Maybe he had that quality, but all the time ? I think he is heavily dependant on his teammates wherever he plays. Waste of talent

Kucka has been awful I agree there, but I disagree about it being our main issue, Bertolacci hasn't really done anything of note either.

The attack hasn't clicked at all today

How can you explain that in recent weeks Kucka has been one of the hardest working players out there. Balotelli is lazy, he doesn't help the team at all. Conversely Niang will drop deep in midfield to get the ball and bring it forward.

I'm not saying that Balotelli is the entire problem, Bertolacci isn't equipped to replace what Monto brings to the team. Zapata playing when you have Romagnoli healthy is ludacris, regardless of how he has played in the past few weeks. De Sciglio isn't half the player Abate is. There are many problems with the team out here today. Not one player has put in a good performance, except maybe Honda and Antonelli. This is what happens when you have to give De Sciglio the armband, there are no leaders out there today.

Say what you will about Monto and Abate, but they are the best leaders we have on this team.

Sassuolo show no signs of weakening ...

Sassuolo !!!!! That name , we Milan are losing against Sassu f*cking olo ...
I cannot believe it man

They have our number, no way around it. Di Francesco is a good young coach, I wouldn't mind seeing him here one day.

It's not the first time we've lost to them, actually we've done that quite a few times since they've re-emerged in Serie A.

What a total and utter fail of a performance...

I didn't say Kucka is the main problem, I just started with him as the evident choice. Bertolacci was uninspired in the way Poli usually was last season, but Kucka was the one who made countless small/big errors.


Lazy? I think it's just preconceptions. Balotelli, just like Bacca, had no service today. The midfield looked disjointed, while the flanks didn't put any offensive pressure.

Milan lost this match because we were unable to retain ball possession and start attacks. There were periods when Sassuolo kept poneseni and pressure on our part of the pitch for 10-15 minutes without interruption. I really think it's why we lost. How can this be possible? And how can this be Balotelli's fault?

Put this one on the coach, Sassuolo is a tricky team but we should have won here. This shows why we aren't ready to compete with the big dogs of Serie A

And why we shouldn't be in the CL next season imo as well

I agree that it doesn't all fall on Balotelli's shoulders but when the wings are having trouble pushing down the flanks a forward has to drop into the hole to get the ball and draw out a cb or a defensive midfileder to open up space to run into. When Bacca plays with Niang, Niang is this guy he drops to support Honda and Bona and give us a presence in the "hole". Balotelli wasn't doing this at all, nor was he holding up the ball. Bacca isn't the type of player to do this so it is Balo's job to replicate what Niang gives the team. Because we had no presence here Berto kept pushing into the space, quite unsuccessfully. This is also why Kucka looked terrible, usually he runs though the holes created when Niang pulls a central player out of position. There was no space to run into today. Berto pushes up and unbalances the team and our defense, with Zapata and De Sciglio this was far from our best line, came under extreme pressure and couldn't push out. They capitalized on this, but in reality the score could have been much more than 2.

I understand this comes down to the coach making the wrong choice, but if Balo wasn't lazy he would have dropped to pick up the ball from a deeper position, hence why he is a key part of the problem. It's not a coincidence that as Niang came back from injury this team had a resurgence. Balo and Bacca can't play together, just like Adriano and Bacca can't play together. None of them do the work to pull a cb out of position and there is a logjam up top. Hopefully Miha recognizes this and plays Menez from the start.

Giving any sort of blame on Balo for this loss is absolutely ludicrous, no offense intended. He wasn't given support in the slightest because our entire midfield was totally crap.

Fillipo is right, these sort of performance are all down to the blatant lack of quality in our midfield. If Monto is missing and Bona is in a bad day, we're completely spineless. Kucka is great for muscle and winning balls, but that's about it. Honda performs only when the team is performing. He really doesn't add anything of his own to make our play better. And Bertolacci is just crap, a waste of money, as expected.

I switched off after the first half, cos it was plain as day we would lose this one. Spineless team.

None taken (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) I don't mean to blame Balo for a loss it can never go on one player when the team loses, especially in this fashion, but not being part of the solution means he was part of the problem. I have stood by the guy up until today even, but really this game and the rest of this season as a whole is his last chance. We gave him another shot instead of letting him rot away at Liverpool, and the guy still can't be bothered to shake his a$$ to help the team out.

Up until today I still thought it was a good idea to buy him back from Liverpool but it's obvious he will never learn. He is ten times as skillful as Niang will probably ever be, but I would still take Niang or El Sha for that matter. At least when it isn't going their way they will still put in the work to track back and help out the midfield. When Menez came on the team perked up and he worked to get on the ball dropping into the midfield to get the ball. For me Balo is a symbol that there is still so much work to be done in this team. Outside of the first eleven there isn't much in the way of quality and I agree that our midfield is clearly the worst aspect of the team, hands down.

Honda has been doing well recently, he drops to our own 18 to help out defensively. He isn't a superstar going forward but today that came down to having DS in there instead of Abate. Kucka isn't anything special but he does contribute offensively. More so than I thought he would. He is always that extra man in the box who overwhelms the opposing defense. He is no star but he is a serviceable box to box, and for 3m was really a steal. Berto is having trouble because he doesn't do the job that Monto does, instead he would be better suited playing in a midfield 3 with a Monto type and a more defensive midfielder. To me he is a Marchisio type player. Not really a regista but not really a box to box and definitely not a trequartista. I have heard it called a shuttler which i think is the best way to describe him. Not worth 20 million, sure but can still be useful with a change of formation.

Yes, that is entirely true about Balo, but then Menez came in and what did it change? Nothing. That's why I'm saying that picking Balo from the midst is unfair because everyone is to blame.

Berto is having trouble because he's found himself in a reality much bigger than him, plain and simple. He's not cut for the big stage. He's mid-table material, clearly not fit to play for a club that aspires the Top 5. Waste of 20 million as predicted from the start.

Were we supposed to win today? I didnt see the game, however take comfort in knowing that we locked horns with Serie A's best and came out impressing. A defeat here and there was always expected. We smashed inter and tied with Napoli, but humbled by Sassuolo. Life's funny like that:)