The Rumour Commode XLI: Ragnarok

[Tantalis]

?
have you watched real-city? have you watched the images being posted here on who contained haaland?

i saw, tomorrow will prove if containment can be sustained.

 

[danilo1899]

If Pioli didn't have his January-panic of the 343 but instead went against Spurs with his 424, we would have lost to Spurs, and the game would have looked somewhat similar to the way it did against Inter--maybe not as bad, as having Leao fundamentally changes the way a team lines up against you, etc, but still... Pioli resisted the idea of falling into Conte's trap, but for some reason... against Inter, he did the exact opposite. I don't fucking get it.

The game-plan to beat Inter and Inzaghi was laid out against Spurs--which he only went to out-of-desperation, not out of some smart tactical tweak.

Against teams like Napoli, who play 433 and straight-up attack, we can tear them to shreds.

Pioli is struggling to match a 352 because he still is wedded to the idea of a SS in his 4231 (424) against a 352, and not only does he leave his midfield exposed, but none of our attackers know how to pass, which means that they dribble to create, force the issue, and try to use counter-pressing to create opportunities. Well, he's exhausted most of his players since he relies on the same 13 players, but expects them to play an up-tempo style to win games without an attacking strategy... Tonali exceeded his total minutes from the entirety of last season several games ago, it's insane.

It is not about Kessie, nor do I think we lost to Inter because we didn't want to play physical--I think the team tried hard, but the plan was so bad, that it doesn't matter how hard you try, if your tactics are off, it's not going to be about desire. Inter was baiting us into pressing them and then they hit us on the break, or when we attacked, they would hit us during transitions. The exact sort of shit that Conte and Spurs wanted to do--and Pioli fucking fell for it. This wasn't a new wrinkle in Inter's setup, this is... what they do, they've always done.

After we conceded the first goal, a bad early goal to concede on a set-piece, Pioli didn't tell his team to relax, calm down, keep it tight, be patient. No, the team acted like if they didn't attack and score to respond immediately, that they would be automatically lose--this opened them up and Inter scored a second, and then they got even more desperate, which was made worse because the tactical setup was not there to play Inter. When teams don't have to worry about the one-two punch of Leao and Theo, the games look very different, yes, but Jesus Christ Pioli--what were you thinking?

How many times have Real been outplayed by their opponents in the first half of games? Or for 90% of games? But they keep it tight, if they concede first, they don't freak out and make themselves even more vulnerable. No, they ride out the pressure, don't panic, and wait for their moment.

Milan did this against Spurs. Milan has done this before. Pioli has done this before. But Pioli has consistently done the wrong shit. The only time in 2023 that I saw Pioli show the tactical know-how that won me over from 21/22 was against Napoli. That's it. All three games? Wonderful job from Pioli. Truly.

Against Spurs? I would have put that in a similar category, but... I look back and think... this guy just accidentally got his tactics right out-of-fear, at least that is what it looks like. And the biggest reason I think that is... you didn't have Leao against Inter and you fucking... you didn't learn you fucking lesson?

You guys can talk about transfers until the end of times, but the tactical mistakes and simplification of our attacking patterns of play (they aren't even patterns, they're just "hey Brahim Leao, dribble!") cannot mask the fact that Pioli has ideas that don't work, because he's stuck to a 424 in the face of blowouts and has looked at tactics that have worked and refused to reuse them, without reason.

Pioli has either shown that he can't handle a club the size of Milan when there is actual pressure and expectations, or that what has worked during his tenure at Milan has went against his ultimate ideas (the 424) and that his fundamental desire for a 424 is the larger problem, because he clearly doesn't have the players for it, and so why not adjust? He has refused to admit defeat, and worse yet, he's being arrogant not about some intricate style like Zeman, no, he wants to play bully ball with players he's run into the ground.

Napoli are a much better team than Inter, but Pioli used tactics to blow them away. 6-1 over three games is no fluke. Tactics could have let a weakened Milan team grind out a 0-0 or a 1-0 loss, that would've been fine, but Pioli played Inter like he had some point to prove. Why? Everyone moaned about Milan-Spurs being boring. Who gives a shit? This is a semi-final. You're not Sacchi, you haven't implemented some revolutionary style that will echo for generations... you're here to win and you don't even have your best attacking player, what the fuck are you doing?

