MILAN vs RIJEKA 28 sept
A win is a win, and it is nice to see how Borini >>> Bonucci Big Grin
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Finally got around to watch the game.....

1. If THIS, is what Montella calls attacking football, than I have nothing else to say! Possession among the CBs and only in our own half. As soon as we attempt to move the ball into the attacking half, we lose it. Very little movement ahead and very little passing lanes. Literary NO exchanging of positions and fluid movement. Very very rigid positioning and it seems like the players are only told to play in a certain area and NEVER leave it! We are SO predictable because of this.

2. Ridiculously slow and walking pace throughout the game!

3. The defending is laughable. We are too stretched vertically. There is 40+ meters of space between the ball and the CBs. The defending of this team reminds me of Inzaghi's Milan......not a good thing. The backline was in shambles and all over the place multiple times tonight to make things worse. The field just looks so big when opponents are attacking us. There is just so much space there.....

4. Are we pressing? Or are we PRETENDING to press?!?!?!? Our players are always 3-4 meters too far away and 1-2 seconds too late. They sprint 5-6 meters to apply pressure to the ball (especially the midfielders and fullbacks), but their initial positioning is SO FAR AWAY from their mark, that they literary have NO CHANCE of winning the ball, forcing a mistake, or even pouncing on a potential mistake. Why are we ever sprinting those 5-6 meters then? WHY? We are wasting energy for no reason. Either press like you are supposed to, or fucking don't press at all and save your energy. Stay back and clamp up, force a mistake that way. I just don't understand this kind of play? It was the most frustrating thing in the entire game for me.

5. Does this team ever practice TRANSITION in training?!!?!?!?????? Every time we win the ball, our first thought is to pass the ball back to the CB and allow the opponents to get set in their shape. Does anyone in this team see the countless opportunities to quickly transition into attack from defence when we win possession???......or have their balls been cut off, been told to never take risks, and always play the ball back to the CBs as the number one option????


I am glad we won the game. I am happy for the 3 points. But anyone that is even remotely satisfied with this performance and the way we are playing football is in for a big surprise. This will not cut it. This is not good enough. Even the San Siro, mind you WHILE BEEING 2-0 UP, started whistling in the second half because the ball kept going back to the CBs. There is ZERO aggression in this team....both offensively and defensively. We move at a walking pace and there is no fire in our play. Even the simple passes are not crisp and look sloppy as hell. There is quality players here now and it's not like last year. ALL of the things I listed above can be fixed by the coaching staff. It's a question whether they will be fixed or not....but I don't want to wait too long to find out....because 4th spot may very fast become an unattainable dream.

Here is a quote from Montella: "If Donnarumma had saved the penalty, we wouldn’t have been as happy, because we saw the DESIRE and ENERGY to turn things around and react to setbacks."

My question to him would be....Why don't we EVER see that desire from the beginning of a game???? Why do we NEVER start games with desire and energy, and instead we start them at a leisurely pace?? Why do we have to give up 2 goals in 5 minutes to see YOU screaming at your walking players from the sideline and for them to actually run like possessed animals???? WHY????? We call ourselves a top team but have we actually seen the "modern" top teams play football??? The energy that they bring to games??? The desire and aggressiveness with which they play games, move the ball around, press, etc, etc???
This is a joke!!!!
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I only saw the first half and match highlights. But from what i saw, i think 532 is useless without our first team wingbacks. Conti and Rodriguez. Abate is clueless there. He is going offside more than Inzaghi ever used to. Borini did well for someone being out of position. Bonucci.. I dont know what to say. I really thought our defense would rock solid with him at the helm. so far it has been disappointing.

With the current players, i think we can play the formation we used to play, 4312. with Calhanoglu as our trequitista (is that the right spelling?). Bona Biglia and kessie in the mid.

