Our bogey team, the team that got Allegri fired (thanks for that one Sassuolo )

They haven't exactly been all that great this season, they've struggled a lot, have missed a couple of key players, most importantly Berardi and they've just not been the swash buckling little thorns we've gotten used to over these last few years.

That being said, it's still going to be a very hard fixture for us, we tend to struggle against them for whatever reason, and we've still got a lot of injuries through the squad

That being said, I saw yesterday that DS and Calabria could both be back so at least the situation at FB is not as dire as it was

Best line-up we can field imo

I won't bite on the Allegri comment

Sassuolo know how to beat us. They have the Indian sign over us. My expectations are low for this one.

Same XI as last match only Bertolacci for Pasalic and Zapata for Gomez.

I'm mildly concerned by that midfield switch. Thought Pasalic was a decent performer v Fio.

Agreed, same with the defence for me. I think Gomez is a better option. Zapata is just problematic in so many ways

FFS man!!

Penalty to Sassuolo, they're literally sleeping out there

MISSES!!!!!!!!!!!!

How stupid do u have to be to foul a player like that ? Damn.

PENALTYY

BACCA

Very lucky there He slipped as he was taking it and the Sassuolo players are complaining that he touched it twice

Bacca has even forgotten how to run in a straight line with the ball at his feet. He just looks so sluggish these days

Zapata and Paletta together are a complete nightmare. Calamity waiting to happen

Zapata...

He has 2 options in front of him, a wide open Sosa or Kucka covered by 2 players. Gues who he chooses to pass to

He was much better in that 45 than he's been for months. He worked much harder than he has been, and he's made some excellent runs.

Problem is his style continues to not suit this system, and he will NEVER be great at hold up play which is what we need in that position - Lapadula doesn't seem very good at it either. We need a Suarez type but those cost a lot.

That all said, this was the best Milan have played at this ground for four years, and while we got lucky with the penalty going in, it must be said neither of them WERE penalties and the ref is having a shocker.

Haha, your new Muntari

Neither of our CBs are good at passing. It's not their forte. Even Romagnoli isn't that great at it. In terms of brute force defending though they're pretty good. Can't remember Gigio being forced into a decent save at all in that half.

Messing around with the ball at the back... WTF is wrong with them, just get it out of the danger area

Huh? Pasalic for Kucka? The only midfielder actually putting in some effert and he takes him off?

Bertolacci has been invisible all game

Phew. FT 3 points in the Mapei, all that matters

But as a side note, we were just horrific to watch today, especially in this second half

True. But 3 points is 3 points. Interesting where Abate ended up playing towards the end.

3 points in a pretty uninspired second half for us. They had chances but none were too crazy, we had some but again not too much in them. One of the slowest games against Sassuolo we have played in a long time. Usually, with them, there are goals to be had, I thought for sure Berardi was going to punish us. Bacca's penalty shouldn't have stood but we will take it.

Sosa has really helped this team, I've gotta say he has really won me over. I do think we should try Locatelli playing off of him in that Berto/Pasalic spot. Vangioni is simply not up to par, but as of yet, teams haven't really punished us down his side. Bacca doesn't fit in this team, in fact, I think there are few teams now who can afford to have a pure poacher like him. He can finish but his game is just too one dimensional which isn't the way the game is played anymore.

Deolufeu has been our star, really hope we can hang on to him. He is a high IQ player, knows what to do and when to do it, and he is very pacey which is refreshing. It takes some pressure off of Suso.

@Danny, I would argue that Romagnoli is a really solid passer for a cb. He is generally very comfortable on the ball. No Bonucci but for his position, I think he is above average.

Not surprised to see you didn't mention Zapata and the countless interceptions, blocks, and tackles he made in the second half

Delighted to get the win, bogey ground for us. Disappointed in the increasingly annoying Suso who's going back to his old ways - final second, misses a chance, ref blows for full time, instead of cheering the team result he punches the ground in frustration and behaves like a brat.

