With all due respect, hogwash.

Last summer this entire f*cking support was verbally masturbating over all the shiny Silvas and Rodriguez' and Kessies and Hakans, Bonuccis, Biglias, Contis. And look how well that team worked out.

It's all too easy to use the wisdom of hindsight to suggest the past was garbage but many of us sure as heck weren't saying it at the time!

Even yours truly got caught up some of it - sure, I called Silva, and I wasn't blown away by Hakan or Biglia, or indeed Conti, but I was happy enough with Kessie and Rodriguez. Didn't know sh*t about Musacchio but you pegged him as great and pointed out he was part of Spain's second or third best defence.

So let's not get sanctimonious here - and your insult at Galliani is really unfair. Sure, it crumbled to hell after 2012 (had no money, after all) but from 88 onwards he was hugely responsible for some of the best players we've ever had at this club - his signing policy helped us become the Milan we used to be.

So, it's early days for Elliot and Leo, and while some of the signs are promising and I do love Piatek in particular, let's hold off judging until a year or two down the line.

But hey, who am I to talk - I've begged Piatek as our best striker since Sheva and he's only been here five minutes!

Yes, hindsight is great. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out Galliani's last decade with us was an absolute nightmare of bar decisions and shady deals. We'd been talking about how his bad choices lead to our downfall for years now. This team has been neglected under B & G since around 2007. And you can say Galliani was operating without a budget, but that is not entirely true. Look at the summer we signed Bacca as an example. Also, if he had a limited budget, I do not understand how he kept giving 4m + salaries to mediocre free agents + some seriously shady agent fees and deals with guys like Preziosi. These are not things that you can say are about hindsight. We've been blowing gaskets on here about Galliani since around 2007.

As for Mirabelli. Yes, the majority of fans were overly excited, me included. But this mostly stemmed from the shear desperation after experiencing the last 10 years of Galliani. Mirabelli was basically like a man with a small bottle of water spraying it around to a bunch of people that have been stuck in a desert and were thirsty af. He went for quantity over quality, no doubt. But you can't blame people for being excited about the signings he made.

Leo has so far made some great moves. Bakayoko, Higuain (lead to Piatek), Paqueta, Piatek. All great moves with half a summer window and a winter one to operate in. He's proven that he prefers to bring in 1 or 2 top notch players rather than going for 5 just good ones. We'll see what he does in the summer, but I have faith that whatever budget he has to operate within, he'll do well

@Danny - Galliani and Berlusconi made this club great, of course, but there's also no denying that they led it to its downfall.

Mismanagement. They weren't able to develop the Milan brand, no new stadium, no increase in revenues, terrible decision making. Times were changing but they kept thinking like it was still the 90s. In the end, they had to sell to some shady Chinese figure who ended up being a hoax.

As for Mirabelli, yes, we were all excited. How could we not be? As Han said, after years and years of crappy signings and free agents, we were presented with an extra budget that allowed us to rebuild this team. Let's not forget that guys like Musacchio, Rodriguez, Kessie and Calhanoglu who are regulars today were signed by Mirabelli. So, I wouldn't throw away all of his work.

This as well. I criticize his signings, but some of them are now part of the backbone of this team, so they weren't all bad. He went wrong in terms of trying t overhaul the entire squad in one summer instead of bringing in more quality players at a gradual level

It has been quite a poor performance till now

Being only 1-0 down at half time is a success..

Rino needs to shake up the team quickly.

We're not ready yet.

I wouldn't exaggerate. Inter have been superior but it's not like they created that many chances.

Ready for what? And when will be ready? In 2022?

2-0 we have suddenly forgotten how to defend

FFS! After all the hype and anticipation, to play a derby like this. Shameful.

Comonenn get back in it now..

And curtone on for full back

Strange move making Kessie a FB...

Penalty kick, great...

Cutrone has only caused fouls since he came in. Useless.

Both strikers were pretty much inefficient. As was Kessie and Rodriguez, terrible game by both.

Rodriguez is terrible. And Kessie, in all honesty, I'd do without. Hakan showed today that he can be much more efficient in midfield.

The first two goals were like fifa goals.. We did respond well but the issue is the depth curtone simply added nothing. Castillejo is average.

Paquta and kessie both are very tired i suppose. We just need to retain focus and forget the result and move onto next game

Anyway, the approach to this game was wrong from the start. Forget the early goal, we just couldn't control the game and force our superiority. Inter played a great first half, we showed a reaction in the second but the game was already set at that point.

We're still not ready.

Can't catch a break against these f@ckers! We haven't won a derby in the league since 2016!

