Man, such a poor first half yet somehow we're leading 2-0 (which should have been 3 had Kessie not f*cked up). I guess this is a classic case of "fate helps the strongest". Fiorentina certainly doesn't deserve it, cos they've outplayed us in every way. Gotta be really careful not to throw this match away.

PS: Re Kessie's penalty taking, I've realised he awaits for the GK to throw himself in advance before shooting. And his shots are always very central because of it. But in the second pen the Fiorentina GK didn't throw himself and waited instead, hence saving a very easy shot. Not a big fan of such strategy. A good penalty is one taken with decisiveness and precision. I think Hakan or even Theo might be better candidates for it.

And then two goals. A shame we didn't score that third one by Kessie. Yes we suffered at first, but we're very very stable in defence. Fiorentina, on the other hand, are not. One small thing annoyed me is when Theo tried to dribble the attacker and lost the ball in our half. We can't lose balls like that, it will lead to conceeding easy goals. Otherwise, I'm liking again our play. Tonali is starting to bring in some solid performances. Hoping we score one more.

Come on, if you think played better than Fiorentina then you were watching another match my friend.

Yes, Theo was snoozing a lot. And I didn't really think Tonali was anything special in all honesty.

I certainly don't agree that we had a poor half.

With respect to Kessie's penalties, he has a good score rate, so I would keep him. I would have changed the penalty taker however for the second penalty to confuse dragowski.

2-0 FT

What can I say. We're messy, not pretty to look at, let the opponent too much freedom, but in the end we get the job done. Similar performance to that against Napoli.

Top of the table with 5 points from second place unless Roma win tonight.

PS: I love Kjaer. By far the best defender we've had since Nesta and Thiago.

Disagree about it being poor. We played a contained and professional game. With important players missing and no reference point in attack

We had some really good plays that should have been converted. Ibra's presence was missed as when Rebic drifted we had no one central

Re the pen. The 2nd consecutive one was going to be tricky, had a feeling he'd miss it tbh. He's practically at a 100% with penalty taking previous to that miss. So I'd still let him be the taker for now

That being said, it's criminal how many penalties we've missed so far this season.


Agreed

Tonali has shown a bit of improvement, but I'm still not confident in him and his passing which was nerve wrecking at times. Bennacer leaves a void when he's not playing imo. So crucial.


Maybe I was...

Sure they created a couple of chances because we were backing off a bit too much, but aside from that I thought we controlled the game rather comfortably.


Agreed. 2 quick succession pens was bound to be a miss. Kessie should have smashed the 2nd one after taking the first one cutely

btw...

23 - AC Milan have picked up 23 points in the first nine games played in Serie A 2020/21, their record at this point of the season in the three points per win era. Suggestion.

I think we have lots to be happy about, nit-picking a couple of plays here and there is well and good, but so far we have shown we can win, without our talisman and when we need to the most to make that statement for the rest of the league

Oh, I'm happy. I just don't agree with the way we play most of the time. For example, ball possession tonight was 56-44% for Fiorentina. You'll obviously say Fiorentina didn't create that much, but had it been a stronger side hardly we wouldn't have conceded.

But I guess at the end of the day what matters is the 3 points. I only hope this mentality doesn't bite us back in the long run.

Look I get your worries.

But the thing for me is that, we've played the so called better sides, and we pulled through. What we do today vs Fiorentina, is not necessarily the approach we would take against Juve, or Inter for example.

The game vs Napoli, we really pressed them, and did not allow them to play the way they like to play. Today, I don't think that was the game plan at all. An you see the clear difference there and imo, if we needed to, we had more gears to turn, but the early goal never necessitated that.


Once again, I understand why you're sceptical of this team, we've been lead down rabbit holes before where we had good runs and then they just end and we start back from scratch. But we've been seeing this team improve gradually since the start of the new year. We also saw some really special performances this summer that we have not replicated as of yet, but I'm personally confident that we'll get there. As a team, we generally hit good form in February, that's always been the case, it's why we're always clawing back and never make it in the end because our starts are usually so bad. This season we've started well, we're not producing scintillating play as of yet, but we're winning, and they are not fluke wins. We're playing generally well in all the games we've played. Even the 2 games we lost points we arguably should have won

I'm not sure it's a menality thing X-Off. In the contrary, I think the strong mentality of the team and the cohesiveness in the squad is the reason we are doing so well. We are still not producing amazing football, I agree. But that is inevitable with the missing players. Also, Rebic I don't think is 100 percent. Sael was a beast considering he is recovering from injury. With all that, I still think we had a good game. Very stable defensively. Controlling the tempo when needed. The possession stat is irrelevant as it doesn't really translate into game control in the way we are playing in my opinion. There were some nice 1-2's between Cala and Diaz, but they weren't giving concrete final opportunities. I still think we need some key reinforcements in January to keep this going. But, I'm certainly in love with this Milan.

