Conceição’s Milan is never going to lose! Ok, they probably will but what a gritty come-from-behind win over Juventus for his first win in his first game. There were some good signs and not so good signs in this game and we’ll do our best to put everything in the proper context. But a win over Juventus is to always be savored, so we’ll do that too before the Supercoppa Italia final on Monday vs…Inter. Oye, a rogue’s gallery of opponents to start the Conceição era.
Let’s start with the first half…a very bad and ugly first half. Conceição came out in a 4-3-3 with Tomori in for Gabbia, Theo starting at LB, and Bennacer starting in the midfield 3 along with Fofana and Reijnders. Jimenez worked at LW while Milan welcomed back Pulisic, who started at RW with Morata in the middle. This turned out to not be the best formation or the squad selection as Milan looked toothless in attack. To make matters worse, Juventus Samuel Mbangula made a run with Fofana draped on him and delivered a nice pass, catching Theo in no-man’s land, and Kenan Yildiz hit a rocket into the top right corner.
Overall though, the problem mostly fell on a midfield that didn’t look right. Milan kept trying to build through Bennacer (or Juventus was trying to take away Fofana and Reijnders) and Bennacer just wasn’t the spark Milan needed. He’d carry the ball well but didn’t do much with it when he did. Lots of horizontal and backwards passing. Reijnders was invisible and Fofana was mostly doing defensive work. I know Bennacer is still returning from injury but Milan can’t rely on him to be the one to build out from the back moving forward. If fact, he’s the last of those 3 midfielders I’d want to build through. His runs with the ball can be useful but mostly when the opponent leaves him unmarked.
The forwards didn’t do much, with only Jimenez getting into a dangerous position a couple of times but each cross found no one on the end of it and the attacks fizzled out. It was a poor first half and start to the second, only resolved when Conceição made substitutions.
While all the substitutions helped, it was the first one, Musah in for Bennacer, that really sparked Milan. Not only did the characteristics of the team change, but the game plan appeared to get more vertical and took advantage of the high line Juventus was playing. From that point on, it was mostly Juventus on their heels for the remaining 35-40 minutes. Whether coming from a long Maignan pass or some nice link up play or even a Theo run, Milan finally started to get into dangerous positions.
In fact, it was a Maignan long ball to Theo down the left, who received it and started to make a run in the box, was dispossessed, and Pulisic beating a lunging Locatelli to earn the penalty in the box (a late Locatelli challenge?! That never happens, right?…). He would smash home a bullet right down the center of the goal. Just like that, Milan was back in it.
About 4 minutes later it was a 20 yard vertical pass to Morata who had a wonderful vertical flick to Musah behind the defense, Musah tracked it down, fired in a cross and after a fortuitous deflection off of Gatti it went past a Di Gregorio off his line and into the back of the net. A couple of defensive subs, including a glorious block by Gabbia, and Milan closed out the 2-1 win.
As mentioned earlier, not everything was perfect. When I watched the Juventus goal again, it was more quality and less Theo messing up but Theo still needs to be better there and get his positioning where it needs to be. Theo also whiffed on a ball right in front of goal, and while the ball was poorly cleared and had wicked English on it as it found its way to Theo and was difficult to hit first-time, we expect Theo to find a way to bang that home because we know he can. I know I wanted to see him bounce back with the coaching change, and he did, but he needs to keep working and I think he will now that the environment has changed (not saying he wouldn’t work hard with Fonseca, I mean finding joy in playing again can provide the spark a player needs to regain form).
Speaking of environment, in the picture above, Bennacer gathered up the team afterwards for a pep talk. It was a motivating speech and I think points to the way the team felt under Fonseca. The team has some fire again and even the Pioli visit the day before the game surely helped lift spirits (the quote in the link was also telling).
One last thing I wanted to point out with regards to the team mood and the coaching change, while Conceição definitely has an intensity to him, one Fonseca lacked, Conceição also has a camaraderie vibe to him, something Fonseca also lacked. Things like bringing the players for 1 on 1 meetings during his first week but also how he went and stood next to Theo during Bennacer’s speech, arm around him. These are the things that help a team gel. Conceição knows he needs Theo and Leão at their best and thriving for Milan to be at its best and thriving. Still a lot of games to be played but this definitely a step in the right direction.
What Happened in Serie A
Milan didn’t have a league game and neither did the other teams competing in the Supercoppa as well as Como and Bologna (a couple of the opponents the teams competing were set to play in round 19). Still, there were 7 games including a big top 4 matchup, and they’re worth mentioning/recapping, so let’s do that.
The first big matchup was Napoli (1st) traveling to Fiorentina (6th) and putting the beat down on them 3-0. The loss, Fiorentina’s third in their last 4 league games, sees them drop out of the top 4 for the first time in a couple of months. The other big matchup, the Rome Derby, saw Roma (10th) beat Lazio (4th) 2-0 in what was also a pretty easy win even if Lazio tried like hell to get back into the game. With these two outcomes, Milan finds themselves just 8 points out of 4th place with 2 games in hand. Needless to say I’m giddy with the prospects of a solid run coming and getting them right back into it.
