Week 19: Milan - Atalanta 23/01/2021 18:00 CET

VultureSheva · Jan 23, 2021

Ronin said:
This is totally on Pioli. Meite as CAM was horrible choice, he should've played with Kessie instead of Tonali. Leao shouldn't have started as well, not vs Atalanta in 1st half. Rebic, if fit or even Hauge would've been better, as he contributes defensively much more.

I'm not worried though, shit happens. You can't get everything perfect all the time

Jivara · Jan 23, 2021

Atalanta played an almost perfect match and once they clicked we became worse and worse. This is our worse performance since the match vs. Atalanta last year.

So I think teams were unable to figure out a way to play us but Atalanta with their excellent pressing have found a way. Especially now that we are low on gas it becomes difficult to play these teams. Atalanta are reaching their physical peak while we are clearly declining. To add to that we are missing two key players who deal with pressing better than anyone else on the team, Bennacer and Calhanoglu. Their absence was clearly noticed, and has been thr case for a while. When Milan made its comeback I remember that the key was the Bennacer-Kessie partnership, they could keep the ball between them and give the other players the time and space to continue their relentless aggression. Tonali is a little bit too slow for a game like this and the AM position needs someone who thinks before he receives the ball.

brk · Jan 23, 2021

Jivara said:
Atalanta played an almost perfect match and once they clicked we became worse and worse. This is our worse performance since the match vs. Atalanta last year.

So I think teams were unable to figure out a way to play us but Atalanta with their excellent pressing have found a way. Especially now that we are low on gas it becomes difficult to play these teams. Atalanta are reaching their physical peak while we are clearly declining. To add to that we are missing two key players who deal with pressing better than anyone else on the team, Bennacer and Calhanoglu. Their absence was clearly noticed, and has been thr case for a while. When Milan made its comeback I remember that the key was the Bennacer-Kessie partnership, they could keep the ball between them and give the other players the time and space to continue their relentless aggression. Tonali is a little bit too slow for a game like this and the AM position needs someone who thinks before he receives the ball.

Gasperini just said this was probably the best ever performance by his Atalanta. They played an almost perfect game and were very intense throughout.

We were disjointed and every player was subpar. It's easy to say it was Pioli's mistake in playing Meite, but we didn't improve in the second half and in fact we looked even more lost. Their second goal killed us off and we should have been playing a lot more direct and long seeing as how we didn't have Hakan, and try to sit back and deep as much as possible, hoping to hit them on the break. We tried to play their game too often, with our CB's pushing way too deep and getting caught.

Ronin · Jan 23, 2021

VultureSheva said:

did Leao touch the ball today?

Uno Rossonero · Jan 23, 2021

Seeing illicic tear musacchio a new one was giving me ptsd

ikita · Jan 23, 2021

leaf said:
Andre Silva scored twice again
#JustSayin

Lucky he wasn't here because he wouldn't have scored in today's game.

Could replace his name with any other striker's name that scored in their match today.

That's how inconsequential your statement is.

Hitchens · Jan 23, 2021

What the fuck happened?

Qaas · Jan 23, 2021

Ronin said:
Can't expect a guy who turns off the game at halftime to notice how often Hauge tracks back and recovers balls. I'm not very happy with his whole level thus far, but you can't deny this aspect of his game.

You are really a fan boy.

Jivara · Jan 23, 2021

brk said:
Gasperini just said this was probably the best ever performance by his Atalanta. They played an almost perfect game and were very intense throughout.

We were disjointed and every player was subpar. It's easy to say it was Pioli's mistake in playing Meite, but we didn't improve in the second half and in fact we looked even more lost. Their second goal killed us off and we should have been playing a lot more direct and long seeing as how we didn't have Hakan, and try to sit back and deep as much as possible, hoping to hit them on the break. We tried to play their game too often, with our CB's pushing way too deep and getting caught.

