[han2503]

Who: A.C. Milan vs. U.S. Citta di Palermo



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/milan-palermo_zps07c20535.png)



Where: Stadio San Siro



(IMG:http://www.acmilan.com/uploads/club/sansiro.jpg)



When:
2nd November 2014 @ 8:45pm CET


Head-to-Head Record



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/milan-palermostats_zpsc2aaa720.png)

[Danny]

I didn't even go into this match with expectations of a win. Every pre-match fellow Rangers fans message me on Twitter to ask about Milan's chances re: their bets and I usually have no idea, but I knew this one wasn't a win and said most likely to be a draw. I didn't expect the dross v Fiorentina to actually degrade worse and turn into this complete shambles.

Where to begin?

First off Pippo's starting formation and selection. That's 4 matches prior to this one where it was evident the 4:3:3 isn't working. The midfield isn't feeding the attackers and the wingers are utility players out of their comfort zone. The fact he continued with what isn't working showed his naivety.

The defence: to his credit (and I agree with Han on this) he did at least start the same defence for the first time this season. He's been chopping and changing so much and I think this was the first two matchesin a row with the same CBs. So it wasn't completely his fault to see the Club's best defender limp off after 3 minutes. BUT. It WAS his fault that his continued choppping and changing there meant Zapata's head was all wrong (didn't expect to play) and he had a stinker as he replaced Alex. As Han also said, Rami and Zapata was a disaster waiting to happen, and it is - that's a partnership that works on no level - Rami and Zaps both have their moments and neither can be completely relied upon. Alex usually bails out mistakes or errant passes. That fall-back crutch was gone. Furthermore the captaincy clearly wrecked Abate. He was decent, not great, v Fio, but absolutely horrendous tonight. His forays forward resulted in nothing and he was vulnerable at the back. Bizarrely it was MDS who was our best defender - he's seemingly getting out of his rut now and while his attacking play is poor, his defending was pretty good and he made some useful blocks and his positional sense was improved.

Midfield: Once again ANOTHER changed midfield. Last week saw De Jong, Muntari and Bona, this week we see Poli, De Jong and Saponara. I concede on this occasion again this wasn't fully Pippo's fault given one was injured and one was suspended, but the suspended one SHOULDN'T BE PLAYING ANYWAY. And MvG continues to waste away on the bench - no one has a clue why we signed him. If we'd had a settled midfield from the start we'd have Bona, MvG, Poli and De Jong, and we'd rotate when needed, usually Poli being the sacrifice unless needed like today. But no, we f*ck about with the midfield and never give any selection a chance to prove itself two matches in a row.

Attack: It's just absolutely ghastly. Honda has deteriorated to last year's Honda, he's absolutely terrible again, producing no end product and can't even get a free kick over the wall now. PS, I don't think anyone's ever addressed this but his corners and free kicks, for someone who's meant to be killer on his left foot, are dire. Only his direct free kicks on goal are impressive. His set pieces? Absolutely shocking. Meanwhile Menez, after one good match, has proven he's just not interested. His attitude is ridiculous - incredibly selfish, like Taraabt. He just isn't interested in passing the ball unless he literally cannot do a single other thing. He's not a team player, just like Balo. And Torres...still ghastly. He's been a disaster. One good goal aside this guy has been abysmal. He had one off-target header all night and while he's admittedly getting no service, he's not making anything happen from deep either. And SES summed up his own rotten form when he rightfully got booked for a thoroughly embarrassing dive. I don't care if he 'tries hard and puts in effort' - he's just cr*p cr*p cr*p. He offers nothing in an attacking sense and once again I've had enough. He can't score, he can't create, and all he does is dribble and lose the ball, or hit a hopeful shot and miss.

Pippo: Deeply concerned about him now. The players have lost interest, and it's looking like the end of Allegri's reign. He did try to change things second half by going 4-2-4 but it was not only a suicidal formation, it STILL didn't yield a single chance. He cannot get anything out of the players, because he is tactically naive - all his changes are like for like . Iachini absolutely outclassed him and Palermo were on easy street from 2-0. They didn't even have to work hard because our players barely tried.