We started badly. Just terrible mindset. We played like we've been playing since the Lazio game, only this time we lost our heads and couldn't even get the defensive side correct.

Cutrone should have scored that last chance

And anyone else catch that fraces between Biglia and Kessie on the bench?

I really hope that we don't spiral after this game. We were riding our luck in previous games, today it ran out. Every 50/50 ball was going Inter's way. We absolutely have to produce a performance against Samp in 2 weeks time

Thankfully with Roma losing we get to keep our previous cushion. But letting Inter win this and regain their confidence could prove seriously detrimental.

First half Piatek was completely isolated. We just couldn't manage to provide him a proper delivery

Rodriguez was an absolute nightmare.

Kessie was his usual self. Too casual on the ball, bad passing and inefficient use of his energy


We let them get into positions to put in those kind of ping pong balls into our area. The FBs and the side mids carry the blame for those. We just let them do as they please in the first half. They came uut blazing, pressing us with a high line, and we came out expecting to put in our usual lackadaisical display, with slow passing a buildup, with no real cutting edge to our play.

Every derby for the past 3 years now we simply haven't played it like a derby, while Inter always come out swinging.


Agreed

Bad mentality and a bunch of bad players. I really think we need to cross of Rodriguez and Kessie, both are simply too lacking to be considered as starters or quality players. Then there is Donnarumma who never shines in such occasions but survives mostly... And of course Suso who was a bit better in the second half with Conti there to help, but he's still miles away from being useful at this moment.

Did anyone else think that D'ambrosio should have been sent off for using his hand to block a ball that was going into the net? To me, it seemed clear. A ref would give a penalty for that kind of action so why didn't he check the VAR and give a red.

I understand that Mussachio ended up scoring off of the deflection but still. Either way, I'm not blaming the ref. We had every opportunity to take this game by the scruff of the neck and we didn't. Suso to me was poor, but no one was worse than RR. Easily his worst game for us.

Would love to change out Suso for Chiesa who seems to be everything he is not. Suso's development has kind of peaked and he not the player to take over a game, especially at this time of the season.

I know we lost but I loved this derby. It was how they should all be, and loved justice being done with VAR particularly with Conti, which has become such an invaluable tool.

My ambitions for Milan are far lower than they were, I like how things are with the support and the club these days.

And although I was gutted to lose, felt that at least we played with fire in our belly a fair bit.

The problem is we developed a pattern. We start with less then 100% and often react only after conceding goals or end up being cornered and pressured. Only then we try breaking out and organize some decent attacks, but this phase tends to wane.

Then there are those small irregularities. When will Donnarumma be able to be more secure with corners and high crosses/balls? When will he become more precise with passing? We need to work out many details in our game.

Those details are the every day issues an overperforming mid-table team deals with as a fact of life. That is where we are now.

There's less pressure, in my mind, on this club to deliver even if a certain Indian has threatened to fly to Scotland and get me drunk on Scotch if we make the CL.

But being serious, I'm so used to Milan the way we are now I've forgotten the old world. Which is weird because it's opposite with Rangers - I still can't reconcile Rangers' plight with the way it was in the olden days.

This.

Mentality-wise, we're just not there. We should have had fire in our eyes, yet we let a terrible Inter overpower us at home.

And then there's that bunch of 3-4 players that hold us back. Rodriguez and Kessie just don't cut it. I agree with Fillipo that we should part ways we them. Calhanoglu is still a question mark, and Suso has switched off for some odd reason.

We lack that 2-3 players that can carry us. In the past we had guys like Shevchenko, Kaka' and Seedorf who showed up big time when push came to shove. They made the difference. Right now we have none of that.

Anyone heard about the brawl between Kessie and Biglia? What was that all about?

Rodriguez needs no explanation. The sheer fact that we can get some decent (or good) money out of him is enough convincing to ship him off and try adapting Calabria on the left or find another suitable option.

Kessie is what I always suspected him to be. Simply lacking in quality and intelligence. He's a surplus, adding very little to our game. In 1990 or the early 2000's Keissie would have done good, but this is modern football; you simply cannot sacrifice the midfield position for a limited player like him in a club with big or even modest ambitions.

A thing that worries me a bit preemptive is Piatek. He seems like a shadow player: tuning in and out in games. Sure he scored a bunch of important goals for us already but somehow I got the feeling he is the type of striker that likes to go on longer absent stints and isn't quite the derby king. When you mention Shevchenko... oh the one thing he always delivered was against Inter.

Sheva had Cafu and Serginho on the flanks, Seedorf, Pirlo and Rui Costa to supply ... Who does Piatek have?

