The problem with having a manager who is the master of spin in the press is that it is impossible to know what is actually going on at your club. We've seen it so many times before this season, Allegri said Santi Gimenez was close to returning, when in reality, he had a serious injury that eventually required surgery. We were told Leão and Pulisic were fit to play, when clearly, they have not been fit for some time. This kind of selective truth sharing creates false expectations and can only lead to disappointment. At this point in the season, it has actually become dangerous, and may have been a huge contributing factor to the shock 3-0 loss to Udinese at San Siro on Saturday. Despite recent results, I don't think fans were prepared to see Milan in 3D – disconnected, disappointed, and disassociated.
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| Disconnected, disappointed, disassociated. |
Disconnected
As Milan's fortunes have changed in recent matches, there seems to be more disconnect with reality. And the most disconnected seems to be Allegri himself. After drawing much criticism for forcing Leão and Pulisic to both play out of position in his 3-5-2 system all season, and seeing how well Milan did when switching to a 4-3-3 midmatch when he put an actual striker on, he finally coalesced and lined up a 4-3-3. Only he still forced Leão to play center forward. More disturbingly, just ahead of the match, he was quoted as saying, jokingly, "Let's hope we've got the lineup right." I'm not sure if that was a pathetic attempt at humor or him being misguided and cocky and trying to make fun of those who criticized his lineups and tactics, but it seriously backfired on him.
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| At what point will Allegri stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole? |
Not only does Allegri have zero new ideas for football, not only is his football beyond dreadful to watch, even when Milan win, his obsession with playing Leão as a striker has not only likely caused the player's injury and prevented him from getting healthy, but Allegri is the ONLY person on the planet who cannot see it is not working. And it is wasting our most valuable asset. So, although the system could have worked better, the one place it was supposed to improve – the attack – was once again crippled by Allegri's complete disconnect with reality.
Of course, he also screwed up the lineups in defense. The bigger tactical change was in defense, so obviously, Allegri lined up all of our youngest defenders, leaving Tomori and the just recovered Gabbia on the bench, the two players with the most experience who could have been most helpful in making the tactical switch. It's difficult to blame Athekame, De Winter, or Bartesaghi for any errors defensively when their manager should have fielded more experienced defenders to lead, calm, and guide them. Particularly after recent lapses in defense, it is astonishing with how shockingly out of touch Allegri is with footballing reality.
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| Leaving our young defender to the wolves like that was irresponsible at best. |
Even as he eventually made the corrections to his lineups that helped Milan play a little better, it was too little too late: Füllkrug replacing Athekame at halftime, Fofana replacing Ricci at the 60th minute, the former whose strength, physicality, and specific skills were particularly missed for the first 60 minutes. And Leão immediately played better when allowed to move to the wing once Füllkrug was on, with the German barely heading it over in the 56th.
Ahead of the match, Allegri was asked about the many fines Milan have received this season for being late out to the pitch. He basically dismissed the more than €100,000 in fines by blaming the players, claiming "some of them come back late every now and then." I don't know if he thinks that money grows on trees, or if he realizes he might need to show some responsibility when his team incur more fines for this than the entire league put together this season, but he is definitely living in his own little world. And it is costing Milan both literally and also in a sporting sense.
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| Yes, the players had a bad match, but their manager set them up to fail, too. |
Players have started to show signs of not playing for one another, such as the Leão meltdown after being subbed off during the loss to Lazio. Leão was claimed to be selfish again in this match, such as in the 32nd, when he tried to score instead of leaving it for Saelemaekers. But Leão took the most shots of anyone in the team in this match. Just because no one was clinical in a match where Milan took 20 shots with only three on target does not mean all the blame falls to Leão for Milan not scoring. Pulisic was also stopped at every chance. Rabiot was angry and quite lucky not to be carded for some of his behaviors.
Disappointed
Obviously, everyone is disappointed when there is a poor result. The players are visibly and increasingly disappointed themselves when the performance is so poor as well, but the fans' display of disappointment is less than helpful. Allegri's other subs were Nkunku on for Pulisic and Jashari for Modrić in the 72nd minute, then Loftus-Cheek on for Leão in the 77th, the latter of whom was viciously whistled and booed by the whole stadium. And these last three subs were really nothing more than fresh legs, they did not provide the impact so desperately needed.
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| Most of Allegri's subs were too little, too late. |
Leão had started off by unusually expressing his frustrations in the 16th minute when, having been fouled hard at full pace on what looked to me like a goalscoring opportunity, Marchetti called him for the foul, and he just smiled and sarcastically clapped at the referee for an exaggerated period of time. This, of course, earned him a yellow card, which puts him in danger of suspension now, but honestly, as a fan, I was doing far worse, particularly after seeing referees do this to Modrić vs. Pisa, or Rabiot being sent off in that match for an invisible yellow card as well. While the fans and media focused their disappointment on Leão, I am beyond disappointed at the AIA this season, who have admitted to at least 30 major errors in just 32 matchdays now.