Thing is, we DO have a good squad - we did surprisingly well in the window and we were all happy with the additions. But Armero hasn't started once, Van Ginkel is just being ignored, and Bona is a bit-part player. The others just aren't working, Alex (and Lopez tonight) aside. Why? Because Pippo sticks to his favourites like Seedorf did, like Allegri did. These guys refuse to put out the best team we have, instead opting for half good and half frustratingly poor.

To have Menez, Honda, SES and Torres on the pitch at once and not make a single shot on goal never mind a chance is absolutely, ridiculously diabolical.

Ratings:

Lopez: 7 Best player. He stopped this being a rout. He's earned his place back, not that Abbiati really did much to be dropped in truth.

Abate: 5 Really struggled with the captaincy, as I warned he would. He cannot cope with that responsibility, and it showed in his play - weak at the back, out of position a lot, and didn't do anything with his wingplay up top.

Zapata: n/a I like him but this was not a fair one on him. He's a great defender within his limits, but he wasn't in match mode and it told. Completely out of the game and cost both goals. Hard to totally condemn a defender who isn't expecting to play on any level and gets chucked on.

Rami: 5 Struggled to keep Palermo at bay first half, positional sense suspect as always.

MDS: 6 Actually ok from him. Poor in an attacking sense - his crossing is woeful, always was. But defence wise he did a better job than I've seen recently.

De Jong: 5 Weak night from him. Gave the ball away a few times and wasn't his usual composed, dominant self.

Poli: 5 Offers what Poli offers, nearly scored.

Sap: 6 I actually thought he did quite well - some nice passing, movement and skill. And nearly set up a goal.

Torres: 3 Usual stuff that I'm coming to expect from him.

Honda: 2 Has gone back to last season's Honda. Dramatic loss of form in 3 matches - from our best player to this dross.

Menez: 4 He wasn't ghastly in terms of his play, but he was in terms of attitude. Like Balo he thinks it's all about him, and while he has some talent, his me me me approach doesn't help anyone.

Subs:

SES: Same as v Fio

Pazzo: See above.

With Alex out injured and our whole team and management getting everything wrong, we're desperately in trouble. We're 7th in the table. Right now we're playing like we're 17th.

Sorry Pippo, but if you just won't pick the best players you have at your disposal, you deserve everything you get.

[X-Offender]

Sorry Pippo, but if you just won't pick the best players you have at your disposal, you deserve everything you get.

I'm quite skeptical about that, too. Sometimes you might have the right players but things won't work regardless. Look at United. They have some world class players in there, but they still suck.

I think Inzaghi should be the main culprit here. I love the guy, he's an idol, but we have to objectively assess his work, which so far has been terrible. I really have no clue how JackS thinks we're performing better and he's seeing huge improvements, cos anyone who watches our games can easily deduce that there have been no such things.

Our only decent wins in 10 games have been against Lazio and Chievo. We conceded 4 against Parma and we very, very lucky against Verona. We've thrown points away against Empoli, Cesena, Cagliari, Palermo and a terrible Fiorentina side. I can't see how that constitutes an improvement.

[Danny]

I'm quite skeptical about that, too. Sometimes you might have the right players but things won't work regardless. Look at United. They have some world class players in there, but they still suck.

The Utd issue is down to a failure to replace Neville, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra with similar quality. And any good team is built on its defence. The only exception, historically, to this is Real Madrid. But re: your point, I did say it's only part of the problem - his failure to set out the right formation, to change things, to get energy out the players, to stop constantly rotating. These are down to him.

I think Inzaghi should be the main culprit here. I love the guy, he's an idol, but we have to objectively assess his work, which so far has been terrible. I really have no clue how JackS thinks we're performing better and he's seeing huge improvements, cos anyone who watches our games can easily deduce that there have been no such things.

Our only decent wins in 10 games have been against Lazio and Chievo. We conceded 4 against Parma and we very, very lucky against Verona. We've thrown points away against Empoli, Cesena, Cagliari, Palermo and a terrible Fiorentina side. I can't see how that constitutes an improvement.

We're only a few tweaks (and some confidence) away from being a very decent side, but Pippo doesn't seem to want to do what the fans want.

It has been said though that when Monto comes back we're going 4-3-1-2. My guess is Muntari will still be part of it and Bona and MvG will remain benched.