Week 25: Milan - Udinese 03/03/2021 20:45 CET

VultureSheva

Legendary Scout
Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
29,480
Reaction score
3,660
What I have learnt from thos game, watching as well as playing, is that against these teams such as Udinese parking the bus on their penalty area, you must push very hard and give everything to score in the first 30 minutes of the game. If you don't, then you are on really big trouble as when time passes, they gain confidence and you start with panic.
We played like we thought we had infinite time and then just woke up after going behind. That's not a Winner mentality.

Verona will park the bus just like Udinese.

We need to shoot more against such teams, another long shot taker like Hakan, our midfielders should add something in attack in such games, all the players must.
 

Forza AC Milan

Milan Icon
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
4,532
Reaction score
2,535
2021 is dire for us so far. Only the Roma game was a real display of our strengths. Something needs to change, this can't continue.

Against Roma we had a great opening with chances we couldn't finish but we only won the game due to a penalty too
 

makcoul

Milan Veteran
Joined
Mar 8, 2006
Messages
1,037
Reaction score
103
Verona will park the bus just like Udinese.

We need to shoot more against such teams, another long shot taker like Hakan, our midfielders should add something in attack in such games, all the players must.

And Verona has more quality than Udinese.
The problem is when you make a deeper analysis, you see that we have more issues that we thought. Long distance shooter is one of these things we are missing, as well as box to box middlefielders who score 8 to 10 goals in a season.
 

Forza AC Milan

Milan Icon
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
4,532
Reaction score
2,535
Once again Rebic?s passing.

EvlqQ9HXcAIFS3Z.jpg

If you have seen my comments before you would know I dont think a CL regular Milan can have Rebic as a starter in the long run. He wont get better than he has shown and he has displayed his peak.

Only problem is Leao is bad too. He is young though so his ceiling is unknown but his displays have been very very pedestrian most of the time. He isn't going to become highly regarded by being irrelevant in most games he plays. He is young and fit so why can you watch a 90 minute match and not even notice he is on the pitch?
 

Forza AC Milan

Milan Icon
Joined
Apr 27, 2007
Messages
4,532
Reaction score
2,535
And Verona has more quality than Udinese.
The problem is when you make a deeper analysis, you see that we have more issues that we thought. Long distance shooter is one of these things we are missing, as well as box to box midfielders who score 8 to 10 goals in a season.

Kessie has like what 8 this season :D

I get your point though. We need a midfielder that can score 10 goals from open play along with a goal scoring right winger
 
Last edited:

ACMILANMKD

Con il Diavolo in Corpo
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
1,528
Reaction score
184
Location
Skopje,MACEDONIA
Fav. Players
Boban, Oliver Bierhoff, Weah, Sheva, Van Basten
Could be an important draw. Udinese is never easy, not in the 20 years I followed Milan.

Avanti.

These fuckers draw 4:4 with Milan in the 2011, the last year Milan won title.
Always pain in the ass this Udinese team has been
 

leaf

Sack Pioli
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
Messages
28,061
Reaction score
54,621
Location
Trinidad and Tobago
Fav. Players
Ronaldo, Kaká, Maldini, Nesta, CR7, Seedorf, Dwight Yorke, Quaresma
R&B ppl are never happy.
You get a fine talent like Leao but you don't like his style of play so sell :head:

Y'all deserve the beautiful grinta merchants who will give you 110% effort all game. I hope you get fucking Belotti with his amazing 11 goals and 178 minutes per game.... pretty sure he isn't going to turn out like Lapadula, Destro and Matri before him :proud:

To be clear ...did Leao play badly?
Yes
Do I think he needs to push the issue more? Sure
But the guy is fucking 21 :fp:

It's almost like you JUST forgot how much SHIT calabria played up till recently.
 
