Re: Forum Milan Channel: LIVE!

[IrasMaldinista]

Guys... I am impressed.

Cutrone was everything you want from a classic targetman: he won the penalty, he smashed a fantastic header for the second goal, and finally he beat the offside trap intelligently then held the ball up and passed it to Suso for the third. Why in hell should we not have faith in the kid? If he works hard, he has it in him to make it into Italia's 2018 squad and start in Euro 2020.

Suso has picked up right where he'd left it off last season and played the architect really well.

When all is said and done, however, we are vastly inferior without Kessie. The guy's legs are simply too strong to be considered normal. What a confident, imposing character. I do believe he ain't 20. I mean come on; the face is at least 25.

And then we got the full backs, or let's just call them super wingers, for in actuality our formation was 2-1-2-5. Rodriguez and Conti were invariably further ahead of Calhanoglu and Kessie. Fantastic stuff.

Admittedly, Crotone is nothing to gauge this team by, but even with Calhanoglu switched off and Borini wandering around aimlessly, we are so comfortable there.

On the negative side, we have no game-changer on the bench except for Andre Silva. This is truly unacceptable and embarrassing.

I look forward to some tactical experiment in the second half; we are way ahead and in control, they're down to 10 men and removed an attacker for a defender, and it's high time we tried 3-5-2 or something.

[GiancarloC]

Milan had to invest basically from scratch, so having no major game changer is kinda expected. We're cutting unwanted players out, and trying to sign quality ones. Depth does need to be worked on, but we shouldn't be too upset.

[GiancarloC]

Great first match... we took our foot off the gas slightly after the third, but we had several clear chances denied by their goalkeeper. If it wasn't for the goalkeeper, it could have ended 5-0 or 6-0. Milan can be proud of their first game.

Cutrone really is something special... what an explosive start.

[Zlatan]

Shkendija: Zahov; Bejtulai, Teqja, Cuculi; Todorovski, Alimi, Totre, Celikovic; Ibraimi, Hasani; Radeski

Shkendija bench: Avdyli, Murati, Zejnulai Bojki, Fazlagikj, Shefiti, Abdurahimi

Milan: Storari; Zapata, Bonucci, Romagnoli; Calabria, Zanellato, Locatelli, Mauri, Antonelli; Cutrone, Andre Silva

Milan bench: A Donnarumma, Suso, Borini, Gomez, Abate, Gabbia, Kessie

[IrasMaldinista]

A terrible football game, so far.
Patty Cutie had the ball once and he made it count.
Other than that, the perfect sleep pill.

Jose Mauri...
I struggle to add to these emojis in describing Mauri. He's laughably ineffective i.e. invisible; he's a creature with two legs who has the ability to run slowly and pass the ball. He would still be no star in the 4th tier of Nepali football.

Zanellato is basically a Locatelli clone. They're both composed and laid-back, don't take risks, and don't let themselves get in too much trouble. He doesn't add anything to the team.

In general, tonight's game is perfect proof of how essential playmakers are to a football team, and that the greatest finishers in history are nothing without creative players to feed them. We're playing a clear 3-5-2, but the two supposed wingbacks are simply horrible at their jobs. If Montella adds Suso in for the second half, everything will change. But there's absolutely no need for that. The game was not expected to be a spectacle and Cutrone's goal was lucky and far from the outcome of phenomenal tactical combinations.

Montella would've done well to include a winger or playmaker from Primavera for this game, as we could've seen something from someone potentially worthy, without risking anything with our starters.

I can describe the game in one word: "Whatever."

[GiancarloC]

Come on. We didn't have to go all out in this game. We are carrying a 6-0 advantage. We added a goal in the first half to that. Our midfield is lacking our key players, including Kessie.

[IrasMaldinista]

Come on. We didn't have to go all out in this game. We are carrying a 6-0 advantage. We added a goal in the first half to that. Our midfield is lacking our key players, including Kessie.

I cannot agree more with you, Gian; look:

The game was not expected to be a spectacle...
[But] Montella would've done well to include a winger or playmaker from Primavera for this game, as we could've seen something from someone potentially worthy, without risking anything with our starters.

I stick to my desire to have seen a few attacking players from Primavera. We didn't need to do much here, only defend, which explains the presence of our starting centerbacks and no. 1 DM of the moment. Admit that instead of Antonelli and Mauri we could've had a couple of 18-year-old wingers. It would've been much nicer.

