I'm honestly afraid to watch this.

Yup. Massacre coming up. I see them putting 4 goals past us. We might get in 2 if we get lucky. So I foresee a 4-2 defeat for this one.

Donnarumma; Musacchio, Bonucci, Romagnoli; Abate, Kessie, Biglia, Bonaventura, Rodriguez; Silva, Kalinic.

I think this game will be decisive. Another shitty performance and 1) Montella will be let go or 2) we'll still keep him and continue to play like crap. Or we'll make a turn for the better and win, or at least draw.

Let's see...

I think we win.

Donnarumma; Musacchio, Bonucci, Romagnoli; Borini, Kessie, Biglia, Calhanoglu, Rodriguez; Silva, Kalinic.

Yay, Borini!

2-1

Then we will lose our next game lol reminds me of 2007

Milan: G Donnarumma; Musacchio, Bonucci, Romagnoli; Abate, Kessie, Biglia, Bonaventura, R Rodriguez; Andre Silva, Kalinic

Borini ans Hakan instead of Abate and Jack.

Not so bad as for the start. Lets see.

I'm actually liking Borini as RWB so far...

Strootman off for Roma

I have to say this is the best half we've played all season

Which shows how crap we've been so far in the season.

We lack 1-2 world class players, those who can create the magic out of nothing and lead our attacks. Hakan is starting to get bothersome. I was expecting so much from him but he's turning into another Honda. Biglia also is not as intelligent as I was hoping. There are so many instances of good passing opportunities that he just dismisses, either because he doesn't see them or he doesn't trust in his abilities.

Kalinic and Silva are doing a lot of movement but the can't play together simply because they're not supported well enough by the rest of the team.

I'd say thus far our two best players have Borini and Rodriguez, which is depressing.

I sort of agree about Hakan, his movement has been good but the final product is just not there

As for Biglia, I've seen him do much better for Lazio, he seems hesitant to me and he's making the wrong choices when it comes to picking passes

I'd actually take off Hakan and Kalinic and bring on Bona and Suso, switch to a 3-4-3

Too obvious for the thick brain of Montella.

Damn it!! So lucky!

Damn

We don't deserve to be trailing here

So disappointing

0-2

0-2

We just laboured too long to get the goal when we had the upper hand for so long.

Once again, Montella too slow to make any sort of changes, both in tactics and personnel

I don't care if people say we played well today, another loss and we cannot continue like this. Actions have to be taken.

Agreed. 3 defeats already. Something has to happen.

lol! Cutrone????

Seriously?? He's not going to change anything in terms of shape or tactics FFS Montella! You have Suso on the bench and you don't use him? F@ck you!

Why do you even care. We've lost the game. I switched off after the second goal.

Because something like this p!sses me off more than the fact that we're losing

red card for hakan as well..

Team cohesion is it turned on?

feels like i'm watching a low cost man city or psg , why did we have to bring is so many new players.....

it appears montella is picking players first and then putting them onto a formation to play, it should be other way around pick a system and then find suitable players for that. Messing around each game with slight tweaks, at this rate season willl end in november

Let me just say this. We started good. Kessie, Musacchio, Rodriguez, Silva. We were in the meantime pursuing Conti, Biglia and Keita, along with a top striker between Morata, Belotti and Aubameyang. We were going in with the intention of playing 4-3-3. That was the initial plan.

Then we signed Calhanoglu, an AM, who ideally doesn't fit in such a formation. And then we signed Bonucci, a signing many praised but I for starters was not so excited about. It seemed an opportunity buy without much thought into it. And then we failed to sign any of our three big striker targets and ended up with Kalinic in the end.

By the time the league started, Montella's formation was 4-3-3 when in fact we could play anything but that formation, lacking the wingers to do so. And then after being handed his @ss over to him by Lazio, he switched to 3-5-2, a choice dictated more by external pressure than his own vision.

And by today, 1 October, we are a team without identity, without any game plan or ideas whatsoever. We lack the spirit, we lack the tactics, we lack the willpower to become great again. We are a team who've spent 240M in two months but we're playing like we've been playing in the past 5-6 years.

The point that I'm tying to make is that I still think we have a very good roster of players at disposal, and we can still do well. But maybe the management got lost midway through the signing campaign, started signing players without much thought, and Montella is not that good of a coach we all thought he was.

The only way we can salvage this season is by sacking Montella right away and sign Ancelotti. Because if we do nothing and let another loss slip by, it will be too late.

Gotta say that I agree with X-Off. To me, it seems like the coach is not a motivator like I thought he was. Most of the players who were brought in were done so with a chip on their shoulder - they should all be out to prove something. Montella either a. doesn't understand the ability of the players at his disposal which is why he is deploying them incorrectly or b. is so set on his idea of how the team should play that he is ignoring the obvious change in formation. I think it's a combination of both.

The best coaches can get the players to buy in on them and thus sacrifice or change to fit the system. Other coaches are better at finding the system to suit the players. Montella is trapped somewhere in between. He can't figure out the right system and he can't get anyone to buy into his idea of how the team should play. We need a change, otherwise, the season will be lost before it gets started.

