New coach, same sh*t? Certainly seems that way. At least on the surface. I don’t think it was as bad as I’ve seen some people say but it is absolutely true Milan needs to start finding ways to get all 3 points as they try to mount a challenge for the top 4.
I think in games like this, or maybe specifically outcomes like this, everyone goes to their favorite punching bag. It’s a Rorschach test of sorts. You see what you want to see. Don’t like Tomori? Then he needed to close down Zortea faster. Mad because it’s another goal coming from Milan’s left side? Oh, definitely Theo’s slacking ass’s fault. Upset Milan hasn’t splashed the cash for bona fide goal scoring #9? Then Morata and/or Abraham were the reason because they just can’t finish. Don’t like Leão because of…reasons…then he vanished when Milan needed him.
The most honest analysis of this game is that Mike Maignan’s error cost Milan the game. Yes, others had moments where they could’ve been better but that was absolutely unacceptable by Mike to spill that ball.
The timing of spill is what upset me the most. It was bout 4 minutes after Milan had finally broken through. The reason this is so upsetting, aside from the common occurrence that this happens, is that Cagliari was playing negative football from the opening whistle and the goal would’ve opened them up for Milan to get 2 or 3 more goals. It would’ve been a tough 50 minutes, and then smooth sailing after that. Instead, Maignan spilled it and Cagliari went from a 5-man backline to a 6-man backline (not exaggerating) and did everything they could to walk out with a point.
When teams do that, park the bus in front of another bus, it’s just simply too hard to do much with it. Just about every team struggles breaking down a team in a low block and Milan is no different.. I mean, there’s a reason midtable and lower table teams do it. It gives them a chance to steal points. If it didn’t work well, these teams would be trying and doing something else.
This doesn’t mean Milan shouldn’t have won. They should have. And overall, I thought they played well. I loved how they mostly stayed wide keeping their width, and did well moving the ball around. Defensively they were mostly fine as well, shutting down just about every counter attacking attempt Cagliari made.
Where I think Milan errored was in what they were trying to do in the final third. Time and time again they would get into the final third and try to give and go or tiki taka their way through the crowd or just fire a low percentage shot from distance that would unsurprisingly get blocked or deflected by the sea of bodies in front of the shooting player. It was fruitless possession after fruitless possession.
Instead, I think Milan should have been whipping in crosses in the box, hoping to find a Milan head or causing havoc and maybe getting a fortuitous bounce and landing at the feet of a Milan player. Even when taking their corners, and they had plenty of the those, they would play it short and often the ball wouldn’t end up making into the box for a variety of reasons. Speaking of, Milan was scoring on a ton of corners when Pulisic was taking them, why did he stop?
In hindsight, getting Abraham in earlier and running with both him and Morata and banging in crosses could’ve broken through earlier and more frequently. Whereas Cagliari wasn’t afraid to open up at home, they were just not interested in doing that in this game and Milan needed to adjust. Maybe running with Morata and Abraham in that modified 4-4-2 Fonseca used vs Inter would be helpful, as it would allow Morata to play behind Abraham in more of a 4-2-3-1 in the build up and then once down in the final third, push Morata into the box and just start banging in crosses. It’s something to keep in mind as there are some minnows on the schedule coming up and they’re surely going to be taking a similar approach.
As for Conceição, he was right to criticize the players AND a little tweak to the gameplan would’ve made the game easier. But the team looked better I thought, more energized, and I think they’re going to continue to respond to him. Serie A is a slog. Every game is tough, as you’ll see in the next section when I go over what went down in the league. Missed opportunity for sure. What really matters now is winning those games in hand starting with Como tomorrow. The top 4 is still within reach even if the Scudetto is just about over the horizon and fading from view.
What Happened in Serie A
Napoli (1st) got the win, 2-0, over Hellas Verona (17th), and are provisionally in first. They have seemed to find their scoring boots, scoring more than 1 goal 4 of their last 5 games. With news of Kvaratskhelia asking to leave, it’ll be an interesting month for them and we’ll see how it affects the rest of the season.
Inter (2nd) held on to beat Venezia (19th), 1-0, as Venezia almost had an equalizer late. Game of inches. Inter is 4 points back of Napoli but have 2 games in hand, 1 of which they’ll play this Wednesday. Napoli and Inter were the only teams in the top 7 to win this round, meaning Milan is in the same position they were in entering the round at least when talking about the top 4. Not all is lost, especially with so many mid and lower table teams taking scalps.