[GiancarloC]

I don't think our primavera is good enough at this point. You know we released a ton of players from their and bought a bunch of young talents for Gattuso.

[GiancarloC]

And we advance to the group stage carrying a 7-0 aggregate score. Players like Zanellato and Mauri will probably be loaned out or released from the team.

Milan shut them out and showed defensive solidity through both games. Finally back in Europe where we need to be.

[GiancarloC]

Scores for the game from Milannews with rough translations

http://www.milannews.it/le-pagelle/shkendija-milan-0-1-le-pagelle-cutrone-killer-che-esordio-zane-bonucci-e-andre-silva-rimandati-265702

Storari: 7 - He had several good saves, and seem assured.
Zapata: 6 - Performed the best of the back three surprisingly
Bonucci: 5 - Unfortunately lacks match fitness, but didn't realy do much wrong.
Romagnoli: 5.5 - He returned months after being absent, and it showed a bit... but well on his way back.
Calabria: 6 - Better defensively than in attack.
Zanellato: 6.5 - A solid and positive outing for the youngster
Mauri: 5 - Committed far too many mistakes
Locatelli: 6.5 - A strong showing, and was the one who came up with the excellent assist for the goal.
Antonelli: 6 - Sufficient, though lacks quality.
Andre Silva: 5 - Had a good foray when Suso came on, but didn't receive enough service prior.
Cutrone: 7 - The difference maker, and did well throughout. That's 3 goals in 5 games.

--

Subs:
Gabbia: 6 - A good showing in the time he had.
Suso: 7 - Lively once he came on the pitch

--
My take is it was a sufficient and solid game, but lacking a bit in attack not that we had to do much in that aspect. The opposition was nearly toothless. It's obvious that Mauri may be shipped out after this game before the mercato closes. He really doesn't have a place in this team, and chances are several others may exit too like Niang, Sosa and Paletta. This would allow for possible additions (maybe).

[IrasMaldinista]

First half of our Serie A opener is over. Gattuso's gamble on Borini paid off as the untalented dude provided a fantastic assist for Bonaventura's unreal outside-of-the-foot volley kick.
Best player so far: Romagnoli
Worst player so far: Biglia

Milan is defending outstandingly. Except for Biglia, nobody's made a mistake so far. But, the chronic midfield illness remains: we simply can't keep possession. We have no BOSS in the middle to boss around. Biglia, supposedly an immaculate anchorman, has made mistake after mistake, jeopardizing our priceless lead. I think Rodriguez, Romagnoli and Musacchio have had the most touches as Napoli's pressing is ruthless and we keep passing it back.

There is, in my opinion, no cure for our midfield inferiority during this game. We have no better players to come in and overrun Napoli's midfield which, without the peerless Jorginho, is also devoid of ideas but at least very good at keeping the ball and definitely better than ours so far. Kessie has been unusually quiet. No buccaneering runs like last season. Maybe he's just following Gattuso's orders?

We are practically playing a 4-4-2, with our forwards, Suso and Higuain, absolutely isolated and disconnected from the rest of the team. Now I can understand why Hakan is so valuable to this team. He eases the pressure both on Suso and on Bonaventura. Borini, minus his awesome headed cut-back, has been a willing runner and that's it. Hakan's marvelous shot, vision, and technique render him incomparable with Borini.

We could possibly bring Bakayoko in for Borini and play a sort of Christmas Tree 4-3-2-1, but because the team has been doing well, that's unlikely unless we (God forbid) concede.

Any ideas, guys?

[IrasMaldinista]

Full time: Milan 2 - 3 Napoli

Calabria scored and later managed to screw it up for us. Three horrible mistakes cost us the game. Napoli were just too clinical.

For Napoli's first goal, Musacchio's AWFUL pass to Biglia, who then lost the ball and Zielinski did well to score. Absolute shock.

Napoli's second goal came courtesy of Bakayoko and Bonaventura. Bakayoko, poor unlucky fellow, cleared Napoli's corner kick, but it went straight to Zielinski whose shot deflected off Bonaventura's ass and Gigio was helpless.

