[han2503]

Football is really failing me atm. After the big Azzurri disappointment. All that's left to do now is a big drubbing from Napoli and I'm set

[d'Arc.LP]

Montella off, now we can start commentary again. I'm glad. Nothing has been lost yet.

[Jack Sparrow]

Montella off, now we can start commentary again. I'm glad. Nothing has been lost yet.

Montella fired has less to do with Montella and everything to do with kicking the players out of their complacency. I saw the last game. I don't know if you can blame Montella when players miss sitters. Let's face it their GK was MotM. The players are the ones missing that extra 10% and firing the coach will send a message to the players I hope.

That said Gattuso was probably the worst hire we could have done. No experience. No winning experience. Seems a simple fan pleasing initiative and even worse apparently we didn't even have the class to tell Montella face to face. Sending a collaborator instead.

I hate to say it but considering the players we have brought in, the lack of tactical identity and considering we were not so clueless last season should it have been Mirabelli out and not Montella out? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[d'Arc.LP]

Montella fired has less to do with Montella and everything to do with kicking the players out of their complacency. I saw the last game. I don't know if you can blame Montella when players miss sitters. Let's face it their GK was MotM. The players are the ones missing that extra 10% and firing the coach will send a message to the players I hope.

That said Gattuso was probably the worst hire we could have done. No experience. No winning experience. Seems a simple fan pleasing initiative and even worse apparently we didn't even have the class to tell Montella face to face. Sending a collaborator instead.

I hate to say it but considering the players we have brought in, the lack of tactical identity and considering we were not so clueless last season should it have been Mirabelli out and not Montella out? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

23th different formation in the last 23 games tells everything about Montella.

I agree that the players are underperforming and hopefully a new coach will bring the better in them. Personally I like Conte or Ancelotti, but I dont mind Gattusso till the end of the season.

Our problem is not quality IMO, it's mentality.

And lets see if Gattuso can solve this mess.

[X-Offender]

23th different formation in the last 23 games tells everything about Montella.

I agree that the players are underperforming and hopefully a new coach will bring the better in them. Personally I like Conte or Ancelotti, but I dont mind Gattusso till the end of the season.

Our problem is not quality IMO, it's mentality.

And lets see if Gattuso can solve this mess.

Weren't you positive that we would get better with time? That we'd have to be patient with Montella? Changed your mind at last?

[Jack Sparrow]

Weren't you positive that we would get better with time? That we'd have to be patient with Montella? Changed your mind at last?

Well, I disagree with d'Arc's comment that it was the 23rd different formation. It was mostly the 23rd different lineup. To be fair it's been difficult with injuries. Conti and RR are our starting fullbacks. Biglia is meant to be our main regista etc etc.

Just to re-state, firing Montella was not just because our tactics were pathetically stagnant - but more to do with the fact that the players seemed to be not responding. At least some of the blame needs to go on the players and they needed this kind of ***-kicking. A new coach automatically means no one can assume themselves to be safe selections of the coach's favourites. Everyone starts from scratch and earns their place. Players performing poorly because they lost faith in the coach now try and step up their game etc. etc.


I'd have taken Bielsa though to be honest. But he's such a hipster, I wouldn't be surprised if he benched Bonucci, started Verghara and played Antonio Donarumma as a left winger.

[han2503]

A crucial problems lies within Montella. I'm not sure if we're holding onto him for just this season, but I'm pretty sure that had we got rid of him at the beginning Milan would have been in a much better competitive position. Now it's September and we're practically out of all chances to play the CL (unless we win the Europa League, which is quite unlikely - we're probably get run over by BVB or someone else).

Thankfully he’s gone now. Sometimes it’s the coach, other times it’s the players and sometimes it’s a combination of both. But this time I really have to lay the blame at his feet.

Maldini03 said it best about his constant nonsensical changes. I just do not get why he kept changing things around in each game. He wasted the entire pre-season doing this and then continued well into the season without knowing his best 11 and formation to suit that 11.

Montella is missing to inspire and move our players both individually and collectively. Not able to find the best spots for certain (important) players, not able to find the right team mentality and goals. Also not able to let the team play well, organize a thought-through intelligent gameplan. IMO he has to go and we gotta find a interim coach for the rest of the season. Panucci, Brocchi or whoever. I don't care. Montella simply has lost it.

I really do think these players are much better than they look now. I think someone like Rino will definitely inspire more out of them, I just question his tactical know how.