Udinese (9th) couldn’t take advantage of a 71st minute red card against Hellas Verona (15th), drawing 0-0. Torino (11th) also drew 0-0 against Parma (14th) as did Empoli (12th), who drew against Venezia (19th) 1-1. Milan loanee Vasquez hesitated getting rid of goal kick and it deflected off of Pohjanpalo for Venezia’s lone goal. Not a great moment for the keeper who despite the brain lapse, is still having a solid season.
Genoa (13th) drew 0-0 with Lecce (18th) while Monza (20th) continue to lose, losing 2-1 to Cagliari (17th). The bottom of the table is tight just like the top 6, with 3 points separating 12th and 18th. Yikes. Every point is proving to be VERY important this season.
Alright, that wraps up the wrap up. Now onto ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 6.5 – Good game. Would’ve needed a miracle save on Yildiz’s goal. Had some great long balls in the second half sparking numerous attacking opportunities. Always a good weapon to have in your back pocket.
Goal Keeping Overall 6.5
Defense
ROYAL 6.5 – Did ok. Got forward a lot but as mentioned before, his crossing stinks. Still waiting to find out what he’s actually good at.
TOMORI 7 – Did well! I think Milan is going to need him before the season is up. Why? Like we saw in this game, he’s the only CB on the roster with top line CB speed and it’s a good characteristic to have on the pitch.
THIAW 7 – His resurgence continues. Used his height and size well to counter Vlahovic.
HERNÁNDEZ 6.5 – Some good mixed with some bad. But he looked livelier than we’ve seen him in a bit and I think a return to form could be around the corner. Needs to bury those opportunities like the one that fell to his feet in this game.
Overall Defense 6.5
Midfield
BENNACER 6 – Had a couple of nice runs but was overpowered and overwhelmed way too often to be the one Milan tried to build through. Every attack seemed to fizzle out with him and had a few wayward passes on top of that. I know he’s still rusty and can help, especially in the leadership area like after the game (where was Calabria by the way???), but he’s probably behind Musah for midfield playing time.
FOFANA 6.5 – Invisible in the first half, better in the second when he was more involved after Bennacer left.
REIJNDERS 6.5 – Doing the grunt work is not what we need him for and Conceição needs to understand that and soon. Get him closer to goal.
Midfield Overall 6.5
Forwards
PULISIC 8 MOTM – Like everyone else, invisible in the first half, picked it up in the second, and drew the PK to get the scoring started for Milan. The PK itself was risky going right up the middle but man was it a rocket. Di Gregorio is probably lucky he drove to the side and got out of the way.
MORATA 6 – Quieter than I like but what a beautiful flick to spring Musah and set up the game winner. He doesn’t score enough for some but I’m fine with what he brings. Conceição can make him even more impactful once more attackers return from injury.
JIMENEZ 6.5 – Solid and was the only offensive spark in the first half. He’s done enough in my books to get minutes. With Royal set to miss the next league game due to accumulation, maybe Conceição will try him at RB and not just plug and play Calabria.
Forwards Overall 6.5
Subs
MUSAH 7 – Was the spark Milan needed. His intensity ripped the game open and was rewarded for his effort from the football gods with a deflected (own) goal for the win. I still want to see him in the double pivot with Fofana if Reijnders is out or played up as the CAM.
ABRAHAM 6 – Was sick apparently but put in a solid effort.
TERRACCIANO NA – He played.
GABBIA 7 – Played as many minutes as Terracciano but gets the 7 for that big block in the dying minutes (seriously, if you didn’t click on the link above, check out this block.)
Subs Overall 6.5
Coaching
CONCEIÇÃO 7 – Gets the 7 mostly based on the outcome but the substitutions were the correct ones and the team showed good fight on top of a solid in-game tactical change (the before mentioned more vertical attack after Musah entered).
While we won’t truly know what we have with Conceição for another month or two, coming in and getting a win over Juventus, a team who has only lost once before this season (but with like 3 wins and 87 draws), it’s not something to look past even with Fonseca’s quality wins over Inter and Real Madrid earlier this season. Milan won’t win all of these intense hard-fought games but a team together on and off the pitch will fare well more times than not.
For me though, it’s the other stuff. The new intensity but also the player-manager approach. I loved what he’s said in the interviews, demanding a lot but also working along side his players. As Pioli alluded to in his statements over the weekend, talking about his time with the team and undercutting Fonseca’s style, whatever is said for Conceição’s Milan it won’t be external to the locker room. This is how you get a team ready to go to battle for each other and for the crest. It’s early but positive signs are here.
Final Thoughts
Ok, that about wraps up this post match. With a Derby della Madonnina on tap for the Supercoppa Italia final, even neutrals will be excited to watch.
I don’t know if Milan can pull it off considering all that is going on, but I’d like to think they have a better chance than what many of the pundits and talking heads might give them. That’s why you play the games, right?…
Forza Milan
gillis
