Milan continue their solid run of form, making it 4 wins in their last 5. While this run is undoubtedly late, it’s still good to see for team struggling to find themselves after a mostly lost season. Can they take this into a big Coppa Italia final vs Bologna midweek next week is the real question, as that’s the most important remaining game on the schedule. But before that and before the next league game this Friday vs the very same Bologna team, let’s chat about this Genoa-Milan match.
In the last post match, I linked to a bunch of the posts here since Conceição switched to the 3-man backline. Many of those themes were at play here but it wasn’t the exact same thing especially out of the gates with RLC starting and Rafael Leão sitting. This change meant that RLC was started at RW with the midfield remaining the same and pushing Pulisic over to LW. There was some confusion about where people were positioned in the formation but this is what I saw as the default when they were able to organize in and out of possession.
Thankfully they had to change out of this player positioning due to Fofana getting injured and coming off in the 28th minute (not thankfully for the Fofana injury!). This meant RLC got moved to the central midfield next to Reijnders and Leão came on, pushing Pulisic back to the RW. The team immediately played more dangerous football even with RLC still on the pitch and generated their best opportunity on goal about 10 minutes after Leão came on, with a nice ball from Leão to Pulisic in the box and he fired off a shot after finding himself 1 on 1 with the Genoa keeper. In all fairness, he probably should have squared it to Reijnders making a run in the box or gave it back to Leão on a give and go.
The team was generally playing well but the big difference happened when Giménez and João Felix came on around the 70th minute. At this point Conceição changed the shape back to a 4-2-3-1 and a bit more dynamism came back to the attack. Not too long after the change João Felix found Giménez over the top and he squared it across the goal and found Leão for the game tying goal. A minute later some ping pong resulted in another goal (a Genoa own goal) and Milan had the lead for the first time and they would go on to win 2-1.
This was a nice display if imperfect. The goal Milan conceded was poor with a lot of ball watching by Gabbia and Pavlović. The team lacked playmaking ability initially and even after some of the substitutions we still saw a lack of central attacking prowess, common since switching to the 3-man backline. But even the conceded goal wasn’t that same getting slashed up the middle in acres of space type of goal from before the formation shift, and overall the team is still sturdier than they had been, with this being only the 2nd goal conceded in the 5 games since switching to the 3-man backline.
With the win Milan is still in 9th, 6 points back of 4th and Champions League football, and 5 points back of Europa/Conference League, with 3 games left to play and 9 possible points. Still mathematically alive but odds continue to shrink to reach Europe the traditional way. So that leaves Coppa Italia as the best possible path to European football (Europa) as that only requires only 1 more win and they control their fate completely without having to rely on others.
You all know I’m meh about Europa League but the money can be important as long as they finish in the top 4 next season. I care more about it from a Conceição perspective, as I want him to stay (and this likely would up his chances) and I think he gives Milan the best chance at a successful season next season especially considering what type of quality Milan can bring in if they replace him (not great!). So, while I want to keep talking about this summer and what comes next…I’ll wait. We’ll have plenty of time for this soon.
What Happened in Serie A
The top 3 teams all won so nothing changes there. If you’re curious though, Napoli (1st) had another unimpressive win, beating Lecce (17th) 1-0 in a drab performance. But the win was important as Inter (2nd) also won 1-0 over Hellas Verona (15th). Atalanta (3rd) easily beat Monza (20th) 4-0, ensuring Monza’s demotion to Serie B. No bunga-bunga after season party this year…
The chase for 4th got even tighter with Juventus (4th) drawing 1-1 to Bologna (7th) and Roma (5th) beating Fiorentina (8th) 1-0 and Lazio (6th) beating Empoli (19th) 1-0 as well. All the games were slogs as none of the teams wanted to open themselves up too much as draws wouldn’t necessarily hurt their chances. This is why there were only 4 goals scored in these 3 games, with 3 of the 4 goals scored in the first half of their respective games. Now 4th through 7th is separated by just 1 point, with 8th only 4 points adrift with 3 games…and 9 possible points remaining.
Como (10th) continue their impressive end of the season form, beating Parma (16th) 1-0. Como have won 5 straight, won 7 of their last 11 games while drawing 2 and losing 2. If Como can maintain their place in the table it will be one heck of a season finishing in the top half of the table for the newly promoted side. Just a point behind them is Torino (11th), who drew 1-1 to Venezia (18th), and Udinese (12th), who beat Cagliari (14th) 2-1. This could be a nice little mini-battle for finishing in the top half bragging rights for these midtable teams.