We should have splurged on a real game changing midfielder because that is seriously where we lack. I have been really disappointed by Biglia, at Lazio he accessed a different element to his game. Here he has been a terrible metronome. Hakan has been the biggest disappointment for me. I really thought he would come in like Sneijder when Inter brought him over and set the league aflame, but he has been dull in his passing, and his ability to change the game was completely overblown in Germany.

Silva was good today, he has the talent and the ability to become great, but with the team, as it is he has to try and be the creator and the playmaker and the SS. It's too much weight to put on a kid to carry the entire creative flow of the team. I thought Borini was our best player tbh. He ran for days showed some creativity and hunger which impressed me, it could stem from the fact that he is ex-Roma if I'm not mistaken.

RR at this point looks like our best signing of the summer. He delivers dangerous crosses and works that left flank. Kessie has that unique brand of hustle and muscle but he is being asked to do so much. He has to defend and attack and generally make up for the two mediocre midfielders (Biglia, Hakan) next to him.

You build a system around the players you have. You do NOT choose the system first. You don't pick the players first, but you do eke out the best system which suits the players at your disposal.

It turns out we were all wrong - 3 at the back doesn't work any better than the four did.

Bonucci has plain and simple been a horrific signing - but the two beside him are having dreadful seasons too.

Although I should emphasise that all this is under our current 'manager'.

He cannot motivate, he cannot organise, and it is evident the team is every inch as bad as last season, maybe worse.

Last season for the first four months we had a dreadful squad playing way above its capabilities. Now we have a decent squad (not good, not great, not outstanding, just decent) playing way way way below its capabilities.

We need a new coach because this one stinks. I am starting to dislike even looking at him. He looks so gormless, so clueless, and clearly is the wrong guy. The players we've brought in are only marginally better than what we had. We just assume they're better because they cost money or have foreign names or came from Atalanta.

Quite simply I'm not impressed with any of them.

Bonucci: he's been absolutely terrible, for the money we paid. No better than Zapata, with the exception that he has a decent long range pass on him. As for as pure defending goes he's been dire.

Musacchio: terrible. Cannot read the play. Weak on the ball. Can't tackle. Han reckoned because he came from a great defence he would be great. Wrong. He's been horrible.

Biglia: invisible. Does nothing in his position to assert himself. Diabolical player so far.

Kessie: started good, but deteriorated quick and now looks pathetic, tbh.

Rod: as others say one of the best of the lot, but he's been caught out defensively numerous times and all he does is cross well from the left. He has no pace, he cannot get back, and other than his admittedly excellent cross-balls, he's mediocre at best.

Hakan: has shown up in one European match so far. Absolutely awful player so far for us.

Kalinic: one of the better ones. Working hard and trying, and has scored a few - but asked to do too much for what he can.

Silva: He is actually ok before the penalty box, but in the league he's a joke when it comes to the final product, the final shot, the final cross, pass.

Borini: offers little in the way of creativity but works hard and it's ironic he's now being 'praised' by fans when I was the only one to give him any before for that aforementioned hard work. He's a team player and will do all the dirty work.

I do sense these guys would produce more if they were better coached, but it's clear we're rudderless.

I hope a new coach is in place by the time of the derby because I think I'm done supporting Montella.

EDIT: I will enjoy reading these comments two months from now.

Indeed. Kessie is a defensive midfielder, plain and simple. You cannot ask him more than that, but Montella has created this idea that he's some sort of Pogba or something.



Montella has been confirmed by management so you can scrap that.



Why?

Cos we are better than you are making it look and in 2 months the team will be enough comfortable playing together. I saw good signals in the games against Roma which makes me think that this team will only get better from now on and I'm not worried at all about current results. While someone would kill to have many of our players we are not pleased with them, even after knowing that we had players like Constant not long time ago.

I think you are overly optimistic. The prevailing opinion on the web does not paint a pretty picture (for example, see link and link). The only real question is: are the players real bad or is Montella messing up. Most likely, a combination of the two.

Problem is we are up against Inter next, which means we will are likely to drop to -12 from the top. Not sure we can count on winning against lesser opponents either (lost to Samp, who got creamed by Udinese, and barely won against our last EL opponent).

*sad face*

We're playing like a 6th place team at the moment. I've been especially disappointed by Hakan.

FWIW, I'm not really in favour of a new coach just yet. Probably give him till the end of November. And then we'll see.

But yes, 4th place is looking really hard, unless we win some crucial head-to-heads. The Roma defeat was bad because it was to a direct rival and was a must-win.

Right now, we are playing like a mid-table team, and I think we are lucky to be 7th. At this rate, I am not sure we will re-qualify for EL, and CL seems like a distant dream.


Reality check, we are -9 from the top. Do we wait until we are -12? Or -18? Or ... what?

