Lecce vs. Milan sunday 23rd October
I'm really not sure what to make of this match. I can't help but feel totally disappointed at our first half performance, although the second half and the eventual victory do compensate for it somewhat. Never should the side concede play like we did, and conceding 3 goals in a match is always poor.

The first half really couldn't have been worse. Lecce pressed us pretty well, but were hardly brilliant, while we were absolutely terrible in every conceivable way. I can't think of a single positive thing to say about us in the half, and moreso, there's little to say about match because of it. The biggest problem was our 4 in midfield. Robinho moved but gave the ball away on numerous occasions in poor positions, Ambrosini was actually not just a weakness, but he may as well have been a Lecce player and Van Bommel offered no security or movement in the first half. This left Nocerino, who couldn't do anything on his own despite being the only one in the midfield 3 that actually ran. This resulted in our backline pressed (not that the defenders were performing at all well either) and our forward line isolated. In the end, we produced a bunch of long balls from Nesta to Lecce's keeper and were conceding goals at the back. The funny thing is, Lecce weren't even good either as they played with intensity but little else. Their goals were effectively isolated incidents made from our own incompetence, rather than any cohesive plays from them.

The second half was a totally different game. The players were clearly given a kick up the ass by Allegri, but bringing on Boateng and Aquilani added greater motivation, physical presence and consistency through the side. Cassano pulled out wide on the left to stretch Lecce, who had dropped their intensity, and Boateng played behind Ibra, who was stuck up front as a target man. However, Boateng really turned the match as he immediately took up decent positions to get shots off at goal and didn't have to wait long to score. This resulted in the team gaining momentum and Lecce showing nervousness. Boateng completed a great hattrick and Yepes eventually got the inevitable winner to complete the comeback.

Allegri's lineup should have been better, but I feel we're limited with options as he obviously wanted/needed to rest Aquilani and had few options as it was a decision between Ambro and Urby, and I feel comfortable with neither, never mind Urby meaning Nocerino is moved back to the right which wouldn't benefit him. Antonini starting was understandable as he had a good game against Palermo, although personally I'd like to see more of Taiwo.

All in all, it was a poor game all around, charged mostly by emotion of the comeback. We need to do something about the midfield though, as not only do we seem to lack options, the players over 30 (Seedorf, MvB, Ambro and even Rino) all seem to have become incompetent over the summer.

Players...

Abbiati - Mistake on the penalty, generally under par
Abate - Overall solid if not particularly inspired as in other matches this year
Nesta - Little impact defensively, his aimless long balls in the first half were particularly poor
Yepes - Defensively never looked stable, despite scoring the winner
Antonini - One particularly bad mistake on the 3rd Lecce goal, little to say otherwise
Ambrosini - This was the sort of performance which makes me hope we never see the club captain playing for the club again.
Van Bommel - Slow, poor positioning and sloppy tackling in the first half. Improved in the second, but definitely needs a lot of support from the other midfielders these days.
Robinho - Poor touches all first half. I'd probably have left him on for the second half instead of Cassano, but retrospectively Allegri made the right choice to take him off.
Cassano - I've been hard on him lately, but in this match I have few complaints of him. In the first half he wasn't involved, but in the second he offered a good threat down the left.
Ibra - Essentially a target man for most of the match, and moved to the left to take Cassano's place and kill the game when El Shaarawy came on.
Aquilani - Offered consistency, movement and some technical qualities to the midfield to keep our game ticking. He's become vital to the side.
Boateng - Undoubted man of the match, his drive and energy galvanised the whole team and the hattrick brought us back into the match. I thought that he'd worked on his shooting when we faced Lazio this season, and this past week has confirmed that thought. Superb.
El Shaarawy - NA
Reply
Great analysis, Dev. Okmilan

I agree with everything that you said there, except maybe for one. I think Nesta was fine defensively. All mistakes came from Yepes (particularly him), Abbiati, and Antonini. Nesta had made some nice interceptions, without which we would be in deeper shit and may never be able to come back.
aka xudong
Reply
Yeah, Nesta didn't make any noticeable mistakes, he doesn't have the legs but at least has the footballing brain, which unfortunately some of our players don't have anymore.
"We are a team of devils. Our colours are red as fire, and black, to invoke fear in our opponents!"
Herbert Kilpin

Nella gioia e nell' dolore, per il Milan eterno amore!
Reply
(10-24-2011, 05:35 PM)xudong Wrote: Great analysis, Dev. Okmilan

I agree with everything that you said there, except maybe for one. I think Nesta was fine defensively. All mistakes came from Yepes (particularly him), Abbiati, and Antonini. Nesta had made some nice interceptions, without which we would be in deeper shit and may never be able to come back.

Sorry I didn't mean Nesta made mistakes, just he wasn't able to have much influence on those around him, who were all over the place and thus hurting his game. Beyond his long balls in the first half, I think he played a pretty fair game.

Thanks for the kind comments
Reply