Cry about transfers all you want, go ahead, but when you have a coach who refuses to use the tools you give him properly or worse yet, doesn't have a fucking plan, it doesn't matter how many players you have, look at Chelsea.

Pioli has to bear the brunt of the blame here, and the only reason I'd hesitate in firing him is because of how strong his relationship is with these players, who are still really young--but I think Pioli has shown that he's not Steve Kerr, he's Mark Jackson, and that's unfortunate.

Hall of fame post. Make it happen mods.

 

[Alo88]

Always brother. Process this defeat. This is also part of being a fan. We won 2 Euroderbies against them. They have 1. Can’t win them all.

That's the sport. As blunt as it sounds, but winning is as much part of the game - part of the experience - as loosing. We've won a lot in the last two years, we celebrated our 19th Scudetto and a CL Semifinal. Two years ago all of this seemed an utopia. But here we were. And now we lost, it hurts badly, and I can't wait for this season to finally end. But it's a part of the sport no one can avoid and better times will come.

Let's hope Maldini and the management will recognize what went wrong this season and draw the right conclusions while taking the necessary measures. Yes, this may be pure copium, but still: sometimes you have to make one step backwards to make two forwards. If our most recent history isn't proof of how truth this saying is I don't know what is.

Sempre Forza Milan, onwards and upwards!

 

[ibelongtomilan]

The silver lining is we wont go down as a team which lose 6 or 7-0 in the CL final. Can't imagine this team playing against Real or especially Pep’s City. Leave that embarrassing for Merda

 

[rossonero1]

Maldini to Sky on the market and #DeKetelaere: “De Ketelaere is an example of players who need to grow, it's normal. It would have been much easier and much less expensive for us to go on a player like #Dybala at the beginning of the year. But would it have been a right purchase for our project? Would that have been fair and shared by the property? No. We know we have an idea and we have the will to build a young and talented team"

Let’s build a young and talented team but let’s give it to a coach who doesn’t play any of them.

 

[Forza AC Milan]

“Argue” that Theo is better than Di Marco

Actually Di Marco has 6 goals and 9 assists this season compared to Theo with 4 goals and 5 assists despite playing 600 minutes more than Di Marco.

You can ignore the stats, facts and figures and say Theo is better which is fair ( I would say that too) but my point is it’s a fair case to make even if the stats favor Di Marco because Theo plays as LB not LWB but it’s not because this season Theo has scored or assisted more than him.

Our fans need to snap out of this inexplicable delusion fast

 

[voom]

Pioli can't stay. He can't make younger players believe in themselves ,when he is on low confidence. When someone start to get on your nerves ,you cut the tie .Let's hope there will come a coach who can wake up players like CDK and Adli. These players need a new coach better coach.

 

[rossonero1]

Marotta has now made 3 CL finals and an Europa League final in the last 10 years. No win yet though.

 

[milanazkals]

We wont progress with a shit coach like Pioli. I already accepted that fact. We need a coach who has defined attacking ideas. This Pioli-coached team can’t beat a 10-man team. No way we will reach our peak with this fraud.

 

[MilanBG]

Are you guys back to reality or still up Pioli's ass?

 

[Ash]

So long for the so called youth project

Literally every player has regressed this season.

Good teams usually build from a solid foundation.

But nope l, not Milan. We love banter players too much.

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[MilanBG]

This year
4 games against merda
4 losses
4 clean sheets for them
Aggregate score 7-0

But yes, Pioli>Conte

 

[iamditi]

Stefano Pioli furious with Simon Kjaer. The Dane had been called up to replace Malick Thiaw, who had muscle fatigue, but was delayed in warming up and taking off his shirt.
Pioli returned him to the bench and activated Kalulu

I dont know if this is true but if it is then sell him he should be example for everyone, not acting like a kid.

 

[Cloren]

 

[Ash]

When you realize if Inter wins the UCL, 5th place becomes a UCL spot

Yeah nah it doesnt if they finish in the cl spots

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[abritcemeng]

Let’s build a young and talented team but let’s give it to a coach who doesn’t play any of them.

