[Fillipo Simone]

Well, this is very worrisome. Milan look exactly like the team last season. Zero initiative, zero adaptability, no tactical plan, no offensive.

What's there to say. I knew from moment one Inzaghi wasn't our only problem. Dare I say he wasn't our main problem. And Mihajlovic most probably isn't our solution, but I'll give him time.

But seriously, we need to get rid of some awful players here and replace them with more capable ones. Bonaventura, Montolivo and Honda are all mediocre or sub-par level players we don't need all together. One of them is enough. I'm starting to fear that Bertolacci will soon be in the same group.

[han2503]

In his defence he has no one to pass to at all for how ever hard our midfield is working they just can't get three or four passes together..

If you're in a situation like that just lump it forward! Don't just run straight into a cul de sac like an idiot or try some elaborate fancy pass that will get you into an even sh!ttier situation than the one you were in!

Well, this is very worrisome. Milan look exactly like the team last season. Zero initiative, zero adaptability, no tactical plan, no offensive.

What's there to say. I knew from moment one Inzaghi wasn't our only problem. Dare I say he wasn't our main problem. And Mihajlovic most probably isn't our solution, but I'll give him time.

But seriously, we need to get rid of some awful players here and replace them with more capable ones. Bonaventura, Montolivo and Honda are all mediocre or sub-par level players we don't need all together. One of them is enough. I'm starting to fear that Bertolacci will soon be in the same group.

This game has heavily underlined what our biggest issue is imo. No creative quality in midfield. The players you listed imo are all Jack of all Trades type players. Decently good at many things but not great at one, the only player who is in our midfield is De Jong. This is what I've meant about Bertolacci, I beleive he's a fairly good player, but certainly not what we desperately have needed. And that's why I'm so highly critical of the fee we paid

Also, I disagree about Pippo, he was absolutely terrible, probably one of the most clueless coaches that I have watched in my football watching lifetime. I think there are obvious improvements that Miha has made, and this coming from someone who has been very critical of his appointment

One other major thing, I'm makibg a point about our midfield with this game, but we also have to note that this is Bayern, who are not only miles ahead of us quality wise but are also ahead of us in their pre-season prep. We're not going to be facing anyone near their level in the league not even Juve. So even though it's a game where our biggest weakness (midfield) is hughlighted and it's important to not ignore this huge shortcoming in our squad, most Serie A side won't push us to the extreme that Bayern are

[Ry4n]

If you're in a situation like that just lump it forward! Don't just run straight into a cul de sac like an idiot or try some elaborate fancy pass that will get you into an even sh!ttier situation than the one you were in!

true that!

[Fillipo Simone]

If you're in a situation like that just lump it forward! Don't just run straight into a cul de sac like an idiot or try some elaborate fancy pass that will get you into an even sh!ttier situation than the one you were in!


This game has heavily underlined what our biggest issue is imo. No creative quality in midfield. The players you listed imo are all Jack of all Trades type players. Decently good at many things but not great at one, the only player who is in our midfield is De Jong. This is what I've meant about Bertolacci, I beleive he's a fairly good player, but certainly not what we desperately have needed. And that's why I'm so highly critical of the fee we paid

Also, I disagree about Pippo, he was absolutely terrible, probably one of the most clueless coaches that I have watched in my football watching lifetime. I think there are obvious improvements that Miha has made, and this coming from someone who has been very critical of his appointment

One other major thing, I'm makibg a point about our midfield with this game, but we also have to note that this is Bayern, who are not only miles ahead of us quality wise but are also ahead of us in their pre-season prep. We're not going to be facing anyone near their level in the league not even Juve. So even though it's a game where our biggest weakness (midfield) is hughlighted and it's important to not ignore this huge shortcoming in our squad, most Serie A side won't push us to the extreme that Bayern are

What obvious improvement did you notice? I see the same mentality, the same concept-less team, the same lack of idea.

Yes, Pippo wasn't the right man, sure. But thing is, I see squat of improvement here. Did we even make a single shot on goal? Did we have a single correct flow of attack? Naah man, I know this is Bayern here (even if they played maybe 50% of their potential) but anyway, I don't see a step forward here.

[han2503]

true that!

And Alex demonstrates this footballing basic for Bayern's third

[Danny]

This game has heavily underlined what our biggest issue is imo. No creative quality in midfield.

You've been preaching that from day one, but I still disagree.

This game tonight was a passionless couldn't give a rat's *ss Milan with no system, no tactic, and the worrying inability to string more than 3 passes together anywhere on the pitch.

The defence was pathetic - I have no idea why two beta defenders started rather than an alpha and a beta together, and sure, Zaps' passing was painful, but he was our best player overall and actually stopped about 3 goals. Ely was non-existent as a partner and I just cannot fathom Miha's thinking in selecting that pair.