But on top of this I think other problems pop out as well. I know some of you guys will jump to the argument that this is a brand new team, 10 players, bla bla bla... But I've watched football too long now to know that there's always more then just one problem or angle. Yes, this is a new team. Yes, the coach failed in producing the necessary cohesion. But I also think our transfer campaign failed miserably.
I'm not the one to gloat or shout "I told you so", but I was for the most part right I think (and so was Danny). Bonucci is a special case, I think he'll be regaining form and will turn into a real asset for us in the future - that is if we have one. But the other buys turned out very unimpressive. Musacchio is solid, but shaky for the experience he has; should have. Rodriguez is a good option and probably by far our best catch.

I still disagree about the transfer campaign, and for me, the one major blunder is still Kalinic, but I still feel like the rest have heaps of talent and are all still so young that they’ll come good if coached right. Kalinic is simply not clicking with his team mates. And this from a striker who over the years has shown that he can be a great team player and is more of a team contributor than he is a goal scorer. Maybe this is just a general problem with the tactics Montella was deploying, which were leaving our strikers isolated and trying to scrounge for scraps, but Kalinic had chances on Sunday which he proceeded to squander, thus getting the fans on his back as well now. I think Cutrone and Silva work much better together from what I’ve seen so far also.

Kessie whom I expected great things is rapidly turning into a "Kondogbia buy" for us. A "jack of all trades" player who IMO has little room to improve and become good in modern football. Calhanoglou is exactly how I remember him from the Leverkusen days - a typical product of Balkan mentality - talented, very gifted but lazy, moody and completely unpredictable. Biglia IMO was a fair shot and might turn out okay just yet, but I do fear that he's past his prime and not really up to it.

Disagree about Kessie. And this coming from someone who has also been very critical of him. I don’t think he’s being used correctly and I also think that Montella has placed too much responsibility on his shoulders. If Rino switches to a 3-4-3 (which I’ve seen some rumblings of we can play a Biglia-Monto/Loca tandem in the centre of the midfield thus relieving Kessie for certain games. He’s been one of our most used players and a bit of a reality check plus res will do him a world of wonder imo

Hakan for me is still a question mark. He’s been used sporadically and each time he’s occupying different roles and positions in the team. I’d really like to see more of him but that depends on what formation Rino will be using. The next game against Benevento will be really interesting in this regard

Andre Silva (although too soon to assess) is also raising some serious questions. Just like I warned, Silva is reproducing his Portugal form - scoring against the various Austria Wien and Rijeka teams, while at the same time not scoring a single goal in the league.

I actually think Andre is the most talented player we signed this window, it’s just that at this point in time it’s still mostly all raw talent. He displays so much skill on the ball, he awareness and movement actually remind me of Sheva. But we all tend to forget that he’s still so young, just like Kessie. Also, he’s been used very sparsely in the league while he started in all the EL games. So of course he’s have better numbers in that competition. It will be really interesting to see him develop because I really think he’ll come good under the right guidance.

To be fair, Montella created several problems by himself (sidelining Bacca and now suffering the consequences with a roster of inferior attackers). Yet in the end our bold transfer campaign misfired: I fear that on top of Montella obviously not being the kind of coach that will make us thrive, we've not managed to hit the right mixture, the right balance of players and we still lack the same components we're lacking for years (only perhaps in smaller doses).

Really? Bacca?
Bacca was awful last season, and he certainly wouldn’t have performed any better than what our strikers are doing now had he still been with us. Last season he was lazy, petulant and his characteristics simply don’t fit into what we want. Cutrone is just as deadly a poacher as he is, works his @ss off and is a much better all rounder while also keeping his head down and not complaining about everything.
Montella created problems for himself during pre-season, that’s how long this has been coming.

Just look at the back 3 for a simple example. Why has he been changing that back 3 for practically each game we’ve played? One day it’s Zapata, the next it’s Musacchio, another time he starts Rodriguez and so on and so fourth. Just makes no sense! Stick to your best 3, which are Bonucci, Romagnoli and Musacchio, and when there is an injury or suspension replace them with the second best option it’s only logic. And why does the left sided CB need to be a lefty? I don’t get that obsession either. Many teams who play with a back 3 don’t always play a left on the left of the 3, but when Romagnoli is out Rodriguez replaces him, because god forbid Zapata or Musacchio are shifted to that side.