I don't think the long ball was the solution, because they tried that and it failed. But I can't really tell you what the solution should be, because Atalanta just looked fresher than Milan and like I said, we were missing the exact players we needed for this match.

Maybe we need another formation vs such a team. Ibra between three well organized defenders did not work. Romero dealt with him well and their wing backs prevented our side players from delivering crosses. Meanwhile Zapata was a real disturbance to our centre backs.

Tantalis · Jan 23, 2021

Chinamilan wins biggest loser in my book for getting himself banned after a loss.

Cloren · Jan 24, 2021

Have we ever lost a match with Saelemaekers on the pitch

helloAgain · Jan 24, 2021

AC Kid said:
This is on pioli.. rebic should have started.. samu shouldn?t have started/stayed on for past half time .. why the fuck start meite and in that position?! Why not diaz the obvious choice??!!! Fuck u coach

What the hell did rebic do after coming on except for losing balls because of poor first touch? He had more than half hour to do something. Leao played for 5 minutes and disappeared completely yet nobody is criticising him. Samu was easily one of our best players.

helloAgain · Jan 24, 2021

Goodfella said:
Donnarumma: 6.0 (Alert, made a few good saves, perhaps unlucky on the PK. Conceded 3 goals)

Calabria: 5.5 (2019 Calabria)

Kjaer: 6.5 (Atalanta and his teammates gave him a difficult night but he bailed us out a few times)

Kalulu: 5.0 (Had a great start, saving the team on a few occasions until he got bullied by Romero. Should've been subbed earlier, the injury seem to have played a part in the PK incident)

Theo: 5.0 (Pretty bad in both phases.)

Kessie: 5.5 (Not his night. Too sloppy on several occasions. But the Atalanta press would put any midfielder in difficulty)

Tonali: 5.5 (A liability in the first half, but one of very few Milan players with an acceptable 2nd. Took a lot of defensive responsibility and showed a lot of personality in the chaotic last 30 minutes.)

Leao: 5.0 (Very good first 10 mins, terrible rest of his time on the pitch. Still zero chemistry Theo, and not as good as Rebic at playing off Ibra.)

Meite: 3.0 (Proved to be a costly mistake from Pioli. Near useless on and off ball. He wasn't ready for this. Even Krunic was better in his first few outings in that role.)

Samu: 6.0 (Did his part defensively, as usual, and was able to resist their press and maintain possession in their half, but we need more end product.

Ibra: 5.5 (Should've scored but this wasn't his night. His holdup play wasn't as good as usual, although Meite and Leao aren't as good at taking advantage of it as Hakan and Rebic. Atalanta were more physical and intense than he's used to. Not all of them are like Caldara.)

Rebic: 5.0 (We really missed an in form Rebic tonight. We got a rusty one that joined when it was almost over.)

Manduzkic: .. (Gave more than he has at the moment. No chemistry with Ibra. Looked like he was about to pass out at the end.)

Musacchio: 6.0 (Joined at a very difficult moment. Didn't do that badly, considering the circumstances and how little he has played in the last 11 months, but he did get embarrassed on at least one occasion.

Diaz: 5.5 (Another player with a night to forget. Got double pressed as soon as he was on the ball, which proved to be more than he could handle. Still, he was an improvement from Meite and much more of an attacking threat.)

Kjaer made plenty of mistakes. At best 5.5.
Theo 3.5 at best too. Didn't do a single thing right.
Calabria 6
Kalulu 6
Tonali 6
Leao 4
Kessie 5
Pioli 5

jawz10 · Jan 24, 2021

Didn?t read the whole thread, as soon as the match ended I went for a long walk and haven?t been online for hours, but did anyone else feel like the ref kinda fucked us in this match? I get it, Kessie?s foul was technically a penalty, but considering how rough Atalanta play it felt harsh to penalize us that way. I mean they almost broke Kalulu?s rib- no foul called, and they KNOCKED KJAER UNCONSCIOUS- again no foul if I?m not mistaken (go and watch how he falls, he was flash KO?d as he fell, whole body went limp). It was like Atalanta was free to kick us and hurt us all over the pitch and as soon as Ilicic got an accidental slap it was a penalty and a yellow? Bull.