Last edited:

terzino1899

Primavera
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
216
Reaction score
449
If you ask me, I would say to beat this Udinese side is very easy. All you need is disciplined tactics.
Players who can move the ball quickly (One-Two passes)
Players with good vision, able to pick out players from midfield
Players who can take on defenders

It might sound as if we don't have such players, but we do. Its either their brain needs to be rebooted or that of the coach.

Rebic can cause problems from the flank
Laeo can cause problems from the flank
Hauge can draw fouls from defenders
Diaz can commit defenders and at least draw some fouls and cards

What da hell is wrong??????

If you play football matches, you would know that once you have setup the tactics you've described, what happened is that the opposition setup tactics of their own:
They will let us move the ball quickly but only in our 66% side of the field
They will place 5 defenders across in a low line so that we have no space to pass into
They will ensure to double up on any of our potential dribblers

Tactics only cannot beat any team. We will need players that can apply the tactics and make it work.

At this moment, our players are not up the serie A leader level yet. Nothing worked today, passes just behind the players, anticipation of forward movements is off, trying too hard to dribble, wrong decisions in tempo change... Too one dimensional.

I would still try to adjust to 352 to remove our RW/LW problem and utilize our CBs and full backs/wingbacks. Just to try shake things up and improve our gameplay
 

Goodfella

Milan Legend
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
14,796
Reaction score
1,470
Donna: Gifted them a goal. The only impressive goal line block was from Romagnoli...

Kalulu: Delivered some shitty crosses, but I think this was the best RB performance by a reserve this season. I wasn't missing Calabria. Quite frankly I didn't like that Calabria was brought on at the end.

Kjaer: Not tested much. Leao and Diaz didn't give him a chance to show off his passing range.

Romagnoli: Fucked up but then immediately redeemed himself with the block.

Theo: This is not a serious team when he's the main weapon in the attack.

Tonali: Not progressive enough but did well in defense although this wasn't a tough test.

Kessie: Unlucky not to score that header. Did his part. Converted the penalty like a boss, as usual.

Rebic: Played as if he wanted to avoid an injury. Didn't even seem to be in the mood to play in the first half.

Diaz: Wasn't as selfish and risk-taking as he normally is, but also not as productive. Low risk, low reward. Perhaps another one that was trying to avoid a re-injury?

Samu: Had his moments in the first half, but he's not much of a threat.

Leao: Always a step behind. I don't know what's worse, his mental or physical stamina.

Meite: His dribbling and aerial game was welcomed. But his game still lacks intensity and tempo.
 
Last edited:

Australiano1980

#RiseTheBorders
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
8,736
Reaction score
634
Location
BRAZIL, PR
Fav. Players
Van Basten, Baresi, Savicevic, Gullit, Maldini, Romario, Zidane, Suker, Litmanen, Redondo, Rivaldo
Another disaster, another penalty saving our skins.
 

adit

Starting Eleven
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
538
Reaction score
35
Location
Kubu Anyar
i don't think we should sell Leao, he has talent and play outside his natural position way too many times, in ideal world he should be vice Rebic

so we really need CF and CM badly, with UCL in our grasp, i hope we can attract world class talent next season
 

melanman

The Oracle
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
4,690
Reaction score
107
Thats why we need Thauvin who scores goals and not Otavio who has 3 goals in Liga NOS.

No more attackers that dont have goals, its counter productive. You don't just magically become a consistent goal scorer, you must prove it over time. Belotti and thauvin know how to put the ball in the net they have the statistic to show this.

Why would you buy an attacker that doesn't even have 50 career goals? To play for Milan.
 

VultureSheva

Legendary Scout
Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
29,480
Reaction score
3,660
If you play football matches, you would know that once you have setup the tactics you've described, what happened is that the opposition setup tactics of their own:
They will let us move the ball quickly but only in our 66% side of the field
They will place 5 defenders across in a low line so that we have no space to pass into
They will ensure to double up on any of our potential dribblers

Tactics only cannot beat any team. We will need players that can apply the tactics and make it work.