Their third goal was owed to Donnarumma's cowardice to charge forward and clear the balll. But, worse than that was Calabria's amateurish positioning which sealed the deal. Calabria was marking air molecules I suppose, when Mertens, free as a bird, moseyed right where our right-back supposed to have been and coolly opened the empty net.

Biglia, who practically assisted our second goal, was proven to be indispensable tactically, as it was after his substitution that we fell apart. Bakayoko and Kessie proved beyond all doubt they're just too dumb to screen the defense. Let's just say they are anything but anchormen. Gattuso deprived us of Biglia's spatial awareness and Napoli enjoyed their newfound freedom rather too much. In retrospect, assuming Biglia was too tired on the 57th minute, Bertolacci seems to have been the go-to replacement rather than Bakayoko.

On a positive note, Laxalt and Higuain seem great signings. Laxalt is amazing on the run, very agile and skillful. One link-up with Rodriguez showed us that Hakan's sub may just be him. Higuain touched the ball, like, 6-7 times during the game and he played acceptably, minus one terrible shot (resulting from the aforementioned one-two between Rodriguez and Laxalt).

We played a solid, dare I say perfect game (considering our limited resources) until Musacchio's idiocy derailed our focus and rhythm. On this evidence, Gattuso must escalate Caldara's training for four-man defense, because we need him. Furthermore, Biglia, or a similarly tactically-disciplined player is a must throughout the whole game. We must only go all-out attack when we're desperate. At 2-1 ahead, we were anything but. And finally, Hakan's return cannot come soon enough. We were awful, awful, awful creatively. Ancelotti, genius man we know he is, shut Suso and Higuain out of the game, and the one time Suso got hold of the ball in their box, we scored.

I believe this was only our first game and we can definitely hope the ragazzi will get better. Out of all the players, Gattuso must spank Calabria hard because the dude ruined his enormous contribution with his horrific positioning, and he is practically our only decent right-back at the moment. Conti, where you at, man?

[uzonero]

I know this might seem like a knee jerk reaction but I'm still yet to understand why Bakayoko was signed and Locatelli sold. As a sub for Biglia, he looked totally lost out there last night and I fail to see which of our starters he can displace. We needed a midfield starter with lots of technique and not a runner without brains. I think our midfield will be our Achilles heel this season and this is the major negative of our Mercato session

[Kaladin]

The team is f*cking terrible, the same problem has been concurrent every season, its like groundhog day. Not worth it following the team this season, Pastore is 10x the player Kessie and Bakayoko is, just watch him now. The midfield is terrible, every season we buy strikers and defenders and disregard the midfield as an afterthought, high marquee signings in both areas while the middle is a mess.

Not gonna waste my time anymore on a team with square pegs in round holes, amateur coaches, and deluded fans. See ya.

[IrasMaldinista]

Biglia, who practically assisted our second goal, was proven to be indispensable tactically, as it was after his substitution that we fell apart. Bakayoko and Kessie proved beyond all doubt they're just too dumb to screen the defense. Let's just say they are anything but anchormen. Gattuso deprived us of Biglia's spatial awareness and Napoli enjoyed their newfound freedom rather too much. In retrospect, assuming Biglia was too tired on the 57th minute, Bertolacci seems to have been the go-to replacement rather than Bakayoko.

In his press conference today, Gattuso confessed to the mistake I pinpointed last week. He admitted that it was a tactical suicide to remove our tactically-astute anchorman (who BTW had a bad day) and replace him with the dumb Bakayoko... especially as we were still 2-1 ahead.

Well, good! Now we know the man's learned. Let's hope Hakan's magic and Caldara's inevitable inclusion into the starting XI can turn last week's Milan into a stronger unit.

[Cruijf]

What a game. Absolutely love this team. We still have a lot of flaws but the first time in awhile I think we've actually earned the right to be optimistic.

[IrasMaldinista]

Lo and behold, Patty Cutrone to the rescue again!!!

It was tight, tense, tough, but Gattuso's wonderful substitutions decided the contest.

It was a fantastic game from Milan. Despite our inability to penetrate, which is to be expected as none of our starting wingers (or even full-backs) are particularly speedy, we were confident and we were in control and most importantly, we were truly consistent throughout the game.

Biglia, who's been taking shit since last week, was arguably man of the match today. He never misplaced a pass, never stopped running, and was Ambrosini-like in his tactical awareness and game-reading.

