Looks like Kjaer's injury wasn't serious, so he'll be out for a few days. Probably gonna miss the next two games and return for Atletico I assume. Same for Calabria.

Zlatan has started training by himself again, whereas Giroud could return with the group tomorrow and might be called up for Venezia.

Messias will start in these days the final stage of his personalised training to regain full athletic fitness.

Source: Mediaset

Again, I am very perplexed as to why Messias is so out of shape. I can only assume he never really trained for the whole summer, which is mind-boggling.

Alexis was good in the first games. Liverpool and Juve were both difficult games for him, but he's still my starting RW for now as there is no one better than him. Samu is not even an option and this Messias guy is imo a wasted signing as he's not going to do what Pioli needs from the RW.

The thing with Leao is that he's the only one who can really burn players with pace. Rebic isn't slow but he doesn't have the acceleration that Leao brings. And yes, he was mediocre yesterday, but he's been pretty good all season, even against Liverpool, the little he got on the ball, he showed quality imo, especially with that assist to Rebic.

With Rebic I just like the chemistry he has with Theo. I just don't know why we can't play one of them on the right and the other on the left... It isn't rocket science. Last season Pioli iced out Hauge because our left side is more stacked than our right side, but he's been scoring regularly for Eintracht while playing as a RW. There is no rule set in stone which says both Leao and Rebic have to play on the left.


Fillipo, you are too quick to judge. You also said Maignan was nothing special, but so far he's been as impressive as Donnarumma, if not more considering the work he does with the ball at his feet and how quick he is to release it into play.

Ballo-Toure looked good in pre-season and in the game against Cagliari. There is no reason why he cannot start against Venezia or Spezia. Let's see what he can do before we rush to judgement.

The least thing we need is running Theo into the ground and having him out long term.

And I agree that Pioli prefers a more physical profile next to a ball player in the double pivot, but Tonali is no slouch. He is a bit of a hybrid player in the sense that he can play a good ball but also impose himself physically. Bennacer is our best player in terms of someone who can turn and advance the ball forward, plus he's our best playmaker. And if Kessie is no signing that contract, then I don't want to see him on the pitch tbh


This game in particular was bad yes, too much play-acting, players throwing themselves on the ground, bickering, just terrible nonsense throughout.


Some decent news

This Messias situation gets even more facepalm worthy by the day. Why did we even bother with him?

But let's be honest, even when he did well against Lazio and Liverpool, it was through flashes rather consistency. And if those flashes don't produce anything, like last night, then Leao's overall contribution becomes null.

I just don't like the guy, he looks very disjointed and detached from the rest of team. And even when he does burn the opponents like you say, in most cases he just kicks the ball forward and beats them via speed rather than technique.

I don't think he has that great of a technique anyway. At his age if he was any good he should be imposing himself throughout the entire match. Guys stinks of Dembele, Niang and similar players if you ask me. Never gonna become any good.



Let's not jump to conclusions yet. I believe he will surprise us all. It's just this waiting and waiting that's really irking me. A professional football player shouldn't be out of shape when the season starts unless he's been out injured.

Unseen images of Messias recovering:

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A few months ago I would have totally agreed with you but I do believe that we're seeing progress from him this season.

That's the thing with young players, one season you want to strangle them the next they make the leap forward.

The reason we're currently one of the best sides in the league is because a majority of the young players on the squad have made that leap under Pioli's guidance. Calabria, Bennacer, Theo, Kessie, Tonali, Alexis and Brahim have all shown big improvements ever since Pioli took over. Tonali in a completely different player to the one he was last season. Same with Brahim, he's made a huge leap imo. The only thing I'd want further correction on from him is his tendency to hold onto the ball a bit too much. Leao has made improvement compared to last season imo and I do value that turn of pace from him because it's a good outlet for us.

That being said, I love Rebic and what he brings, so if you'd want me to make a static, back to the wall decision, I'd go with Rebic atm


I just don't think he'll give us what we need on that right side.


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We could and should try Rebic as RW like you said before, especially against sides that like to park the bus.



But isn't what we're lacking on that right side a player who can dribble past opponents, score goals and provide assists? Because that's what type of player Messias is. Set aside this getting back in shape "incident", he's always been very fit. Like I mentioned in a previous post, he played 36 games with Crotone last season and only in 2 of them he didn't play the full 90 minutes.

He has a very decent work rate and stamina, plus he's only 30. It's not like he's 35 or something. I think he can provide what Pioli asks of his wingers.

But obviously the pitch will speak for itself, so we'll just have to wait and see. The guy could very well prove to be a dud.

Agreed re Rebic. Leao used to play on the right in the 19/20 season. Don't know why that seems to be impossible now...


Re Messias, I'm just not a fan of the move at all and think it was made simply because we couldn't get anyone else. His fitness probably comes from the fact that he hasn't been running his body into the ground since he was 16 as is the case with most of the players today. I don't understand the issue with his conditioning though. He was not a player that was out of the project with Crotone. As you pointed out, he was one of their most used players. So I would assume that he was training with the rest of the Crotone team before he joined us

Fiorentina-Inter and Sassuolo-Atalanta tonight. Some important matches

Hopefully some dropped points. We absolutely have to take advantage of these next 2 games coming up

Inter losing 1-0

Atalanta winning 2-1 against Sassuolo

No, that has nothing to do with it. This is matter of preparation. He either wasn't training at all with Crotone because he was going to be sold and thus not part of their project, or he just didn't put much effort. As La Gazzetta wrote a few days ago, "the Brazilian attacking midfielder is still behind in condition as he is doing his athletic training almost from scratch".

Fiorentina started very strong and could have scored another, but then Inter started slowly to emerge. I can see them drawing this.

And inter score...

No I meant him having a pretty good injury record (rarely gets injured)

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Inter are really good.