At this moment, our players are not up the serie A leader level yet. Nothing worked today, passes just behind the players, anticipation of forward movements is off, trying too hard to dribble, wrong decisions in tempo change... Too one dimensional.

I would still try to adjust to 352 to remove our RW/LW problem and utilize our CBs and full backs/wingbacks. Just to try shake things up and improve our gameplay

Barca lost 2-0 against bus team Milan. Passing alone can not win you such games.

How do you win such games?

The answer is here:



The other answer is here:

 

Qaas

Vi må tage det som det kommer
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
38,776
Reaction score
69,621
Location
Danmark
Fav. Players
KAKA, Maldini, Nesta, Dida, Inzaghi, Sheva, TSilva, R9, Raul, Casillas, Schmeichel, Messi, Zlatan
Thank you for not giving me a link
And honestly fck you all.
 

Savo

Mike Danton.. Deadly Prey
Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Messages
4,275
Reaction score
10
Fav. Players
Kaka, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, Pirlo, Inzaghi, Ambrosini, Sheva, Seedorf, Silva, Totti
R&B ppl are never happy.
You get a fine talent like Leao but you don't like his style of play so sell :head:

People calling for Leao to be sold already are ridiculous, maybe in the future if he doesn't sort things out but not yet... Leao is young and has a ton of talent so let's see how he does next season, maybe he gets more confident and mentally strong then. I hate when people give the youngsters only a few shots then they're out! It's really shortsighted. For example, we've offloaded so many players too soon like Aubameyang, Locatelli, Cristante and several several more and we were even going to offload Calabria before the season started lol, just such a strange team environment sometimes that is hot and cold on players week after week.

Now that all said, Leao sucked hard today. And while I don't want to sell him I honestly would consider getting rid of him if laziness is his "style of play"... I don't care if he expresses himself on the field a certain way as long as I see he gives a shit and tries hard for this club, because opportunities only come around a few times in a career and those who give shit for effort end up like Balotelli. A few flashes of brilliance but otherwise a ruined career. Leao is young so he has time, but there's nothing I can't stand more is a kid getting paid millions to play a game who can't even be bothered to run hard and fight for the team.
 
Last edited:

Bird

Haven't you heard?
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
2,505
You guy do realize that when Samir injured himself right after he came on, Udinese went down to 10 men because they had already used up their subs.
So we played 15 minutes or so against a 10 man Udinese and still couldn't score, aside from that random PK.
 

xDxMxSx

Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2015
Messages
341
Reaction score
93
Now that all said, Leao sucked hard today. And while I don't want to sell him I honestly would consider getting rid of him if laziness is his "style of play"
But it is, that's exactly what it is.
 

Savo

Mike Danton.. Deadly Prey
Joined
Jul 15, 2007
Messages
4,275
Reaction score
10
Fav. Players
Kaka, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, Pirlo, Inzaghi, Ambrosini, Sheva, Seedorf, Silva, Totti
Donnarumma - 5 - Wasn't busy and had 1 easy stop to make, unusually sloppy today

Kalulu - 5.5 - Poor crosses but worked hard, solid player, will be good, I have a lot of faith in Kalulu and overall like what I see from him but needs time.

Kjaer - 6.5 - Marked physically and kept the udinese attack very quiet

Romagnoli - 6.5 - Nice to see him actually play well today as he's been on poor form of late. Hopefully he builds confidence from this.

Hernandez - 4 - Ran hard but no end product. Selfish in attack, lost his marker for the only Udinese goal.

Tonali - 6 - Solid game but had an injury and only played half, hopefully the injury is mild as we need him back asap since Bennacer is also recovering from injury.

Kessie 7.5:star: - Typical solid Kessie game but even better as he looked quicker than usual. Sometimes Kessie can be slow but not today, really controlled the middle and had a lot of work to do. Calm as usual to at least salvage a lucky 1 point for us.

Castillejo - 5.5 - Looked bright and was solid throughout but no real end product.

Rebic - 5.5 - Same as Samu.

