Very happy for Messias. Great showing from Kessie too. Kjaer was classy as ever. Kalulu was very impressive, he's improved by leaps and bounds. Giroud was so disappointing. He didn't seem to add anything to the play. We really missed Leao and definitely missed Rebic. Brahim needs to bulk up, or he'll continue to struggle against physical sides. I'm so proud of this team. They give their all and never stop believing. We'll definitely go for Liverpool's throat in the last match.
I'm honestly still not sold on Kalulu. Physically he's a beast and his decision making is excellent, he's brave and he's direct. The thing that bothers me is his technique and ball control sometimes fails him, too many bad touches when controlling first time, and his crossing is bad enough that Pioli feels the need to bring on Florenzi to compensate. We don't see the same buildup that we do with Calabria deep in our half, with quick triangles between him, Kjaer and Saelemaekers. When Kalulu gets the ball he usually feels hurried and either runs with it or hoofs it down the line. I would like to see him do what Calabria does, control the ball confidently out of the way of the opposition and pass and move. I know i'm being harsh on him, he's really really young and this is his second senior professional season. He's nowhere near as good as Calabria at this moment but if he improves this aspect of his game he can become better as his physical qualities are very impressive.
I don't think Brahim needs to bulk up more. He's a lot stronger this year that last season. He hasn't really been pushed off the ball against Atletico, he was kicked to the ground repeatedly. He was very effective at drawing fouls, but him getting bigger (and slower) won't add much to his game. What he needs to improve is his medium range passing. His short passing is excellent but when he needs to play longer than 5m he messes up way more than he should.
I don't think we should play Giroud as a starter at all anymore, except maybe against teams where we expect to be in their box a lot. He really doesn't add much beyond a threatening box presence, and it's holding us back. Ibra synergizes with the way we play a lot more, although he's not perfect. He doesn't press and he's slow, but what he adds outside the box is much more valuable than what Giroud does.
I was very happy to see a much better Bakayoko last night, hope he keeps improving and returns to the monster that had his own song by the curva.
Kessie. Please sign the fucking contract. Don't be an asshole.