Roma and Inter match would tell alot about the squad and perhaps the future of Montella. There are lots of rumors that Ancelotti may return.
AC MILAN
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If we play against Roma and Inter like we played last night, we are in for some embarrassment...
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Now it is only matter of days...Probably sunday late evening or monday morning...
Avaiting for arrival of exorcist into our boardroom.
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Montella will not survive
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A win is a win. Even an ugly one. I didn't watch the game since I was at OAKA stadium watching AEK Athens - Austria Wien.
Milan should not have a problem with AEK but trust me, AEK have a very good team, much better than Rjieka.

I will be in the stadium for AEK - Milan, my heart is going to be split in two.
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A change in system isn't the answer here. We're only missing Conti in terms of wingbacks (I think Calabria's back now or should be soon). The general consensus has widely been that playing with a 3 man defence is best suited to this squad, not enough has changed to suggest that's still not the case.

In terms of problems within the team, I think it comes down to mentality and teamwork. I've mentioned in the management thread that mentally we're just not that good and this is nothing new. So far, the new signings haven't done much to particularly improve this and because we're not a team yet we're very vulnerable against sides who can break us down.

I mention in almost every match thread that our players don't communicate enough, that was also evident yesterday and given Bonucci was frequently playing 40 yard vertical passes (most of which got cut out) with limited passing options around him. It's one of numerous examples that shows that we're not working as a team.

If you look at the two losses we've had this season, in both cases we're talking about teams whose strength has been their coaches obsession over organisation and unity. Rijeka were actually pretty impressive in how well drilled they were. They aren't a good side, but they were reasonably well organised. When you have a group of individuals playing against well organised team, it's not remotely surprising that the group of individuals will suffer, even if they've got quality.

Montella needs to focus on working to bringing this group of players together to work as a team. They need to work as a collective and feel a collective responsibility for results. They need to take the pitch with the right attitude, which will be further enforced as individuals have a responsibility towards their teammates and they need to learn to communicate and understand one another to help them build a stronger relationship on the pitch.

The point is tactics and other technical choices serve a limited purpose at this point in time. They have their place and their importance will grow over time, but for now the focus needs to be building a team where everyone is working towards one collective goal and they can have confidence when stepping on the pitch that the guys next to them will put everything they have towards reaching that goal. I said before we shifted to a back 3 that for me a change of system, while useful in complimenting the group, had to be secondary in focus as that alone wouldn't resolve our problems. I still stand by those words.
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The attitude on the field is the most essential part. We play wothout soul! We are slow both offensively and defensively. There is ZERO aggression in our play, again...both offensively and defensively. Offensively wel are way too conservative and slow. Defensively we are just not marking with intensity and provide a nonexistent press.

Rijeka played with an intensity that we just failed to match throughout the game. The only reason we won (barely) was because we have talented indoviduals that made plays that the Rijeka players simply can not.

Sampdoria played with intensity that we failed to match. We know how THAT turned out.

Lazio played with intensity that we didn't match. We know how THAT turned out.

If we matched these teams in terms of intensity, we were going to look a lot better. Not saying we would have won as they are also a team and are very compact and we are not one yet......but at least we weren't going to look like a Serie B side against Lazio and Samp, while we were probably going to beat Rijeka 4,5 to zero without the needed drama in the 90th minute.

I hate Montella's "monotone" personality.......it seems to be spreading to his team obviously. There is ZERO passion on the field. I am hoping thay what we saw after the 3rd goal yesterday will act as a jump start to the way we approach matches. Hopefully all that fist pumping, screaming, jumping, etc, at the end of yesterday's game will awaken the players and the coaching staff. Hopefully it will be a turning point on how we approach matches and the intensity we bring to them. After all, we have the talent to beat most Serie A sides....problem is that we look like we are on a walk in the park half the freaking time.
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(09-29-2017, 05:41 PM)nefremo Wrote: ...There is ZERO aggression in our play, again...both offensively and defensively. Offensively wel are way too conservative and slow. Defensively we are just not marking with intensity and provide a nonexistent press...
Okmilan
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