Leao - 3 - Definitely not a striker as he doesn't have the character to lead a line. Laziness is disgusting to me as he is a young kid and should have energy to burn. I know this isn't his natural position but I at the very least want to see effort from him. Patience is needed as he's young, but please... effort man... effort...

-------------

Meite - 6 - Best game from Meite so far, no massive mistakes for once, looked less lazy. Still a sluggish player in general but definitely an improvement and actually helped Kessie not have to do everything on his own.

Calabria 6.5 - Sad how our right back was the biggest threat when he came on. Looked a little off pace for the first few minutes but just shows how anemic our attack is without Ibra when Calabria in 25 minutes has the best chances.

Hauge - 5.5 - Needs time to settle and needs more grit. Didn't offer anything really.

Saelemaekers - 5.5 - Looked sharp but not enough time to make a massive impact. Played OK.

Pioli - 4 - Fielded a good lineup but something has to change in our approach to attack. People have been so infatuated with our defense that they forget how shitty our attack is without Ibra. Anemic. We were still scoring some goals in the past without Ibra when the team was absolutely on fire, but now that we're not anymore we have to make sure our fundamentals are strong and that's on the coach.
 
Last edited:

taura

Attaccareeee
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
12,018
Reaction score
27,771
Savo I agree with most of your ratings but Castillejo one bothers me. Yes he had a nice chance to score but other than that he was dreadful for me. He passes back all the time, never takes a man on, whenever he's in a crossing position he rather passes to the edge of the box, he's so slow on counters, i really disliked him. I hope Saele stays fit for the rest of the season
 

Nalim

Banned
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
2,458
Reaction score
2,493
Donna: Gifted them a goal. The only impressive goal line block was from Romagnoli...

Kalulu: Delivered some shitty crosses, but I think this was the best RB performance by a reserve this season. I wasn't missing Calabria. Quite frankly I didn't like that Calabria was brought on at the end.

Kjaer: Not tested much. Leao and Diaz didn't give him a chance to show off his passing range.

Romagnoli: Fucked up but then immediately redeemed himself with the block.

Theo: This is not a serious team when he's the main weapon in the attack.

Tonali: Not progressive enough but did well in defense although this wasn't a tough test.

Kessie: Unlucky not to score that header. Did his part. Converted the penalty like a boss, as usual.

Rebic: Played as if he wanted to avoid an injury. Didn't even seem to be in the mood to play in the first half.

Diaz: Wasn't as selfish and risk-taking as he normally is, but also not as productive. Low risk, low reward. Perhaps another one that was trying to avoid a re-injury?

Samu: Had his moments in the first half, but he's not much of a threat.

Leao: Always a step behind. I don't know what's worse, his mental or physical stamina.

Meite: His dribbling and aerial game was welcomed. But his game still lacks intensity and tempo.

This summary is very gentle with the team.
The performance was atrocious. Build-up play was unbelievably slow. There was only 1 team on the pitch today and they played against 11 undisciplined individuals who lacked intensity and willingness to run for each other.
Actually discipline is the biggest issue for this team going forward as I see it. A player like Theo for example - world class on his day but when it doesn't click for him he really lacks the discipline to do what's best for the team. The same could be said about Leao and quite a few other players to be honest.
Pioli is obviously a great motivator and he's far exceeded the expectations that any of us had for him and his young squad, but when the going gets tough does he know how to crack the whip?
 

blacki

Primavera
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
114
Reaction score
68
People calling for Leao to be sold already are ridiculous, maybe in the future if he doesn't sort things out but not yet... Leao is young and has a ton of talent so let's see how he does next season, maybe he gets more confident and mentally strong then. I hate when people give the youngsters only a few shots then they're out! It's really shortsighted. For example, we've offloaded so many players too soon like Aubameyang, Locatelli, Cristante and several several more and we were even going to offload Calabria before the season started lol, just such a strange team environment sometimes that is hot and cold on players week after week.