Next mercato will be busy
MMM will buy 5 young talented players
Next season Pioli will permabench 2 of them, eventually give chances another 2 after other players injured, give Remaining 1 a start, he plays good, but then bench him for no reason

 

[Curupira]

Stefano Pioli furious with Simon Kjaer. The Dane had been called up to replace Malick Thiaw, who had muscle fatigue, but was delayed in warming up and taking off his shirt.
Pioli returned him to the bench and activated Kalulu

I dont know if this is true but if it is then sell him he should be example for everyone, not acting like a kid.

Kjær needs to fuck all the way off.

The fact that the likes of him are having little bitch fits about "not playing enough" shows where we are in the player's heads.

Still a long way back to the top.

 

[Milan10]

I think what bothers me the most is that it feels like we didn’t try anything different tonight.

IMO after missing 2 huge chances in the first half, the squad felt defeated. We didn’t have any meaningful fight in the second half.

 

[Curupira]

I think what bothers me the most is that it feels like we didn’t try anything different tonight.

IMO after missing 2 huge chances in the first half, the squad felt defeated. We didn’t have any meaningful fight in the second half.

well in Pioli's defense, we had 2 chances last game. If we buried them, we'd be 2-2.

Trying something new means risking worse results which means tie would have been over earlier

 

[Cloren]

Stefano Pioli furious with Simon Kjaer. The Dane had been called up to replace Malick Thiaw, who had muscle fatigue, but was delayed in warming up and taking off his shirt.
Pioli returned him to the bench and activated Kalulu

I dont know if this is true but if it is then sell him he should be example for everyone, not acting like a kid.

I think it’s true. Kjaer was first to come out wasn’t he? And then Kalulu was brought on instead.

There is a lot of rumours about Kjaer lately about his behaviour, rumours don’t come up with fire.

Sell. Can’t have a veteran acting like this. He’s not Nesta or Maldini to be acting like this. As a fan of Kjaer, I’m disappointed.

 

[sabeni]

Pioli escape januari fiasco with 352, why not now?

 

[Curupira]

Pioli escape januari fiasco with 352, why not now?

Bc 3-5-2 got "found out" too

 

[Cloren]

9 am here

Went to class today with 3 hours of sleep. Zero motivation to do anything today.

Jealous to those that can actually sleep right now

 

[MilanBG]

Pioli escape januari fiasco with 352, why not now?

Now? There's nothing to play anymore. The bald fuck turned the champions of Italy into the world's most clueless team and we may end up in the Conference league as a result.

 

[Tantalis]

9 am here

Went to class today with 3 hours of sleep. Zero motivation to do anything today.

Jealous to those that can actually sleep right now

you could party

 

[Curupira]

Now? There's nothing to play anymore. The bald fuck turned the champions of Italy into the world's most clueless team and we may end up in the Conference league as a result.

Not entirely true. We still need to try our best in case Juve’s case yields favorable results for us (not likely, but still can’t just give up)

 

[Soldier_of_god]

Martinez/Barella/Bastioni are at that level easily. You’re being biased if you think otherwise.

Out attack is just Leao. They have Dzeko, Martinez and Lukaku who can make a difference. It’s not close. Their attack is better.

I believe Pioli was naive in the first leg and underestimated Inter (I don’t know why. They already beat us twice in a row). He should have approach that game the same way he approached the Spurs and Napoli games. Sit back and hit them on the counter.
And I agree Inzaghi out-coached him BUT they also have a better team overall.

100%. They have a better attack overall.

 

[Milan10]

well in Pioli's defense, we had 2 chances last game. If we buried them, we'd be 2-2.

Trying something new means risking worse results which means tie would have been over earlier

Yeah, but it (1st let) could have easily finished 5-2, we did create 2 great chances. If either goes in tonight, we are having a different conversation.

Entire season encapsulated over 2 legs… poor defending, midfield overrun, poor finishing, low chance creation.

 

[Cloren]

you could party

I have a job interview at 2 pm later lol

 

[Nestafan]

I take back what I said, he really wasn’t mocking us then.

In the SuperCup he made a provocative comment saying Inter ‘ate’ us but this time he kept it classy. Fair dues, can respect that and tbf he gets abused daily by Milan fans, so he could easily been a dick.

He's got to expect shit from us Milan fans when he refused to renew and then just moved to Inter. Put I'll tip my hat to him for not rubbing it in. Maybe he has matured a bit.