywhere outside the box is totally useless. And his one touch passing every single time drives me insane. Jovic gets into good positions and is scoring. Give him his shot once and for all.
LOL! I’ve been up since 3am and driven 6 hours!
We have to get a new medical team in addition to a centre back
Agree with you. Our problem has always been beating the teams that we SHOULD be beating. A win against inter and juve doesn’t win you the scudetto, it’s making sure you get maximum points against the other 13 teams. It always seems to be milan that the weaker teams gain this confidence and seem to give us trouble. We cannot figure out how to break down a Saleenitana, Especially when we concede we go into panic mode
Wow.. how many teams beat salernitana but don’t win scudetto??
What an absurd point!
Serie A is a league. It means a team collect more points win. Again It means you have to win as much as you can including top teams not only beating the worst team.
You only meet salernita twice in a season, how can you say the only thing to do is beating worse team to win scudetto.
As example.. milan and inter beat all worst team in serie A by 3-0, but milan lose against inter.
Who will win scudetto?? Milan??
Do you know math?
It turns out you know nothing about football.
They said the other 13 teams. So let’s beat them. 13 x 6 = 78 points.
Now let’s draw with the other 6. 6 x 2 = 12.
12 + 78 = 90.
Go back and look at winning points totals in past years and you find a margin for a 2-4 losses in there.
Note the number of losses of the winning team
Math says the statement is accurate.
You can’t fight math 🙂
I have said many times before the players are not responding to Pioli and Pioli cannot beat a team that is better at tactics. It’s not hard to understand. I also think it’s funny the geniuses on here who say we don’t need a striker we score enough goals lol. We have more injuries than goals scored this season. Wake up. Yes Mike had a howler but he also made many great saves and without him we could have lost this game. We also have to acknowledge that it’s just not working. Pioli offensive system is stagnant. I believe if we had a different coach they would get more out of the players we do have. That being said players like Leao, Theo, Etc…must be better but I just don’t think the system is set up for them to succeed. We need a change – BUT im sure we will do nothing and sit and wait for the summer. Perhaps Ibra can convince Motta to join and he can bring Zikeere over with him lol. Wishful thinking. Who knows. Can’t say we should be surprised tho. Teams that make 10-12 new signings rarely are successful straight away. In truth the injuries have not helped but we cannot use that as an excuse. It’s part of the game. Let’s see what Fulani does in January. Will we open up the pocket books or stay put and pray we can grab 4th. But let’s all be honest – so far this has been a disappointing season and the signings we made haven’t exactly panned out as expected. We should now just pray for 4th as the Scudetto is now officially long gone.
Yeah, it would miraculous half season if We’re on 15 winning spree starting in January to regain number 1 spot
“so far this has been a disappointing season and the signings we made haven’t exactly panned out as expected. ”
Pulisic has 5+4 in 15 matches and RLC & Rejnders are starting every match. I dunno… How much more goals & assists should Puli have to make him “a success”? Reijnders has been the best midfield so far. I’m not saying he’s been good enough or stellar but still the best. But I guess that says more about the rest than himself…
I think Reindjers and Pulisic have been great. No argument there. The rest – not so much. RLC is inconsistent – can be dominant one game then average the next 3. Musah is raw has made several mistakes and needs time. Chuk is thus far a 28M bust and cannot beat out Pulisic to start. Romero is non-existent. Pelligrino raw and young. Sportiello is a solid keeper but has only played twice? Okafor can be a good backup but he’s been hurt pretty much all season on and off. Jovic has been better as of late but not sold that he’s the man esp in a one striker system we like to play. So that is what I meant. Overall 2 out of the 11 have contributed consistently? That is what I meant. It’s been rough. And our stars aren’t exactly helping either. Leao and Theo must be better period. I think the talent is there but we need a better coach to get the best out of what we have
Yep. Totally agree on everything.
Agree
Agree
You all are delusional. Aside from Pulisic it’s clear this team is way inferior compared to last season. There are a lot of dumb takes in this thread alone but thinking that Tonali wouldn’t start over RLC and Reijnders is really something. Even Diaz is better than the two of them.
Giroud is older and slower, Bennacer has just gone through a major injury, Leao and Theo are lazier than ever, Maignan is somehow worse than last season too (he has one of the worst PsxG in the entire league, go figure), no reliable partner for Tomori.
The only reason this squad is still 3rd is because the rest of the league suck even more. Thinking that this mediocre team made of Chelsea rejects could’ve taken 1st or 2nd is what you’d call “coping”. This team still hasn’t replaced Calhanoglu, Kessie, and failed to replace Tonali so everyone has to believe that RLC and Reijnders are superior so that they can blame Pioli instead of the management. Hilarious!
Pulisic was the worst on the field this game. He was useless, did nothing. While I agree he is generally an upgrade, I would have had any player instead of him this last game…
Need a striker, right? Gotta buy that striker
Simic and Jovic are two players currently at high confidence level. But guess what, Pioli sticks to his favorite old players.
He sees both players just super subs.
This coach doesn’t want to let his players grow..
This ^^..
You nailed it -> We played our best 11 against a bottom team and got out played.
We did this in an injury crisis because our Coach is fighting for his job?
Wasn’t this a game to test the stars and start the likes of Barts, Jovic, Simic, or Chuk?
