Champions League Group Stage: Atletico Madrid vs AC Milan 24/11/2021 21:00 CET

Italian Tsar

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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.


I haven't observed Kalulu as deeply as you have. But he really impressed me yesterday when compared with some of his previous showings, which made me think we were once again paying the price for signing from the bargain basement. I really do hope he keeps improving.

You have a point on Brahim. Messi isn't huge either but he does ok. I thought he should bulk up because I see him going to the ground pretty often, and I think if he was was stronger, he might be able to shrug off players more effectively.

I agree on Giroud. It's so desperately disappointing. I had such high hopes for him. I was upset with Pioli for holding back Bennacer for so long and sending Bakayoko instead. I don't know why he underplays Bennacer. Hope he doesn't start hankering for a move elsewhere.
 
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Fabio

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brk

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I haven't observed Kalulu as deeply as you have. But he really impressed me yesterday when compared with some of his previous showings, which made me think we were once again paying the price for signing from the bargain basement. I really do hope he keeps improving.

You have a point on Brahim. Messi isn't huge either but he does ok. I thought he should bulk up because I see him going to the ground pretty often, and I think if he was was stronger, he might be able to shrug off players more effectively.

I agree on Giroud. It's so desperately disappointing. I had such high hopes for him. I was upset with Pioli for holding back Bennacer for so long and sending Bakayoko instead. I don't know why he underplays Bennacer. Hope he doesn't start hankering for a move elsewhere.
I think the medical team must have recommended not overplaying Bennacer. He hasn’t done anything to warrant being benched all the time. Tonali and Kessie are doing great but Bennacer isn’t far behind.

I love the potential of Kalulu and he does some things really well, his timing is excellent, he’s brave and always drives forward. It’s just that he’s not as good as Calabria in our buildup. That’s also partly because Calabria is really, really good at it and it’s a very underrated part of our play. If Kalulu can help us break a press consistently then I can say that he’s our long term RB option with Calabria. Right now he’s clearly the backup.
 

brk

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Hey if Tonali can transform from a hungover Andrea Poli to prime Albertini in one summer then I’m sure Kalulu can slowly improve into a well rounded fullback.
 

Caladan

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Hey if Tonali can transform from a hungover Andrea Poli to prime Albertini in one summer then I’m sure Kalulu can slowly improve into a well rounded fullback.
I remember when people few season ago wanted to sold Calabria. Kalulu is good material for the future. At beggining he was not special, but slowly he improved. I would not to shit any our young players, because they might me wrong all the time.

Salad was Joker yesterday.

 

VooDooDoll

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happy about the win but there is no much you can get from this game about players
- we won without using leao, rebic and diaz after covid doesnt look great (also other players werent available)
- atletico plays shit football - no much attack or press just trying to break you on counters (after watching fiorentina game probably not the worst call :))
- in both games atletico looked average (this time they didnt have 60 minutes of 11vs10) and stats confirm that
 

brk

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I remember when people few season ago wanted to sold Calabria. Kalulu is good material for the future. At beggining he was not special, but slowly he improved. I would not to shit any our young players, because they might me wrong all the time.

Salad was Joker yesterday.

I wanted him sold. He was shit and not getting any better, and with Conti our RB options were disastrous. He suddenly got a lot better early last season. Before that he was very inconsistent and couldn’t really be relied upon.
 

VillaiN

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Real question, is there more disgusting club than atletico? Very few i imagine.
Playing like butchers and diving, faking all the time.
 

joyrider

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Equally disgusting Juve, ManUtd, Printer, Barcelona, Chelsea, Liverpool, entire bundes orgy, ManCity, PSG…
 

Italian Tsar

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Real question, is there more disgusting club than atletico? Very few i imagine.
Playing like butchers and diving, faking all the time.
I find Atletico's playing style revolting. But what I find fascinating is Simeone's post-match comments. Does anyone remember him whining about a result? From indignance to outrage to exhilaration, he wears his heart on his sleeve on the touchline. But once a game is over, win or loss, it's like he switches off and becomes completely honest. He usually gives credit where it's due. I'm not a long-time Atletico watcher so I might be wrong. But I find this contrast fascinating.
 

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fuck thomas lemar
 

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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.

Agree about Kalulu's and Calabria's clear strengths and weaknesses.
Kalulu is miscontrolling a lot of balls. His crosses and passes in the final 3rd often look unneccesarily hurried and thoughtless.
If you're going to play a slow possession game then Calabria is the only option.
However Kalulu's athleticism, directness and urgent style is also refreshing to see at times.
I've not been impressed with Calabria's CL performances. He has looked painfully slow, and weak in the air.
Kalulu's pace is helping him and the rest of them team in all phases. He has recovery pace, he's a counter-threat, he can bring the ball forward without needing to pull off complicated passing combinations like Calabria and he seems to be a more natural goalscorer than most of our RWs.
Our transitions to attack could be unplayably fast with him and a mobile striker like Rebic.
Defensively he's very good at anticipating and intercepting passes, but he's losing way too many duels in the box, particularly in the air.
It caused goals in pretty much every game which he played as CB.
For me he's a fullback and maybe a fullback-CB hybrid in a back 3 system. Not reliable as proper CB at this stage in his career, but that could change when he gains more experience.
 

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Milan clearly suffered from the slower tempo of Serie A compared to CL high tempo. It was clear to see in the first matches that it got better when game worn on. They just didn't have the experience with their help.

What is really satisfying to see is young player performances in CL stage. They really up their level in big stages and clearly are up for it.
 

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Total domination. Not sure how we got more yellows than those cunts
 

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Salesmaker fotm, too much dribbling and posing, less smart plays and vision
and it's been exactly that since he arrived with a few matches to show for it

nothing more than a supersub given his workrate, hope Pioli will put Messias as a starter and will sub in Saele at 60' to bury the match.
alternatively, a starter RW is needed this winter urgently.
 

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You just don't see them. Or are blinded by the impressive stuff he does. He's cutting them out. Made more when he first joined but it's usually very basic movement. He himself probably doesn't know he's made it.
 

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You just don't see them. Or are blinded by the impressive stuff he does. He's cutting them out. Made more when he first joined but it's usually very basic movement. He himself probably doesn't know he's made it.
No i see them.
Thing is i also see when Roma fuck up & he did it more than Tomo without the high quality perfpormance.
But Roma yesterday was great.
 

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Hey if Tonali can transform from a hungover Andrea Poli to prime Albertini in one summer then I’m sure Kalulu can slowly improve into a well rounded fullback.
Kalulu is 21 years old.
How many 21 years old FB that are doing better that you know about ?
 

brk

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Kalulu is 21 years old.
How many 21 years old FB that are doing better that you know about ?
Maldini has made me demand very high standards, blame him not me.

Again I said he has the potential to be great if he works on those deficiencies, I was mostly replying to people that implied he was already amazing and we can play him as a starter ahead of Calabria.
 

MilanMB

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Maldini has made me demand very high standards, blame him not me.

Again I said he has the potential to be great if he works on those deficiencies, I was mostly replying to people that implied he was already amazing and we can play him as a starter ahead of Calabria.
Kalulu is already amazing. Don't know if anyone said that he should start over Calabria right now though, which is something I disagree with.

There are a lot of holes in Kalulu's game, as expected from a 21 year old. What makes me like Kalulu so much is his mentality.
 

MilanMB

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Like most of our recent signings.
Yes but Kalulu is different, maybe I'm biased.

I fell in love with the kid during the game against Genoa when Destro ruined him in the air and scored, Kalulu ran into the goal and collected the ball like fucking shit I'm not gonna let this bother me.
 
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