Not sure what to think about Kessie,

Give him a chance. I was positive about his signing, and I remain hopeful he'll be an asset, but yeah, if he's still playing like that in a month, I'd be a little concerned.

That said, every other f*cker seems to think he was the ghost of Pirlo or something so what the hell do I know (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I don't know man. Even Football Italia in their report said Mussachio and Kessie played well. And that Montella experimented with a 4-1-4-1 shape.

I didn't see the game, so I'm going purely by the reports I read.

For the first 30 minutes he could NOT complete a pass. He was ropey and didn't seem to know what his role was. And I couldn't for the life of me figure out why he was playing pretty much in front of the back four.

He improved a bit in the second half, but he didn't exact stamp his authority on the game.

He looks a unit, but he worryingly actually reminded me of Muntari. Hopefully one of two things happen: 1: he plays better v Munich 2: my eyes refocus and see the stunning player in that one who apparently showed up today.

https://www.facebook.com/Fantagazzetta/vide...FIMYt0YIqVadpKk

These sentences make me even more worried. It's like he's regressing with us.

I really wondered why we kept him on. Honestly he peaked between August and November, and while fans cut him slack afterwards saying the decline was because of the limited squad, there's more underneath the hood than just that.

I am worried he is not the right man to take Milan forward and today did little to shake that.

The build up play was pretty messy but it was to be expected as some of these players have never played together. I think for the next couple of friendlies before the Europa League games, I will be observing the individual skills of the players. In this game, I thought the new players with the exception of Rodriguez; i.e. Kessie, Musacchio and Calhanoglu showed that they are a step above to what we have been used to in the past. Yes, in this game their passing game was pretty sloppy at times, slow movement off the ball and in general the team lacked understanding but this will improve over time.

So I am not going to comment too much on this defeat as it only makes sense for Montella to experiment with different formations with different players after this squad overhaul.

Thing is like you I was only really focused on individuals. I paid lots of attention especially to the new signings, and while two of them REALLY impressed me, one was modest and one seemed quite underwhelming.

But it's interesting that Rodriguez didn't impress you. Because everyone else seems to be loving him and I too was slightly 'meh' regarding him. So are we wrong? Is everyone else wrong?



Dude, the problem is he ISN'T experimenting. It was 4-3-3 occasionally looking like a 4-1-4-1. That's what we did last season isn't it?!

Guys, keep calm and smile. Games like these tell nothing. It was our first proper showing this summer with a very mediocre line-up. Storari, Zapata, Paletta, Mauri, Borini, Niang. Some of these will be sold while others will warm the bench. The team is still under construction. By season start we'll have a completely new face.

WTF, why do you sound so worried after just 1 friendly? Even Ancelotti lost these...

Didn't see the game (was at work) but am unsurprised at the result, given that BVB are ahead of us in preseason prep and we have a bunch of new guys and didn't even play the best of the new ones.

So not worried at this point if it was as bad as people seem to think it was. I'll be a whole lot more worried if it's shambolic for the EL qualifiers.

Did not see the game either. Reports from various sources seem to disagree with some of the assessments of the players I have seen on this thread.

I agree that we should not over-react to a friendly, played largely with reserves, and the first real test against a serious team that has had a little more time to train. That said, I kind of share the concerns about Montella. I like him, but this year will be his first real test with a team that on paper could finish in the top 3-4.

I think he'll definitely switch it up to a 3-man back line or a 4-man back line that suits the players he has. 4-3-3 is certainly not the one though because we don't have any wingers

In fact he said today that he's considering the 3-man defence. However, with Romagnoli still injured, I don't know if we'll go with this initially, but if we are to go for a back 4 then I hope it's a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-2-1 and not a 4-3-3 because we simply do not have the players for it

That being said, I think he stuck to it because it was mostly players from last season who started with the exception of Kessie and Rodriguez, so I can see the logic behind using it for these games.

My worry is that he's not going to to have the opportunity to try the new guys out as a set 11 before we play the EL qualifiers.

That being said, we were playing Dortmund today who had what I think is probably their strongest 11 out there or as close to it as you can get in a summer friendly, they're ahead of us in their pre-season and they're already a well oiled machine as this is basically the same squad as last season. I also read that we could have gotten a better result in the second half as we had the chances but fluffed our lines


I'm not going to get into the ratings because I didn't watch so I can't really dispute, but the general consensus I got from reading on the net and watching highlight videos and individual player compilations was that Kessie was apparently as bad as you're saying in the first half - this is mostly because he was played in the regista position and was basically dropping between the 2 CBs to pick up the ball - this is definitely not his game though, I'm wondering why Montella would even use him in such a way. Kessie is pure box-to-box, and we shouldn't be using him as a DM. That being said, I also read that he improved a lot in the 2nd half which is probably why we see all the adulation as when people want to really get behind someone they forget the bad and roll with the good. So if he ended his performance on a good note, this could be why you're seeing a more lopsided assessment

Hakan, Musacchio and Rodrigues were impressive from what I read as well, also, consider the fact that Rodriguez had Niang ahead of him while Antonelli had Hakan, and this could be the reason why one looked a bit better. Hakan looked great when Bona or Antonelli overlapped him and he continuously played them in, while Rodriguez didn't have that kind of smart player ahead of him as Niang is simply a headless chicken

You know, I'm not going to worry about this, it's a friendly we've always been terrible in pre-season games even during the glory years under Carlo, add to that, Montella started a lot of the old players (some of which we know for a fact will be leaving), so he kept the old shape and tactics and just stuck the new guys in. I think we'll definitely see a change in tactics/system when Bonucci, Conti and Biglia come into the mix

Re-Bacca, I mean, I watched the highlights and he barely featured aside from that shot which was good no doubt but it was as badly conceded as the Sahin one we let in. Keepers terrible on both.

Just want to add that the result isn't so bad considering one of the goals was a penalty (Paletta is consistent if nothing else) and the other was a terrible attempt at a save by our back up keeper (maybe we should really consider making A. Dolla the number 2)


Could it be because he was playing the DM position in the first half? I'm mostly asking because from the clips I watched he looked to be playing a classic DM role in the 1st half while in the 2nd he was definitely positioned more to the side of the midfield and looked like he was given more licence to maraud forward


Montella imo is a good tactician, whether he can handle the pressure that's now been put upon him is another thing all together. But I still have faith in him.


Agreed

And anyway, Dortmun and Bayern were always going to be a kick in the teeth, we couldn't have picked worse sides to play against. Both are well oiled machines who are already much further into their pre-season than we are, there teams are already well formed and have been playing with each other for a while, so expecting some kind of miracle result while we were still utilizing the likes of Paletta, Zapata, Niang was pointless

I said the same after Rangers lost pre-season friendly after pre-season friendly. Then it got worse against Europe's statistically 10th worst team in UEL first round when we managed the worst result in the club's history.

If it looks REALLY bad pre-season chances are it's not just for sh*ts and giggles. There is a case for tactical tinkering and fitness issues, but if things aren't clicking pre-season after multiple alterations and attempts, what difference exactly is a couple of weeks before season start/competitive action going to make?

So I dearly hope for improvement against Bayern otherwise this is already looking bad.