I think that they can play some of the best football in Europe.



Us, good football? Can't see it. Don't know, maybe cos I was raised watching Ancelotti's Milan I have a different concept of what good football is. To me this Milan has a different approach. It's a team built on achieving results. And I've come to accept that. In the beginning of the season I was complaining how badly we were playing against the various Rio Ave, Crotone, Spezia, Udinese etc. But then I realised this is just who we are. We're not flashy, attractive or dominating. We just get the job done and move on.



We won the derby by having two shots on target and defending for the whole match. We just got lucky. It happens in football.

And I said we faced Napoli on a bad moment for them. And since you seem to think we have no trouble playing them, let me show you the stats of the last 20 games in Serie A between us and them: Napoli 9 wins, Milan 4 wins, 7 draws. Doesn't seem like we've fared very well, does it?

This post has been edited by X-Offender: Jan 24 2021, 01:36 AM

I'm not directing my comments to the team for them to relax, I'm directing it to this forum so we may take it easy when we fume at the team for not finishing 1st place. If in the end we do, it's the icing on the cake.

Atalanta pressed Milan all over the pitch. Players like Theo, Diaz, Castillejo, Ibra, Leao, Calabria, et al all got their fair share of pressing during the 90 mins and were contained very well. If anything, this should be a lesson learned by Pioli and Co to assess situations differently going forward.

Don't think the team did anything wrong, it was just that Atalanta had the right game plan and executed it very well. Maybe Pioli should have started Diaz instead of Meite or Huage/Rebic instead of Castillejo, but the outcome could have very well been the same.

Anyways, two defeats in 19 games is an incredible feat for this Milan. Another 19 games in Serie A to look forward to before the end of the season.

I wasn't upset. I took it as a sign. Inter couldn't take full points knowing they had to and facing a bottom 5 side.

So I'm optimistic.

As Han agrees, let's take this on the chin, use the fact we got away with one here and move on.

You're not upset we got crushed 3-0 at home? OK.

The thing is, slip-ups happen to everyone. Take ManCity or Liverpool this season for instance, 2-5 vs Leicester and 7-1 vs Aston Villa, respectively.

But what makes this slip-up different is that it showed we cannot face teams that play great football with our usual strategy, especially when we're missing 3-4 key players.

Pioli needs to understand our limits, and he must adapt so the team can respond. And that doesn't mean adding an extra defensive mid out of role. We need that so-called Plan B, otherwise next season in the CL we're going to get decimated against opponents who will bring the big guns.

Of course. 'always different when it's us'.

You aware what made Liverpool's different is they're absolutely rank this season?

You aware Leicester are world class this season?

It's a loss. Stop looking deeper into it. I mean f*ck sake you defended the Juve loss because we were weak. Now you're slaughtering a loss despite us being weak.

I'm done here. Said all I want to say. Have a nice day (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

X-O you keep on mentioning Ancelotti's Milan, Liverpool, City... like these are comparable examples with us now. Even more, you make it sound like there's nothing in between, like for instance Milan of Pioli can't be labeled as a team that plays "good football" but not on an atomic level.

You honestly expect us to play that kind of football ever again? I don't see the point in mentioning the Milan od 02 or 03. It's a bygone era and you are not that old to be constrained by the past. You are aware that Carletto's Milan (who played occasionally also terrible football, like all teams) in a legendary team? You are aware that even Carletto never regained that style and gameplay at Paris, Madrid or Munich?

Sorry, I don't see much point in these comparisons.

As for the Pioli part, I'm still perplexed. If I understood you correctly, you think Milan is keeping it simple because Pioli knows he has a limited team (he himself might be limited in terms of tactical knowledge as well, yes?). If this is the truth and the core idea of our play is sticking to the plan then a plan B is something we intrinsically cannot adopt. Have you seen any team that has a plan B in our range/league?

I think Milan is necessarily reduced to that by definition. Next season I have little doubt Milan will end up being trashed by various Bayerns, Madrids or Citys of this world. And perhaps even the season after that. Plan A, B or C, I don't see that is avoidable. This is precisely why this scudetto dream is so important. It's a peculiar aberation that should not have happened in a otherwise predictable slow plan for growth and stability.

Oh man, why do you take things out of context? When did I ever compare this Milan to that of Ancelotti? I only said that the way we play cannot be associated to good football by the standards I personally have of that term. To me good football stands fort something entirely different. The way Inter played vs Juve, or Lazio vs Roma last weekend. That's darn good football. When have we ever played like that?

Also, I can totally compare this Milan to other clubs who are leading the standings in their respective leagues in terms of results. It's a way of justification that even top spot teams can have a bad day once in a while.



