[han2503]

Who: Torino F.C. vs. A.C. Milan



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/Torino-Milan_zps0adad523.png)



Where: Stadio Olimpico di Torino



(IMG:http://www.stadiumguide.com/wp-content/uploads/olimpicotorino_front.jpg)



When:
10th January 2015 @ 8:45pm CET


Head-to-Head Record



(IMG:http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah232/hannvis/Torinomilanstats_zps1b55ddd1.png)

[Fillipo Simone]

tbh you make some fair points. Abate looked a class above when he came on, and Lopez was exceptional.

But that said in fits and starts we've seen them all individually playing much better than they showed tonight - Monto had been in superb form until the loss v Sassuolo, Alex had been a collosus every match till that same fixture, and Menez has worked miracles at times.

I think the problem is Milan's decline is echoing that of Serie A - our standards are having to go down, and as such a player like Monto gets elevated in our minds to being as good as Pirlo within the context of current Milan. If real Pirlo played for us, we'd be blown away by how good he was, because we're now so used to much lesser players at the Club.

And Serie A too is far weaker than it once was - Juve were once collosal, late 90s for example. Ourselves, superb late 80s and over the piece between 90-2005. But now all these teams are fundamentally crap by comparison.

Truth is we DO have good players, players who could make us a top 3 team quite comfortably, in this weak Serie A. I even include MDS in this, in theory, if he was to realise the form which made us so excited about him back in the day. Does that come down to his own lack of ability being exposed, or poor management? Maybe both.

But poor management is definitely a factor in a lot of what's going on here.

You CANNOT put it solely on the players when we have not ONCE started two matches in a row under Pippo with the same XI. When he has us too high up V Sassuolo and failing to play offside, and then far too deep tonight. The guy doesn't have a clue. 35% of all our conceded goals came from corners. We just can't defend - but then, we seem to get a good defence for a match or two and guess what, Pisso changes it. Like he does with every part of the team, constantly. NO MATTER WHAT FORM THEY'RE IN.

Play well. Change. Play bad. Change. It's ridiculous and absurd management.

Yes, the thing is, our standards dropped. Montolivo is a prime example. He's become our captain although he has no leading abilities, no capacity to be a captain and on top of it no seniority. You say Monto has been superb - but how? With goals? The guy is miles away from scoring. With assists? He has zero of them. And more importantly, in how many games? Two, maybe three, but that's the limit.

And that's what I'm talking about. This is something called mediocrity for me (I know Han will disagree). No impact in mentality, few assists and goals, a fair amount of bad games mixed with okay or average performances and then a few good to excellent. All in all, a modest impact.

Don't get me wrong, with Monto on the pitch we do play better in theory and practically, but it's baby steps. We need a complete reboot, from below and above.

Yes, but this is what we're talking about right now: Pippo's incompetency. I predicted that our season would go down the shitter that night, and four months later, it seems like it's become reality. What this Milan has been reduced to could have been easily deduced from that game alone.

The problem is, football isn't just about deduction. You try to sound like Han, bringing in the basics of logic and all that. But football isn't science. Yes, the signs were already there, but it was natural to take more time and make a well argumented assessment.

In the end you were right, but hey, what's the point? Bravo for you. If I could turn back time, after the Juventus games, I'd still be saying we need more time to asses our situation and coach.