Matchday 23: Milan - Sampdoria (Sunday, February 5 - 12:30 CET)
#91
Nefremo I agree in part of you, but surely these group of players not being up to par with what a club like Milan traditionally expects is no big surprise. We know that push come to shove, our squad is currently a mix of young potential and relatively average senior players, players that might star for smaller sides, but aren't of the quality to lead a club of Milan's stature.

In that respect saying Bertolacci is mediocre is perhaps true (imo a exagerration, but that's fairly minor), but I think for him to be singled out today for his performance when he was our best midfielder is unfair. For his level, not comparing him to players of the past like Kaka or Seedorf, he put in a decent performance. We as fans may see him as a disappointment especially with the price he came at, but I see that as a mistake on the part of the management than I do of Bertolacci, who in fairness did as well as we can expect of him, it's just that it isn't really that good, at least for a club with ambition.

It comes down to one thing, which is I get the frustration of recent results, I'm getting irritated as much as anyone. However, we know this group is limited, and while we can compete with anyone on our day, we're not capable of consistently winning like the best teams. I think for us to have a competitive side (not squad), we need at least 3-4 quality additions to the side. We're suffering as a result of our weaknesses and lack of quality in depth, but we also know that in ability, teams like Juve, Roma, Napoli and Inter are ahead of us and they've been very consistent of late in terms of results.

That's not to say we can't push on to have a decent season, nor do we lack players who we can rebuild around, but we need reinforcement to support their growth. I think barring a disaster, this season is a positive one as Montella's getting us playing the best football I've seen for years and we have a clear identity that feels like Milan again. We're dominating games, regardless of opposition, which is a great sign, imo results this year are less important than progress of the work on the pitch. This is a transition year and with the decline of the club in the past 10 years, we were never going to turn around our fortunes straight away.

We have to accept that we're not really a top team right now, we're in transition and as a result we can't have high expectations of this squad right now. I've said it all year, we're a team that can beat Juve and lose to Udinese, we have great potential, but huge weaknesses that will have an influence on our results. This thought process is why I suggested it might work in our favour to not spend big in January, it avoids unnecessary pressure on the players and coaching staff and also gives Montella a chance to really assess the group he has to understand who he can build with and who he needs to replace.

Edit: On our results, I have no doubt that as long as the players don't give up and keep up this level of performances, results will start returning sooner rather than later. We have some issues to overcome, the biggest imo being confidence at the end of attacking plays, but unlike previous years, I'm not particularly angry at the players as they aren't putting in poor performances.
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#92
When it comes to Bertolacci, I think he was just average today, doing normal things that any professional football player should do. He didn't do anything more than that in my opinion. I know others singled him out as being terrible today, but that wasn't my intention. I agree with you that he was the best midfielder today....but my point is precisely that....even though he was the best midfielder on the day, I still don't think that his performance was good enough for a club like Milan. There was just nothing extra there. We could have swapped him for one of the Sampdoria midfielders at half time, and there was going to be no difference...if you know what I mean.

I think essentially, me and you agree. Bertolacci shouldn't be in the starting line up of a club of Milan's stature. (when I say this, I am referring to Milan, the football giant that fights for the title in every competition.....and not Milan that fights for 6th spot) With players like him being starters, we will never get out of mid-table. And as you know, this is coming from someone like me, who really really wanted Bertolacci here from Genoa as I was very impressed with him. I was wrong! He simply hasn't been able to make the step up in quality in order to fight for top spots. But I am allowed to be wrong as I don't spend hours watching transfer targets and I sure as hell am not in a position to authorize 20mil for a player. To miss a transfer happens to every club, but it's happened to us far too often in recent times. Just look at Sosa. In what world is this guy worth 7.5mil? You can walk into half the clubs in Italy and find a player that will do exactly the same job for half the money.

I am getting off topic, but my point in the previous post was about the bigger picture, and not just today. Maybe today Bertolacci wasn't terrible, and like you said, he played up to his standards. But it looks like his standard just isn't good enough. If we add other players whose standards aren't cutting it for Milan, we will end up with quite a few players.....and that results in exactly the situation we are in right now. The people to blame for this are obviously Galliani and Berlusconi.

I do agree with you that not all is lost this season. I think the way things are going we will find it very hard to achieve 6th place, but it is surely within reach. Also, just like you, I want Montella to stay beyond this season. He has given this team a good mentality and it's not as if we look terrible out on the field. The players just simply aren't able to close out moves and do something extra in decisive moments that comes from within the player himself, and not the coach.

I hope that you are right and that results come sooner or later. Every team has their slump in a season, and we seem to be in ours now. It's lasting more than I would've have liked it to and injuries are certainly not helping, but maybe we can get back on course with a win against Bologna this mid-week.


About players to rebuild around, I also agree that we have something in place. Donnarumma, Romagnoli, Locatelli, Bonaventura, and Suso are all good starting blocks around which we can rebuild the side. But in all honesty, that's IT. Others like Abate, De Sciglio, Paletta, Kucka, even Bacca......they need to be relegated to being just squad players. If they don't accept that, than they can be sold.


On a more positive note, I thought Deulofeu was pretty good. He messed up on the one shot that hit the post (should have scored in that situation), but he was a constant threat and delivered quite a few dangerous balls into the area. I read that Bacca was mad at being substituted (even though I didn't see it on tv...not sure if they even showed it), but in all honesty, there was plenty of action and service in and around the box today. His movements and aggression just simply wasn't there. I feel like I barely see the guy making a run in the box and gambling. He always seems to be still and tries to react to the cross. His run doesn't come before the cross, and that's what needs to happen. The run should ideally always initiate the pass/cross. For this reason, he is many times late to crosses or simply doesn't even make an attempt as he will have no chance of getting there on time.

I do hope that we try a false#9. Deulofeu for example. I think we will get more movement and definitely more pace and individual ability. Also, naturally, Deulofeu will be a lot better between the lines and shift defenders a lot more. It's definitely something to think about, even though I don't think our problem is tactics or attitude for that matter. It's simply the inability to do something out of the ordinary. We just lack those classy players that can do that and bring everything together.
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#93
Bertolacci is dog shit for a guy that €20m in a time where thats like €100m to Milan you could pick a mid from the Hungarian  2nd division tell him not to be fancy not overdo it play the easy ball and he'd look every bit as good as Bertolacci.Now I agree its Managements fault not his he is what he is , if he had cost €5m it may be okay.
But Milan are a midtable team at best now , Bertolacci Sosa hoping guys like Deulefeu Ocampos work out thats Milan.Its gonna take €150m + to fix this and by fix it I mean sustain an assault on 3rd even then we may fail.From Kondogbia to Jackson to Pjaca to being turned down by a broken Caceres that hasnt played in over a year has no club no salary shows Milan have zero appeal ATM ...that will only change when players see theres money.
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#94
I don't get how Sosa gets a game... he's terrible. We currently only have one midfielder that deserves to actually be there and he's only 18
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#95
True. We need to give Mati a go too.

Who's got the balls to open the Bologna match thread???

I've given up on Mystik.....guy deserves a ban.... Big Grin
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#96
Just did. I guess we already know who will next be banned. Grinundwech
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#97
Haha was going to get to it tonight but Xu beat me to it. I should probably leave it in Xu's hands if we get a positive result Grinundwech
Siamo a posto cosi.
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#98
(02-07-2017, 02:29 AM)Mystik Wrote: Haha was going to get to it tonight but Xu beat me to it. I should probably leave it in Xu's hands if we get a positive result Grinundwech

Why didn't you say so? Now my reputation will be ruined. Grinundwech
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