The 2023-24 season finally started for Milan and they came out guns-a-blazin’! I’ll talk about a few things I noticed, mostly good but a few things that need pointing out. But first, player ratings…let’s go!
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 8 Was very busy with Bologna getting 17 shots off during the game and netting 5 saves on the night. Still, already looked in midseason form
Goal Keeping Overall: 8
Defense
HERNÁNDEZ 6.6 Kind of sluggish in both aspects of the game. Had a few good runs getting forward but either lacked the final ball or held onto it too long
TOMORI 6.8 Tomori was…decent. Had a few moments where it looked like he was just wondering around, which he is sometimes want to do, but had some nice recoveries too
THIAW 7.5 Best Milan defender on the pitch. Like Tomori, had a moment or two out of position but has the size and quickness to make up for it in most cases. Still, I’d like to see that get cleaned up and fast
CALABRIA 6.3 Ugh. I’ll talk about him more below
Defense Overall: 6.8 Not everything was on them when it came to allowing Bologna the space to get off those 17 shots, and with Milan having a early 2-0 lead that meant they would likely get a pressing Bologna for most of the game. Still, the Calabria issue and some overall sloppiness was still very evident and they’re probably lucky not to concede during the game
Midfield
REIJNDERS 7.7 Really good debut for the Dutch kid. Showed flashes of that playmaking ability and is really aggressive getting forward. Good decision making and vision means he can be that playmaker needed in the midfield, something I’ve shared my concern about all summer (in general, not necessarily about him)
KRUNIC 7 Solid game for Krunic. Strangely, I saw a lot of hate for him online and I don’t get it. He stayed back, which I LOVED since I hate when he gets forward, and did his best to break up play and help protect the backline that was scrambling at times. Job done? Check
LOFTUS-CHECK 6.6 Stayed further back than I think most of us thought he would but that had to do a lot with what Reijnders was doing and where he was positioned. Wasn’t bad by any means but definitely didn’t impact the game the way we know he can
Midfield Overall: 7 The new additions played well and Reijnders definitely showed why there’s the hype out there for him. But…not everything was peachy. I’ll dive into this a little more below
Forwards
LEÃO 6.6 Was the worst of the forwards on the day. Still, almost scored near the end with one of his trademark feign one direction, slide it to his other foot and firing a missile. One last thing: Leão isn’t as good roaming around the pitch. It just doesn’t play to his strengths. He needs to stay wide on the left and get into space and isolation situations. Hopefully he’ll realize with the squad improvement he doesn’t need to do everything
GIROUD 8.5 Co-MOTM I think the old man has a little bit left in the tank. Wonderful goal from a tight angle and a lovely give and go to assist on Pulisic’s goal. Great night and great start of the season for the big man
PULISIC 8.5 Co-MOTM Captain America is in the house! For those of you who weren’t very familiar with him, you can see why there was enthusiasm around his signing. Clearly not just some overhyped American, a lot of the offense was going through him, especially early. He displayed his vision by hockey-assisting on Giroud’s goal and had lovely strike from a tight space just outside of the box. Great debut
Forwards Overall: 7.7 We have a right winger, folks! After years of inadequacy there’s some balance in the attack and I think we all saw how much better and more dangerous Milan is going to be. As I mentioned in the matchday chat, opponents are going to have to start picking their poison when deciding how to stop Milan
Subs
KALULU 6.4 Only 0.1 higher than Calabria but I refuse to rate him lower
POBEGA 6.6 Clearly looked more comfortable in a mezzala role and while he likely won’t play much this season, I think he is serviceable when needed
OKAFOR 6 Came in and didn’t do much. Coming back from injury didn’t help nor was very little preseason with the team. He’ll be ok, though
CHUKWUEZE 6.3 He wasn’t able to do much since Milan was more and less sitting back when he came on. Still, you could see the quickness and the different characteristics compared to Pulisic he possesses. Can’t wait to see what he can do from the start
KJÆR NA
Subs Overall: 6.3 Not much to do except hold onto the lead and they did enough to do that
Coaching
PIOLI 8 I’m giving him an 8 not because of some tactical masterstroke, but because he got a bunch of new players to gel enough to come out of the gates firing. Not everything was perfect, some tactical decisions worked and some didn’t, but a tip of the hat to the man in charge.
With so many new pieces, every 3 points they can earn these first 2 months of league play will go a long way towards contending for the Scudetto
Final Thoughts
All 3points? Check. Clean sheet? Check. New guys getting comfortable and contributing? Check. On the surface…and the scoreboard…everything looks great. There are a couple of things I’d like to point out, not to make some grand statement like it’s the end-all/be-all, but some things I noticed that I feel will need to get better moving forward.
The first, because it makes my blood boil, is seeing Calabria out there time and again no matter how much he negatively affects the rest of the team. I mentioned this in the matchday post but within the first, what, 5 minutes, Bologna fired off a shot from his side that Maignan barely got a finger on and forced it off the crossbar.
All game the backline, RLC and Krunic needed to cover for him and still 44% of Bologna’s attack came down Calabria’s side still, including 8 of their 17 shots, and all 4 of their crosses into the box. Bologna knew where the weak link was in the Milan defense and attacked it all game. I recommend you check out the shot charts and heat maps wherever you get your sports stats/data (I usually check out the Serie A Matchday website and/or WhoScored?). Final point here: Kalulu needs to start. His speed and quickness are a better fit with Pioli’s system and, honestly, he’s just better.
The other issue that contributed to Bologna firing off 17 shots was the spacing between the midfield and the backline. This probably isn’t too surprising since there’s 2 new starting midfielders and they need time to gel, but I think it was a little more than that.
Reijnders was playing centrally and really advanced for most of the game. I really like that about him but I don’t know if that’s where he should be in a 4-3-3 playing as a mezzala. For much of the game it looked like they were in the 4-2-3-1, with or without the ball. I know formations change and morph throughout the game, especially depending if the team has the ball, but the problem was the gap between him and the RLC and Krunic was too great and Bologna did well to exploit that all game. This will continue to be a problem unless Reijnders stays wider and/or RLC and Krunic move up. Again, I would recommend looking at the positioning and heat maps to get a sense of how the formation played out in a meaningful match.
One last thing on formation: Reijnders looked really good and with his apparent preference to sit centrally and higher up the pitch I think the 4-2-3-1 makes even more sense. Him and Pulisic can share the CAM position, taking turns playing there when one of them needs a rest or when Chukwueze’s skillset is a better play at RW. They can also swap positions at times during games to change up the point of reference for the opponent. Reijnder’s showed why the hype around him is warranted and Pulisic showed why many of us say he needs to find a way to stay on the pitch because he’s simply a playmaker.
There’s lots of combinations Pioli can play with here and tactically flexibility is a must with the long season and high aspirations in Europe. The sooner Pioli figures these things out, the better. Regardless, things are looking up for this Milan.
Next up: Torino this Saturday for Milan’s home opener. Can’t wait…
Forza Milan
gillis
