Yesterday we played a great game. The last couple of times we struggled hard both in season opener's, and new coach debut matches. Last season was the worst for me as a fan who is supporting Milan since 2007. All our matches were dull, low intensity, no courage, no will to win, giving up the first halfs completely. Yesterday was the complete opposite of that. I was so happy to see that we play with high intensity, high pressing, controlling the game.
The first half was fantastic - 73% posession, with 10 shots to Torino's 1. We completely suffocated them. After the Rabiot-Modric double sub, the goals came in quick succession. In the last 15 minutes tho we were dead tired, and this is something to be improved on.
Maignan - The goal was not his fault. He was good, there were some situations where he stopped Torino counters. Also a reference point in our buildup. He didn't have any saves.
Gila - Great game by him. He is aggressive, and stopped some Torino runs that could have lead to dangerous counters. He is great at buildup, great at controlling the ball, and distributing it. What I like in his passing is that he hits it with the right power - not overpowered, not underpowered, just perfect, so the receiving teammate can controll the pass easier. In the end, Njie destroyed him, and was forced to sub out. It is a good news that it was just a precaution.
KDW - In the beginning, he had a horrible clearance, that lead to Torino's only chance in the first half. Other than that mistake, I think he played a solid game. He was better at the CCB, after the Gila-Gabbia sub, KDW played as a RCB, where his performace dropped a bit.
Pavlovic - He was our worst CB yesterday. But that doesn't mean he had a bad game. I didn't see much of his trademark runs, and in posession, he is our CB with probably the worst passing. But it is worth mentioning that from his side, Torino didn't create any attacks. So he did his job defensively well.
Chuk - Once again an easy MOTM for me. I am ready to forgive Chuk from his previous fodder status, and give him a clean reset. If yesterday this exact same performance was delivered by Moreira, we would all praise it to the moon, and say that even the 50 mil was a steal. Due to previous stinkers, I understand why many are still not confident in him. But for me, Chuk is now a new player.
Jashari - Solid display. Both him and Musah was bashed a lot, but I don't really understand why. Jashari was not flashy yesterday, but did the much needed dirty work. He had a couple of nice long ball switches, and also great at pressing. There was a similar situation as with the first goal in the United game - Jashari pressed the CB, and win the ball back in a dangerous area. The ball went this time to Cisse, who butchered the chance.
Musah - He also had a good game. I am not in there yet with Musah where I am with Chuk. He is still under close watch for me, but the signs are promising. That first goal was 50% Musah's great dribbling under pressure. He had a similar situation in the first half, when he dribbled 2 Torino players near our box. These were usually the situations he stupidly lost the ball in the past. If he can keep this up, than for sure this is a valuable skillset to have in our squad.
Estupinan - A level below everybody from our team.
RLC - His great preseason lead to a pretty bad opener. Chuk made multiple chances that were butchered by RLC. A disappointing performance.
Cisse - He is good. He seemed like he belongs to this level. The pressing was good, he ran a lot, and managed to get the ball back on several occasions. He shields the ball well, and able to keep the play flowing, and he scored a beauty. The decision making is not there yet, we had many attacks in the first half that could have lead to dangerous chances had Cisse made a better choice. But a promising performance nonetheless.
Ramos - He runs and presses a lot. His workrate is truly top-tier. He held the ball well. There wasn't much service to him yesterday. In the second half, he was denied by a good save from the GK, after a good cross in from Bart, he almost scored back to the goal with a beautiful flick. For the second goal, if Rabiot wasn't there, Ramos was ready for the tap-in.
Modric - This is the way to use Modric. He is 41 years old, so if you play him for 2800 minutes, his performance level will drop obviously. Either start him, and sub out at the 60th minute, or the other way around, and let him play the last 30 minutes. Magnificent from him today.
Rabiot - If Chuk didn't have a monster game, Rabiot would be the MOTM. His sub changed the game, great assist to Cisse, and he made a nice run for the Chuk cross.
Bart - He had 1 nice cross to Ramos, outside of that, a bit invisible game for him.
Salad - He came onto the pitch, and his first action was a successful press to regain posession, that eventually lead to the 2nd goal. After Njie destroyed our right side, Amorim was smart to move Salad to there to stop him, and Salad did that successfully.
Gabbia - Didn't see enough to give him a rating.
This is the way to open the season. Onto the next one, Friday night versus Venezia.