Anyways, let's move on to Samp, see what we can do here. I predict another struggle. Hopefully we can get away with all 3 points somehow.

We'll definitely concede though

Donnarumma; Abate, Paletta, Romagnoli, Calabria; Sosa, Montolivo, Bonaventura; Suso, Bacca, Niang.

De Sciglio has a light injury and hasn't been called up.

What I like about Montella is that he's not afraid to play an attacking-minded line-up. But even so, playing Montolivo at this point is unjustified. The guy is a walking corpse. I'd much rather have Poli in there.

I think that position will be given to Kucka once he's back, play Bonaventura and Sosa on either side of him to give the midfield more balance.

Atm we simply have none of that, which is why we're conceding so much. I think playing 2 AMs in the midfield is part of the problem but that's the situation Montella's been pushed in.

Either way, I can't see Montella lasting the season if he doesn't figure things out and fast

Probable XI.

#SampdoriaMilan! [GdS]

https://scontent-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0...amp;oe=58776910

As I said, Lapadula should play instead of Bacca. Im glad to see that Montella has the balls to bench Bacca. I just wish he played Calabria instead of Abate and Vangioni on the left, while Poli playing instead of Montolivo.

Line-up confirmed.

Apparently there was an altercation between Bacca and Montella, which is why Bacca is sitting it out.

Let's see what lapa can do. Bacca hasn't done himself any favours in the last 2 games anyway

If we don't win this, Montella needs to finally abandon this 4-3-3. He needs to adapt a system that works with our players not try to adapt our players into the system. I think we've seen this rigidity being attempted and has failed one too many times now.

Honestly, it doesn't look balanced to me at all. I feel that Lapa will be a pleasant surprise.

Agreed, 2 attacking mids next to Monto who's basically a ghost just creams trouble to me

It bothers me how we make a mess out of simple situations.

Can you believe it that the 16 year old is the one providing us with stability instead of seasons professionals?

Dennis Praet is pretty talented.Saw him play in Belgium. Funny how Sampdoria managed to sign him and we end up with this ...

How is it possible that our players are so stupid ? Damn.

We're so terrible. Getting owned by Samp now

Am I wrong or are we even worse then under Inzaghi? Disgusting football.

Montolivo should ask Montella to remove him from the game. He is ridiculous.

Just crossing the ball and hoping it will fall well... Pathetic

Probably on a par atm

At this rate Montella won't last till christmas

Man, we can't create one single scoring chance.

This team is sh*t!

When we can't even put in a proper set-piece into the box...

Hitting new lows..

all I'm waiting for now is for us to concede

Why can't we just cross the corner?

That was a penalty for Niang in my opinion.

Nooooo, Bacca!!

That was a penalty !

Come on. That was a penalty too!

Lol, that was a penalty for us. How is that not a foul?

Why is Muriel whining like a b*itch, it was clear that he played with his hand.

BACCCAAAAAAAAAAAA

BACCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ! We dont deserve this though.

BACCAAAAA

Great ball by Suso there and even better finishing by Bacca.

Totally undeserved... To win like this

lol @ Galliani acting like a fool. Can't wait to not have to see his ugly @ss face anymore

Last 15 min, we were good. Denied two penalties, we deserve it more than Samp.

Well we didn't exactly deserve to lose last week either, but we lost in the same manner. That's football. As long as the win doesn't paper over the cracks, than I'm happy about it.

But it's very obvious that Montella needs to figure something else out, We simply cannot continue in this vein.

Also, let's not speak too early, we still have time left to concede

Yes exactly lol

I hate to say this but Paletta was our best player there, no doubt.

FT

3 points

All that matters atm

Lazio up next on Tuesday if I'm not mistaken... Can't see us getting anything out of that playing like this tbh

Of course we had to win from a Samp defensive mistake. Bad performance overall.

Not going to harp on too much of the negatives. I think you guys pretty much saw the obvious. So let me take down the positives from the game no matter how miniscule. So that we don't all hit the bottle in our depression.

1. We absorbed pressure pretty decently in the first half and part of the second and didn't panic all that much bar a few Romagnoli goofs.

2. Niang proved really essential to us. As Samp tired from pressing, Niang's pace and power was really dealing them blows. He should have won us at least 2 penalties so that shuts them up about their offside goal that should have stood.

