Did anyone catch why Bona left the field?

Hmm, Bona just had to walk off...

Hopefully it's nothing serious

Injury

Very good game, we'll see how far we've come on Sunday when the league starts, today was too much of a walkover

Taking into account the weak opposition, and a LOT of mitigating factors, that's the most one-sided and convincing win we have had at San Siro probably in a few decades.

Even down to 10 men we were so far ahead of them it was untrue.

Good morale boost - here's hoping we can take into the weekend.

So was the last round yet we struggled.

I'll et the grappa out early if Montolivo does that in every game.

Wow.

Granted it wasn't the strongest opponent and granted it wasn't the ideal starting XI, but gosh was that fun to watch.

Kessie is a beast.

We were very good tonight, no doubt there. We won, but even if we didnt score 6 I still wouldnt judge this team (as a whole and not players) 'cos I think that we are much better than we showed tonight. We are yet to see Bonucci - Musacchio - Romagnoli partnership, we are yet to see Biglia and his partnership with Kessie, we are yet to see Hakan playing in a more fitting place for him, we are yet to see the likes of Antonelli and Borini in the bench, we are yet to see a class striker, so I wait much more from this team. Still, I am very pleased with the game and the result.

I would rate the players like this:

Dollarumma - 6 - Didnt really have to do anything. One bad leaving of the goal, but Ibrahimi didn't use that chance and Montolivo covered us when Dolla and Conti collapsed.

Conti - 6.5 - Looking very tired. People say he prefers a more attacking playstyle but even when Suso wanted to set him up, he just lacked. Not saying that he is rubbish, just I hope he is saving his best for later.

Bonucci - 7 - Didnt get tested and when he did he won the match ups.

Zapata - 6 - Not very bad, yet made some errors.

Antonelli - 5 - Appart from his goal which was pure luck, he did absolutely nothing. The only good thing about him is that he gets to watch Rodriguez from now on, on important games.

Kessie - 8 - Didnt score but for me was MOM. Cant stress it enough on how good this signing is. I like the guy. Not only he is physically a beast and helps a lot in the defensive, he also can make great passes and runs. Looking forward to see him getting the best midfielder of Serie A award pretty soon.

Montolivo - 7.5 - Was good tonight, cant deny that. Not saying this cos he scored, but he actually made some good passes and he could roam more freely cos he had Kessie to cover for him in the back.

Hakan - 7 - The guy is good, no doubt there. His touch, passing and vision is obviously there but he didnt play for couple of months and now he is being used out of his best position.

Suso - 6.5 - Tried to pull some things, didnt work, looked a bit not interested in the game, but I believe he is still our best RW.

Silva - 8 - His goals were great. The instinct for the goal is there and he has nice work out. I wanted to see him score a hat-trick but I was happy to see he was not selfish even when he had a brace already.

Borini - 6 - It's clear that we didnt sign him cos he has any talent, we signed him to fill the holes in the squad. At least he is not like Mancini, he is running like hell and trying to actually compensate his disabilites with coverage, so I dont mind him being a back up.

Montella - 6 - This team would win games like these even without a coach, so I cant rate him high for a game like this, but I need to see him play a 3 man defense pretty soon and find Hakan a proper place. Also unless he plans to play Locatelli vs Crotone and was saving him, I dont understand why not play him tonight.

Edit: I forgot to rate the subs, so:

Bona - 6 - The game was already over but if he competing with Hakan for thr same spot Id just say that Bona is loosing. There is a clear difference in quality between them even though they have different styles.

Abate - 7 - Did in those few minutes more than Conti did in the whole game, unfortunately.

Cutrone - NA. No time, even though I liked his tentative to finish that Montolivo assits in an acrobatic way.

How can you wildly disagree with my ratings when I agree with yours Except Kessie. I'd have gone 9.5. And Donna - he was pretty shite tbh.

Who said I dont agree with your ratings? I just tend to wait for players to really screw up before I trash talk them

Weak opponent aside, I really liked the determination we showed. Even past the 70th minute while we were leading 5-0 we were constantly pressing the opponent and winning balls.

