Is there anything more frustrating than losing to these guys? Doesn’t really matter how. Just…ugh.
Lots to digest in this match since it had lots of underlining conditions heading into the match (injuries, suspensions), which were then only piled on with what happened during the match. So, let’s do a quick ratings and then Lisi and I will share some thoughts at the bottom.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MIRANTE 7 Solid game. Probably should’ve played last season when Maignan was out (but that’s different conversation). Was aggressive in his box and generally made the right decisions. That deflected goal was bullsh*t
Goal Keeping Overall: 7
Defense
FLORENZI 6.3 Was out of position a few times and his lack of speed was apparent more than once while tracking back
TOMORI 7 Best of the backline and continues his good form. Was everywhere he could possibly be and is back to being the anchor in defense. Don’t know if there’s anything else to say
THIAW 3 Can’t do that. Just can’t. Cannot take a red like that in a 0-0 game. Let him go if need be with more than a half left of football still to play. More on this below as this was obviously the turning point in the match
CALABRIA 6.8 Wasn’t great getting forward but didn’t get forward a whole lot (although more than in recent games). Solid defensively for the most part
Defense Overall: 6 Thiaw obviously bringing this score down as the rest were pretty good
Midfield
REIJNDERS 6.6 Covered a lot of ground and had a decent shot on goal. There’s been some speculation about his defensive duties and if he’s not providing cover at times. Needs to find that balance and hopefully that will come with time
ADLI 6.8 No complaints if I’m being honest. His defense, while still subpar, is getting better. Earning his place or at least fighting for a spot even when everyone is healthy
MUSAH 6 Seemed disconnected going forward but was ok in defense. Ran a ton
Midfield Overall: 6.3 Crowded out by Juventus’s midfield, most of the attack went down the flanks. Played well after going down a man all things considered. Still, could’ve done more before the sending off, both getting involved in the attack and helping in defense
Forwards
LEÃO 7.3 Best Milan player on the pitch. Wasn’t perfect but anything that was dangerous and difficult for Juventus to deal with came from him
GIROUD 6.4 Damn near scored on a wonderful settle-and-fire sequence. Ended up being Milan’s best chance on the day
PULISIC 6 Had more energy than his last after-international-break start but still wasn’t very good. Then, got subbed off after going down a man and wasn’t happy, so that was good. Like seeing some fire in Milan player’s bellies
Forwards Overall: 6.3 With everything coming down the flanks before Thiaw got sent off, it was really the Leão show and he damn near got an assist on Giroud’s attempt. Then, once down to 10 men it was mostly trying to counter with 10 men and that was always a tall order
Subs
KALULU 6.7 Came in after Thiaw’s red and for not playing in over a month actually looked ok. Going to need him going forward, and not just vs Napoli next weekend
KRUNIC 5.5 Not good at all. Yes, the deflection off of him for the lone goal was bad luck but did you see the rest of it? Looked slow and his passing looked like a 6yr old playing FIFA for the first time
JOVIC 6 Was fine
KJÆR 6.2 Sitting back suits him better at this stage so no complaints from me
ROMERO NA Not going to rate him since he came on about the 80th minute and Milan were down a man. Guess we’ll have to wait until next game to get a decent look at him
Subs Overall: 6 Coming in after the red and to only give up a deflected goal…maybe this should be higher but I’ll it at a 6…maybe a 6.3
Coaching
PIOLI 5 Getting this high of a grade because they only gave up one deflected goal despite being down a man. That’s actually pretty good vs another top 4 team. But he’s getting this low of a grade because of his tactical decisions based on who he had available. Better discretion on when to go all-out and attack and how and when to provide some defensive protection was his biggest flaw in this game. I’ll talk more about the ramifications below
Final Thoughts
Before I give you my final thoughts, I was curious about what Lisi thought and asked him to share. Here’s what he had to say:
I thought for the most part the backline and especially Mirante did well. Mirante did a very good Maignan impression controlling and distributing. Florenzi did well enough and I thought Calabria did a good job on Kostic. Tomori was great. As you mentioned (*we were texting about the game*) Thiaw gets in troubled when isolated and too far way from goal. Once he is out of his comfort zone he is in trouble and does silly things. He has to realize when he is in those spots everyone else knows this and is reacting accordingly. He’s not all alone.
I thought Adli and Musah were excellent together. I also thought Reijnders did a good job holding and distributing.
My only complaint up top was we are getting a little too left handed. I really like the action we get when Pulisic gets time on the ball. The off ball runs by Giroud and Leao are superb. Same with Calabria and Reijnders jumping in. That being said if we get that goal via Girouds flick or the Pulisc tap in this game is a win.
But it wasn’t. A 0-0 tie was fine for everyone. Pioli SHOULD have waited longer to sub in my opinion. His habit though over the years has been to make changes at 60 minutes. He was really the first to adopt that strategy and it has served him well over the years. This time though I thought it was too soon and a bad idea. Adli and Musah were doing really well. Adli sits and Musah is the box to box killer. Also, they’ve grown to know each other the last few weeks with Krunic out. So, you bring in a less than sharp Krunic to play a double pivot with a guy he doesn’t know well? Ugh. You told Max way too soon you were settling for a draw BUT you were down to 10 man. Normally Max would have obliged. Instead they took some chances and got lucky.
It’s really just 1 point lost in my mind (the difference between a draw and a loss), but it still sucks. Once they went up 1-0 my mind was already on PSG.
Right now it’s the more important game.
Thanks, Lisi!
I’ll keep my piece here shorter as Lisi sums up things well. The main one for me is that Pioli continues to make tactical decisions apparently without concern for the players he will have at his disposal. If he wants to try and force a game plan despite not having the right pieces vs a Hellas Verona, cool, have at it. It’s a risk, a calculated one with still decent odds, but the talent difference can usually overcome any tactical miscalculations. But that difference shrinks vs the better squads and there is less margin for error. This is most profound for the defense, especially at CB because Pioli loves to play that very high line.
The Tomori-Kalulu pairing worked so well during the Scudetto season because of their speed and ability to read the game. They read those long balls over the top and made the right decision on whether to fight for the ball, whether to step in front, or whether to allow possession but to stay between the opponent and Maignan and buy time for teammates to track back. Tomori has been great at doing this again this season but Thiaw is making clumsy decisions and they’re having a catastrophic effect on the game. Thiaw’s big mistake in the Inter and Juve games was trying to play the body of the opponent and not the ball, thinking if he could keep them off the ball then he could buy time for his teammates. Thuram and Kean read this, used his momentum against him, and we know the result.
This will be a crucial time for Thiaw and I hope he’ll successfully make the appropriate changes. With so few days between the Juventus game and PSG midweek, I don’t know what Pioli will be able to accomplish during this time. Hopefully this means Kalulu plays vs PSG and again vs Napoli this weekend (he won’t have Thiaw for this so that ups the odds). Kalulu looked good in his return to action vs Juve so I’m cautiously optimistic.
Next up is PSG on Wednesday.
Forza Milan
gillis
