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Posted by: han2503 Jul 20 2021, 08:32 PM

Let's try to drum up some discussion on the pre-season games here. I think we're playing Modena on Saturday if I am not mistaken

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 20 2021, 10:24 PM

Yes we are.

Posted by: William405 Jul 20 2021, 10:45 PM

Nice, will watch it.

In random news, I will be moving to USA end of this year..I don't know how J will manage to watch the games with the time difference ;(

Posted by: han2503 Jul 21 2021, 07:58 PM

I'm sure J will find a way

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 21 2021, 08:30 PM

Who's J?

Posted by: William405 Jul 21 2021, 09:06 PM

My typo AHAHA.

Posted by: William405 Jul 21 2021, 09:06 PM

hahahaah

Posted by: han2503 Jul 24 2021, 08:03 PM

Won 5-1 today against Modena

Only managed to watch a few bits of the first half

Some comments

Leao is looking good. I know it's weak opposition, but what has mainly always frustrated me about him is his disinterest. However, he's working hard and pressing and getting involved. Which is always a plus for me when it comes to him no matter who we're playing against.

Bennacer with just 2 45 mins under his belt looks so much better than he did last season after returning from injury when he never really looked right to me. He seems much more agile and his first step is quicker which is crucial for him and to the way he plays and just wasn't there last season when he returned

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 31 2021, 08:20 PM

Anyone watching the Nice game? Crap performance thus far.

Posted by: X-Offender Jul 31 2021, 09:34 PM

Much better in the second half.

PS: Keep an eye on Ballo-Toure.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 1 2021, 01:15 PM

Only caught glimpses. But yeah, we didn't look good in the first half at all. The holes in the team are so obvious to see. That AM cannot come soon enough. And obviously without Kessie and Bennacer in the midfield we'll struggle which is a worrying thought since they will be gone for a month during a crucial moment in the season.

I read that Maldini Jr also looked good when he played

And I watched a compilation of Giroud when he came on. He look really good with his linkups

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 1 2021, 03:19 PM

Nice played very aggressively to be honest. It didn't seem like a friendly game at all. Ligue 1 starts next weekend so obviously they were better fit than us as well.

Anyway, yes, Giroud did look good. Tonali improved a lot in the second half. Pobega looked a bit out of place, I wasn't impressed. Theo was barely trying in typical Theo fashion. Brahim and Alexis payed badly. Brahim especially has this tendency to disappear from the game at times. And it's not due to him not trying. The guy runs like a madman. It's just he's not good enough I'm afraid. Great player to have as jolly, but we need a Capanoglu replacement ASAP.

Posted by: han2503 Aug 1 2021, 07:21 PM

Nice's coach is the guy who coached Lille last season, Galtier if I remember correctly. His teams play such a high press and it was so noticeable the work he did with Nice as it reminded me of how Lille played us off the park at the San Siro last season.

We also struggle big time against these sides who press us aggressively. Obviously if Ligue 1 starts next week then they are very much ahead of us in their prep so are in better condition. But last season, anytime we came up against sides that presses us aggressively like Lille, Atalanta, heck even Spezia in that away game. We struggled and Pioli had no answer.

Pobega needs to be loaned out again, and he's not suited to the double pivot imo, he needs to be played in a 3.


Brahim is a great wildcard but yeah, he's not ready to be a starter right now. However, I do think that we'll see leaps from these players this season. They are all young and will continue to improve. Look at Alexis last season compared to his first, leaps and bounds imo. So I'm expecting more from these players. Plus it looked like we were playing some sort of lopsided 3-5-2 yesterday at times with Brahim sort of occupying a second striker position, which really doesn't work with him

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 4 2021, 01:18 PM

We're playing Valencia tonight if I'm not mistaken...

Posted by: William405 Aug 4 2021, 06:21 PM

Thank you, I will try and watch it

Posted by: William405 Aug 4 2021, 08:03 PM

Brahim has been excellent, heck he can be our starting AM.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 4 2021, 08:22 PM

Leao scored a perfectly regular goal disallowed by an inexistent offside. Between this and the non-existent penalty granted to Nice, our luck this pre-season hasn't been that great.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 4 2021, 08:23 PM

Tonali has been good as well.

