And there goes Kjaer as well...

He never was consistent nor very intelligent. All he had was one good season with us and one with Atalanta. He's useful and that makes him precious. But you're just overreacting, so no need to go any further.

0-3 FT

Easy comfortable win. Genoa are just terrible so we shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves. But I liked the team's attitude this time around.

Just to note, Messias has scored more goals in these 2-3 games then Saelemaekers in two years with us.

Shame about Sassuolo's goal being disallowed in the end, but I'll take the draw.

Napoli 36
Milan 35
Inter 34
Atalanta 31

Napoli-Atalanta this weekend. Let's hope for a draw.

Could you explain to me why we subbed in Gabbia only to sub him out during half time?

It was disallowed? Wow, didn't even realize until now.

Yeah, but he was young. Don't forget he joined us when he was only 19. Now he's reached maturity, so you should expect him to have grown.

Yeah. I even cheered cos I switched to Napoli in the final minutes, but after watching the replay it was clear Berardi committed foul. Shame.

Re Inter. I'd love to see what happens should any one of those get injured. Brozovic is arguably their most important asset in that midfield, they've done well without Hakan before when he was playing like dog cr@p. Brozovic and Barella are the keys

That being said Inzaghi has the luxury of not suffering through debilitating injury crises after crises. Pioli on the other hand does not have that

What I disagree with is rotating against Sassuolo. Rotation should have been done today or against Salernitana. Especially knowing how many issues Sassuolo always cause us. Just naive the change the core of the team during that one

As for the Tonali Bennacer duo. I just disagree with it on a fundamental level. Especially against better sides. Unfortunately Kessie right now is the best option to partner either one of them. And right now we don't know what's going on, but if we're going to keep him until the end of the season, might as well run him into the ground and use all that we can out of him. I don't know if the brain farts this season have come due to his situation, but if that's the case it just shows that no decision has been made as of yet as he'd be far more serene if that was the case.

Let's just wait and see with him. I think the fact that we'd made him captain in the absence of Romagnoli and Calabria speaks a lot to what the club are trying to do with him.


Totally disagree re Bennacer. His best game this season came against Atletico imo. He was immense for us. But as x-of said, he just hasn't had continuity because of the rotation. Which everyone understands why that is with Tonali really shining. But Benna has a lot of quality. Pioli just needs to use him a bit better.


Just our luck. Cannot catch a break with these injuries and that looked bad.

Napoli drew btw. Good day aside from the Inter win, which was always going to happen against Spezia

We have to make the most of next weekend. We have Salernitana, Inter have Rom, Napoli have Atalanta. Should be our best chance to get back on top by ourselves as Napoli are dipping.

Yellow on Gabbia

Yeah, it was due to yellow. And Gabbia wasn't looking too sharp. Kalulu is miles better.

Messia looked much better today. Don't know if that's solely due to Genoa being terrible or he's regaining fitness, but at least he looked sharper on the ball

A bit of both. But like I said earlier, he needs to regain match fitness.

Agreed

Kalulu should be first choice after Tomori, Kjaer and Romagnoli

Florenzi can cover RB. If we have a problem with any of the first 3 Kalulu should be there.

Gabbia should be sent to a lower table side to get continuity. He doesn't have the speed or strength to ever really make it with us.

What we can do is loan him out to a smaller side, let his get good minutes and sell him on for a bit of plusvelanza

Kjaer's season could be over

Damaged his knee ligament...


Should go after Bremer in January, offer Pobega and some cash in exchange to Toro. Maybe give them Gabbia on loan as well

Confirmed 6 months by the club.

What a loss.

It is a huge one, the club didnt loose a defender for 6 months, but a point of reference. Something the club wont be able to add in January.

I swear, Leao is the kind of player that combines moments of brilliance with absolute brainfart moments that make you wonder whether he has a functioning brain or not.

Bakayoko is horrible.

Pellegri out injured as well. We've only Ibra left, right now playing without a CF.

2-0 easiest match of the season thus far. Salernitana are worse than a Serie B side.

The fact that we haven't scored more here is worrying. How many chances do they need to put it in???

Yes, a horrible side.

Re Bakayoko, I really think he just needs more playing time. Don't see what you see.

But man, Pellegri getting injured now must somehow raise a red flag in the club. Something most definitively is wrong with our teams condition.

Oh come on, worrying? Who cares... we'll win, that's what matter. And we'll score more.

I'd love to see Maldini in the second half.

But Brahim makes me so angry. Never seen such a talented player with such a horrible final touch.

Horrible is a massive exaggeration.

Yeah man, our aim in the final third is horrible. Should have scored at least another one before HT.

What then? Very bad? 4 out of 6 good situations he screws up with his poor final touch while passing or shooting.

It's worrying because we've gotten this far because we've been very clinical.

I think it was you who pointed out last week that we don't create that many chances but generally scored on the ones we create.

