Man, the Hellas Verona-Milan game feels like it was ages ago but it was just last Friday! As has been our norm, we’ve been waiting to put out our post-match whenever possible so we could let the Serie A round complete in case there was important context to put Milan’s performance up against. Nothing happens in a vacuum and we want to account for that whenever appropriate.
So, before we do that, let us go ahead and wish everyone a happy holidays now because today is Christmas Eve for our Christian Milanisti (religious or cultural) and the start of Hanukkah is tomorrow for our Jewish (religious or cultural) Milanisti. I don’t believe we recognized any of the holidays celebrated by our Muslim Milanisti this past year, so a very belated happy holidays to you as well.
It’s easy not to forget Christmas here in the states as it’s everywhere in a country where the largest religion in Christianity, but please know our silence was not intentional. Still, we’ll be better about recognizing at least the big holidays for the other mainstream religions moving forward. So in the spirit of that, let us wish everyone peace, health, and prosperity now and as we head into 2025.
Now, onto some calcio!
We can all firmly support the idea that a win is a win and sometimes they aren’t pretty. The problem is that most of the wins over the last 4-6 weeks haven’t been pretty. While the unpretty wins in Champions League has gotten Milan within striking distance of a first round bye in the knockouts, in the league they haven’t been so lucky. So while this 1-0 win over Hellas Verona is welcomed, Milan remain in 8th place in Serie A and at best can be 7th as we turn the calendar over to 2025. Not exactly what anyone wanted.
This game had very similar vibes to the Genoa game if only slightly better. Reijnders provided better link up play as the CAM than Liberali in the previous game, as the youngster’s inexperience shined along with his raw talent. Jimenez was also better down the left than the Genoa game and maybe things would’ve fared better had Leão not gotten injured since attacking options are thin with all the injuries (I still wouldn’t want to see RLC if he was available, for what it’s worth).
Reijnders’s goal, a wonderful first-touch strike from just outside the box, was awesome to see after I mentioned wanting to see him step up in games like this and not just score goals when Milan was already ahead. He did just that and has been fantastic this season.
Not to be outshone, Fofana has been SPECTACULAR for the last 2+ months. Admittedly I didn’t know a whole lot about him before he arrived, and while I read some articles/posts about him, he’s simply been a revelation. Maybe I was expecting more Kessie than Tonali, but he’s been a wonderful combination of both. Truth be told, I’d love to see him next to Tonali and let Tonali showcase his attacking skills. Sigh. I guess I’ll have to make that happen in FIFA on the PS5. Anyway, his pass to set up the Reijnders goal was sublime and it’s about the 4th time he’s done that – a picture perfect pass – that directly led to a goal. I don’t know if he’s my team MVP to this point but he’s definitely in the conversation.
The last thing I’ll mention here is that while I like seeing Jimenez get some minutes, the benching of Theo needs to stop. I know this is getting old, it’s getting old for me too, but Fonseca keeps doing it and Milan have not looked better because of it. Milan’s offense has been stagnant and while Pulisic going down is a big part of that, you’d be lying to yourself if you think Theo’s absence hasn’t contributed as well.
The bigger issue in this game was that Fonseca buckled and put him in when Leão got injured and had to leave. If Fonseca’s plan really is to teach Theo a lesson, then keeping him benched even when it’s apparent he would help furthers that along. Much like benching him and the dropping points, Fonseca is losing the power struggle and making this whole charade pointless. This midtable-team managerial nonsense is growing tiresome.
If Fonseca’s point is to motivate Theo, then set the team up to succeed. Let him and everyone else have fun playing beautiful football and racking up some wins. There’s no better motivator than success and Theo playing gets you closer to that.
What Happened in Serie A
Atalanta (1st) continue to sit at the top of the table after a late De Ketelaere goal gave them the 3-2 win over Empoli (11th). CDK already has 10 goals and 9 assists across all competitions this season. Remember when people tried using the CDK transfer as justification for firing Maldini? Good times…
Napoli (2nd) held on to beat Genoa (13th) 2-1 and keep the second spot in the table while Inter (3rd) got a late stoppage time goal to beat Como (16th) 2-0. I wouldn’t say this game was closer than the score line, but I was expecting a 3 or 4 goal victory at home for Inter. Truth be told, these are the type of ugly wins I wish Milan was getting.
Lazio’s (4th) late 2-1 win over Lecce (14th) helped them move into sole possession of 4th after Fiorentina (5th) dropped their second-straight league game, losing 2-1 to Udinese (9th). With a Conference League draw wedged in between those loses, are we about to see a Fiorentina regression? I think it’s already happening and while I still think they’ll be fighting for a top 4 spot, I don’t think they’re as good as that hot stretch of unbeaten games would lend one to believe.
Juventus (6th) didn’t draw! They beat Monza (20th) 2-1, breaking a streak of four straight draws in league play starting with the Milan game back on November 23rd. Bologna (7th) took care of business on the road in Torino (12th), with 2 goals after the 70th minute to take home the 2-0 victory. While drawing their way to midtable status early on, Bologna have won 6 of their last 8 in the league and are playing some quality football at the moment. I know that makes Italiano fan, Lisi, happy!
