Letting Lautoro score from a header (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Criminal

What was the point of switching to a back 5 when we still do not have a midfield??

A 4-3-3 would have made actual sense. 3 proper mids to cover the defence. Instead we get Tonali, a half @ssed Krunic and Messias of all people...

No words

Pioli is done.

Yep, agree.

Shameful and disgraceful showing. How this isn't 2-0 or 3-0 is only up to Inter not being good actually.

#PioliOut

Well we have tried putting everyone behind the ball (badly) so it is a bit more difficult for Inter to waltz through like Sassuolo and Lazio did. But this is really bad.

We're getting worse each week.

The switch to a back 5 to then play Messias in he midfield... Mind blown! Pioli is out of his depth now and the longer we persist with him the harder it will be to dig ourselves out of this.

Once again. The simple answer to today was to go with a 4-3-3. Put in 3 proper central mids in there to help hold it down but also be able to actually keep the ball for longer than 5 seconds. Tonali is chasing ghost out there by himself. And he's already been struggling for form. Can't imagine how energy sapping it is for him right now.

Pioli needs to go. Sorry, love him for what he did last season but he's lost it now.

Does not know what he's doing and his decisions are handicapping a team that's already in bad form and struggling for confidence

This cannot continue.

5 consecutive losses now. It took less for Gianpaolo to get his marching order btw. Last season's Scudetto might hov bought him some goodwill but today should be it

If this continues we won't even get EL spot now. The season is in the bin, but this club cannot lose out on this CL. Aside from the financial side, it would mean we'll lose our big players as well.

If he's still with us for Torino, which is more likely than not, we need to see actual improvements, not just in performances from the players but from him as well. No more f@cking about with the lines ups, no more formation changes, especially to back 3s. Go for a simple 4-3-3. Pick the players who have actually been performing. Stop with the favoritism. Thiaw in his 15 minutes today showed that he could be an asset. He's strong, tall and physical. Why is Gabbia starting over him? Put Kalulu at RB. Calabria has been struggling a lot as of late he needs to sit for a bit. I do not want to see Messias anywhere near the starting line-up. Why does he get endless opportunities but our best player and only spark in attack is siting on the bench?? Just blows my mind how Leao is suddenly the one being punished and benched, but all the others, especially egregious ones like Messias keep playing every game.

Btw, Giroud has been @ss ever since he came back from the WC. But he keeps starting each game. Why not let Origi start in a 4-3-3 next game. See what he can do. Today he was actually doing something when we were playing an 8-0-2 formation and trying to make something happen. Obviously in vein since anytime he got near the ball he was surrounded by a sea of Inter players. But at least he'll give you something different.

Again, I love Oli. But he needs a breather. It's obvious him and Theo have come back from that cursed WC looking like they want the season to be over. Theo we need but Giroud we have an alternative and we're not using him.

Today he missed a chance that just a few months ago he would have buried.

Next game I want to see this line-up



Assuming no Bennacer or Tomori here. At least give us some hope that you actually see where the problems are Pioli!

Squad is miles below a Milan squad. It's back to 2012 all over again and no better than the Constant days. How this bunch of clowns and rotten manager won the league is the biggest miracle. Actually, scrap that, Maignan was a big reason why we won the league, our best player by miles and one of the world's best goalies. Missing him and having Tătărușanu in the net is a big downfall.

That Calabria is the captain gives a major idea of the state we're in. He couldn't lead a dog. I don't deny a lot of the manager's decisions are shocking, but he's just Ranieri. Got lucky last year bring in Maignan - a great signing. The players are also rotten bar a few exceptions. it's just a midtable Serie A team, as it has been for 11 years.

It saddens to me to see us continue to fall, and I'm only staggered we didn't lose by a boatload tonight. Could be decades before Milan's proper DNA resurfaces, because this is miles away. We're further away now than Liverpool were after the 80s, and those saying Inter aren't great are correct - but they're a tonne better than us.