The midfield could have been dummies they moved so little, and the forwards couldn't link with each other at all. As in couldn't find each other with a single pass.

This was actually worse than anything I ever saw under Pippo - the absence of a single redeeming feature was truly pitiful - I take nothing from that match to work with. It was worse than all last summer ICC matches because we basically didn't touch the ball the whole night. Even though City and Olympiakos routed us, we managed more possession than we did tonight. It literally must have been 75/25.

To go from a very solid display v Real to that absolute shite is really worrying. Miha's bad-tempered volley was also concerning - were the players just not doing it for him? Were they failing to understand his instructions? Was he annoyed at their poor displays?

Friendly it may be, but that was deeply troubling. Yes, it was Bayern who are absolutely brilliant, but we just looked something below pathetic.

How can we go forward v Real then backwards like that?

[Ry4n]

And Alex demonstrates this footballing basic for Bayern's third

switched it off when they scored the 2nd , its so one sided i don't even want to know how many shots on target we had.

[han2503]

What obvious improvement did you notice? I see the same mentality, the same concept-less team, the same lack of idea.

Yes, Pippo wasn't the right man, sure. But thing is, I see squat of improvement here. Did we even make a single shot on goal? Did we have a single correct flow of attack? Naah man, I know this is Bayern here (even if they played maybe 50% of their potential) but anyway, I don't see a step forward here.

I don't agree that they played at 50%, they were running their asses off, especially in that first half. The first thought I had after watching the first ten minutes is that they were taking this seriously. Certainly didn't look like they were treating it as a simple warm up. Even if they didn't play all their first 11 players, they still have a lot more quality than us. Whuch is the point here. Last season we looked this ragged in games against Samp and Genoa, two teams that pressed us and got a little physical with us, teams that are inferior to us not Bayern Munichs. I think given the serious limitatioms we have in midfield we did what we could againt a Bayern that played a high energy pressing game.

Of course we still have major shortcomings in our squad, that was the first post I made after the match started. We need a proper regista desperately in our midfield and also a proper AM.

I think the point abiut Pippo is that he was the biggest problem because he simply had no clue about any sort of tactical game plan, however now with Miha I personally think that it is very obvious that he has one and it shiws in the way we play. Sure at times we're going to face teams that are so far ahead of us quality wise that that is still going to be glaringly obvious no matter who's coaching us. But I think it's important that Miha is working so hard on installing a tactical ideology in the players and getting them to follow it. I personally think that's already a mojor step forward compared to what was going on under Pippo.

One other major improvent I've seen is in how we defend. Today I don't think that was as apparent because Bona and Berto looked completely lost, but against Real and Inter we really defended well, and not just with the 4 defenders but the mids also made sure to help out and were doing a very good job at defending with the guys at the back as a whole unit. Also the defending on set pieces is a million times better compared to what it has neen for the last 4 or 5 years

[Ry4n]

so apperently this happened

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...alf-tackle.html

[han2503]

You've been preaching that from day one, but I still disagree.

This game tonight was a passionless couldn't give a rat's *ss Milan with no system, no tactic, and the worrying inability to string more than 3 passes together anywhere on the pitch.

The defence was pathetic - I have no idea why two beta defenders started rather than an alpha and a beta together, and sure, Zaps' passing was painful, but he was our best player overall and actually stopped about 3 goals. Ely was non-existent as a partner and I just cannot fathom Miha's thinking in selecting that pair.

The midfield could have been dummies they moved so little, and the forwards couldn't link with each other at all. As in couldn't find each other with a single pass.

This was actually worse than anything I ever saw under Pippo - the absence of a single redeeming feature was truly pitiful - I take nothing from that match to work with. It was worse than all last summer ICC matches because we basically didn't touch the ball the whole night. Even though City and Olympiakos routed us, we managed more possession than we did tonight. It literally must have been 75/25.

To go from a very solid display v Real to that absolute shite is really worrying. Miha's bad-tempered volley was also concerning - were the players just not doing it for him? Were they failing to understand his instructions? Was he annoyed at their poor displays?

Friendly it may be, but that was deeply troubling. Yes, it was Bayern who are absolutely brilliant, but we just looked something below pathetic.

How can we go forward v Real then backwards like that?