Roma (10th) got a big 5-0 win against Parma (15th), who continue to just be atrocious on defense. Despite the bad loss to Como last week, Roma have won 4 of 5 across all competitions and Claudio Ranieri might be doing what many of us thought was impossible: make Roma not terrible. I obviously have no love for Roma but I have plenty for Ranieri and am always happy to see him do well.
Lastly, Venezia (19th) beat Cagliari (18th) 2-1 to get out of the last spot in the table. Venezia has 5 points in their last 3 games, nearly half of their 13 points earned this season (including a 2-2 draw at Juventus last week), so it’ll be interesting if they can keep it going. Cagliari had a 5 points-in-3-games stretch starting with that 3-3 draw with Milan on November 9th, getting has high as 13th in the table, but have lost their last 4 and are back sitting in the relegation zone.
Ok, that wraps up what happened in the league. Now onto ratings!
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 7 – Had more to do than in the Genoa game but wasn’t under assault by any means. Did all the usual stuff well, no complaints.
Goal Keeping Overall 7
Defense
ROYAL 6.5 – Was fine.
GABBIA & THIAW 7.5 – I generally want a Tomori at the back, as I like the complimentary traits, but I can’t deny how well these two are playing right now. I don’t necessarily think it’s because they’re paired together but I wouldn’t split them up right now either.
JIMENEZ 7.5 – Was really good! Now let’s put him at RB. Seriously, kid has talent and as I recently learned, he’s been spending most of his time on the Futuro at RB or RM. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR FONSECA???
Defense Overall 7.5
Midfield
FOFANA 8.5 MOTM – Can we keep him? (whispers in my ear that he’s ours) Yes! Seriously. Guy is the real deal. Reijnders is getting a lot of love right now and it’s deserved but I’m going to spend my time swooning over our new complete DM *wipes sweat from my brow and fans myself*.
TERRACCIANO 6.5 – Was very animated when he didn’t get the ball in the middle of the pitch, which I found funny (but ok, I like a guy who wants the ball). Maybe he’s a nice stop gap? I think he did more than RLC does when he’s in the double pivot, and Terracciano allowed Fofana to be more of the offensive one of the pair, something I’m growing more and more confident he can do if needed.
Midfield Overall 7.5
Forwards
CHUKWUEZE 6 – Better than against Genoa but not by much. My hopes for a breakout campaign continue to dwindle.
REIJNDERS 8 – THIS! This is what I wanted to see! Wonderful strike and was generally good about progressing the ball and helping to build when in possession. I like him better than RLC as the CAM (obviously) but his best spot might be next to Fofana, helping to build from the back and making timely runs. Still, with Pulisic out and if not Liberali, it needs to be Reijnders. Dude has been great all season.
LEÃO 6.5 – Was doing ok until the injury. Appears to be minor but word is he’s not expected to play this weekend vs Roma, with some saying he’s being saved for the bigger matchup against Juventus in the Supercoppa. I don’t know about you but the league is WAY more important and Milan need the points. I don’t want him risked if injured, but I don’t want him saved for a meaningless trophy if he’s healthy this weekend.
ABRAHAM 6.5 – Better than against Genoa but still quieter than I’d like. Some of this is because the players around him (missing some regulars due to injury) but want to see him impose himself more.
Forwards Overall 7
Subs
HERNÁNDEZ 6.5 – Came on for an injured Leão and played well I thought. One thing is bugging me but I’ll talk about it when I talk about Fonseca.
CALABRIA 6 – Was fine.
TOMORI NA – He played.
Subs Overall 6
Coaching
FONSECA 5 – Let’s start with the good: I liked Reijnders at the CAM, Terracciano in the double pivot was interesting but I thought it worked, and overall the team looked better than against Genoa. And Milan brought home all 3 points!
The bad: of course I hate the Theo benching and think it’s pointless and is only hurting himself and Milan, but I HATE seeing the fullbacks making runs down the center of the pitch and I hate seeing Leão doing the same. I get that he wants movement, is mixing up the point of reference, and wants to drag defenders out of position, but is that tradeoff worth it when doing so puts your most talented players at a disadvantage by not playing to their strengths? He’s been doing this all season but it seems to have ramped up in frequency of late.
All of this has corresponded to, yes, giving up fewer goals the last month, but it has also corresponded to an offense lacking more and more bite. I personally think the improvement on the defensive side has been more balance in attacking (not getting quite as high up the pitch all the time) and the CB pairing working, than all of this inverting the fullbacks and running Leão down the middle of the pitch. If you’re of the opinion that the inverting has shored up the spine, I would argue there are better ways to do that that don’t hamper your best offensive players. If your wide players are better wide, then keep them there.
As with many things, Fonseca likes to make things harder than they need to be. Don’t have pissing contests with the players you need to win and don’t square peg/round hole if you can help it. Sigh…
Final Thoughts
Ok, that about wraps it up. Some good things in this win, some not so good things, but Fonseca continues to buy himself more time to convince everyone he is the right guy for the job. I’m on the side of the fence that he’s not but I’m not ready to burn effigies…yet.
Next up: Roma on Sunday.
In the meantime, let’s chat down in the comment section and have a safe and enjoyable holiday season!
Forza Milan.
gillis