I have tried to post over the course of the past two weeks, but keep deleting it rather than post a comment. This because frustration clouds the general idea I wanted to post. With that said, this is the point I would like to make:

The team had prematurely won the Scudetto last season, the management and team did a splendid job and made us fans all so happy and excited for what was to come.

What came was a miscalculation from the technical team that the team was good enough to continue as is. I would give them the benefit of the doubt, as the team had just secured a league title and was worthy of given confidence to keep going.

The issue is that Milan lost Kessie, a player who commanded a presence in midfield and shouldered a lot of pressure. Milan put faith in Bennacer and Tonali, who are exceptional players in their own right, but lack what a player like Kessie brings.

The team started out very well at first, finishing 2nd place pre-WC. When the league restarted, two key players were beyond fatigued (Giroud and Theo).

So with the absence of Kessie, and with the French pair fatigued. It was easy to pick at the team, a snowball effect happened, and solutions were not available on the bench. It was all more of the same.

With that said, the team is challenged mentally and the tactics have been dismantled by opposing coaches. A sitting duck for all opponents.

I wouldn?t call the team a midtable team, but I would definitely point out that a lot is lacking. From quality squad players to a transfer budget worthy of the champions of Italy.

If I was given a say at the board room in Milan, I would recommend putting Leao for sale. Bring in an experienced attacking player who has juice in his legs. Find a midfield enforcer to command the middle of the park. And finally a striker who can carry his weight upfront, with Giroud as an alternative.

I am not on the board and these ideas might not work, but I believe selling Leao would be both a mistake and at the same time a courageous move. As he is not present and lacks the hunger to keep going at Milan.


Its sad to watch Milan get brushed aside from one game to the next, underrated and confused as the what went wrong with the coach. Shifting from a Scudetto winning skeleton to something that erases all the good that was done.

And if it so happens that Milan miss out of CL football, this spiral could be devastating.

Agree with bits of that. Premature is a good way to sum up last year's title.

#PioliOut

Milan playing like this after a shameful derby. In 30 years of football I haven't seeen such a disgrace.

I have come to the sad acceptance that #PioliOut is not going to happen. Not this season for sure. So I'm going to try to accept what has happened this season, this turn of the year actually, and just say this season is in the bin. Let's just try to get CL next season and start from there.

At least we got the win. And we needed that more than a man needs water in the desert FFS! Toro have turned us over twice already this season. So I'll take it, no matter which way it came

I personally cannot disagree more with what Danny has been saying re the squad and not being worthy league winners. We have players who imo are the among the best in their position, not just in the league but are amongst the top 5 in world football. (Theo, Maignan, Leao, Bennacer). It's not the miracle he's making it out to be that we won the league last season. We had the quality, the mental strength and fortitude to get that sh!t done.

The issue this season is that we do not seem to have that fortitude to play through the difficult moments as we did last season. And that case in point is made with Maignan. Last season we lost him for a time as well, but we powered through it. This season his absence does not have an end in sight. And you can see the defenders constantly arguing with Tata. That is a major problem. They do not trust him and it has lead us to us completely falling apart at the back. Tomori and Kalulu did not start this season as they finished last, even when Mike was there, they have not been putting in the performances that we grew used to from them last season. Now add to that a goalie they absolutely do not trust and you see the result with what has happened with our defending since the start of the new year

Just like with Mike and not getting a proper back up for him, we did not replace Kessie, we did not replace Romagnoli, we won a title and allowed the squad to get weaker instead of improving a few key areas. Maldini clearly highlighted these areas in that interview he did in the summer. The management know what needs to be done, but they do not have the backing. The whole fiasco in the summer with their renewals after they'd just delivered a title was enough of a red flashing neon sign re this new ownership.

Regarding Pioli, I do not know if he is a Ranieri. Honestly I don't. He's had this squad breaking unbeaten records and has overseen a steady improvement since taking over. I don't know what happened during and after that Roma game, because things seem to have soured after that game. I've read that there's been tension between him and Theo and Leao as well. That's not good. Our biggest players are not happy with him when just a moment ago they were literally singing his praises. And what's worse here is that he has clearly shown us some terrible signs throughout this season. Even when things were going relatively well and we were still in the hunt for first.

