Well that was deflating. Ok, maybe not deflating because the game didn’t matter for Milan but still, you don’t like to see your team play sloppy or get overrun and that’s largely what happened the first 45 minutes.
In the matchday post I said I expected Milan to come out aggressive and it appeared they tried to out the gates. Torino, to their credit, sat back like they normally do but were REALLY aggressive on the counter. What do I mean by that? It means when they won back the ball they got 3-4-5 bodies bombing forward and quickly outnumbered Milan’s CBs. Often when we see teams sit back against Milan they mostly only get one guy – the CF – up the pitch and it’s easily dealt with. That’s not what happened in this game.
Milan quickly and routinely found themselves scrambling and when that happens, miscommunications happen. For the first goal, with Torino countering, Zapata got between Thiaw and Tomori and nobody closed down on Rodriguez. A beautifully-struck ball banged into the box and an easy header and Milan was down a goal.
The second goal was much the same as Torino won back the ball after a TERRIBLE gamble by Bennacer in the middle of the pitch, essentially gifting a breakaway to Torino. I initially thought Kalulu followed his man and left the back post open but he was covering in transition down the middle and Tomori had the back post. I’m not necessarily saying Tomori was to blame but no communication and the second goal was even easier than the first as Ilic headed it home unmarked. Then Pony-tail Ricardo Rodriguez had a wondergoal just after halftime and Milan was down 3-0.
Milan did get a goal after Pulisic was dragged down in the box, Bennacer converted the penalty kick, but it was too little, too late. This would’ve been a terrible way to end a disappointing but ultimately successful 2nd place league campaign. Milan, however, will have a chance to end the season this Saturday on a higher note with the regulated Salernitana coming to the San Siro. This will also be Giroud’s final Milan game and a proper send off will hopefully be in the cards.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, there are rumors that Pioli was going to be told today or tomorrow that Milan is going to move on from him so he can have a proper send off but as of the time of this writing that announcement has yet to occur. I’m still somewhat skeptical that Pioli is going to get fired but these last 6-7 weeks haven’t done him any favors. I wouldn’t bet on him staying even if I don’t think his potential firing is a sure thing.
Before we get to ratings let’s check in with the league table. Atalanta has secured the 5th Champions League spot as they own the head-to-head vs Roma and are up 3 points (and have a game in hand). In fact, Atalanta could potentially finish as high as 3rd as 3-4-5 in the table are only separated by 2 points.
Roma and Lazio are firmly in the Europa League spots but Fiorentina are only 1 point clear of Torino for the Conference League spot, although they do have a game in hand. Napoli have a slim chance at the Conference League spot as well but either way they are going down as the worst title defenders in Serie A history. With a fanbase as insufferable as they were last season, they deserve every bit of that record.
Finally, relegation. Cagliari is assured survival and Claudio Reneri had a beautiful moment celebrating with the team he essentially started his coaching career with with back in the late 1980s, guiding them to back to back promotions into Serie A (the welcome back home was awesome for Cagliari as well).
Sassuolo joined Salernitana in being relegated to Serie B, the first time in 11 years for them. This should make all Milan fans happy as Sassuolo had a knack for beating Milan when they probably shouldn’t have (Inter had that same problem with them this season!). As for the final relegation spot, that’s currently owned by Empoli but Frosinone (up 2 points) and Udinese (up 1 point) are right there. In fact, Frosinone hosts Udinese for the final match day and it’s what I’ll be watching this Sunday.
Here’s how the bottom of the table looks:
16. Frosinone – 35pts (-24 GD)
17. Udinese – 34pts (-17 GD)
18. Empoli – 33pts (-26 GD)
19. Sassuolo – 29pts (-32 GD)
20. Salernitana – 16pts (-49 GD)
Between some final table positioning and the Conference League and the final relegation spot still not determined, should be a fun final league round of the season.
Now let’s get to ratings…
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
SPORTIELLO 6 – I’m not going to punish Sportiello too much since I don’t think any of the goals were particularly savable. Still, doesn’t look good when you give up 3 on the board
Goal Keeping Overall 6
Defense
TERRACCIANO 5.5 – I liked his pace but not much else
TOMORI 5.5 – Takes 50% of the blame on the first Torino goal. Would’ve liked to have seen a little more leadership out of him after that second goal…maybe gather the guys together and get them focused
THIAW 6 – Takes 50% of the Zapata header but wasn’t terrible otherwise…for the most part
KALULU 6 – Big dropoff from the previous game. Didn’t see hardly any of the overlapping runs I loved last week
Defense Overall 5.7
Midfield
REIJNDERS 6.5 – Industrious but very little presence in the final 3rd
BENNACER 6.5 – The goal raised this by a point so you can see how poor I thought he played. Lots of backwards passing and that god-awful challenge that sprung Torino for the 2nd goal. He really hung his teammates out to dry on that
MUSAH 6.5 – Like Reijnders, very industrious. Probably should have provided more in defense, particularly in transition. This is where Milan missed a Saelemaekers-type-of-game
Midfield Overall 6.5
Forwards
OKAFOR 6.5 – Was somewhat absent in attack and the one really good opportunity he had he sent it high and wide
JOVIC 6.5 – I actually thought he did well. Had a couple of really nice passes to progress play and had one that was tasty to spring a counter that Okafor ended up wasting
PULISIC 7 – Probably the best of the outfield players who started the game. Had a good chance with his head and missed but did end up drawing the foul that resulted in the penalty kick for Milan’s only goal for the game
Forwards Overall 6.8
Subs
LEÃO 6.5 – Back-to-back games off the bench as Pioli is trying to rest him, Theo, and Giroud with the Euros coming up. Did well to spark some offense
FLORENZI 7 – Immediate upgrade over Terracciano
GIROUD 6 – Didn’t do much in about 15 minutes of game time. Also wasn’t really given service
POBEGA 6 – Another substitute appearance and did ok. I do love how he gets forward
Subs Overall 6.5
Coaching
PIOLI 6.5 – Lots of 6.5s today…
I didn’t mind the squad selection or the approach. Nor did the team come out flat like they did vs Juventus. In the end I think Juric and Torino caught him somewhat off-guard with how aggressive they countered and then Rodriguez’s wondergoal put the game to bed.
One thing to note: he could VERY much use Leão, Theo, and Giroud out there to help end the season with some wins and help him potentially save his job despite there not being anything left to play for. But he’s not doing that. He’s trying to rest his guys who have important obligations this summer for the Euros and trying to help them return to Milan in late July not being completely wiped and exhausted. Maybe that helps himself or maybe he knows he’s out the door and he’s trying to do right by those players and the next coach. Either way, a selfless move by a classy individual.
Grazie, Pioli
Final Thoughts
Alright, that about wraps it up but one final thing I wanted to mention: Inter’s owner, Suning, has a €400m payment due to Oaktree by tomorrow. All signs are pointing to Oaktree taking over like Elliott did with Milan when Li Yonghong defaulted, although Inter’s situation is far more precarious. I posted this in the comment section in the last post but it’s worth reading in full.
I’ve said this a million times here: I don’t want to win the way Inter has and I obviously don’t want Milan to cheat like Juve has and seems to always do. This factors into what I want to see Milan do in the market, who they select to coach them, and everything in-between. European football is changing and if you want to know where it’s heading, look at the American sports model. There are differences from one sport to the next but the theme is clear: constrained spending of the biggest clubs to level the playing field for fair sporting competition. Best to brush up…
Forza Milan
gillis