The first goal was basically scored by Atta, although it was later given to Bartesaghi as an own goal as it went in off of his poor attempt to stop it. 1-0 Udinese. Most people missed the part where Bartesaghi had a great goal line clearance just before the halftime whistle, they will simply be disappointed in the overall defensive performance. Same goes for the second time Zaniolo set up his teammate for Ekkelenkamp's goal in the 37th minute to stun Milan and give the visitors a 2-0 lead before halftime.
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| Pavlović could have used a little more experience to help him battle this one out. |
It was also disappointing, though, when De Winter was actually pinned down by a player on top of him in the 57th, who refused to get off of him or allow him to get up, and the referee just took a blind eye to that type of nonsense. In addition to the major match-changing calls like we have seen all season long, it's all of these frustrating little calls that make the players angry, throw them off their game, cause them to behave poorly or lose focus. Then everyone is disappointed.
Saelemaekers had probably Milan's best chance in the 51st, when his shot forced a huge save from Okoye, who hit it onto the crossbar. But disappointment still came in the 71st minute as the nail in the coffin goal was scored by Atta, with a young Milan defender just watching him, not even an attempted intervention. 3-0 for Udinese.
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| Saelemaekers probably came nearest to scoring for Milan. |
Disassociated
As Rabiot said postmatch, they were "wandering around the pitch." Several of the players made comments taking culpability for being completely disassociated and complacent. Sure. there was the new formation, along with Allegri's changes to lineups. But it was almost as if everyone were in a fog or something, despite having the support of their home fans (until the fans turned on them, of course.)
That would be worrying enough if it were just a one-off, just a singular poor performance. However, this was Milan's fourth loss in their last seven matches. After going 24 matches unbeaten, this is not just having a bad night. The players are lost with Allegri's tactics, unable to play the way they know they can, being limited by his archaic form of football.
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| If this trend continues, no way Modrić stays another year. |
I don't normally even give heed to anything he says, but Cassano apparently criticized Allegri ahead of this match. While Allegri's prematch remarks to address it were a brilliant way of shutting the troll down by complimenting him, Cassano gets the last laugh here. Allegri's inability to give up his completely bizarre beliefs about his attackers, his system, his lineups, and just overall having been left behind by football years ago were one of the biggest reasons Milan lost this match. However, it was a collective failure of the club, management, staff, and players, who have been struggling with reality for a while now. It's classic Milan in 3D – disconnected, disappointed, and disassociated.
Milan Futuro Destroy Brusaporto 4-0
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| The Four Goalscorers of Brusaporto's Apocalypse |
Sunday, Milan Futuro absolutely destroyed Brusapoorto 4-0 in their house. Oddo's men were dominant from start to finish, and the score could have even been higher, Brusaporto got lucky. Minotti scored the first goal in the 30th minute, and while there were numerous opportunities in the first half, and Torriani got involved a couple of times, it was still 1-0 for Futuro at halftime.
Second half, Milan Futuro were even more dominant, and Ossola either assisted or had a hand in the other three goals. They started less than one minute into the second half, with Sardo's goal to make it 2-0. Then Chaka Traorè assisted Magrassi's goal in the 53rd, 3-0 Futuro, with Chaka Traorè finishing them off in the 69th minute with an assist from Ossola to make it 4-0 for Milan Futuro. Notably, Denzel Seedorf got some minutes for the second consecutive week, and even the young goalkeeper Longoni got a few minutes, subbing on for Torriani in the 77th minute. Highlights of the smackdown are available or you can watch the entire performance here. Despite the victory, Milan Futuro remain in fifth place, but are only one point from fourth and two points from third place in Group B. They host Varesina on Sunday.
The Primavera Take a Point in a 0-0 Draw with Atalanta
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| Renna's Boys took "NO place like home" a little too seriously, with NO goals scored. |
Returning home to the House of Puma after lengthy renovations, Milan Primavera were only able to squeeze out a point in a goalless 0-0 draw with Atalanta Primavera on Monday. There were plenty of chances created, particularly in the first half, forcing Atalanta's goalkeeper into a couple of heroic saves, while Bouyer made a decent save or two of his own. The second half , there were a few more chances for Atalanta, and Federico Colombo made an important block late in the game from an Atalanta Primavera free kick, but it was still 0-0 when the final whistle blew. There are brief highlights available. Renna's Primavera are away to Sassuolo Primavera next.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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