Re: Romagnoli - he was never good enough. He has been a decent defender and no more since the day we signed him.

Overrated by pretty much everyone.

I was absolutely bewildered he was given the captaincy.

In short, a youth defender Roma didn't want sure as sh*t wasn't good enough to be our alpha leader!

Ibra out for at least 3 weeks. Calhanoglu out as well for some time but his prognosis is still to be determined.

No problems for Rebic. Should be available against Udinese, or at least against Verona.

Link

Well now, I don't know to feel about it. Hakan for starters has been terrible so I don't really care about his absence. I'd rather have someone like Diaz who puts effort and passion in his performances.

As for Ibra, normally I would say I'm not that concerned he's out but then I remember that his substitute is Leao so I think again.

Man, we really need a top class CF who's not 40 and gets injured on a constant basis.

Lukaku?

If only...

Hakan has been "terrible" for 2 or maximum 3 games (not counting the Red Star games because no one did good and they are basically unimportant). But this season he's been more then crucial for our gameplay and system. He'll be sorely missed.

Yes, Diaz is trying but he's insufficient. Against Udinese however he might do good.

Mandzukić is out for how long exactly? Yes, having only Leao to rely on is very scary.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Hakan has been overall disappointing this season. He's incredibly inconsistent, as you often advocate. Especially after his Covid return he's been an eyesore.

Sure, he's inconsistent, that's a known fact IMO. Yet we have no other viable alternative. On paper or in Football Manager Diaz plays the same position but in reality he just does not offer the things Pioli's system requires and I also think he's just too much of a lightweight for Serie A football.

Brings us back to Hakan. Him not being able to play is a blow.

Still we've shown that we can win even with players out injured this season. And we'll have most of our starters available anyway.

Again, Hakan's contribution as of lately has been nonexistent, so his absence doesn't bother me. I'd rather have hungry players instead like Saelemaekers, Rebic, Diaz, Calabria etc. who put their 100% in every game. Because if that's one thing that we've lacked lately it's determination.

Yes, I totally agree, and ino this is what won us the Roma game. That hunger. Hakan at this point will be more of a luxury.

Don't forget the game today guys!

I think Romagnoli is too slow to be a top tier defender. I still think he's a very good CB, top 5 in Serie A imo. He's definitely going through a bad run of form. Now that we have options we don't have to grin and bare it while we wait for him to find his form again. Which is nice to finally have.


I think he has limitations but he's still a good defender. The Italy defence has basically been monopolised by Juve players for the better part of a decade, I don't begrudge him that stat as it doesn't say much other than the fact that Juve have had the best defence in the league for a while now and it's no surprise that NT coaches wanted to keep that intact for the Azzurri.

That bing said, if Alessio and Raiola come at us with more BS requests when his renewal is up, we should sell ASAP this summer. He's not worth what Raiola is rumoured to be asking for him


Disagree about Hakan. He hasn't been at his best since covid but he's our glue in this system, especially with Bennacer our as well. Hopefully it's nothing serious


Agreed.

Pioli mentioned that he's hoping to get Mandzukic and Bennacer back next week. So here's to hoping.


Hakan has numbers similar to Bruno Fernandez for Man U. EPL pundits practically worship at his feet Yet you tell us that Hakan's a disappointment...

Does it matter what I think of his season overall? Right now, the last couple of months, he's been utter shite. And I doubt there's anyone on the face of this planet who would think otherwise. And that's what really matters. The present.

Theo always does the same mistakes...he could have passed it there

And he can't take a corner to save his life.

0-0 HT

Very good defensively and in midfield, but the attack man. So sterile. Barely a chance created despite dominating possession.

Rebic and Diaz mediocre, Leao absolutely appalling. Only Samu surprisingly has been dangerous. And the thing is we have no subs whatsoever, so we have to make do with this line-up.

Why is he taking off Tonali for the ghost of Meite??

FFS!

Grande roma!

Theo can f*ck off. Sleeping all match.

Yeah...

Sh*t. Probably injury.

Man, we're playing with mostly subs now.

Meite doing well.

Udinese will camp this match out, will be difficult to score.

Damn

Rare Donnaruma error

Phew...

Pitiful, really. Clearly the sign that we can't win anymore these kind of games like we used to.

We couldn't create a single decent chance. Not one combination worth mentioning, not one fluid attacking manoeuvre. Just confusion and errors.

Donna shouldn't make such errors. He's always prone to a howler or two a season. Always.

I know we're still in full race for a CL spot, but after 5 months sitting on top this downfall is so much underwhelming.

2 lost points FFS!

We're so sterile in attack right now. Too many errors on the final ball.

I will grant Donna this error seeing as he's saved our @sses all season.

Please tell me again how it's okay that Hakan is out. It's like the midfield and defence are completely cut off from the attackers

Leao is just invisible. Rebic was off today, Diaz is too lightweight against teams who put lots of players behind the ball, he gets out-muscled and pushed off the ball easily. Samu is a headless chicken, kept fouling and wasting time and energy chasing shadows. Theo was asleep all game long. Kalulu needs to improve his attacking play a lot. So far I've seen nothing from him to indicate that he could be a great RB.

Tonali was playing another really good game and had to come off, as per our usual luck this season

We need a proper striker up there. Leao is the epitome of apathy. Him standing in the way of Saele making that shot is a perfect avater of his laziness

Agreed. We're struggling a lot against these teams suddenly. While we're creating much better chances against a team like Roma.