there is big difference with players you menitoned and that time we were in, and leao, he is getting a lot chance to prove himself, but apparntly its not working
to change player character its almost imposible, apart from 2 games where he was exelent, he play below average thats the fact...

yes he is still young still have huge potential and thats why we can cash in this and still sell him for good money, expecting him to start working hard its like expecting gazza stop drinking
 

Pingu

American Calcio Milan
Stream Guru
Joined
Aug 23, 2017
Messages
35,479
Reaction score
38,078
Roma-Udinese-Verona gave us 7 points in the reverse fixtures. I will take that pace. For me it's all about movement towards our CL goal. I'd prefer to gallop there, but if we get there limping, whatever. Just have to get it at all costs.

This post :star: If we can at least keep pace from here on out, top 4 should not be an issue. We won key H2H against Roma, need to do same vs Napoli while not dropping so many points to lower sides.
 

fray

Casciavit
Joined
May 18, 2017
Messages
8,942
Reaction score
4,740
Roma-Udinese-Verona gave us 7 points in the reverse fixtures. I will take that pace. For me it's all about movement towards our CL goal. I'd prefer to gallop there, but if we get there limping, whatever. Just have to get it at all costs.

I reckon Verona is the most difficult opponent out of those 3.

Unfortunately we've now got a tricky fixture run in Verona - Man Utd - Napoli - Man Utd - Fiorentina before the international break - with a lot of injuries to key players.
 

taura

Attaccareeee
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
12,018
Reaction score
27,771
I reckon Verona is the most difficult opponent out of those 3.

Unfortunately we've now got a tricky fixture run in Verona - Man Utd - Napoli - Man Utd - Fiorentina before the international break - with a lot of injuries to key players.

I just wish Mandzukic would return soon, imo he would offer us much more upfront, even with our buildup play
 

Bird

Haven't you heard?
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
2,505
Romagnoli: Fucked up but then immediately redeemed himself with the block.

His fuck up came after he "redeemed himself".
As if one good action can wipe out a full season of blunders...
 

Goodfella

Milan Legend
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
14,796
Reaction score
1,470
This summary is very gentle with the team.
The performance was atrocious. Build-up play was unbelievably slow. There was only 1 team on the pitch today and they played against 11 undisciplined individuals who lacked intensity and willingness to run for each other.
Actually discipline is the biggest issue for this team going forward as I see it. A player like Theo for example - world class on his day but when it doesn't click for him he really lacks the discipline to do what's best for the team. The same could be said about Leao and quite a few other players to be honest.
Pioli is obviously a great motivator and he's far exceeded the expectations that any of us had for him and his young squad, but when the going gets tough does he know how to crack the whip?

I summarized the individual performances, not the team's.
Not sure I was too gentle, only Kessie would get 6+.
Agree about Theo. I was implying the same thing. We do not look like a serious team when he's the main man. He's too dumb and selfish to dictate this team.

Much of what we're seeing are symptoms of a team that hasn't had stability or continuity for 4 months due to injuries, COVID, suspensions and unnecessary rotation. These disjointed players can't find eachother if they try to play it quick. Rebic and Diaz seemed to hold back their explosiveness out of fears of a re-injury.
There's also a few important ingredients missing to deal with teams that park the bus. A proper target forward, midfielders making late runs into the box, threats from distance.
 

Goodfella

Milan Legend
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
14,796
Reaction score
1,470
His fuck up came after he "redeemed himself".
As if one good action can wipe out a full season of blunders...

I don't think the goal was his fault.
The fuck up was when he allowed the Udi player to get past him before he blocked the shot.
 

Bird

Haven't you heard?
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
2,505
I don't think the goal was his fault.
The fuck up was when he allowed the Udi player to get past him before he blocked the shot.

https://youtu.be/s2PkFU37Hag?t=142

He got out thought/maneuvered by a caveman, who had just suffered a concussion and moving at 0.75x speed, within a square meter.
How is it even possible to fail at something so simple?
 
Top