One final thought: the bottom of the table has 17th-19th separated by only 2 points, so two of the three teams there will be relegated (there are two other teams just a bit further out and likely safe, but we can contemplate them after next week’s games if needed). Still, these relegation battles are really fun and I know I’ll try and catch some of the clashes these final 3 weeks.
Now, ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 7.5 – Mike has been on fire for the past month and in this game he was no different. Had a couple of spectacular saves despite giving up a goal (which was more of team goal conceded).
Goal Keeping Overall 7.5
Defense
TOMORI 7 – Done really well as a regular starter. Had a great sliding tackle in the box to deflect a shot before getting subbed out late and holding onto a 1 goal lead.
GABBIA 6.5 – Solid but got carded because he was out of position and had a moment after that where the same thing happened and although I didn’t think the foul was card worthy, it definitely made me hold my breath for a second yellow and a sending off.
PAVLOVIĆ 6.5 – Like Gabbia, had to give up a foul and get carded for being out of position. Great awareness to make that sacrifice but, like Gabbia, needed to be in a better position initially.
Defense Overall 6.5
Midfield
JIMENEZ 7 – Another solid game. His lack of speed is starting to worry me however. He’s a wide player and not having that is costly. I’m starting to doubt he can be the RB if Milan reverts to a 4-man backline. Not saying he isn’t a solid player, he’s just not fast and RB may not be it.
FOFANA 6 – Was having a decent game until getting injured. Apparently he’s been dealing with a foot issue and that’s what was aggravated. The team seems to think he’ll be ok but I doubt we see him this Friday for the league match vs Bologna.
REIJNDERS 6.5 – Wasn’t great but wasn’t bad either. Pulisic should have squared it to him on that chance where he went for goal instead.
HERNÁNDEZ 6.5 – Not bad but just seemed to be a little bit off all game.
Midfield Overall 6.5
Forwards
LOFTUS-CHEEK 6 – I’ve seen a few different formations for what Milan played but this is where I thought he was for most of the game. Regardless, he was mostly ineffective and aside from one nice run and switching the play, didn’t do much. Surprised? No. Not at all…
JOVIĆ 6.5 – Like Abraham last game, the starting center forward was just kind of meh. Didn’t play poorly but wasn’t a threat in the box for most of the time on the pitch (or didn’t substantially help in the build up).
PULISIC 7 – Good all around but as mentioned above, definitely should have squared it for Reijnders or even laid it off behind Reijnders as Leão was also there. One of the few wrong decisions he’s made this season.
Forwards Overall 6.5
Subs
LEÃO 8 MOTM – Did Leão things. Not sure why he didn’t start. His off season is better than 98% of wingers in Serie A.
FELIX 6.5 – Beautiful ball over the top to Giménez to spring the game-tying goal. Then was involved in the dumb play that resulted in the Frendrup own goal and game winner. He’s not staying after this loan…but I’d be fine if he did…
GIMÉNEZ 7.5 – I mentioned before he came on in the matchday comments that I thought his running could be useful, as Jović wasn’t providing that (especially over the top). Sure enough, he came on and made a nice run, João Felix found him, and Giménez played a quality ball across the box and found Leão. This is now back to back games with a contribution and Milan definitely need more of this out of him as we end the season. I’m still not completely sold he is what Milan needs, but I’m more than happy to be wrong.
WALKER 6 – He played.
MUSAH 6 – Still atrocious decision making in the box. Got to find a way to keep him in a box-to-box role.
Subs Overall 6.5
Coaching
CONCEIÇÃO 7 – Getting the win is important, obviously. But I thought benching Leão was unnecessary, especially to fit RLC into the lineup. With where we are in the season, and essentially one game per week, all the main players have to play. Make this type of move when you’re juggling multiple competitions.
What I did like was that he essentially went back to the 4-2-3-1 formation late because the personnel on the pitch fit that shape better, and the goals came about 5 minutes after that. That type of tactically flexibility is important and now that he has multiple formations teams have to worry about, he can exploit that with smart substitutions and the right chess board moves.
Final Thoughts
Biggish game on Friday vs Bologna. Even bigger next week vs Bologna again in the Coppa Italia final. Just got to keep getting results and we’ll see what happens when it’s all said and done.
Forza Milan.
gillis