Posted by: William405 Aug 4 2021, 08:26 PM

Should have been a goal for Leao.

Posted by: William405 Aug 4 2021, 08:27 PM

Yeaaah, it's okay who cares

Posted by: Rossoneri7 Aug 4 2021, 08:37 PM

Tonali, Diaz, Leao, Maignan, and Tomari seem pretty solid this time around.

Posted by: William405 Aug 4 2021, 09:41 PM

Wait, what, there were penalties?

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 4 2021, 09:41 PM

Yeah. It was a trophy apparently. Krunic missed and we lost.

Posted by: CrazyMilanFan Aug 5 2021, 07:27 AM

read krunic and samu were the worst players

Posted by: William405 Aug 5 2021, 07:50 AM

I really want them out.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 5 2021, 11:38 AM

Surprised? They're also our worst players.

Posted by: William405 Aug 6 2021, 12:34 PM

https://youtu.be/uU9vUc_Fsmw

I really enjoyed this compilation.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 8 2021, 05:49 PM

Leao and Alexis, so bad...

Posted by: William405 Aug 8 2021, 06:08 PM

We are getting reckt

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 8 2021, 06:17 PM

Last 15 minutes yeah. We started good.

Our playmaking and attacking is just inexistent with guys like Krunic, Leao and Alexis. All three have been terrible. Giroud looks detached and Brahim has made a few childish mistakes.

Posted by: William405 Aug 8 2021, 06:46 PM

Yeah, Maignan has looked good though

Posted by: William405 Aug 8 2021, 06:53 PM

I was thinking why would we give Diaz number 10...if we plan to buy another starting AM?

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 8 2021, 07:14 PM

Maybe because we don't...

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 8 2021, 07:23 PM

Three games (not counting the amateurish Pro Sesto and Modena ones), only one goal scored, from a free kick nonetheless.

Management needs to address our absolutely lacklustre attack. Signing a 35 year old Giroud is not going to solve anything if he's supported by mediocrity. Once again Brahim and Alexis proved to be not starting material, whereas Leao and Rebic seem to have picked up from the terrible performances they left off.

Rebic in particular has become an enigma. After that exploding second half of season two years ago, he had a very mediocre season last year and a terrible Euro with Croatia. Honestly I'd rather play Leao as of right now and saying that should be a worry in and of itself.

We need quality. Desperately.

Posted by: William405 Aug 8 2021, 08:29 PM

We really do. I really don't understand why we want to get rid of Pobega. He's done positive things and is so much better than Krunic. We need to focus on getting quality for the attacking area.

Posted by: William405 Aug 14 2021, 06:26 PM

There is a friendly now. Woops in 1 hr.

Posted by: William405 Aug 14 2021, 08:26 PM

Good first half. Nice intensity. We lack quality in certain situations...but hopefully we'll see something better. Is Diaz even playing? I don't remember seeing him.

Posted by: X-Offender Aug 14 2021, 10:56 PM

Saw the highlights. We created quite a few. Giroud is proving to be an excellent signing thus far. Also, why is Tatarusanu still playing for us? He has the same reactivity as I do after I have had 5 beers.

Posted by: William405 Aug 15 2021, 01:09 AM

The haircut?

Posted by: han2503 Aug 15 2021, 12:36 PM

The AM is desperately needed and it is even more glaring when Bennacer isn't there either. We can't create through the middle. Obviously we had a handicap yesterday with playing Tonali and Krunic(FFS) in the double pivot and this won't be our regular starting duo. But this just highlights the issues we have once you have to look beyond Kessie and Benna. Tonali has looked much better this pre-season, but still we cannot rely on just him being the substitute for both. Especially if we have a similar injury record as last season, not to mention the AFCON...

This Adli kid looks like a promising Bennacer sub, but I would still be more at ease if Bakayoko came in for the midfield

Pobega should be loaned out. The kid has potential but it would be a waste to keep him, especially if Pioli plays f@cking Krunic ahead of him. For the life of me I cannot understand his obsession with him. God awful