To tell the truth, of all the good things I saw, I am happiest about the way our left flank got revolutionized by two quick-fire substitutions. It's just sooooooo sweet when you know you have different weapons on the bench. Laxalt and Samu destroyed Roma's right flank in a matter of minutes. They combined three or four times, and they were utterly menacing each time.

Still, let's not ignore the fact that Rodriguez did awesome to provide the first assist for Kessie, as well as the impact Hakan had on the left. Hakan was imprecise and not match-fit enough, but he held the ball well (something Borini is absolutely incapable of) and occupied Romans all the time, freeing up space for Rodriguez and Bonaventura.

I'm very happy with our game. We were not spectacular AT ALL, but we were super solid and super assured.

Well done Ragazzi.

[GiancarloC]

I don't think it was speed, but rather tactical play for us. The introduction of Laxalt and Castillejo changed the dynamics by introducing more pace, but we still dominated the game either way. Biglia needs to be more consistent, but I like what I saw. I'd like to see Bakayoko though.

The only thing I was not happy about in the game was with is Donnarumma. His confidence levels have plunged and he made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes. To be honest he should have covered better when Roma scored. If these mistakes continue, then we should consider starting Reina over him.

Laxalt, Castillejo and Higuain could be a combination we should try in the Europa League. We need to take that more seriously this season I think. We have to win it. It could really set a better precedent. Laxalt and Castillejo playing more in the Europa League could ease up pressure on our other players, and help us truly compete on all fronts.

[Zlatan]

We have a fantastic backline as of now, Mustacchio has been quietly performing very well, and even though this may be unpopular here, he looks much better than Bonucci.

The weakest link in our backline is Donnarumma. His distribution is absolutely abysmal. He often plays the wrong pass and puts the backline and the midfield under unnecessary pressure which leads to turnover of possession in our half, when he could have just hoofed it. All the goals we have conceded so far have been partly due to his fault.

[Zlatan]

Biglia needs to be more consistent, but I like what I saw. I'd like to see Bakayoko though.

This is one thing I feel where we are weak. We do not have a direct replacement for Biglia, and we'd be royally fcked if he was injured. Bakayoko is not the same type, and I don't think Montolivo is in Gattuso's plans anymore unless an emergency arises. Hope we find a good player who can share some of Biglia's burden. We could have had a lot of use for a player like Torreira.

[GiancarloC]

The team is f*cking terrible, the same problem has been concurrent every season, its like groundhog day. Not worth it following the team this season, Pastore is 10x the player Kessie and Bakayoko is, just watch him now. The midfield is terrible, every season we buy strikers and defenders and disregard the midfield as an afterthought, high marquee signings in both areas while the middle is a mess.

Not gonna waste my time anymore on a team with square pegs in round holes, amateur coaches, and deluded fans. See ya.

Then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

While we may be lacking a midfielder, your attitude doesn't represent the majority of fans. Yes, we should have took at least a draw agianst Napoli or even not let that lead slip, but Gattuso learned from his mistakes in that game. Deluded fans? Oh please. I'll say again don't let the door hit you on the way out. I'll stick behind this team and I won't cut and run when we lose one game as if it wsa the end of the season.

[GiancarloC]

Biglia needs to be more consistent, but I like what I saw. I'd like to see Bakayoko though.

This is one thing I feel where we are weak. We do not have a direct replacement for Biglia, and we'd be royally fcked if he was injured. Bakayoko is not the same type, and I don't think Montolivo is in Gattuso's plans anymore unless an emergency arises. Hope we find a good player who can share some of Biglia's burden. We could have had a lot of use for a player like Torreira.

Well of course I'd love to have someone like Rakitic, but I was saying Bakayoko should have time in place of Kessie say in the Coppa or Europa League. We do lack a midfielder. Dare I say Rabiot? That guy just keeps coming up, and we should make a serious attempt in the winter. Winter is just a few months away anyways.

Montolivo probably won't play another game. I'm surprised we didn't rescind his contract.

[GiancarloC]

BTW... anyone who compares Pastore to Kessie... please leave. They are not even the same kind of player. Kessie has been a standout performer and is very young. Either way, they don't play the same position. Pastore is nearly 30 and his legs are made out of glass (look at the last three seasons).

[Sponsored content]