So what happened with the rest of the top 7? Nearly all of them drew. Atalanta (3rd) drew 0-0 to Udinese (9th), Lazio (4th) drew 1-1 to Como (15th), Juventus (5th) drew 1-1 to Torino (12th), and Bologna (7th) drew 2-2 against Roma (10th). Only Fiorentina (6th) lost, losing 2-1 to Monza (20th). This is now 4 losses and 1 draw in Fiorentina’s last 5 league games and their hopes of a top 4 finish are not out of reach but they are squandering a great start to the season.
In the rest of the table, Genoa (11th) beat Parma (16th) 1-0 and probably screwed a lot of bettors by having such a low scoring game. Both teams are pretty hideous on defense. Finally, Lecce (13th) beat Empoli (14th) 3-1. This is Empoli’s 4th loss in their last 5 games and while hitting the magical 30 points on the season to ensure survival looked about as certain as Empoli could’ve hoped, now that doesn’t look so sure. Should be an interesting month as they figure out if they need to buy or sell.
Alright, Milan wasted a solid opportunity to make up ground in their chase of the top 4, but much of the league is hemorrhaging points these days. Serie A is proving once again why it is the best and hardest fought league in Europe. Nothing comes easy and you better come ready to take it.
Now, ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 3 – Had a wonderful save in the first half and was really good…except for the howler. It doesn’t happen often and you hope it doesn’t end up costing Milan when it does happen but this one did. I firmly believe Milan goes on to win by 2 or 3 goals if Cagliari was forced to chase after Milan finally broke through. It’s an unfortunate error but it was a massive one.
Goal Keeping Overall 3
Defense
CALABRIA 6.5 – Did fine. No complaints.
TOMORI 7 – I thought he was good on the day. I love his speed on the back line. Lisi told me he thought Tomori should’ve closed down on the goal scorer sooner but if you watch the replay he did get there and even got him to go more horizontal before he fired off the shot. Not sure what else could’ve been done.
THIAW 6.5 – Was fine.
HERNÁNDEZ 7 – Another solid game. No complaints. It was Theo’s ball over the top that found Pulisic for the first-timer that ended up finding Morata on the rebound. A hockey assist? Maybe not but it was a crucial pass in a game when there weren’t many in the final third.
Defense Overall 6.5
Midfield
MUSAH 6.5 – Was fine but at the same time I felt like he could’ve done more. Maybe I’m used to Reijnders making some runs into the box but Musah needs to add that element to his game because a timely run vs that packed-in Cagliari side could’ve helped.
FOFANA 6.5 – Solid.
Midfield Overall 6.5
Forwards
PULISIC 7 – Probably MOTM if I felt like giving that out for this game. Solid all around, hit one off the crossbar, and provided that shot that ended up finding Morata on the rebound.
REIJNDERS 6.5 – Solid but I thought he hovered just outside of the box a little too much in the final third. Need runners to drag defenders and he could’ve helped with that.
LEÃO 6.5 – Didn’t have the impact like he had vs Inter but was still a threat all game. Like I mentioned at the top of the post, would’ve liked to have seen more crosses into the box and he surely could’ve been one of the ones delivering them.
MORATA 7 – Worked hard to get into position for the goal and otherwise worked his ass off. Good enough for me.
Forwards Overall 6.5
Subs
ABRAHAM 6 – Thought he could’ve come in earlier or even started. Could’ve been better when he had some decent looks too.
JIMENEZ 6.5 – Solid. Loved the passion he showed when he came on.
MURPHY NA – Debut! Good job, kid. Welcome to the big leagues.
Subs Overall 6
Coaching
CONCEIÇÃO 7 – The squad selection was solid, no issues there. I liked the approach and Milan really did do enough to win. But they didn’t. I’m not putting that on Conceição completely but I would like to see him really go at these smaller clubs in the air since finding space when they’re packed in like that is just so difficult.
I think we continue to see improvement and as long as he keeps putting out his best players and they start to understand what he wants them to do, we’ll see more and more progress. I’m optimistic despite the disappointing outcome.
Final Thoughts
Ok, a lot to think about but not a lot of time to dwell. Milan have a quick turnaround with their makeup game vs Como tomorrow (Tuesday). I’m sure we’ll see some rotation but I hope it’s a strong lineup and Milan try to kill it off early. As I mentioned above, the games in hand matter and it still holds that if Milan can win both, all else being equal, Milan would be only 2 points out of 4th.
Forza Milan.
gillis