Yes, that's what I believe. That the way we play allows us to achieve results against most teams in the league (first place, hello), but not against those teams who play a certain type of football that exposes our limits. And for this we need to have a Plan B. E.g. how do you fend off against Atalanta? Do you put more muscle in midfield? Do you press with higher intensity? Do you just park the bus and rely on counter attacks?

Because we simply cannot approach games like this as we usually approach other games, otherwise the 5-0's and 3-0's then happen.

Once again. I think everyone is looking into this too deeply

We came out timid, Pioli tried to change something that has worked for months now to accommodate Atalanta of all teams, that says it all. We didn't change our approach when we played teams like Inter and Juve, yet Pioli felt he had to make this change. i understand that we were missing Hakan, but Diaz has been playing well in that position, there was no reason to change our approach and put in a CM in that position.

The team was timid, and the performances of players we've come to rely on were just not good enough.

As long as we reply as we need to against Bologna, that is all that matters.

The Coppa game against Inter is a big inconvenience here. For me, I'd rather we bow out. But as someone mentioned above, it could have a bad effect on the team.

And I wholly disagree that we do not play good football or that we are slow. The main issue here is that we're continuously changing the team, so that cohesiveness we saw last summer has yet to be seen this season. We'll see more fluidity once we get Hakan and Bennacer back imo

@X-O, it's funny how you still say Inter play "good football" but we don't. I think you're being very harsh.

A defeat against Inter could hurt us. I see Pioli will rest Ibra and start with Mario, Rebić and Alexis. Good. I'd also try out Tomori or give Musacchio one last nod.

Is our mercato over?

Oh, and Han, I really think Pioli distrusts and dislikes Diaz. Putting Meite up front was not that much of a tactical decision IMO; had we Hakan, we would have started him.

Also, do you guys remember we won against Atalanta at Bergamo last season quite comfortably? Or do I remember this incorrectly?

I do believe Inter play good football because they have a formidable squad. Their only problem is that they're incredibly inconsistent. I jokingly told an Inter fan friend of mine that they would draw against Udinese after they had just crushed Juventus. Well, lo and behold...



No, we lost 5-0 in Bergamo and tied 1-1 in San Siro last season.

Well of course Hakan would have played. Hakan though provides a lot more than just in attack. He contributes a lot in other phases of the game, and while Diaz is a hard working player, who presses a lot. He's also very light weight and easily pushed off the ball. Pioli said so after the game himself that he wanted someone stronger in there.

I personally think that Pioli had last season in mind when he made this decision and I don't think he has any ulterior motives towards Diaz. It's not about trusting him, but seeing that atm, he has some limitations to his game

Of course in hindsight, I can say that it was a mistake to play Meite in that position, but before the game I didn't criticise the move and felt it was somewhat justified. But hindsight is 20/20 and all that

I don't get that. I think the idea of putting more muscle to limit your opponent is hogwash. How you limit your opponent depends entirely on the intensity your players put on the ball holders and their concentration on the pitch. If anything, depriving yourself of that extra quality makes you even more susceptible to the opponent's gameplay.

And besides, Meite as trequartista? Amateurish stuff.

Busy week-end for me, catching up on some good debate :-).

My thoughts:
- We played the Atalanta game with a few key players missing (or just back and not yet fit). Pioli also picked an interesting time to experiment. Having the full team may have led to a different result.
- Next few games will be critical. Coppa game against Inter is coming at a very bad time. Any other team and I would be happier if we just played the primavera. However, losing to Inter right now would not be good.
- I am still positive that this team can win the Scudetto. Will not be easy, but ...

Regarding comments from various posts:
- No, I do not believe in the "Pioli effect". It happened at Inter (which has a history of collapsing the in second half of the season, regardless of who coaches them) and Fiorentina (not that good a team these days, plus it happened while the Della Valle were still in charge, and they would routinely find ways to demoralize key players).
- Inter plays great soccer? Really??? They are one of the ugliest teams to watch these days, their game-plan is one-dimensional, and they are rather Lukaku-dependent. Yes, they have good players on the team.
- Yes, we have struggled in a lot of matches. The team that played in the later part of last season could dominate games, now we get by most of the times. OTOH, if I am not mistaken we have played only one match so far with all our starters. I believe that makes a big difference.
- Are we a great team right now? No, but I believe the team has potential. We can become a competitive team again, we just need our younger players keep "growing" and (hopefully) we keep adding talent over time (while "pruning" players that are not that great, hopefully generating some important plusvalenze as we do that)

Great soccer? I said good football. There's a difference between good and great. Great is an entirely different scale. And I do believe I said they're inconsistent, meaning they'll pull a top performance like the one vs Juventus only to succumb to mediocrity in the very next one against Udinese.

And if you really think they are one of the ugliest teams to watch, then where does that leave us? Cos I sincerely hope you don't think we play better football than them.