I cannot detect a reasonable strategy of rotation. This could be injuries because all this fatigue, etc doesn’t come on suddenly. So, maybe it shows up in training and influences selection. But then it would be the guys starting who would be most likely to be fatigued.
I’m honestly at a loss for why we started those players in this situation. I’m equally baffled at a performance and level of intensity that looked more like a pre season friendly.
It appeared most of the team approached the game as if it was a friendly. IMO, some of our better players play down to their competition. We lack killer instinct, we keep showing it with these head scratcher draws/loses and second half let downs. The players don’t fear Pioli they know they can get him sacked while they will see another season.
Giroud 5.5? How many performance like this we have to see to put him on the bench?
He is disaster, he does not keep a single ball on his feet, he does not shot, he creates nothing. Only thing he is good is with the head. Another game played with 10 man.
So, 130 millions spent and they are heavily depleted in every area of the field. Jovic is showing promise so that’s something. Maybe they can focus on the backline and midfield more for January.
Pioli wanted bunch of ball carriers in the midfield thinking Theo and Calabria will cover the midfield with their inverted roles. That went to hell. Now what?
These new midfielders suffer the confusion of the coach who ditched his genius “inverted fullback flick” beacuse he thought he was up for the task but went to hell and now doesn’t know how to deploy the lads and manage their tasks.
Get. A. Proper. DM
Is poor reffing not allowed to be discussed? How can you point to a coach or players…am i the only one who sees this?
Mazzocchi led all with 4 dangerous yellows
Tchaouna had a yellow card, and the tackle on mike that should be a straight red but yellow is fine.
Kastanos had 3 yellow card-worthy challenges
Gyomber came on and immediately slid into a brutal straight red, and later followed it up with another yellow.
Ikquwmesi not to be outdone, stopped focusing on the ball and started to seek out players to attack, only to end up with three yellow cards.
Yellow card-worthy = it stopped an attack that had numbers and was egregious in intent. tackles from behind, pulling jerseys, bulldozing a guy with the ball, studs up, etc.
Also the leagues lack of willingness to use VAR is going to hurt a generation of italian players as skill is far behind figuring out what you can get away with in order of importance.
Next window should be about players who will get their hands dirty, not players like RLC or Musah, who are strong but not that kind of player / used to playing with VAR.
Also, there are two clear hand balls in the box, but who cares?
When the team performance is on the 4-10 scale somewhere between 4 and 5, there is no need to cry & beg help from the refs. Sure, they were bad and probably Milan should have had a penaltykick etc but there’s no need to hide behind facts: Milan was outplayed by Pippo Inzaghi’s Salernitana. The worst team in the league. If you fail to beat the worst team, the blame isn’t on the ref. Ever.
Just wondering if anyone else noticed that. Not begging for anything. I’ve seen teams be aggressive. Obviously nandez punched musah in the head earlier in the season. But that was one guy, not seven. It just seemed like every attempt towards goal after the first one was met with whatever could stop the play. The announcer kept saying ‘And there is a yellow card for so and so’ and then there was no card, but he played it off well and even brought in a joke about the nandez situation coming up.
If im coaching that team there is no chance im leaving without a red card…
How do you rate Pulisic more than Leao? I understand you expect something and Leao didn’t play that good, but he got an assist and a great chance created for Jovic, which should have been another. Pulisic was just there. What?
Leao was provided with literally 67 opportunities to move forward. Pulisic was provided with NINE.
EVERY attack by the midfield, they looked to the left as their first, second and third option. More than half the balls played into Pulisic were rushed attempts by defenders or midfielders who had worked themselves into trouble and were looking for an outlet, leaving him (and Chukwueze got the same treatment) back to goal, 50 meters out, with two defenders on their backs.
It was hardly Pulisic’s best match, but what do you expect when he watches the entire match from the opposite side of the pitch?
Giroud: “His flicks didn’t work at all this evening, to tell the truth, but he ended up getting a crucial assist for Jovic. Milan don’t need him for assists, though, even if it is a bonus.”
Clearly Milan needs his assists. Sure, Giroud is there to score goals. But I ask you this though. Is it really his fault that NO ONE managed to create a single chance for him yesterday? Is creating chances out of thin air his job? No. Does anyone expect him to? No. He’s a player who needs decent crosses into the penalty box and he’ll finish the job.
Leao inconsistent? Quite the opposite actually. He has been consistently bad. Our “more mature leader” has really stepped up after his salary increase.
Oh and one more thing. MM16 has a wonderful christmas spirit. He gifted a huge present to Inter, Juve, Roma, Napoli, Atalanta, Bologna, Fiorentina, Salernitana AND Pippo Inzaghi. I’m sure they’re all delighted by it.
Just when it looked like he was doing a great job justifying his salary increase he decided to show his generosity as well.
Pioli must leave urgently, it has nothing to do with this team, how to lead it, people, do you see it and Leao is catastrophic that some games, totally unconcentrated and out of the game, he must be sold and you have the money from him to buy 2-3 players qualitative. I think that the right formation with these players would be 4-2-3-1 in this way:
Florenzi-Tomori-Simic-Theo
Reijnders-Musah
Chuk—–RLC—–Pulisic
Okafor
Why not just Pulisic as a false 9?