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> Serie A 2021/2022 Season, Serie A Discussion

 
han2503
post Nov 24 2021, 08:33 PM
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QUOTE (X-Offender @ Nov 22 2021, 12:15 PM) *
Sportmediaset claiming Maignan could return against Sassuolo this Sunday, or more probably, against Genoa next week. He's been training regularly and his operated wrist doesn't hurt anymore.

Link

I hope we're not rushing him because of Tata's brain fart

I'd rather endure another 2 few games with Tata than risk Maignan

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Fillipo Simone
post Nov 25 2021, 11:16 AM
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Sure, we're still title contenders but we need to fix some serious problems.

Firstly, we really lack Hakan's mastery with the dead ball. Last season we were lethal in that department and scored a dozen of these easy goals after corners or free kicks. Diaz and Tonali (and Bennacer) are not doing it quite as good this season (in league terms) and this is visible.

Next is our crucial AM position. I think it's safe to say that Brahim Diaz is inadequate and not as good as we hoped he would be. He's too much of a lightweight, but whats more, he lacks the finesse and precision with the final touch. Therefore his movement usually ends up with a completely harmless shot or a foul for us (and again, we are harmless from dead ball situations). Just take a look at the game yesterday.

Finally, we lack more concrete and elaborated attacking scenarios. Our forwards do not shoot as much as last season, and about 85% of our shots from outside are completely harmless for the opposition. Our ration inside the box is terrific, because our strikers use almost every opportunity to be clinical. But these numbers (I can give you concrete stats if you like) will drop at some point because they are way above the average, and we will face problems.
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han2503
post Nov 27 2021, 09:54 AM
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QUOTE (Fillipo Simone @ Nov 25 2021, 11:16 AM) *
Sure, we're still title contenders but we need to fix some serious problems.

Firstly, we really lack Hakan's mastery with the dead ball. Last season we were lethal in that department and scored a dozen of these easy goals after corners or free kicks. Diaz and Tonali (and Bennacer) are not doing it quite as good this season (in league terms) and this is visible.

Next is our crucial AM position. I think it's safe to say that Brahim Diaz is inadequate and not as good as we hoped he would be. He's too much of a lightweight, but whats more, he lacks the finesse and precision with the final touch. Therefore his movement usually ends up with a completely harmless shot or a foul for us (and again, we are harmless from dead ball situations). Just take a look at the game yesterday.

Finally, we lack more concrete and elaborated attacking scenarios. Our forwards do not shoot as much as last season, and about 85% of our shots from outside are completely harmless for the opposition. Our ration inside the box is terrific, because our strikers use almost every opportunity to be clinical. But these numbers (I can give you concrete stats if you like) will drop at some point because they are way above the average, and we will face problems.

Yes, we do miss the Hakan set-piece. I think Tonali is the best alternative, Theo is also very good on free-kicks, but with him it's a toss up as you also want him in the box as well since he's dangerous in those situations. I don't think Diaz ever takes set-pieces... And it's not like we haven't scored from set-pieces, our numbers have dropped a bit becase Hakan was excellent on them. The only flawless part of his game imo

As for the AM position. I completely disagree re Diaz. Look at his performances pre Covid. He was immense. He just needs some time to et back into shape. We know that it usually takes players anywhere from 2 weeks to a months to get back match fitness after covid, especially if they symptomatic as Diaz was. It's not like Hakan was the epitome of finess and precision. The amount of bumbling he did in crucial moments is proof of this. Zlatan cursing him out last season was the cherry on top.

I agree that we have an abnormal chance to goal ratio and this could be a problem down the line. But one thing that sort of balances this out is that we have a large number of different goal scorers. We're not relying on one player to do all the goal scoring, which was the case last season with Ibra at the start where he was practically scoring 2 goals per game
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X-Offender
post Nov 27 2021, 02:45 PM
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Hakan scored 4 goals and made 10 assists with us last season, and 6 of those assists came from set pieces. So, his in-action assist came down to a measly 4. The guy can take set pieces, yes, but if that's your predominant quality, then you're plain mediocre. Which he is.

Brahim's performance against Atletico was praised by many. He got very positive ratings. Just to quote the first one I stumbled upon (Eurosport):

QUOTE
Brahim Diaz - 7
One of Milan's best tonight. The only one at least to try to break the lines of Atletico, to succeed in one-on-one's, to trigger and create space. Really a very good game.

And speaking of Zlatan, I was looking at his numbers in Serie A earlier:

19/20 - 10 goals in 18 appearances
20/21 - 15 goals in 19 appearances
21/22 - 5 goals in 7 appearances

I know I give him sh*t from time to time, but those are truly incredible numbers for someone of his age.
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post Nov 27 2021, 02:52 PM
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Pioli: "Maignan is ready and will start tomorrow. Tomori feels better but he's not ready yet, should return for the Wednesday match."

Probable line-up: Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Theo; Kessie, Bennacer; Alexis, Brahim, Leao; Zlatan.

Great to have Maignan back!
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han2503
post Nov 27 2021, 04:16 PM
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QUOTE (X-Offender @ Nov 27 2021, 02:52 PM) *
Pioli: "Maignan is ready and will start tomorrow. Tomori feels better but he's not ready yet, should return for the Wednesday match."

Probable line-up: Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Theo; Kessie, Bennacer; Alexis, Brahim, Leao; Zlatan.

Great to have Maignan back!

Why not Kalulu at RB? He's been great so far.

Florenzi I'm interested to see how he'll do though, plus he's much better in the attacking phase than Kalulu

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X-Offender
post Nov 27 2021, 04:43 PM
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QUOTE (han2503 @ Nov 27 2021, 04:16 PM) *
Why not Kalulu at RB? He's been great so far.