Now what we need to work on is the formation. I don't know what Montella is thinking, but playing 4-3-3 with Borini is worrying. Especially since he's played Bonaventura in the midfield three thus far and seems reluctant to play Hakan in the trequartista role. He needs to make up his mind, whether we'll play 4-2-3-1 or 3-5-2 this season, and apply it ASAP.

As for the individual performances, Kessie was obviously the best on the pitch. I swear the facility at which he does some things is impressive. Silva was very good as well, though I think he should have scored at least another goal. I also liked Suso, very vivid and always part of our attacking maneuvers. Hakan was alright but he still needs to find his rhythm and position on the pitch. The quality is there.

You? You said you never agreed with them. You're by no means alone btw



Tonight was positive on a number of fronts but the real bread and butter is Sunday.

I might disagree with you sometimes, especially on passing judgment without testing - proof, but in general we agree. Yet there are some players like Locatelli and Suso on whom we will never agree

Yep.

Montella: 'Promising Milan start'

What's your problem?

I found this comment from Montella post-match:

"Three-man defense? I don't think there's a winning formation, but a group spirit. It depends only from the players. We can play in any way. We only lack a trequartista, but otherwise we can play with all formations."

Link

Say what? We lack a trequaretista? If Calhanoglu isn't a trequartista then I don't know who is.

I think this supports my view the trequartisa is dead. They're called AM these days and they do a lot more. And tbh Calhanoglu doesn't really act like a traditional 'trequartista'.

We agreed on Suso tonight?

Yes, I stand by my comments regarding him - for tonight.

Its hilarious because we won 6-0 hes a pretty humble guy to say that and i'm being serious.. I did say we would win 3-0 but 6 is a nice surprise.
Also back off thanks darling. I'll say what i please.

AM=trequartista. Trequartista in Italian comes from the word tre-quarti, meaning 3/4, that is, the space between midfield and attack. In other words, a trequartista is an advanced midfielder.

Calhanoglu has played his entire career as an advanced midfielder, so you can't brush it off so easily.

We have three very good AMs in Bona, Hakan and Suso. It's time Montella learned how to use them properly.

Back-off? I asked what was your problem with Montella's words. Control your manners.

Uhhh, I'm not?



Nope, an advanced/attacking midfielder is a different role to trequartista. Kaka and Rui Costa were not advanced midfielders - they were trequartistas. I know the semantic definition is the same, but by that logic 'Forza Milan' in English means strength or 'force Milan', but of course that makes no sense in English or even Italian. Instead it means 'go' or 'come on' Milan etc. As you'll know.

If you want the difference - modern AM helps out in midfield and even defence - trequartistas only concerned themselves with the killer dribble or pass. None of Jack, Cal or Suso play anything like the Rui or Kaka role. And before you argue the case for Suso, he's a winger, not an AM. We have two AMs - Cal and Jack.

Advanced midfield didn't exist back in the day - actually I've no idea why the hell you're arguing this point when you bloody agreed with me a few weeks ago.

In his defence you did sound hostile!

I'm sure it'll happen again

Your funny mate jog on thanks. and i told you i have no problem with them. You need to calm down.

Regarding Conti, I think it's unfair to say that he did nothing when he was directly involved in 2 goals

Look at his 2 crosses which resulted in goals compared to the cross Abate made for the other goal. Abate just smashes it across the line (as he usually does) while Conti pulls off 2 smart cut-backs

I think he'll take some time to get used to playing in a back 4. He wasn't great but he's shown how effective he can be. I really do think we should go with 3 at the back once Romagnoli returns

I tend to agree that a trequartista isn't just simply synonymous to an attacking midfielder. And well, who's better to judge then Montella when Çalhanoğlu is in question?

The problem with Çalhanoğlu is that he (at least this is what I remember from his HSV/Leverkusen days) tends to be nervous and lazy. He simply lacks the speed to play a modern trequartista, at least in the modern context. He might have done it for Leverkusen, but many fans agree that Çalhanoğlu actually better suits a deeper down midfield role. Now, this position is locked by Biglia and Monto, so I admit I'm a bit perplexed when it comes to the position Montella plans to deploy Çalhanoğlu, but...