We've lost our way. We're suddenly a static team again.


Just like us to ruin all the hard work we put in against Roma by losing points against a team like Udine

Doubt Hakan being there would have changed much.

Our attacking game is simply non existent. We have one 40 year old has-been and a bunch of average-to-rubbish forwards. When these players are in shape, then we can expect to score a couple. When they are not, or the opponent closes them down effectively, then we're completely screwed.

Castillejo, Hauge and especially Leao have no place on this team. Off with Zlatan and Mandzukic as well. I'd only keep Rebic and Saelamaekers, the latter only as a bench player. We need an overhaul in attack, at least 2-3 top players. But that's not going to happen so we'll have to make do with the mediocrity we have at disposal for next season as well. And keep on relying on the 40 year old.

It's laughable, really. We really lied to ourselves believing that this bunch of players who was the laughing stock of Italy suddenly became great and started topping the league. Happenstance. Situational momentum. Inertia. Call it all you want. We're still the same team that's failed to make CL qualifications for the past 7 years. And it's going to be 8 if we don't collect our sh*t together in this final rush.

Like I said, forget UCL and UEL is on thin ice too.

Always can count on Danny for optimism!

But the mentality we started this game again...

Pioli is losing it I think.

I don't think it was a problem of mentality. We crushed them in their own half, but we were absolutely sterile because we have mediocre players in attack. The front four, i.e. Rebic-Diaz-Castillejo-Leao bombed it. Add to that Kalulu being completely inept as RB and Theo having one of his usual off nights, the result is barely any real chances created. Obviously Udinese parking the bus didn't help either.

Leao, man. I don't think I've had such disdain for a Milan player since Muntari and Niang. Simply can't stand his zero-fucks-given attitude. You look at someone like Diaz, who is ineffective, yes, but the desire and work-rate he pulls is off the charts. And then you look at this Ronaldinho wannabe who barely puts any effort in his play despite having lots of talent. I repeat, Leao is the lovechild of Niang and Balotelli. Nothing better describes him.

It's amazing how Milan **** on Romagnoli, our captain for several years, and now Tomori is the second coming of Maldini. Stupid.

I actually was earlier this season - I felt if we could keep stumbling on the way we were, and relying on Ibra's champion mentality, there was a chance of a special season. With a bit of luck.

But the wheels just flew off weeks and weeks ago and it's a team now on empty and on the decline. Sharp, decline.

At least I'm consistent - never rated Romagnoli like you lot always have, and I did rate Tomori who is an impressive defender. Maybe not Maldini yet, big shoes, but he's living up to his billing, well, the one I gave him, and he's got a great leader next to him in Kjaer who I've been rating since we signed him as our best overall defender.

Now we have two.

I'm sorry to sound like such an 'I told you so' *sshole, but I did. Didn't want to be right on this one. Would much rather we were sailing clear and I was way wrong. But I am glad Tomori's working out. And I like Kjaer a lot too.

Well, from the lense I'm looking at I'm not disappointed at all. See that's because I didn't expect a Scudetto. Started off the season expecting a CL finish and the way the season has gone so far the team is set to meet that objective.

The league is a marathon race, it's those who have the depth and consistency in 38 fixtures that get crowned champions. A dip in form, injuries and these days covid are part and parcel of a championship.

With that said, taking the past 5 or 7 seasons into perspective I'd say Milan's position in the table today is not something to brush aside.

A last thing to point to is the average age of this team, being the youngest when compared to the usual suspects of Serie A's CL contenders. And experience is what Kjaer and Ibra brought to this team. Said experience in lacking at the moment, but will be gained as the seasons come and go.

So in closing a CL place is a win for this team, and a starting point for next season.

CL will be an amazing achievement for sure. But, just look at the teams preying on us while we stumble.

Yeah, I'm not talking about you. It's the general milan fanbase. Let's see what happens, we need a full team to make a push for the champions league.

Rebic out injured.

Our athletic staff must be fired. What's happening to us this season is absurd. No other team has been plagued by constant injuries like us.

Probable line-up:

Donnarumma; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo; Kessie, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Krunic, Diaz; Leao.

That attacking front is ridiculous. Serie B level stuff.

Rebic out again, clearly wasn't' fit to play against Udine either. He didn't look right all game. Apparently it's the same hip problem that flared up against Roma

So basically we have no attack again for this one.

I mean we can rail all we want but our luck with injuries has been a huge factor in what has derailed our Scudetto challenge. We simply cannot catch a break. If it's not injuries than we have a small Covid outbreak

Re the fitness staff. Yes, something needs to be done for sure. We've had far too many muscle injuries. Inter for example have barely had any. And Conte is someone who runs the team into the ground.

I'm scared.

Verona are an excellent team, they have proven to deliver against the top teams and their position on the table is something remarkable.

That said, Forza Milan

Yet I'm perplexed why Pioli insist in offering us Krunić as a AM. Why not give Maldini the chance now?

Maldini has been injured for some time.

Here's our injury list: Bennacer, Mandzukic, Maldini, Ibrahimovic, Calhanoglu, Rebic.

Also, Theo and Tonali in doubt for today.

Is there a point in watching this game? We're 100% going to lose.

I'm gonna watch.

Me too.

Forza Milan.

Well of course I'm gonna watch too. But I feel it's going to be painful.

Leao should score this. Nice cross from Calabria.

Leao... Here we go.