And btw, we were missing Zlatan and Bennacer today, who are crucial elements for us. Rebic was a bit frazzled up there by himself, we were not giving him the right passes and he was drifting too wide. Still, his work rate and sacrifice for the others is always impressive.

Alexis and Calabria were top notch of that right side. Kessie was good as always, Tonali still a question mark for me, he is showing some improvement though. Hakan was in and out of the game, same with Diaz. Theo was okay, nothing special today. once again, no Rebic on his side and he doesn't find the right spaces to operate in

Anyone know when we get either Leao or Ibra back? We really need to work on getting a striker in that winter mercato. Absolutely imperative at this point.

This is the be all end all of our season. We need 2/3 really smart signings this winter. I really hope they have players in mind so we can be efficient with our time in January and do all our business early

The CB, CM and ST areas are a serious injury away from ruining our entire season imo

I know, and like I said after the Napoli game I've come to accept the way we play. We don't play great football, we let too much initiative to the opponent, we're not pretty to look at and we certainly don't have world class players in our roster except for 39 year old Zlatan.

What's making the difference is that we're a cohesive unit, as William put it. We're well organised, there's great spirit of sacrifice from everyone, we don't make that many mistakes in defense, and we try to take advantage as much as possible of the chances we create. We're a cynical team.

Can we hold this up in the long run? It's to be seen. I certainly hope at least we make CL football next season, cos that is vital.

Agreed with your player considerations. I also want to point out again how freaking great Kjaer is. There was a moment when Fiorentina put the ball in the middle from the left, Bonaventura was about to score, yet Kjaer with a quick glance saw his movement behind him and anticipated his shot. That's world class CB stuff, if you allow me to say it. 75% of defenders would have stayed still in a situation like that.

Also, Romagnoli was a great as well today for a change.

Agreed

Kjear and Donna have become so consistently good that we tend to overlook/take for granted what they're bringing to this team

Romagnoli just needs to get into his stride again after a long time out

Watched the 2nd half we looked okay and stable enough to closeout the game. This has been missing for last few seasons in my opinion.

"We're a cynical team" that's such a perfect description of this team.

Totally agree, CL is for me, and for all of us I think, the most crucial target for a future long-term success of Milan.

"We're a cynical team" that's such a perfect description of this team.

Totally agree, CL is for me, and for all of us I think, the most crucial target for a future long-term success of Milan.

The Napoli that we beat last week destroyed Roma. Some perspective...

And we tied with Roma.

Always will, my friend

But, again, we could have won, and no one would have said it's a steal.

Missing Donna in that game is what cost us in the end. If Donna had been there, we'd have won that.

Anyway, no use crying over spilt milk.

Napoli were a team possessed yesterday, the Maradona factor playing a huge part. That being said, it's still a testament to how we're playing and approaching each individual game with the right strategy.

0-1

Childish mistake by Krunic. That's what happens when you play him. Rubbish player.

0-2

Terrific. And Kjaer out injured as well. What a night this is turning out to be.

Feel like I'm talking to myself here but anyway

2-2 HT

Good reaction. I have to say, Krunic (error aside), after Bakaye Traore, is easily the worst player we've had in the last 20 years. His contribution is nil. He's just an extra body on the pitch, and Pioli has to grow a pair of balls and never play him again.

Sry, for leaving you chattering to yourself

Forgot to log in while watching


Terrible start, all due to Krunic, don't understand why Pioli even bothers when Tonali is on the bench, but glad to see that he hooked him immediately after the break rather than leaving him on


Like I've said a million times, Maldini and Co need to make sure we bring in that CB, CM and ST in the January window. Kjaer going out with an injury stopped my heart for a moment there. Hopefully it's not too serious. Pioli said he wanted 24 starters in the squad, he does not have that right now. especially in midfield and defence. The trio behind the striker area is packed with quality but we absolutely have to make those 3 signings this winter.

Thankfully we don't have to face any of the big teams in the next few weeks without Kjaer.



All in all though, it was a good performance aside from the mental laps in the beginning of the game, which is strange since we usually come out flying and tend to wane in the latter part of the game.

Aside from that, some truly quality goals. Hauge and Diaz are absolute gems, we need to make Diaz a permanent fixture in this team this summer.

Rebic is really struggling in the CF position though, cutting a frustrated figure, even if he does work his @ss off

Just recovering from covid so have just followed scores lately. In the next game we can rest all the key players.

Just logged in too! Was too focused on the game.

I agree with what everyone said. But, I don't think it was lapses in concentration Han. We looked a bit lost. I think much can be attributed to the Kessie-Krunic pivot...that honestly made no sense at all. We looked very exposed on the defense...and Celtic's offense often caught us off-guard. Playing Bennacer/Tonali instead of Krunic would have insured non of that happened in my opinion. But, it just shows how we are always a starter away from looking like a different team completely. Aside that, we had a nice game on the offensive side. Hakan's goal was super classy. As well as, Hauge's goal and his contribution to the Diaz goal. I would like us to keep Diaz. On the other hand, I've been less impressed with Dalot at the moment. I don't mind keeping players like Krunic and Castel. in the squad, but they really would be close to third choice IMO.

