Week 14: Genoa - Milan (Sunday, December 7th 15:00 CET)

[Acmir]

I think the main culprit for our loss is Menez. His misses and his selfishness are costing us a lot. He missed two great chances and he didn't pass the ball to Shaarawy (or was it Bonaventura) when we were 1-0 down, making them furious at him.

[Hany.Egypt]

He also made a clearance off the goal line to save us from going 2-0 under. Nobody mentions that. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Bonera is good or anything, not at all. Just that we tend to only see the bad things some players do and only the good things that others do.

For instance, De Sciglio. Has he had a season worth remembering so far? I mean, for being "the next big thing" and a starter for the italian national team. I don't think so. Is he ever criticised for it? Hell, no.

I understand all players are responsible, but Bonera's done far worse whenever he's played than De Sciglio. De Sciglio's not having a good season so far, but he's also just 22, guys like him and El Shaarawy are going to have ups and downs at their age. It's unfair to expect them to perform to the highest levels every game. That doesn't mean they don't take any responsibility when they perform poorly.

On the other hand, guys like Bonera, Mexes, Armero, De Jong, and Menez all need to take on greater responsibility and show maturity. Bonera's costing at least one goal everytime he plays, it's absurd for one of the senior players in the squad. Mexes shows no discipline every time he plays and could have got himself sent of (again) this match. Armero is meant to be at his peak, yet doesn't have a clue about defending, De Jong despite being considered a leader is limited (I can accept this), but what really bothers me is there are times where he's very slow to chase back or he's just out of position completely. As for the "star" man Menez, he's pretty much as irritating as Balotelli was.

Calling out the younger players for poor performances is fine, but as in any group, it should be the more mature and responsible that are expected to carry the load.

Pippo on his part is just irritating at times with his comments, decisions and use of the squad. I'm totally with nefremo that the side defends too deep. Since when do Milan give the initiative in a match to Genoa, yet the side was pressing at least 10 feet too deep in this match.

Bonera has been always average player at best, so does Armero, and Mexes has always lacked discipline since his Roma days, we shouldn't expect any thing from them, if someone is to blame then it should be either Inzagi for playing them or B & G for signing them in the first place.

As for El Shaarawy & De Sciglio, I don't think Arildonardo blaming them for yesterday result but just emphasizing that they are never been criticized even when they under perform! Especially De Sciglio who is considered the new Maldini, he is protected and in my opinion such attitude by the club officials, fans, and Media will do more damage than good for him.

As for Menez, well, when Milan signed him I thought he would be a good addition to our squad especially after the first two weeks since then he has been awful, very selfish, he should be benched or even sold.
I don't think this Milan deserves to be watched, call me a fake fan if you want, but when Milan plays Roma I will cheer for Roma! We will never reach the CL any way while Roma could win the Scudetto and stop Juventus, it will really hurt me to see them celebrating a 4th consecutive title especially with Max in charge.

[devoted_dm]

The other thing that I'm slowly losing patience with is De Jong's inability to kick start attacks and move the ball into dangerous areas quickly. I love the player but the fact that he struggles to pick out vertical passes that are even 15meters long is a handicap for this side. Whenever Montolivo is a 100% I think he should be given a go as a holder instead of De Jong. Put Bonaventura and Van Ginkel on either side and that is probably the most technical and at the same time balanced midfield we have right now imo.

Did anyone else see the stats that came out today. According to Corriere della Sera, we average 1.2 points per match with de Jong on the pitch. Without him, our average is 2.3 points. We also score more and conceede fewer goals when he's not playing.

Obviously this could be coincidental, and he is not a bad player, but it might be that his current position in front of the defense is not right for him or the team, as it would be preferable to have a player with creativity and strong passing abilities there, and move the muscle higher up on the pitch.

[nefremo]

I saw the stats, but I don't blame him for those numbers. But I do think that he is related to our offensive ball movement struggles. I doubt we can find relative stats to those....but it's pretty clear to see right now. We have players in our midfield that play way too many negative balls, that are unable to play the ball vertically into the channels because they don't see it quick enough or are not good enough to "squeeze" the ball in there. For that reason, we are unable to properly push the other team's midfield line back (we need to play the ball behind them in order to do this.....basically "split them") so that we can have possession in the opposing team's half. We are only able to do this (have possession in the opponent's half) if a team is sitting deep and defending (but then we have creativity issues in the attacking third which is a whole different issue)....but as soon as they put pressure on our midfield (Genoa for example), our midfielders are unable to play the ball vertically behind this first line of pressure and we are unable to create anything from that point on.

I love De Jong as a player and I think he is World Class in certain aspects, I truly do........but not world class in the aspects that we need right now in this team and this set-up. He can function in it yes......but there needs to be different players around him.....players we don't have. For example, In a team where he has Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie, Blind, for example......he does HIS job great (focusing on covering the defense, retrieving the ball, and getting it off his foot right away to people that can bring it into the attacking third quickly....which means he doesn't have the ball in his foot a lot) and the others around him can do their job great (playing vertical passes through the pressure to push midfield lines back, dribbling quickly out of pressure to push other team's defensive line back, etc, etc).

In our team, where he has the likes of Muntari and Poli playing in the same midfield....it just doesn't work. It's all down to preference in the end. So at this point....I would take the "lower defensive coverage" that Van Ginkel gives us just in turn to gain on quick vertical ball movement that we would gain from him on the field. The same with Montolivo.

[ACMILAN1983]

Hany, I agree with you and Arildonardo, but I do think we still need to remember we're talking kids, so they will need more patience than the more experienced players. That isn't to say they should be "overprotected", because as you say that'll be damaging to their growth.

On the De Jong comment, I think there is a correlation between him being on the pitch and points gained. Not that I think De Jong is a bad player, but as nefremo said I think his game doesn't suit what qualities the side needs on the pitch. I don't think this is new, as I remember in his first year the side arguably played their best football in the period he was out and Montolivo was in front of the defence. The only period in Milan where I think he's been working with some success is under Seedorf, firstly because Seedorf understood his qualities better than most, but secondly I think also because Seedorf had a 2 man midfield in front of defence. That said I remember times when I was extremely frustrated with De Jong during this period.

I think the whole midfield is lacking atm though and needs a complete rework of the structure and personnel. That's not to mean sell everyone, but keep those who are needed and replace others with players who have the qualities needed.

[Arildonardo]

It's nice that someone agrees, ACMILAN1983.

But while De Sciglio is still quite young, he can't be considered a kid anymore. He's 22, has got plenty of matches for Milan, 16 international matches for Italy including a World Cup. Of course he should be ready to take some responsibility when things go wrong. I can't see how someone can expect more from Bonera than from De Sciglio, just because he's older. I personally never expect anything from Bonera. Potential/quality before age I say.

El Shaarawy too, he's 22 and has been part of our first team since 2011 and has got 11 matches for Italy. By that age Pato was considered finished at Milan even though he had performed a lot better than El Shaarawy has and was a much brighter talent. I know injuries and other things played a part here, but so it does for El Shaarawy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not singling out De Sciglio or El Shaarawy or anything. They are just part of a bigger problem, like everybody else at the club, but must take their part of the responsibility.