Hey! Another win! It’s been a while since Milan have banged home so many goals in two consecutive games, so the offense is starting to get hot. But the last 25 minutes of this game was a bummer and more stressful than it needed to be. Let’s dive in.
The Milan offense is humming. Scoring 7 goals in about 140 minutes over two games is exactly what many/most of us wanted to see out of Amorim Ball. For me, this isn’t exactly surprising as they have begun to do some of the things I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, namely finding better balance and spacing in the attack.
In the post from a couple of weeks ago, I brought up the need to get wide in the context of a possible formation change, one we had seen with limited success in the Sassuolo game. While that formation, a 4-3-3, didn’t exactly work, the whole point was to, “generate more balls into the box based on the need to get wide and utilize one of their best players in Ramos to score more goals”, as I stated in that post.
The following game, vs RB Salzburg in Europa League, Amorim rotated quite a bit and the players playing, namely Bartesaghi and Hutchinson out wide, helped the team find their width. With an emerging young talent and finisher in Alphadjo Cissé out there, he slotted home a hat-trick and Milan got 4 past the Salzburg keeper. Of Cissé 3 goals, 2 came directly or indirectly from crosses while the third came from a counter.
In this game, it was more of the same. The first instance of this was the Pulisic barely offsides goal, which came from a Chukwueze cross. Even the play that resulted in the penalty being awarded for hand ball, Musah’s run up the middle was made possible (at least partially) by Milan utilzing the wings and spreading out Atalanta’s attack.
Rabiot’s goal came from a wide ball from Moreira, where he received it at the top of the box, cut in and fired off the shot helped by the wide play and fewer bodies to have to shoot threw. Even the third goal came from a corner where Milan utilized their height with a gorgeous flicked header by Rabiot and a gorgeous finish by Gila.
All in all, there have been beautiful stretches of offensive football these last two games and a lot of this has been made possible by wider play and growing confidence in learning and knowing Amorim’s tactics and philosophies and executing them.
But…we have to talk about the substitutions. There was a lot of chatter in the comment section about this, as one would expect as Milan got a hell of a lot closer than they should have…or that anyone wanted…to blowing a 3-0 lead.
Let me start by saying that I didn’t mind the subs, not that I love seeing RLC or Estupiñan come on, and I don’t really care if 3 guys came on at once. I mean, 3 guys came on at once in the previous game vs Salzburg and I didn’t hear a peep from you guys. It wasn’t the same guys and sure, that does matter some, but Milan isn’t deep and Amorim is going to have to dig deep into that bench as there are a plethora of games between now and the end of the calendar year.
Because of this, the thin bench, it’s important that Amorim learns what these role players can do and what the best combinations are just like he’s had to learn – and is still learning – for his starting lineup. The fact that he’s showing signs of getting it with his starters, I think the chances are above average he figures this part out too.
One last thing on this, and I’m thinking of Atalanta’s first goal in particular: sometimes the opponent executes and beats you. That’s it. I know that’s a hard thing for some of you to accept but it’s true. Sometimes. Every so often. The opponent just beats you. You did everything right and it wasn’t enough. It’s ok. Tip your hat and move on. Not every conceded goal is a catastrophic failure by Milan or a Milan player. No need to light yourself on fire or demand €200M in new spending next transfer window to improve this player or that player. It’s ok. I promise.
What Happened in Serie A
Time for this week’s Fossa Power Rankings!
- Inter (6-1-0,+12 GD, 19pts)
- Roma (5-2-0,+13 GD, 17pts)
- Lazio (6-1-0,+10 GD, 19pts)
- Como (4-2-1,+5 GD, 14pts)
- Milan (4-3-0,+7 GD, 15pts)
I’m thiiiiiiis close to moving this around as we’re nearing the quarter season mark. I’m still not convinced Lazio is this good and I’m not sure if Como is better than Milan. I think they were when the season started and they continue to improve but is Milan’s ceiling higher, at least in the league? Maybe.
Inter is weaker than they have been and are conceding like crazy. They started somewhat similar last season on defense and then tightened up, so they have history where they buckle down. Roma is not used to being this good on two fronts so we’re all waiting to see if it’ll continue. Gasperini is the X-factor here and I’m curious if he’s going to be able to help them turn the corner.
Finally, last week I shared how Allegri was doing and they lost again. Entering today (they have a Champions League today), Allegri has won just 3 of 9 games, earning just 10 total points across all competitions. There will be some ebb and flow but don’t expect a successful season out of him/them. Dude is washed.
Now, ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 6.5 – I don’t necessarily think Milan could have stopped either of the two goals, but he had other moments that showed he wasn’t exactly playing his best game (like that leaving the box instance…).
Goal Keeping Overall 6.5
Defense
GILA 8 – A gem of a goal. But dude. LAY OFF THE PAELLA (or the panettone since we’re in-season). Dude can’t finish a match and it’s not because he’s leading in km covered. Pudgy bastard.
DE WINTER 6.5 – Not the best performance today. Probably his worst of the season.
PAVLOVIĆ 6.5 – Not bad but as I’ve been saying, a lot of his value has been offensively and he’s just not doing that right now. Don’t know if this is intentional on the part of Amorim’s tactics (like his philosophy keeps him home and back more often), but maybe this is the normal performance on an Amorim-coached team.
Defense Overall 7
Midfield
CHUKWUEZE 6.5 – I think he’s, perhaps unsurprisingly, trying to take on his guy too much when the team just needs him to cross it.
MUSAH 7 – The dude’s arm was out because the goal wasn’t behind it for Musah’s shot. THAT’S HOW BAD he shot it. Lucky break for him but he needs to keep his shooting boots in his holster.
MODRIĆ 7 – Solid. Nice seeing him back out there.
MOREIRA 7.5 – Guy has a motor and some nice 1:1 dribbles in the game. Nice assist too.
Midfield Overall 7
Forwards
PULISIC 6.5 – Another solid game. A bit unlucky on the offsides call for his overturned goal.
RABIOT 9 MOTM – Team MVP so far this season. Has 7 g/a in 7 league games (and 1 assist in 2 Europa games). Just spectacular all-around.
RAMOS 7.5 – Broke the streak of goalless outings in the league but needs to bag one from open play. With the increased wide play, I think they’re coming.
Forwards Overall 8
Subs
HUTCHINSON 7 – I actually thought he played better offensively than Chukwueze. He’s more willing to cross and I think the team needs that from the RWB position.
JASHARI 6.5 – Didn’t read that Atalanta run down the left well that led to the second Atalanta goal, and while we don’t know if he could’ve prevented it…you at least want to see him disrupt the buildup.
ESTUPIÑAN 6 – I get why he played with Bartesaghi having played all 90 minutes midweek…but still.
LOFTUS-CHEEK 6 – He played.
TOMORI NA – He played.
Subs Overall 6.5
Coaching
AMORIM 7 – Dinged a little bit on the substitutions but the players carry a bulk of that blame. They need to deliver and really, all they were asked to do was hold onto the lead. I think it’s indicative of a lack of depth to cover more than one competition.
Otherwise, I loved the lineup and how they worked out-to-in for most of the game and when Atalanta adjusted or spread out, they attacked centrally. Exactly what I was hoping to see.
Final Thoughts
Some promising stuff and the timing couldn’t be better with the amount of games on the calendar right now. The team is showing growth and progress and I know that’s all I’m asking for in Amorim’s first season at the helm.
Milan travel to England midweek to take on Bournemouth for Europa League. Game on Thursday at 3pm EST/9pm GMT.
Forza Milan
gillis
