Milan drew midweek vs Como and what they do today will put that outcome into proper context. Why? Because I don’t mind draws vs good squads particularly when you sit above them in the table. It’s the dropped points to minnows that drives me crazy. It’s not that minnows never pull off upsets, it’s been how Milan has approached them that has drawn my ire. Allegri has rarely given the impression that he enters these games with a cutthroat mentality based on how he positions the team. But today could be different. Let’s talk about how…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
MILAN: WDWWD
PARMA: DLLWW
FORMATIONS
MILAN (3-5-2): Maignan (C); Tomori, Gabbia, Bartesaghi; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modrić, Rabiot, Estupiñan; Pulisic, Leão
PARMA (3-5-2): Corvi; Del Prato (C), Troilo, Valenti; Britschgi, Bernabé, Keita, Ordonez, Valeri; Strefezza, Pellegrino
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 12pm EST/5pm GMT
PLACE: San Siro, Milano
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
I’m optimistic today! Why? Because Marco Landucci is in charge and the dude has put the wood to every smaller club he’s faced when replacing the off-suspended Allegri (I very much agree with Allegri’s outburst at Fabregas pulling Saelemaekers shirt AND he shouldn’t have been suspended). The team under Landucci’s guidance, and yes clearly Allegri helps put the gameplan together during the days/practices preceeding it, plays more aggressive and fluid football. Clearly he commands them with a different degree of aggressiveness from the coaches box than Allegri usually does when in charge. And as a reminder, Landucci is 3-0-0 in the 3 games he’s managed before this, scoring 8 goals and conceding 2 vs Bari, Udinese, and Torino.
Now I should be fair here and give credit to Allegri vs Como, as I was expecting another defensive posture and he came out much more aggressive. Maybe not having Rabiot due to suspension was part of it, as he played Jashari and wanted to take advantage of it. But either way it was a welcomed sight even if it didn’t result in all 3 points.
Anyway, up now is Parma at the San Siro and there’s no reason Milan shouldn’t win this game. More importantly, Inter is limping despite yesterday’s win where they got 2 late goals. Inter had a bad Champions League game and then lost Lautaro for over a month. They’re likely going to drop points and Milan need to take advantage as well as beat them in a couple of weeks. Beating them and gaining a game at some point in the next month and Milan will be right behind them.
So, I’m hoping Milan come out today and aggressively put this game to bed. There’s a little bit of rotation in the lineup and I’m not crazy about the formation since they’re running Leão and Pulisic up top. We may not see a breakthrough until Füllkrug comes in as I’m expecting Parma to sit.
PREDICTION TIME:
I think we’ll see possession football, or at least more deliberate football from Milan today. That lack of a true striker might be it hard to breakthrough until late, but Milan should bring home all 3 points. Let’s do it.
Forza Milan
gillis