Florenzi I'm interested to see how he'll do though, plus he's much better in the attacking phase than Kalulu


I guess to rotate them. Calabria will probably be out till January.
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han2503
post Nov 27 2021, 08:22 PM
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QUOTE (X-Offender @ Nov 27 2021, 04:43 PM) *
I guess to rotate them. Calabria will probably be out till January.

It's not like Kalulu is tired though.

Anyway, let's see how Florenzi does.



Btw, anyone watched that Juve All or Nothing series? If we ever have the opportunity to do one, I hope we have the good sense to do a completely English production. The narration should be done in English and it should have English voice over. It makes no sense to do something that big for an international audience in Italian. What a lost opportunity. And to do it during such a season with Pirlo as coach and no supporters in the stadiums was also a big mistake. Should have delayed it. They come off looking terrible from it

And it comes out during the same week they're being investigated for false accounting, plus now they lose to Atalanta. Terrible week for Juve.

Bonucci comes off looking like a grade A @sshole as well.
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post Nov 27 2021, 08:42 PM
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QUOTE (han2503 @ Nov 27 2021, 08:22 PM) *
Btw, anyone watched that Juve All or Nothing series? If we ever have the opportunity to do one, I hope we have the good sense to do a completely English production. The narration should be done in English and it should have English voice over. It makes no sense to do something that big for an international audience in Italian. What a lost opportunity. And to do it during such a season with Pirlo as coach and no supporters in the stadiums was also a big mistake. Should have delayed it. They come off looking terrible from it

And it comes out during the same week they're being investigated for false accounting, plus now they lose to Atalanta. Terrible week for Juve.

Bonucci comes off looking like a grade A @sshole as well.


Plus the 4-0 defeat to Chelsea. Let's see how this investigation goes. I think it's going to be a serious matter, because unlike other teams, Juve are listed in the stock exchange, and thereby the grade of liability takes a whole new, very serious level.

And Bonucci IS a grade A asshole. One of the pettiest, most disgusting people in football.
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han2503
post Nov 27 2021, 10:39 PM
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As expected, Inter win. Hakan finally scores an open play goal.

Must win tomorrow. Make sure to keep it at -4 until they have Roma. I'm sure Mou will be itching to get one over on them
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post Nov 27 2021, 11:15 PM
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Well, they had an easy peasy match. Venezia are terrible. Couldn't create jackshit for the life of it.

Btw, completely off topic, but did anyone see what happened in the Belenenses-Benfica match in Portugal? Apparently Belenenses had a Covid outbreak and most of their players got infected, but the league didn't postpone the game so they had to start and play the game with only 9 players, including some Under-23 kids and two GK's!

Never in my life I've seen at these levels a game to be played 11 v 9. I didn't even know it was allowed.
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Rossoneri7
post Nov 28 2021, 08:06 AM
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QUOTE (han2503 @ Nov 28 2021, 01:39 AM) *
As expected, Inter win. Hakan finally scores an open play goal.

Must win tomorrow. Make sure to keep it at -4 until they have Roma. I'm sure Mou will be itching to get one over on them


Its still early in the season, Milan must reinforce this winter. There are clearly areas of the field to be addressed, especially the AM department and wings.

This gap with inter will fluctuate all season and maybe even be in their favor in Jan/Feb. It is a marathon and not a sprint. But Milan have done surprisingly well so far.
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han2503
post Nov 28 2021, 01:44 PM
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QUOTE (X-Offender @ Nov 27 2021, 11:15 PM) *
Well, they had an easy peasy match. Venezia are terrible. Couldn't create jackshit for the life of it.

Btw, completely off topic, but did anyone see what happened in the Belenenses-Benfica match in Portugal? Apparently Belenenses had a Covid outbreak and most of their players got infected, but the league didn't postpone the game so they had to start and play the game with only 9 players, including some Under-23 kids and two GK's!

Never in my life I've seen at these levels a game to be played 11 v 9. I didn't even know it was allowed.

Easy peasy and they could have easily squandered it, only to get a ridiculous penalty at the end.

I don't see anyone complaining about how many penalties Inter are getting this season, which is something like 8 already, but everyone was crying foul last season when we got something like 13 over the course of the entire season, at this rate they'll have surpassed that number by the winter break

And yeah saw that. I don't understand how the league can allow for such a game to go forward.

QUOTE (Rossoneri7 @ Nov 28 2021, 08:06 AM) *
Its still early in the season, Milan must reinforce this winter. There are clearly areas of the field to be addressed, especially the AM department and wings.

This gap with inter will fluctuate all season and maybe even be in their favor in Jan/Feb. It is a marathon and not a sprint. But Milan have done surprisingly well so far.

You know, I keep hearing and reading everywhere about how Inter have a deeper squad and that they're better than us, but they have not had to deal with a fraction of the problems we have had, and yet we're still ahead of them.

I'd really like to see how they'd cope without Barella and Brozovic for a month or two, see how deep that squad really is. They'd probably drop like a sack of potatoes. But no one seems willing to see this very clear weakness in their squad imo, because once those 2 are out the quality drops waaay down with Gagliardini and Vecino.

I think we have shown that we can cope with emergency situations, Inter have not
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X-Offender
post Nov 28 2021, 02:09 PM
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My Inter friend keeps telling me we have sh*t players and that we'll crumble by January like we did last season. He's so certain he said he'll get a Milan tattoo if we win the scudetto. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Official line-up: Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Theo; Bakayoko, Bennacer; Alexis, Brahim, Leao; Zlatan.

Baka starting. Not sure about that decision...
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han2503
post Nov 28 2021, 03:28 PM
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Messin about with the ball in front of our area once again!!

When will they learn FFS???
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