abritcemeng · Jan 24, 2021

An experiment with tonali as CAM is more make sense than Meite

Youth · Jan 24, 2021

abritcemeng said:
An experiment with tonali as CAM is more make sense than Meite

I agree with this but the two-midfielder is just too important. If have Bennacer and Kessie, I agree we can play Tonali as CAM.

Benz_1803 · Jan 24, 2021

helloAgain said:
Kjaer made plenty of mistakes. At best 5.5.
Theo 3.5 at best too. Didn't do a single thing right.
Calabria 6
Kalulu 6
Tonali 6
Leao 4
Kessie 5
Pioli 5

Really?calabria 6?
3x i count he was causing counters from blocked pass and got beaten on duels easily over times, he was top 3 the worst player on the pitch.

Maldini

abritcemeng · Jan 24, 2021

Youth said:
I agree with this but the two-midfielder is just too important. If have Bennacer and Kessie, I agree we can play Tonali as CAM.

Meite-kessie will be the dm duo

Tobinho · Jan 24, 2021

Cloren said:
Have we ever lost a match with Saelemaekers on the pitch

No.

Cloren · Jan 24, 2021

Tobinho said:
No.

He is our lucky charm, and with that said he was really missed today. Samu wasn't exactly bad but he adds nothing on the offence, his work rate is amazing but he’s just an average player. A good sub at best, nothing more. The red card last week for Saele was really harsh. Him, Hakan and Bennacer would have made a whole lot of difference for this match. That’s what I would like to believe. But the whole team didn’t perform today, even Ibra/Kessie/Theo had a poor day for their standards. Rebic was clearly not in shape after recovering from Covid.

Tobinho · Jan 24, 2021

Cloren said:
Have we ever lost a match with Saelemaekers on the pitch

Cloren said:
He is our lucky charm, and with that said he was really missed today. Samu wasn't exactly bad but he adds nothing on the offence, his work rate is amazing but he?s just an average player. A good sub at best, nothing more. The red card last week for Saele was really harsh. Him, Hakan and Bennacer would have made a whole lot of difference for this match. That?s what I would like to believe. But the whole team didn?t perform today, even Ibra/Kessie/Theo had a poor day for their standards. Rebic was clearly not in shape after recovering from Covid.

Yes we missed many of our hardest workers and also our most press-resistant players, also the players who would have got close to Ibra when receiving long balls.

VultureSheva · Jan 24, 2021

Ronin said:
did Leao touch the ball today?

Thenebra · Jan 24, 2021

Ronin said:
did Leao touch the ball today?

He was great 10 mins.

Then switched of.

Il grande Milan · Jan 24, 2021

Saw a lot of people complaining about the ref, but it's just an excuse for how bad we were. It's so difficult for some to admit we just were horrendous. I can't count the number of long balls we played towards Ibra starting from the back. Sloppy and uninspired. It's a desperate way to play when you feel you're just not able to bring your game. There was no midfield whatsoever to make the connection between attack and defence. They pressed high and with a lot of people, so we were forced to play this way. It's up to Pioli to react to this but he seemed to have no answer for it. Makes me question his capabilities as a coach. He should know Atalanta were gonna press high and force us to play like this. Samu and Leao were non-existent, but at least Samu moves his ass around. Also Rebic proved this.. did he actually touch the ball? Tonali seems more and more like a media hype than actual quality. Fails to put his stamp on any game he's in. He's always there and at the same time he's not. Very weird player. His gameplay is a mixture of bad and okay moments. Desperately need bennacer back for bigger games.

Atalanta were actually playing football, some good over the ground passes, between the lines. Good movement off-ball, things we also did for a very long time, but it faded away over the last 2-3 months, for some reason.

