Hellas Verona v MILAN

I missed the first 60 min. how were we then? Any noticeable improvements?

Casciavit wrote:I missed the first 60 min. how were we then? Any noticeable improvements?

First half was a little shaky and we got lucky with our first goal. Second goal was pure class from SES and a sweet finish from Honda. Third goal was smart work from Rami and again Honda with the finish.

Overall I think there was a visible improvement in our defense and overall play. Alex-Rami are by far our best CB pairing and were very solid for the most part. Abbiati also some stunning saves, to my surprise.

Bonera yet again proving how crucial he is to our success. We conceded our only goal of the match within minutes of his coming on (though it was not his mistake).

PS: Kudos to Inzaghi. I have not seen the team play such football in a very long time. No matter what the results are, he has instilled his passion and ideology among the players and they can be seen giving their all on the field. Watching Milan games is "fun" again. Thank you Pippo!

Honda has always been that good, he just needed a proper preseason and what not to gel and adapt.

Abramovich wrote:Honda has always been that good, he just needed a proper preseason and what not to gel and adapt.

this is a man who said in the interview, "if i dont do better than last half of the season, then im better off quitting football" and he was damn serious about it.


its time other players learn some from his professionalism.

essien surprisngly played very well. and abate has been on fire!!!! lol that own verona goal came from his assist XD

Cas:

Spoiler:

GL jinx working wonders

First of all, congratulation to a nice win. Most of the player got passionate for the game from passion of the Pippo. But i don't understand some of his substitutions today. Menez for Torres and Bonera for Honda. After already leading by 3 goals he should not be risking another injury from a very important player. Pazzini or Niang should have been better choice. And besides Menez made a mistake that led to their goal. But he made that mistake mostly because he knew Bonera is in and that we are doomed. But, fortunately there wasn't much time for them to score more. If you have one goal lead or you have a player less on the field only then he could put Bonera in. Even in that situation that will not be a good idea.
Besides that Pippo was satisfied with performance of Essien. I was watching the whole game and i was not satisfied at all.
Anyway, that was a good game apart from that last 10 minutes when their concentration went down hill.

Very happy with this performance.

The score itself is not what dictates our evolution, yet on how seriously we took this fixture (given the pre-match motivation and talk) since Verona at the Bentigodi are quite a force. Yet aside from the resolute partnership of Rami-Alex (the latter continuing his PSG form) there is a constant element of conviction instilled within our movements on and off the ball. It transmits purpose, belief, character and desire to impress our manager.

Whether it be Abate in his outstanding form this season, us dominating play with a diabolic duo of Muntari and Essien or Andrea Poli's highly overlooked work for the midfield.

We see Keisuke Honda Co-Capocannoniere with his clinical finishes and constant presence, we see Stephan El Shaarawy a 90 minute force who's visionary assist was a mere blip in his consistent influence in the game. This kid is a gem. We have a fantastic player in rotation in the form of Massimiliano Allegri in his versatility who start or off-the-bench adds a great element of versatility.

Fernando Torres? Let it be known his sacrificial performance for the team in correctly leading the line, holding up play fantastically and 2 excellent manoeuvres to bamboozle the opposition. Yes he must get himself in more scoring positions yet this is a man attempting to ply a new league as his head constantly swivels to understand his teammates better. He will come good.

What Pippo hopefully realizes that subs such as adding Bonera to seal the game will not come good considering our strengths lay in outscoring the opposition rather than resolute displays of defence, a facet that must be worked upon. Subs such as bringing off Torres and El Shaarawy for the umpteenth time are incredibly frustrating yet our whole squad has immense faith in Pippo as there is always a sense of purpose behind his decisions, he learns as he produces upon what did not work as to plan previously.

With our 3rd place rivals in dire form, there is no excuse but to capitalize upon our current 4th spot as Sampdoria surely will not last that long while de Jong returning for the next game will be a shining boost.


By the way, I know Michael Essien said he does not have Ebola yet I'm having serious doubts considering he played like he did.

I've been very busy this week but I thought I'd still briefly contribute my thoughts on the game.

The scoreline was flattering given the performance with Hellas creating enough chances throughout the match to have scored three or more of their own if not for Abbiati's inspiration in the early phases of the match. He pulled off save after save throughout the match to deny Toni before capitulating in the final ten minutes, displaying poor judgement when coming out to claim the poor and poor handling on several occasions that might easily have led us to surrender a comfortable lead.

Our attacking play was stunted by our pedestrian midfield however we were importantly relatively clinical, with Honda's composure in front of goal in particular outstanding, expertly drawing in the keeper each time before slotting the ball past at the perfect moment. We produced some excellent moments of flowing football, particularly on the counter at times, with one move involving about six players which ended with a sumptuous Abate cross to Poli representing our best moment of the match despite the latter failing to score. It represented the progress made in our ability to coordinate our attacking movement, committing men forward in numbers to open up a back line through high tempo play and exact passing. In a game in which we lacked a midfield playmaker, our ability to take advantage of the opponent's errors with rapid vertical play was pleasing.

Despite the defensive nature of our midfield however, we were disappointingly far from stable. Halfreddson tore through Essien on numerous occasions and Toni regularly rode the challenges of our central defenders, regularly managing to place difficult shots on target in what was nearly a replica of last season's domination except with our goalkeeper this time rising to the occasion. Our fullbacks were admirably firm throughout, with Abate the standout due to De Sciglio's late collapse in dealing with a brilliant Lopez whose substitution was perfectly timed to tear apart our slow and tiring defensive structure.

As previously mentioned, Pippo's substitutions were odd and failed to adequately reinforce the team defensively to see out the game, instead further undermining our ability to maintain possession in the last moments of the game, inviting unnecessary pressure and blunting our numbers on the counter attack. It was particularly disappointing not to see either of Niang or MVG see the field when we went 3-0 up as one wonders when else such youngsters will be given opportunities, particularly given the injury cloud hanging over their alternatives.

On a final note, it was positive to see El Shaarawy grab an excellent assist however he currently lacks confidence when shooting, the sooner he ends his dry streak the better.