Week 15: Atalanta - Milan December 9 2023 18:00

[Bennacer]

Chuky is WAY behind Messias and Salad in level.. Insane to witness.

[Arildonardo]

Giroud! 1-1 in injury time of first half. Great to get that before the break.

[Acmir]

Girouuuuuud

[honsano]

I actually thought Chuck was pretty good. He isn’t losing the ball nearly as much and picking and choosing his dribbles. Not great, but forward.

Overall we are poor. No reason we shouldn’t dominate a 1v1 defensive set up.

[nefremo]

Giroud has actually been brilliant today. Great movement the entire half, and he is actually connecting his attempted combination plays. He usually overcomplicates this part by playing flicks and backheels that end up in lost possession...but today, he has simplified his combination play and has been our best player in the final third by a far. The goal was a nice way to reward his overall 1st half display.

[nefremo]

I actually thought Chuck was pretty good. He isn’t losing the ball nearly as much and picking and choosing his dribbles. Not great, but forward.

Overall we are poor. No reason we shouldn’t dominate a 1v1 defensive set up.

I feel like we work TOO hard with our press and barely ever win the ball back in the final third. With that, we also expose ourselves in the back and Atalanta has looked like scoring every time they come forward because they have acres of space to work with. Pressing is great if you win the ball high up consistently, and with it, you kill the opponent mentally as well, to a point where their attackers and wingers keep getting deeper and deeper. Problem comes when you win the ball high up only once or twice in an entire half. You've essentially accomplished nothing other than exhausted yourself and remained open for the opponent to carve you open all the other times you didn't win the ball. 

Pioli's press is horrible. Maybe it's a combination of him and the players. Who knows. But in the end, it doesn't matter. It should take this long to figure out when something isn't working. And he still hasn't figured it out. Still banging on the wall with his head. JUST PULL THE TEAM BACK 20 METERS!!!!!! Stop with this kamikaze press that doesn't work 99% of the time. It is INSANE to witness how many opportunities we give away to opponents.

[Bennacer]

Our midfield has no Tonali type of player who has that defensive awarness that is needed. Thats why Bennacer comeback is essential.

[Arildonardo]

Lookman again. Assisted by CDK...

[nefremo]

Zero effort by Theo in tracking back. He had Lookman, Lookman sprinted, Theo jogged. That's the difference.

We came out flat in this half. Sleeping.

Again....not to sound like a broken record...but, this is a team that concedes 5-10 GREAT goal scoring chances to the other team in each game. Defensively, this is one of the worst Milans in a long time.

[Bennacer]

Pioli wants to rely on intensity. I would say that at the moment, 19 other teams in Serie A plays with more intensity than us. This team is broken.