I think he'd do well in the Seedorf role from when we played the 4-3-2-1 or he can play in the trequartista role if we play with 3 at the back

Anyway, I think trequartista and attacking midfielder are different in terms off how they're applied on the pitch as well. The 1 in the hole when playing a 4-3-1-2 is different to the middle player in the 3 behind the striker if a 4-2-3-1

I think Hakan can pull of the 2nd role but I'm sceptical if he could do it in the first.

With a 4-3-2-1 it's not as defined as a 4-3-1-2, I think Seedorf for example pulled that off but he could never really pull of the role Kaka played in the 4-3-1-2, he lacked the speed and instinct in and around the box

For me, i think the best systems we could play would be

4-2-3-1




4-3-2-1




3-4-1-2

A trequartista is somebody who plays behind the strikers. An attacking midfielder is somebody who plays behind the strikers. If you wanna get all bloody technical on the difference between the two then be my guest. But bear in mind that even if you search for Rui Costa or Kaka' on the internet they'll both be labeled as AMs, because trequartista is a term that's only used in Italy.

My point is that we do not lack an attacking midfielder, because both Bona and Hakan, and even Suso for that matter can play behind the strikers. Obviously Bona and Suso are more comfortable on the wings, whereas Hakan is more comfortable in the center. Hence why I think 4-2-3-1 is ideal in our case. Too bad Montella is too stubborn to realize that and keeps using his beloved 4-3-3.

Oh god. I swear people get butthurt on these forums with the slightest comment.

I didn't! You weren't even talking to me

Welcome to Milanfan



And also because those terms barely exist any more.



Bona is more comfortable on the wings? I wouldn't agree there.

collateral damage

In an attacking position? Yes. Never really seen him play as AM behind the strikers. He was either the left winger in Atalanta's 4-4-2 or in our 4-3-3.

I guess you're arguing if he's more comfortable in midfield or attack. That's debatable, because Jack is a very versatile player that can play anywhere you put him. But since we want Montella to drop the 4-3-3 formation, then it only makes sense to play Jack on the left in the attacking midfield, with Suso on the right and Hakan behind the striker. Catch my drift?

He's definitely more comfortable in wider areas rather than centrally

I'd argue he's more comfortable with the freedom to choose. Don't restrict him to either and he knows where to be useful at any given time.

For me, he's more effective when starting wide and cutting in. He tends to get lost in the shuffle when starting from more central areas imo

Crotone topic anyone?

Will do

DO IT!!! YESTERDAY YOU SAID TOMORROW. NO MORE.

How 'bout a thread for the 2nd leg?

So Mediaset says we could play 3-5-2 tomorrow:



For god's sake can we please bench Borini for once? At least now that we're playing with two strikers play Cutrone and Silva together. Borini is seriously becoming the new Muntari. Or the new Niang.

Just because you don't like him doesn't mean he shouldn't play.

I'm not a fan either but he did himself no harm in the past two matches.

Against Shkëndija and a 10-man Crotone.

In fact, a game like this is perfect to play him. I'm just worried that he'll become a Montella favorite and will play in big games, too.

And no, it's not because I don't like him, it's because he's not good. You should know that.

Yet when I point out 40M Bonucci underwhelmed in these two ignominious matches, a chunk on here dismiss it? Why does the opponent matter when it's Borini, but not when it's Bonucci?



He's average. But in the competitive matches he's played, he's been adequate. And apparently that's been enough - including in defence

Because I don't think Bonucci underwhelmed like you say.



Nah, I would label Kalinic as average. Borini enters more into the bad category.

Borini has had years of sucking while Bonucci has had over 6 years of playing top class football. Is there even a reason why you're mentioning the two in the same sentence?

Milan XI: Storari; Zapata, Bonucci, Romagnoli; Calabria, Zanellato, Locatelli, Mauri, Antonelli; Cutrone, André Silva