This is the problem we have when we draw comparisons.

Piatek is a player who needs service. He can't create by himself. He's got good technique but he's not particularly good with the ball on his feet.

Well said!

I feel like since I came back the good feeling and drive has gone somehow from you lot and it's back to Montella's Milan.

Rodriguez is absolute rubbish.

Suffered this one with Jack earlier - it's my contention since about 2012 we've signed one traditionally Milan-level player, and that's Piatek.

Everyone we signed in the big Chinese summer (2017) was absolute cr*p, or mediocre at best, and last summer I barely paid attention because it was much the same.

In short, we're a midtable side now, have been for fast approaching a decade (scary, right?) and we better get used to it because it's us now.

Look at all our 'best' players - Jack, Suso, Romagnoli - these are not great players, they're decent and no more. Best players get big clubs bidding big cash for them. Not sure a single one of these guys has had a single bid aimed at them.

Kakas, Seedorfs, Nestas they're miles off being.

As for Rod - has a good cross on him but that's it.

Yeah, we're sh*te

I think it's pretty obvious we don't have any great players, haven't had some in a long while. If we did we wouldn't be struggling to qualify for the CL.

(Albeit, I must say, Romagnoli for me has the potential to become a top class defender.)

Anyway, the ref screwed us over big time tonight. Two clear penalties not given, especially the second one on Piatek.

But the way we played, the indolence and body language... sorry, we screwed us over ourselves primarily. This was a disastrous game in every possible way.

Nothing seems to work right now. Piatek is mostly denied service by the uninspired and mostly selfish Suso and Castillejo, Hakan has been his usual mediocre self now for a long time, Biglia and Bakayoko seem to be not working good together (no surprise there), while the defense finally started showing cracks and lost confidence. Donnarumma...well... no comment there.

Oh and yes, if we don't win the next game and make a mentality change quickly we'll be spiraling down; Juventus and a double fixture against Lazio are coming up.

Has anyone read about the Gattuso-Leonardo situation? Looks like there's some friction going on all of a sudden. Some say that Leonardo has decided to sack Gattuso at season end and Gattuso has found out about it. Not good for the team right now.

Read about this... in different ways. Not sure what to think. Leonardo’s handling stuff with the media is very undiplomatic and not especially helpful.

I was against Leo's return from the start, and I stand by that.

As for the pen, sorry, it wasn't. VAR got it correct.

I agree with some of what you have said here but if you don't think Romagnoli is a great player you are way off the mark.

Also, your second comment nullifies the first, you're saying that if a big club threw $50M at us for Suso that would make him a great player? Players like Andy Carroll, Benteke, Mustafi, Bernardeschi have all gone for $40M+ does that make them all great players because someone wanted to splash some cash?

I'm not saying that these players are superstars on par with the Kakas, Pirlos, Maldinis, Shevchenkos, and Nestas of the world but that doesn't mean they are **** players who can't achieve anything. If you don't believe me check that Porto team that won the CL in 04, or the Italy team under Conte that made a run in the Euros to see what good coaching and a smart system can do. I'm not saying that this squad could win the CL but to toss them ALL aside as decent and no more is an overreaction. 9 out of 10 teams in the world would kill to have Romagnoli and the same goes for Donnaruma. Other players have amazing potential (See Calabria, Paqueta, Conti, Kessie, Bakayoko, Piatek).

I do agree that the Chinese summer was mostly just spending money for spending's sake and most of those players have not turned into what we thought they would be, but things are looking up with the new management and the transfers of Piatek, Paqueta (first great midfield purchase in a long time) and Bakayoko. As most things, the moves that were made look poor in hindsight but at the time they were considered to be smart signings. Calha was one of the more promising, dangerous playmakers in Germany, RR was a very highly regarded LB, Kessie had just put on a show in Serie A with Atalanta, Conti the same, Biglia was a calming presence and leader in midfield and Bonucci was considered by most as some of the best business of the summer.

I would argue that the real issue that we have had has been the lack of a coach with tactical nuance some creativity. I love Gattuso and I think he should be given the year to see what happens but he is not a tactical genius. He is a motivator which can only take you so far.

Overall we have had two poor games back to back where we seemed to have run out of ideas and dried up but this team is also lacking. We have 1 good creator from midfield and he is a kid coming into his own. Our team is very young, sometimes young teams struggle but we are most definitely on the upswing. Making CL and bringing in some reinforcements will do wonders for this squad. If we get back to winning ways there is still hope from this season. We are on track to meet our goals for the first time in a long time. Rome wasn't built in a day now is the time to be patient, not rash.