Gone right off him the past few weeks.

But that's ok because Deulofeu has taken his place - he's been inspirational and I'm really enjoying being wrong about him. He and Sosa are currently my favourite players, the latter is growing with every match.

I would have but I posted that quick one and had to leave for a bit. If you'd have waited for my detailed match report () you would have seen him in my top mentions

Look, I think Zapata is a decent enough defender. He's good at tackling, blocking and interceptions, he's pretty quick and he's not too bad in the air either. But even with all that he's just not a smart player, and he's absolutely awful with the ball at his feet. And this is not me over-exaggerating to get my point across. He's cost us countless points over the years due to his bad decisions when he's on the ball. And that for me undoes all the good he can do thanks to the attributes I mentioned above

I'm actually starting to like Gomez a lot from what I've seen of him this season, he's very rough around the edges but I think he can be a modern day Kaladze for us.

As for Suso, you know I think that's really a show of his ambition and intent. He's a massive reason for our success this season and him and Deulofeu combines very well on the counters to create those chances.

The only player that I've completely gone off of is Bacca. If anyone has been acting like a brat for months now, it's him

Also, does Vangioni remind anyone of a limp noodle? There's just something about him that sort of irritates me, I don't know if it's his face or the way he runs. It's completely irrational and juvenile on my part because he hasn't really done anything wrong, but I just can't get over it

Yeah, I agree with most of what you have said han. Zapata is a decent enough defender but he makes those ridiculous mistakes once a game that can cost you. He's not bad off the bench but I can see Gomez becoming a starter, at least he has some potential. I don't think he is ever going to be a superstar but he can become a good player. We should still be in the market for a good defender come summer. One between Zapata and Paletta can leave and we will have 4 center backs who we can trust.

Vangioni has been serviceable. He brings very little and is only on the field because of the wing back injury crisis we have gone through. As I said above, Bacca has no place in this team. Should try and offload him to China where we can get some money for him. I can't see a big team dropping 30 Mil on this guy and he doesn't give enough to keep him around.

I have been down on Bacca for a while. Recent performances have not done anything to change my opinion. Really hope he oes this summer. I agree with the rest.

I LOVE THIS WIN. Smash and grab, and leave them nursing wounds. On top of that Roma stuffed Inter too, so now we're just one point behind them. Which is just ideal.

I couldn't see the game, they weren't telecasting it in favour of Atletico-Barca. But yeah, I'm okay with how we're playing. We don't have the firepower to play expansive football anymore and I'm alright with us digging deep and doing a rope-a-dope to get the 3 points.

Let's just get the EL spot. We need it desperately if we wish to attract any sort of talent next season.

This is the problem with the midfield. Sosa's right peg aside (I really like his passing) you can take any of our midfielders off and put any on and it makes no difference. It's a bunch of mediocre squad players who are all about equal in quality to each other.

Bertolacci won us the penalty didn't he? It's been a long time since Saint Gilardino that I've had to defend mediocre players on this forum.

Neither of them were penalties haha. Ref had a mare. Yellows all over the place for minor infractions then ignores Acerbi cutting Sosa in half.

This is quite true, for the moment.

I totally agree with this, although I do think Sosa and Bonaventura are definitely a level or two higher in quality than the rest, too bad we've lost Bona for the season. I could actually see a midfield of him Sosa and Kucka working quite well actually, at least against the smaller sides.


Bertolacci and Pasalic generally both ghost through games. At least with Kucka you know he'll get stuck in, make a couple of good interceptions, some stupid fouls, etc. The other 2 are literally ghosts on the pitch.

Our defenders struggle because they're put under pressure by our midfielders.

I'd really like to see a Locatelli, Sosa, Kucka trio in there at some point. Locatelli is no regista, I don't understand why Montella insists on using him as such. His defensive qualities next to Sosa's passing would be ideal with Kucka as the joker card of course