3. Montolivo probably played his best game this season. Not saying much, but he is our only option in that role and we need him to play well if our defence needs to stand a chance.

4. Loved the courage (in hindsight) to take off Sosa and put on Locatelli. Putting a youth in his favoured position and giving him confidence is always a good sign.

5. Paletta was really good. Marshalled challenges and kept our backline relatively secure.

6. The most important thing for me was when we played 'aggressive' - meaning we pressed high and fast, and got rid of the ball very quickly, they struggled. I think we have the players who can do this and we should do this more often. It's what got us the goal. Also noticed Niang and Calabria pushing the wing with Suso, Jack cutting in was opening space for Bacca and making him very dangerous.

7. I don't think we should get on Lapadula's back much. It's his first proper run out in a difficult stadium away on a bad pitch and he worked his socks off always making the defenders work.

I think for the next game, we ought to work more on pressing and moving the ball much quicker. Less references for the opponents to press and win.

All in all, a much-needed 3 points, keeps us in the hunt for EL and will hopefully take off the negativity from Udinese. We desperately need to put together a 3-4 game winning streak and reach Christmas not too far from top 5.

I'd be very lucky to be as optimistic as you are Jack.

Btw. why wasn't De Sciglio picked?

I dont agree with you Jack.

If you think that Montolivo had a good game, I suggest you to watch the game again. He made lots of mistakes and he also couldnt make the game, as he is supposed to.

Niang also wasnt in his best day, maybe he should be player closer to the box, while we transform to 4-4-2. Abate and Montolivo should go off for De Sciglio and Kucka while we play like this:







He got injured before the game.

Montolivo was garbage. But if you meant he had the least garbage performance from all his garbage performances thus far, then OK.

It not only the horrible football we produce that bothers me. If you look at the bigger picture you will see other problems as well.

1. Players don't want to join Milan anymore, and with players I mean talented or top players. Who in their right mind would join Milan now?
It's a possible career ender. Milan is not attractive anymore. And even if we start splashing cash , our "dna" is lost since there was no transition
from retiring/leaving players to their heirs/replacers.

2. Coaches. You can place ANYONE at Milan , no one will succeed with this team. So who would risk coming to Milan? Coaches who have nothing to lose.
It used to be quite an attractive job...

3. Shirts. Who in their right mind would but a 60€€ shirt with a name like Bonaventura on the back. A player that probably wouldn't even be on the bench 6 years ago.

4. Sponsors. I cannot imagine us signing a major sponsorship deal anytime soon. Again, who would sponsor us knowing we can only produce this crappy football and sign
crappy players people wont even buy the shirts. Plus the fact we cant even qualify for Europa League isn't exactly attractive either.

5. Media. Milan isn't part of the big boys anymore. You know it's bad when you can't see the Milan game on tv except on Italian tv. Nobody cares about Milan anymore. Where
Sampdoria-Milan used to be a big match just because Milan played in it , it's now considered a mid table match at best.


Where we used to still have a great core to build from during lesser periods we have nothing to build from. Hoping a big fat cheque will solve everything... I have my doubts...

Nah, money will solve things eventually. Chelsea and City were nobodies before they were bought. In a couple of years they started attracting all kinds of names due to 1) ambitious project and 2) high wages. And they didn't have the kind of history of success we do.

The only question is, will the Chinese spend as much money as necessary? From what I understand, Silvio sold with the promise that they spend around 300 million in the next 2-3 years. Let's hope so.

Chelsea and City are still pretty soulless teams in my opinion. I'm talking from an Milan used to be great point of view. And let's be honest, we didn't really spend money like other teams when we were successful. Money isn't everything. It can help yes , but in our case we need
more than just money. If we bring in the old guard as management to re-create our "dna" , then yes I'm all for that. But to become another Chelsea or Man City, no thank you.

Montella has tried a Kucka-Locatelli-Sosa midfield in today's training.
[Sky].

I like what Locatelli provided last game, honestly. This midfield set-up seems interesting to me.

Silvio spent an insane amount of money from the moment he acquired the club until the mid 00s, when he stopped giving a f*ck.

A legacy is not created without success, and to attain success you need to invest. We're in the hands of foreign owners now, so we'll have to adapt to their ways of doing business. Unless of course you were happy with the status quo of the last 4-5 years around these parts. But I doubt that.



Meh...