Week 17: Milan - Sassuolo (Tuesday, January 6th 15:00 CET)

[reza]

(Yes I meant Honda playing in African cup )

[ACM2023]

I am going to watch the AC Milan - Real Madrid video again, and get away from this shit called "reality". :d

[devoted_dm]

It all started so well, but all it took was for the midfielders to make a few mistakes, and now we look terrible out there. The problem is not our defense, which has actually been solid. The problem is that Rami and De Sciglio are pushing forward, which would be fine if the midfielders were doing a good job keeping the ball and winning it back. But when Sassuolo are winning the majority of balls in midfield and our midfielders don't pass accurately, we leave ourselves open to counter-attacks. And that is exactly what Sassuolo are doing a great job at exploiting.
The solution is for Montolivo and especially Essien to start playing well again, or we give up on the midfield and sit back with our fullbacks, which will probably result in a 1-1 draw or a loss.

[Acmir]

Essien shouldn't have started this game, he's terrible, I don't why Pippo keeps insisting on playing him.

[ACM2023]

I have seen some comments that Essien is better than moving the ball forward (as opposed to de Jong who allegedly slows down the ball movement). I am not an expert, so I don't get it. I just hate seeing Essien's seemingly-not-giving-a-f*ck attitude and constant brainfarts. I am all for players who fight, even though they may not have great skills.

On another note, el Shaarawy looks still as rusty as hell, so is de Sciglio. Not enjoying the game.

[devoted_dm]

Essien shouldn't have started this game, he's terrible, I don't why Pippo keeps insisting on playing him.

The solution might be to move Montolivo back in front of the defense and bring Muntari on for Essien. It leaves us a bit more fragile in the center of the pitch, but Montolivo needs a bit more space than he's had so far in order to improve his passing. Muntari is better defensively than Essiena, so I would like to see him come on.

[reza]

That Lopez clearance? so poor and creating danger

[ACM2023]

I would recommend the following subs/changes:

Essien off; Montolivo moved to center; Bonaventura moved back to midfield? Cerci on; el Shaarawy can be taken off too. Zapata off; Rami moved to center; Abate on. I don't mind playing Muntari either.

[ACM2023]

Who is Sassuolo's #7? Looks like Ibra. :d

[ACM2023]

Cerci starts warming up. He probably can't believe that he just joined such a fodder team. :d