Bad game and lucky win. Sampdoria didn't deserve to lose.

This mentality thing to take things calmly and nonchalant is truly annoying. We were wining 1-0 and Sampdoria was dictating most of the play, yet we were playing as if we knew we would win.

I have no idea where Pioli thinks is going to lead us in the long run, but it's not looking good.

About some of the players:

Maignan - Great performance. Very secure and dominant in the air. Has to work on his passing.

Tomori - Top class defender. So glad we signed him. Never had a better CB since Thiago Silva.

Tonali - I hope I'm not the only one who thought he was MASSIVE today. Best game he's had since he's been a Milan player. Held the midfield completely on his own. MotM easily for me.

Bennacer - Bro, he only played a handful of minutes, but he looked like a beast. Is Pioli even evaluating well his players' conditions? Should have started no doubt.

Maignan showed so much qualities today. Really making the Donna decision look like an amazing one. Obviously one game is too little to judge him on, but he's insanely sharp on the ball, great reflexes and was good coming out for high balls. Excellent signing. And when looking at the other keepers in the league, I'd hazard to say that we still have the best number one in the league

Theo... Man he needs to wake up. Explosive one second, in a coma the next. Too many times he tried to do idiotic sh!t in dangerous areas. Always trying to play through a wall of players. When it comes off it looks amazing, but when it doesn't it's deadly for us.

Krunic and Tonali held down the double pivot as well as could be expected. There was a huge Kessie sized hole in the middle of the pitch for us and it was felt. Bakayoko is going to be coming in so hopefully the AFCON won't handicap us to the degree that I'm predicting it will. But to know we're haggling over a couple of million with him, when he'd this crucial for us makes me want to cry like a baby

Brahim. Really good imo. Obviously he brings different qualities compared to someone like Hakan who is more of a passer rather than a progressor. But he was aggressive, strong on the ball, had some really good plays and in the end scored the goal.

Leao. A very good game from him imo. He's working on his overall contribution which is good to see and some nice moments of real quality, once again, just missed that final ball

Alexis and Calabria, good and solid as per usual.

Giroud. Had so many moments where his quality shone through, was just missing that really good ball from his team mates to get his goal. But overall he's a great addition to the team and a great alternative to Ibra.

Totally agree on Tonali, had some massive moments in the defensive phase as well. He's going to make that step up this season. I'm sure of it. We really do sometimes forget that he's just 21 years old.

Re Bennacer. They are obviously going to be extremely cautious with him given the issues he had last season and the fact that he missed a good chunk of pre-season. But yes, he looked great an Tonali transformed as well when he came on. It was like he was finally unshackled to drive forward. Hopefully we'll see them both starting next Sunday



I want to point out again that we were missing key players here and this was the first game of the season so fitness levels are going to waver. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree though that in-game management has to be much better. I do not understand why we were playing like rushed headless chickens instead of holding on to possession. Samp were getting desperate and would have made errors that would allow us to go through. Instead we kept losing the ball and inviting pressure. Obviously this isn't the first time we've seen such shenanigans. Last season we barely scraped through in this very same fixture as well.

On most aspects I can agree with you guys, but 2 main points defer.

1) You kept saying that Sampdoria will beat us and that they are a decent team. I all honesty, I've seen a relegation team play yesterday. They have no attacking concept, their coach does not seem to grasp some basics and most players look either out of shape or just past their prime. I think this team will have many difficulties scoring goals and will end up as a bottom team.

2) Leao was good? He started good, sure. But once again he became sluggish and not entirely connected with the rest of the team. Most of our troubles and buildup/counter attack problems are in connection with this.

I was the only one who said Sampdoria will win, simply because away they're always a tough side to play against, and they have a bunch of decent players. And honestly, I don't think they were that bad. They were chasing for the draw until the last minute.

I agree about Leao. He had a few decent moments in the first half, but that's about it. Once again a player we should have offloaded and failed to.

So, last night we played with a 3-man defence in the last minutes of the game. What do you guys think of this formation:



Personally, I'd be in favour of it. At least we'd have strong players in every position.

I really like that. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I don't think we have the required depth at the CB position maybe to be playing it week in week out. But, it's definitely a nice alternative! Where is Ibra in the formation? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

This post has been edited by William405: Aug 24 2021, 07:15 PM

I agree, Sampdoria weren't have bad. Pipo, you're judging them as a top 4 team. The have very good players for where they are.

Yeah, we'd need at least one decent CB backup that is not Kalulu or Gabbia.

PS: Han will definitely be against it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

CL draw today at 18:00 FYI.

Yepp

Liverpool, Porto ATM

Best was C but lucky to avoid group A

Tough group.. can't be tougher than that..

What is group A? Man city psg?

Whatever group, it's going to be tough for this squad.

Forza. MILAN!!

Bruh, we might as well forfeit. How on earth are we supposed to cope with such a group? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I just hope we don't get some bitter humiliation.