Hopefully we make the CL and when the summer comes we make savvy moves that help move the needle. We aren't winning the CL next year but it would be great if 1) we were in it and 2) we showed some fire and made some noise.

We'll see what happens, seems like the usual media speculation that happens any time results aren't going well

As for the general feeling around the team, I'm personally disheartened by such reaction from fans. You can't expect to win all the time. I personally saw these results happening at some point considering we weren't playing well since the Lazio game in the Coppa. We're going through a downturn in form, and that is disappointing do doubt. But it's not the end of the world just yet, so people need to chill a bit

There's already been a negative feeling around the club since the derby and the Kessie situation, people freaking out won't help the situation

Hoping for a good result today, but the sudden changes from Rino worry me, especially the Bakayoko on the side of midfield is especially bad imo

Agreed about the penalty, he touched the ball. From the first angle I thought it was a pen, but from the other angle you can clearly see he got the ball first, and as soon as I saw that I knew he wasn't going to give it

I disagree about Leo though. His work so far speaks for itself

Milan 1-0 Udinese

Gattuso's changes led to something positive.

1-1

We're going to f@ck 4th up. At this point I'm 95% sure we won't be in the CL next season.

Another game where we play badly, every final ball to the strikers is worse than bad. A million back passes and putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions due to mistakes

Bakayoko as a side mid in a 3 is just bad and Biglia isn't playing well enough to justify the shift. Kessie should be playing, we miss his industry on the side of the midfield. This is on Gattuso right now. He's making decisions that are questionable, also the shifting from the 4-3-3 due to 2 bad results is never a good sign. It reminds me of what Montella continuously did to tragic results

Juve up next and we'll most likely be out of the top 4 by next week

I think Gattuso needs to go. We made a jump in terms of position and points, but many of these games were lucky late winners whereas the whole season Milan has been dragging poor showings and mentality in big games. Under Gattuso we've lost all big games bar the one fixture with Roma. All defeats/draws against Juve, Inter and Napoli (minus some minor Coppa results).

Bakayoko should really play the central position, Biglia should get the bench. Kessie is most probably being punished. And well, we're struggling to create so the shift didn't come off just 2 bad games, it's a dump in form overall.

If he was a great player, at 24 he'd be at a better team than this current Milan (Silva left a few years older to PSG for big money back in 2012 but had been a target for departure for some time - now HE was a great defender), and have played more than like 9 times for the national side which uses a 3 at the back a lot. I think he's a fairly good player capable of some great performances, I just don't think he's a great defender. Otherwise your Man Utds, Real Madrids etc would have shown interest. The fact is this Milan doesn't have great players - if it did, we'd be a lot better than we are.



I didn't strictly say the amount, I said big bids, period (can't really bid 3M for anyone these days)? No one, to my knowledge, though, has had a bid rejected for our best players. Surely a sign you have great players is richer teams try to buy them?



Again, not the argument I was trying to make!



Bit of an overreaction there too surely? You don't need to kill to have Romagnoli, just bid 40M by today's money and Milan will sell. But no one does, that's my point.

As for the potential - if all our players with 'potential' had realised 10% of it over the years, we'd have won UCL, Serie A and the Superbowl by now. So easy to attribute potential and then years later they're at Genoa.



It's odd - you say that 'most of it was spending for spending for spending's sake' and attack the players as not turning out as we expected but then manage to justify almost every single signing in there anyway. Which is it?

As for Paqueta, he's impressed me of what I've seen of him, and everyone knows I want Piatek's children.



You sound just like a Rangers fan backing Steven Gerrard! I'm seeing all the same patterns as both clubs mirror each other painfully.

I do get tired of fans backing managers come hell or high water when they haven't earned it. Rino was a failure at Sion and Crete before doing ok with our kids. Where in that does he (or Gerrard) earn our backing or trust?



We've been on this upswing of yours for 7 years. Can't help feeling there's a different feeling to upswing compared with what I'd expect of one!

Change of manager won't fix much. The players need to be good in the first place. We don't have enough of those.

Look at Utd - had a world class squad but they were horrible under Jose. Under Ole it's a whole different picture.

The players are good. They're not excellent or world class but they are a better mix then the one we had last year. And they are certainly better then Udinese or Sampdoria.

Right now we cannot change our team. The only logical step is to decide what to do right now: trust in Rino or select a new replacement already and gamble with the positive shock effect.

It's not that Rino is a tactical mastermind. So far he's shown little ideas and he's mostly clinging to one solution he thinks is optimal. The thing Rino is/was good at was inspiring and firing up the team: but I think he lost them.