All your point about our link up, possession and passing have all to do with not having a proper creative outlet in midfield imo

Also I think it is easy to understand how we can go from the Real game to the Bayern one. Bayern were a lot more agressive, and while Real probably had even more top quality players against us on the pitch they were playing a slow paced game which we were confortable with, they weren't pressing us like Bayern were, so our limited players in midfield had more time on the ball to pick their passes, think, touch the bal 2 or 3 times before moving it. Today however they were pushed to think, react and act quicker, and they simply do not have the quality to do that

[Fillipo Simone]

I don't agree that they played at 50%, they were running their asses off, especially in that first half. The first thought I had after watching the first ten minutes is that they were taking this seriously. Certainly didn't look like they were treating it as a simple warm up. Even if they didn't play all their first 11 players, they still have a lot more quality than us. Whuch is the point here. Last season we looked this ragged in games against Samp and Genoa, two teams that pressed us and got a little physical with us, teams that are inferior to us not Bayern Munichs. I think given the serious limitatioms we have in midfield we did what we could againt a Bayern that played a high energy pressing game.

Of course we still have major shortcomings in our squad, that was the first post I made after the match started. We need a proper regista desperately in our midfield and also a proper AM.

I think the point abiut Pippo is that he was the biggest problem because he simply had no clue about any sort of tactical game plan, however now with Miha I personally think that it is very obvious that he has one and it shiws in the way we play. Sure at times we're going to face teams that are so far ahead of us quality wise that that is still going to be glaringly obvious no matter who's coaching us. But I think it's important that Miha is working so hard on installing a tactical ideology in the players and getting them to follow it. I personally think that's already a mojor step forward compared to what was going on under Pippo.

One other major improvent I've seen is in how we defend. Today I don't think that was as apparent because Bona and Berto looked completely lost, but against Real and Inter we really defended well, and not just with the 4 defenders but the mids also made sure to help out and were doing a very good job at defending with the guys at the back as a whole unit. Also the defending on set pieces is a million times better compared to what it has neen for the last 4 or 5 years

It's wonderful that you're optimistic, maybe I'm wrong. But say, one more time, other then defending with midfielders as well, what improvement did you see?

Because today I saw the Milan I hope I'll never see again. The same old story, no idea, no intention of showing up or playing. With that posture, Bayern or Bayer or a Regionalliga team, Milan would have been defeated with no effort. I really don't see much progress and that makes me very pessimistic at the moment.

[X-Offender]

Are people really surprised that we played like crap? I'm not. This summer has been a complete let down so far. We started big, with huge ambitions and money to spend. Ancelotti, Kondogbia, Jackson, Ibra etc. All that ended up being a pipe dream. Our only good signing has been Bacca, who's really a poacher and won't produce anything in this team full of clueless dimwits. Luiz Adriano is average, and Bertolacci is proving to be just exactly what he is, i.e. another Bonaventura.

Unless we sign Romagonoli, Witsel and Ibra, I predict another 10th placement next season. Just changing coach ain't gonna improve jackshit if you don't strengthen the team with the adequate players.

This post has been edited by X-Offender: Aug 4 2015, 10:42 PM

[han2503]

It's wonderful that you're optimistic, maybe I'm wrong. But say, one more time, other then defending with midfielders as well, what improvement did you see?

Because today I saw the Milan I hope I'll never see again. The same old story, no idea, no intention of showing up or playing. With that posture, Bayern or Bayer or a Regionalliga team, Milan would have been defeated with no effort. I really don't see much progress and that makes me very pessimistic at the moment.

Come on Filippo! I'm usually the pessimistic one! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

On a serious note, I get what you're saying, but Bayern didn't really let us play at all. We just weren't in it, at all. And I don't agree that we could have played against any other team and the outcome would have been the same. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone close to Bayern's quality in the league, even Juve are no where near that, and no one in Serie plays that kind of high energy pressing game which we simply couldn't cope with.

Like I said, do I think that we still have some major shortcomings in our squad? Yes. Do I think that it's a major problem and is it worrying? Yes, of course. But do I think that it will be exposed to the level that it did against Bayern yesterday? No, not even anywhere close to that.

Just an example of this. I've been saying that I think personnel wise our defence is decent enough for Serie A. We're okay in the FB department for now because the competition in the league is what it is. I think that's it's okay for until we want to mount a serious title challenge/play CL football. But look at how Antonelli for example was getting creamed throughout the first half. The LB who has looked good in Serie A just couldn't cope with the Bayern players running at him. But this is what I mean when I say that we're not going to be facing Bayern each week in the league. And I think the tactical improvements Miha has and will implement over the nothing Pippo provided will already be a major step forward in how we perform in the league. At least this season I'm more confident that we will win against the team we should easily be winning against.

I think the game tonight against Spurs will be a better indicator. If we play anywhere close to like we did yesterday, then I think we can all start pressing the panic buttons

[Danny]

I think the game tonight against Spurs will be a better indicator. If we play anywhere close to like we did yesterday, then I think we can all start pressing the panic buttons

A meaningless third place playoff v Spurs in a friendly?

Odd one to judge with. Especially as you refuse to judge against Inter in a match which had arguably infinitely more meaning.

[X-Offender]

Gazzetta has Zapata as MOM for us and Honda as flop.