Anyway, the most important thing was the win and qualification. I think we learn a lot from this game and like Han said these signings are essential to keep us competing on this level.

Hope you're doing better!

Looks like Kjaer might be out for a couple of weeks. Muscular injury, nothing to do about it. Pioli should have never played him tonight. He's played nearly every single match thus far, this was the right time to rest him. Bit him back in his @ss.

As for Diaz, I actually think he's struggling a lot. Goal aside, he has lots of initiative but can't seem to handle very well against physical sides. He's just too small and not very strong, plus he tries too much with his tricks that lead to nowhere.

Hauge is more concrete. He has lots to improve but the kid certainly has immense quality. Hopefully he turns into something special.



Oh crap, was it bad for you? Thankfully you're recovering.

Kjaer will be a big loss. I see Diaz as a Gomez type of player. Hauge will be special, I'm sure. He has that nice acceleration with some beautiful and cool finishing to top it off.

Yes well recovered now.

I just hope that end of year we dont lose Hakan (which is quite likley) and Madrid calls back Diaz as well. We need to get contract situation sorted as soon as possible.

Gigi Donna is likley to sign as per latest reports which is good to hear.

Hope so too. But from what I'm reading the financial situation is still far from rosy. We can't make the mistake of not investing and risk missing on Champions's League football.

The financial situation is sh*t. We were already in muddy waters, this whole Covid thing just made it worse. The 30 June 2020 financial statements closed with 195 million of losses, the worst in club history.


Let's see what these future benefits will be.

I know for a fact that we're looking for a CB in the January window, and Kabak seems to be the primary objective. I think Schalke are asking for 25M, we're offering 15M. Maybe we can close at 20M.

As for the CF role, no idea who we might go after. Shame we didn't bring Jovic on loan. He keeps warming the bench in Madrid.

Hope you're doing better!


Oh, the Krunic inclusion in the double pivot was definitely the issue, but the entire team seemed to have been sleeping in the first 20 minutes or so.


Yeah, the Kjear injury is such a blow and was so unnecessary, I think Pioli explained why he chose to rest Romagnoli instead. Mainly due to some niggling issues with his previous injury, but this could prove costly. January can't come soon enough

Re Diaz, I think all the shortcomings can easily be coached out of him. The strength factor is also something that can be easily worked on. But the raw talent is clearly there. Between him and Dalot, I'd spend the money on him for sure.


Mandzukic is a free agent, apparently. Honestly, I'd take him on, he has the experience and know how, plus the patience to sit as Ibra's sub. I'd personally like to see us go for a cheap option here as I think Belotti could be an option in the summer, so if we have the money, I'd rather save it and spend it on him in the summer. If Ibra stays another year, it would be a great transitional season for Belotti without the huge pressure of having to replace Ibra

Jovic on loan in January would also still be a good option.

Milik is also an option but Napoli won't let him leave for cheap, even while they have him perma-benched, De Laurentis is a b!tch to deal with

Inter and Juve both won today, so it's imperative that we win tomorrow night to keep the 5 point gap between us and Inter

Any word on Ibra's availability or otherwise?

He won't be available ;/

Won?t be able to watch most of the game, but I have a bad feeling about this.

1-0 milan

2-0 SAMUUUU

Hell yeah!

Managed to catch the second half. Lots of suffering till the very end but this was exactly the kind of match I was excepting.

Still, our marking on corners continues to be sh*t.

Yes, man, my heart will suffer during these cornerkicks

Yeah, I was so wary of Ranieri, he tends to be a thorn in these kind of games.

But once again, we come through, while basically missing a key element from each area of the pitch. I really hope we get some players back for the next game because we're suffering unnecessarily. The lack of a target man hurts our forward play, and that doesn't even have to be Ibra, just someone who can hold up play, and Rebic, for all the great work he puts in, is not someone who can play as a lone striker


Just as you did, I totally had a bad feeling about this throughout the day, but this team man. Even when on the backfoot, there just something about how they keep their composure and just continue to fight.


The corner issue is just starting to become a terrible nuisance at this point, the majority of the goals we conceded so far this season have come from set-pieces, which is so annoying as this is something that can easily be worked on in training

One thing in this game that irritated me, was the clumsy passing. Too many instances of trying to be too cute with the one-twos and just losing the ball or trying to hurry the pass too much and making a silly error.

Have to be more precise

On that note, we really miss Bennacer in the midfield. Tonali is growing into his own, but Bennacer is on another level, especially as a tandem with Kessie

How did we play in the first half?