- The refusal to give the new players time
- How he's handled CDK
- Sticking with players who clearly show a lack of quality week in week out, even when they make mistakes
- Making us play like a relegation side when his job is in trouble
- That disgraceful display against Inter
- The cowardly switch to a back 3, which imo is not working at all. If Toro had any teeth we would have still conceded

He is clearly more afraid of losing than he is thinking about winning games now.

We've successfully used a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 hybrid for years now. Last season's successful title run-in was achieved by using 3 CMs. That is what we need to shield the defence. Not switching to a back 3 which the players clearly aren't comfortable playing in

One last thing. Thiaw's performance tonight is a symbol of how Pioli has gotten things so wrong. He's been playing Gabbia non-stop even after making mistakes and clearly showing that's he's not of the level to be playing for us. Thiaw was flawless tonight and he looked good before the WC break as well. But he has not been allowed to flourish.

The same thing can be said of Vranckx and CDK. CDK looked good at the start. Then he lost his confidence when he was getting criticized for not scoring and then Pioli proceeded to pummel whatever he had left into the ground. Vranckx from the very little we've seen looks to have quality. Obviously he's struggled at times when he's rarely played and only given 10 minute cameos, but how can you not give him ANY time while proceeding to give Pobega a limitless amount of chances.

Same goes for Adli and even Origi, when Giroud is clearly running out of steam...

I really do feel like Pioli has played us into this corner for no reason at all other than stubbornness.

I find it rather unfair that #PioliOut is starting to surface on this thread. I for one was not in favor of his appointment at start, and voiced this strongly when he was first handed the reins. But he certainly deserves a break, especially given he was not allocated a transfer budget as was given to Allegri or Inzaghi.

He is the first to be held responsible for his choices and the teams form, that I am 110% in agreement with. No doubts.

But to hang the man for a run of poor results, which was tied to the player?s being injured, a thin bench and fatigue; that is unfair. Ultimately I was rather satisfied with the Curva both home and away chanting with support for the team throughout this rough patch.

What goes up must come down, and what comes down must go up. If Pioli doesnt secure CL he will be let go of, that I am almost certain about. But as of now, the team is starting to recover injuries and seem destined to secure it.

Also the Tottenham game is crucial for Pioli?s assessment. He needs to prove he is capable, even if Milan get knocked out (which is somewhat certain give the gap in squad quality), a positive showing will ultimately go a long way in his assessment.

P.S. the guy deserves a little faith, as he did afterall bring in a Scudetto when many doubted Milan were capable. Not forgetting inter were just 2 points adrift.

I disagree that #PioliOut is unfair. I only concur that he is not the only cluprit, but this is why I think Pioli should go:

1) Pioli has a history of meltdowns with his former teams - Parma, Lazio and Inter. All marked with series of good results followed by complete or partial meltdowns.

2) Pioli is not showing any sign of knowning how to develop and bring Milan to the next level. He's handled Paqueta poorly in the past, but is also not properly utilizing the strenghts of his team. He crossed over players like Adli or Bakayoko yet uses other players like Pobega or Krunić on a constant basis even if they're not playing good.

3) Other then the scudetto-winning formation, he has no real plan B. If playing with a defensive 5 is all he can come up with in moments of crisis I'm speechless. He reminds me very much on Zaccheroni, a good coach who also won the scudetto quite miraculously infront of much stronger competition. Yet Zach never seemed to grasp this crucial "next step", transforming a miracle-winning-team into a consistent contender and champion.

4) The way Milan behave on pitch is apalling. Not in the days of Mesbah, Constant and Traore did we really play that frightened against Inter. The Madonnina derby is what I cannot forget and blame on Pioli. We played disgustingly cowardish and the lack of mentality and grit was unbearable. How on earth did he let his team start like this? And how is he unable to fix small and simple errors like defending set pieces?

That being said, the management has to be blamed as well.