Should have been 6 up by now and that's a low estimation. And this type of stat padding could come in useful at the end of the season

Yes, but this game I wouldn't count as anything. Looks like a per-season game with a Serie C team.

Don't understand the Baka change. He needs minutes. We have to rely on him when the AFCON starts and this is the game to do it in

He was booked.

Don't remember any instances of him screwing up in this game to be honest.

So as soon as someone gets booked he goes out at Milan? Stupid policy.


Pioli made a borefest happen with his subs..

Brahim assisted again, and in reality could/should have had a hattrick of assists plus should have probably scored as well.

Don't see what you see with him Fillipo

That was probably the point

But Baka needs minutes, and these are the games to do it in. That chances of him getting a 2nd yellow here are close to nil anyway

As I said, this game is not important any more so no, no real screwups. But the small imperfections of his touch will always be there and hinge his growth.

Winning this only 2-0 is almost kind of embarrassing.

Alright Fillipo, you win this. How the f*ck did Brahim miss that???

Hope you are watching Diaz now

Come now.

What matters is the 3 points. Personally not happy with how many chances we've p!ssed away

One miss does not define anything. How many stupid chances did Hakan miss before (using him as an example since he's been your yardstick for excellence as of late)

Yeah, but that was horrible. Even I would have scored that.

2-0 FT

Easiest 3 points of the season. Should have finished 5-0 or something.

Going from this to Liverpool is gonna be nasty.

Let's hope for something positive from the Inter and Napoli games now.

I wonder why Pioli subbed Leao though. The guy rested against Atletico, played against Sassuolo, then rested again against Genoa. Now only 45 minutes. Weird. Hopefully he didn't have any injury.

It felt like a training match though. Concentration level really dropped off in the 2nd half and we were mostly going through the motions. Should have been 7-0.

Hopefully Liverpool play their kiddie brigade so we can have a shot at going through


Pioli mentioned more that once that he's been struggling with fatigue. We burned him out a bit there playing him every 3 days with no rest. It's only now that he had the opportunity to give him some rest

A 22 year old player burned out with less then half of the season over? Don't make me laugh.

Let's get real for a moment.

It was me who said at the moment we signed Hakan that he has talent but is inconsistent and tends to disappear or have even dreadful showing because back then I watched the Bundesliga as well. Meanwhile you guys fantasized about a polivalent creator who can play a winger, a DM, a midfielder,... almost everything.

Nowadays you guys are filled with rage and hate towards him which is understandable. Never once did I say he's a "yardstick for excellence". Just that replacing Hakan with Diaz isn't much of an upgrade. Diaz adds some, but also takes some. He's also fairly inconsistent. His age plays a big role and he still has time to step up and show he can grow into something more. But right now we play less effective without the averagely good Hakan then without him.

Oh and no... that not just one miss. He's been consistently poor on the final touch for quite some time now.

Sorry missed this one. The bolded part tells you everything. How on earth did he manage not to get a hattrick of assists and a dopietta I wonder? Wait... he was unlucky, right? Like all the winners and big time players,...

Roma man, so bad...

Roma are so sh!t man

Inter walking

Roma have a lot of players missing as well. Inter catching all the breaks this season

It's what Pioli said, and 22 year old or not, fatigue sets in and you're no longer as loose as you were a month ago. Against Fiorentina he cramped up and couldn't continue and he couldn't play against Atletico either as he was still not 100%.

All these games can easily burn you out. Especially playing every 3 days, going with the NT, etc.

This is not just me assuming, it's what Pioli said


How is it his fault that his teammates missed great chances that he set up

And I said Hakan is your yardstick for excellence because that's what you've been making it sound like recently because Hakan has had a hot streak of games which we all know he's capable of. Just a month ago Inter fans were starting to turn on him, while Diaz has been great for us. Covid put a wrench in there for him and his form has been affected by that.


I posted that before the miss. But you're acting like players never miss easy chances. I've seen players like Ronaldo and Messi miss sitters, you're really turning this into a storm in a teacup just to suit your agenda against him


Brahim is young, very young. He's already made an impressive step up compared to last season. Saying his touch will hold him back is just absurd. The talent is there and these are all things he'll improve on as he approaches his peak years, which are 2 to 3 years away

Without Pellegrini they don't have a midfield. Cristante is so terrible, cannot understand how Mancini selects him and not Tonali

Come on man, you're speaking as if Leao is the only one. Look into the Premier League, where games are twice as intense yet players run themselves into the ground and always deliver. And coaches rarely rest their key players. Salah for instance, who's 29, has played 14 out of 15 league games, and all 5 CL games, and he's absolutely devastating from a physical standpoint.

Leao is 22. He's barely had any minutes with Portugal during NT breaks, so he's had some comfortable resting days.

I feel like we're the only ones who complain about fatigue when it's a normal thing in the world of football.

Anyway, Pioli confirmed that he subbed Leao as a precaution because he got a knock on his thigh.