Look, I have been a big supporter of Montella. Have wanted to see him at Milan for a long time. Was very happy when he built a team out of nothing, and hang in there to get us to EL (though in fairness he got a lot of help from teams like Inter who imploded half way through the season). That said, at this point I think he is way out of his depth, and I see him floundering. Time to make a change, IMHO. If nothing else it will act as a wake-up call for some of the players.

I know we are better than this, which is precisely why Montella must be sacked. Hire a new coach who can get the most out of these players. Because as it is we are spiraling into mediocrity without any signals of improvement.

The matter is purely tactical. It starts with the right formation, then the right players, and of course the tactics behind the schemes which only Montella and the players know.

If we're set to keep playing with a 3-man defense, then it's obligatory to drop the 5-man midfield which is only creating confusion.

Play Biglia-Kessie in the double pivot. Don't give to Kessie additional responsibilities that make him vulnerable to his deficiencies and flaws. His main duty must be to break down attacks and give that extra physically to our midfield. Play Suso, our best player, on the right-hand side of attack where he gives his best. Keep one striker, ideally Silva, and switch Bonaventura to the left.



This is how we can get the best out of the resources we have. Then of course Montella must give the right directions and the players have to be pinpoint in executing what their coach asks them to do.

+1

I disagree with Kessie playing as a DM. He's no Gattuso. Not even a Kante.

He's one of those genuine powerful box to box mids. More Essien or even Yaya Toure. I'd rather have him do that, than be a pure holding mid.

In any case the days of a pure DM are gone. Everyone attacks and everyone defends. If we're playing a double pivot, our best bet is pairing Biglia with either Montolivio or Locatelli. And then play all of Hakan, Suso and Jack supporting Andre Silva.Not a 4-2-3-1 though.

----------------4-At-The-Back------------------
--------Biglia--------------Loca/Monto--------------
--Suso---------------------------------Jack-------
-------------Hakan(Free Role)--------------------
---------Silva---------------------------------------

My preferred formation at the moment is an X-Mas tree. But we have to bench one of Hakan or Suso. And one of Kalinic/Silva. Not sure which striker works better as a sole striker in an X-Mas tree. Because we have no pure goal scoring attacking mid - like we did with Kaka.

I like this too Jack, but where would you slot Kessie in? I mean he has the potential to be a superstar in midfield - like a
Yaya or an Essien - but this formation you have with the double pivot removes him from the equation.

I think a Christmas tree is our best bet - Suso and Bona behind a striker. They can both sort of play free roles up there drifting wide and central when necessary. But at least with the tree, we have three in the midfield - two more creative players and a box to box.

I think the issue with that would be there is no real modern Seedorf type anymore. Nor is there a Pirlo or a Gattuso but that is a different issue. Seedorf was a unique player. He was a deep-lying playmaker which doesn't exist really anymore. Playmakers, in general, are a dying breed as the game moves towards wingers. Players like Bona and Marchisio are called shuttlers now because they don't play the way that a Seedorf would.

No you're right. That formation I threw in was just to explain what I thought was the only way to get a double pivot working.

I think the idea of a central playmaker has been removed with the arrival of wing forwards, wing playmakers and now Guardiola's new invention - floating #8s (with de Bruyne).

Why? I think it is a reaction to this new tactics of high pressing and defense/attack as a unit. With players constantly needing to run into space, these new positions are very effective, since the middle of the field gets squeezed very quickly.


I think we need a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-1-2. But I'm not sure if Montella can drill our players that way.

The problem with an X-Mas tree is it is a very difficult formation to implement a press-defence in, since that means players will move out of position and open gaps. It will get shown out when we play a side like Napoli or the big European guns, who move the ball very quickly and have generally more skilled players.

X-O I think you're mistaken with Kessie. I also think he's not a DM; for one thing he's messing up too often in front of defense to be such a player. I think we need to bench him cause clearly he isn't up for Milan.

I think you're being too narrow-focused on what a modern DM entails.

For starters, this is Atalanta's line-up from last season:



Kessie was deployed as one of the two men in the double pivot in Gasperini's 3-man defense system. That's where he excelled and managed to have a fantastic season.

It's true, in today's football there really aren't any typical DMs anymore. Players must be versatile in all forms and manners. Take Pjanic at Juve. Anything but a DM but yet plays in that position in Allegri's 4-2-3-1. Or Alaba/Lahm when Guardiola played them in front of the defense at Bayern. Or even Fabregas when Conte plays him at Chelsea.

It's crazy to think that a player of Kessie's presence and physique can't pull that role, especially when he did so last season. A Kessie-Biglia partnership, be it with a 3- or 4-men defense would be just fine. Think outside the box.

I'm rapidly starting to think that his breakthrough season might have been a one-hit wonder. The problem is I'm thinking outside of the box: Kessie doesn't have the technique and intelligence of Pjanić or Pirlo, nor the discipline or defensive stability of Desailly. All he has is physique and presence. Hopefully it will be enough to grow a kind of defender Ambrosini/Desailly were, but I don't see more in him. And that's what disappoints me a bit.

Give him time.