Il grande Milan · Jan 24, 2021

Thenebra said:
He was great 10 mins.

Then switched of.

Leao seems to switch off at some point in almost every game. Next to that, he looks so uninterested. He brings this vibe where we should be grateful to field such an amazing 'star'. He's clearly thinking more about his rap career than about football. We can't rely on his two good actions every 90 minutes. Sell while you can.

Pingu · Jan 24, 2021

I wouldn't really blame Leao (or Ibra) for the loss. The midfield battle in the first half was completely lost, we had no one to link up play and was either long balls to Ibra which failed, or him dropping back for the ball. Leao struggled after the first 10 minutes but it happens when Theo is having a bad day behind him and nobody else is helping out either.

milanator · Jan 24, 2021

Il grande Milan said:
Saw a lot of people complaining about the ref, but it's just an excuse for how bad we were. It's so difficult for some to admit we just were horrendous. I can't count the number of long balls we played towards Ibra starting from the back. Sloppy and uninspired. It's a desperate way to play when you feel you're just not able to bring your game. There was no midfield whatsoever to make the connection between attack and defence. They pressed high and with a lot of people, so we were forced to play this way. It's up to Pioli to react to this but he seemed to have no answer for it. Makes me question his capabilities as a coach. He should know Atalanta were gonna press high and force us to play like this. Samu and Leao were non-existent, but at least Samu moves his ass around. Also Rebic proved this.. did he actually touch the ball? Tonali seems more and more like a media hype than actual quality. Fails to put his stamp on any game he's in. He's always there and at the same time he's not. Very weird player. His gameplay is a mixture of bad and okay moments. Desperately need bennacer back for bigger games.

Atalanta were actually playing football, some good over the ground passes, between the lines. Good movement off-ball, things we also did for a very long time, but it faded away over the last 2-3 months, for some reason.

Atalanta also improved their CB performance which really killed Ibra.

We really lacked performance from the CAM, even Diaz didn't do too much in the second half.
Also Kessie was unusually bad in positive play yesterday, Tonali was good but had to drop deep to get us out from the back and there was no one to further our offensive game in the mid.

Qaas · Jan 24, 2021

Pingu said:
I wouldn't really blame Leao (or Ibra) for the loss. The midfield battle in the first half was completely lost, we had no one to link up play and was either long balls to Ibra which failed, or him dropping back for the ball. Leao struggled after the first 10 minutes but it happens when Theo is having a bad day behind him and nobody else is helping out either.

this.
But ibra was also bad. His hold up play wasnt good + that missed chance in the first half

sheva · Jan 24, 2021

Tantalis said:
Chinamilan wins biggest loser in my book for getting himself banned after a loss.

how about dividing the awards into sub-categorical awards?

Most Negative Nancy, Most Downer Debbie, Most Scared Steven, etc.

Pingu · Jan 24, 2021

Qaas said:
this.
But ibra was also bad. His hold up play wasnt good + that missed chance in the first half

Missed chances happen, was unlucky. It's more on the fact we couldn't create anything for the first 70 minutes apart from that chance + the offside one that he missed. Mandzu then came closest after he came on, so for 60 minutes we did NOTHING offensively. Ibra and Leao you can say were poor but they had no help whatsoever as the team let Atalanta walk the ball into our half/our box time and time again. It's on Pioli that we took this approach but won't lose sleep over it. Again, it happens. We were just outclassed even if everything went against us.

Need a big reply against Inter in Coppa even if we rotate. People forget we had Romagnoli, Bennacer, Hakan, Saele and Rebic out (for the first ~60 min). Another game with 4 starters out, two of which are KEY players for us and could change the game.

My hope now is that we can go the next 19 rounds with minimal players missing, have a full squad for it and show our real strength game in game out.

Week 19: Milan - Atalanta 23/01/2021 18:00 CET

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