The more things change, the more things stay the same…
What an absolute disaster and embarrassment for Milan. A transformational summer, a new (old) coach who knows the league and been successful in it and supposed to bring consistent winning results, and just an exhausting watch for us fans. The pieces are there for change but it can’t continue like this.
Modrić was pretty much the only thing I liked from this match. He’s still just as creative and technically sound as he’s always been. His vision is top notch and while supposed to be a deep-lying playmaker, he was often the one up the pitch creating. This is a problem we’ll get into in a sec. But I can see how he can pull the strings for this team in a way the midfield just didn’t last season. So I do think there’s a lot of potential here (not a keen observation by me, I know, just pointing out that this can still work and he can be the lynchpin).
I thought Saelemaekers and Estupiñan were decent, and I’m not sure why Allegri pulled Estupiñan at the half – after a nice assist – when the wingback play was more and less fine. Tomori, everyone’s backline punching bag, was the best of the CBs at least when it came to defending. Both goals came from the left side of the defense, something I was told would be fixed once we moved on from Theo. Whoops?…
For the attack, as mentioned above, Modrić was excellent but shouldn’t have been that far up the pitch as the deep-lying playmaker. Giménez didn’t do the thing we all know he couldn’t do, which is be that big #9, and when he tried the John Cena lookalike manhandled him. Pulisic was, well I don’t know what. Most invisible he’s been in a long time, particularly problematic with Leão out.
The real issue, despite all of this though, was relying on Fofana and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to be that extra guy in the box making the play – any play – to help produce goals. Fofana should never be that advanced and considering his propensity for not staying home when playing as a DM, I’m starting to think his only real value is being a box-to-box guy and probably a substitute one at that. He missed a couple of passes, including key passes in and around the box that could’ve unlocked an opportunity, or didn’t even attempt to make a progressive pass while helping to build play (same goes for RLC on all of this). We all know about his shooting.
But RLC…Ruben. Loftus. Cheek. Man…the dude is poison. I mentioned a few years ago that RLC was the perfect poison pill for a coach. A coach killer because coaches can’t help themselves…they just feel like they have to play him. He’s big, strong, good speed, decent technique. You have to play him…right?…right? Purely on those attributes he’d contribute something?…right? No. A big fat f**king no. Coach. F**king. Killer.
I got curious and looked at his numbers. He had some success in Europa League for Milan but that’s been basically it, with 4 goals in 379 minutes (a goal/assist every 95 minutes). He hasn’t done anything in Champions League and his domestic league performance is just as bad. I sliced and diced his numbers, and while I don’t want to you all to have to read another 20,000 words on it, let me give you a few that stuck out to me.
– With Chelsea he averaged a goal/assist every 260 minutes across all comps
– With Milan he has averaged a goal/assist every 366 minutes across all comps
– In Serie A, these numbers drop to a goal/assist every 456 minutes
– In his first season in 2023, for matchdays 1-18 he played 862 minutes and had 2 goals/assist (goal/assist every 431 minutes)
– For matchdays 19-23 – January 2024 – he had 4 goals in 339 minutes, or a goal/assist every 85 minutes
– For matchdays 24-38 he had 867 minutes and 1 goal/assist (that’s a goal/assist every 867 minutes for you math wizzes out there)
– Since the start of the 2024-25 season until now, he has 0 goal/assists in 1127 minutes in Serie A (you can’t even get a ratio when you haven’t scored or assisted because you can’t divide by zero!)
Since February 2024, right after that strangely productive January, he has 1 goal/assist in 1994 league minutes. That’s f**king insane. And before you ask, he only has 1 more assist if you throw in Champions League, Coppa Italia, and Supercoppa from the same time frame and that came in a Coppa Italia game. Oh, one more nugget for you. Here are the list of teams he’s scored or assisted on in any competition: Torino, Cagliari, Empoli, Udinese, Bologna, Fiorentina, Sassuolo, Rennes, and Slavia Prague. Not exactly a murderer’s row.
Now, as I end my diatribe, think about how often he’s played in an advanced role, taken minutes away as the CAM from other guys. Now you might be thinking, but Gillis, the coaches keep playing him!. Ex-f**king-actly. Go back up and read what I said about coaches not able to help themselves. Coach. F**king. Killer.
None of these issues, the same issues that plagued the team last season will go away as long as RLC keeps playing, especially in an advanced role. Teams are simply happy letting RLC be the guy left to beat them. It’s like leaving a 22% 3-point shooter in basketball unguarded while you double-team the opponent’s star. You’re willing to take that risk because you’ve ran the numbers and they’re largely in your favor. In soccer/football, you only get a couple of really great chances to make a play that scores or leads to a score in every game, and if those chances keep falling to RLC then Milan is doomed.
A lot of people simply want “better players” or go get this name or that name. Changing coaches so often of late is a part of the problem for sure, as there’s a mismatch of talent from previous coaches and their philosophies. But I’m of the mind that the right tactical approach that gets the right characteristics into the right roles can work and work well even if you’re lacking superstars. Pioli’s tenure is proof of that. Let’s hope Allegri learns his lesson as there are other options for him to choose from…or else we’re in for another terrible season.
What Happened in Serie A
With only matchday 1 in the books, this section won’t be too long. Inter came out hungry against Torino AND I’m still not worried about them running away with the league. Napoli looked good as did Juventus but they didn’t exactly play powerhouses (although, after Milan’s game I’d happily be where they are).
Roma had the most impressive win of matchday 1 I think, beating Bologna 1-0. They didn’t dominate but getting wins, especially early in the season against direct top 7 rivals can go a long way. Como looked good with their 2-0 win over Lazio and Nico Paz is looking more and more like Spain’s next big playmaking star.
Atalanta and Fiorentina had disappointing draws against Pisa and Cagliari, respectively. All the rest kind of broke the way you’d expect. Next weekend’s big matchup is Bologna-Como, and Bologna and Italiano could realistically be looking at 2 loses to start the campaign (sh*t, so can Milan!)
Now, ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 6.5 – Would’ve needed elite saves on both goals but neither were his fault. Still, it’s Magic Mike we kind of expect them.
Goal Keeping Overall 6.5
Defense
TOMORI 7 – Best defending CB on the day.
GABBIA 6.5 – Not bad, not great.
PAVLOVIĆ 7 – I said during the summer that he could have a Mexes-type of season scoring goals. I didn’t expect or want Mexes-levels of conceding goals though…
Defense Overall 6.5
Midfield
SAELEMAEKERS 7 – Solid. No complaints. Is a better player now than 2 seasons ago.
FOFANA 5 – In addition to what I said in the editorial, STOP SHOOTING.
MODRIĆ 7.5 – Best player on the pitch for Milan. Just pure class with every touch.
LOFTUS-CHEEK 3 – Of all the sales and departures, why couldn’t it have included him…
ESTUPIÑÁN 7 – Solid all around. Nice play before the half to get to the touch line and loop one over the top to find Pavlović for the temporary equalizer.
Midfield Overall 6
Forwards
PULISIC 6 – What happened?
GIMÉNEZ 5.5 – Nada. Abused by Peacemaker.
Forwards Overall 5.5
Subs
JIMÉNEZ 6.5 – Was fine. Quite the little hothead, huh?…
CHUKWUEZE 6.5 – Did ok despite being pushed out the door by management.
JASHARI 6.5 – Not a whole lot of time but doesn’t look fazed by the uptick in talent and tactics of Serie A.
Subs Overall 6.5
Coaching
ALLEGRI 3 – Everything I said in the editorial at the beginning. RLC is coming for you if you keep playing him.
If he’s going to continue on with this 3-5-2, then he has to figure something else out. Play Modrić more advanced and let Ricci and/or Jashari be the DM. Maybe you can’t play all 3 of Modrić/Ricci/Jashari together but 2 of the 3 have to be out there at all times. Fofana is still serviceable as a box-to-box and maybe that saves Modrić’s legs so slide Modrić over and in place of RLC and play Ricci as the DM with Fofana opposite Modrić.
Another option could be to just play that boring-ass Allegri-Juve ball and sit and defend and counterattack, especially once Leão returns. Whatever it is it has to include benching RLC and ideally never letting him see the pitch again. That alone fixes a lot of what we saw last weekend.
Final Thoughts
Here I was on vacation, happy the season was starting but bummed to miss the game live. Now I wish the season started a week later and somehow RLC got snapped out of existence (or at least out of the Milan colors). Sigh.
Game this Friday. Mark your calendars. At Lecce, match starts at 2:45pm EST/6:45pm GMT. Be on the lookout for the matchday post.
Forza Milan.
gillis
