JOHNATHAN CLANCY gives his 3 thoughts on Milan’s draw with Roma.
Milan hosted 2nd placed Roma at the San Siro on Monday and came from behind from goals by Zapata and Muntari to seal a point versus Rudy Garcia’s men.
These are my three thoughts about the game:
Milan-Roma: Official line-ups
Video: Happy 114th birthday, AC Milan!
Tactics all wrong: I was actually excited about the supposed tactics to be used against Roma. Various reports around the peninsula and Twitter claimed that Allegri had planned to deploy the Christmas tree with our Ricardo’s (Kaka and Saponara) flanking Balotelli. But alas, Allegri, ignoring the Holiday spirit, showed his Scrooge side by fielding the dreaded 4-4-1-1, similar to the Barca match. I was disappointed with this decision for several reasons. First, I hate the 4-4-1-1. Maybe hate is a little harsh, but I do not like watching it or even playing it. It’s a formation of the past with robotic movements, predictable build up, and, in my opinion, should only be deployed if a strategy of defend and counter will be used to the fullest against a superior side. It can be a very effective formation when deployed, but only if you can actually defend, which Milan can’t. This brings a bigger issue of Allegri giving opponents too much respect this season. If his strategy was to defend and counter, my question is why? Roma were without 2 of their catalysts in Totti (for most of the game) and Pjanic. Roma are at a point of identity search. Their hot start has faded and form has seen the peak and dipped ever so slightly. Sitting back and letting them operate gave them more confidence as the game went on. Up until the tactical change to the 4-3-1-2, Roma came to Milan’s house and exerted their will on the Rossoneri. Another reason I did not like this decision is Allegri’s constant refusal to give any of our talent youth a chance (more on that later). Thirdly, it does not suit our players. We all saw how effective Montolivo was after the chance (tactics were not the sole reason for his wake up, but certainly played a major role). He was everywhere. Dictating the game against one of Serie A’s best midfields.
This tactical decision highlighted one of Allegri’s biggest flaws according to his many critics- his provinciale mindset. Constantly giving opponents like Roma and Ajax the respect that European Giants used to give Milan says loads about the questionable approach of our manager and the overall the state of Milan.
M&M’z: No, not the candy. This thought will be anything but sweet and tasty. The letters stand for Muntari, Matri, and Zapata. These are (only a few of the) players that I cannot stand seeing play for Milan. Muntari, despite his occasional predatory instinct, is not the midfield talisman that Milanisti dream of. Thinks he’s doing “good enough”? Compare him to Clarence Seedorf, Frank Rijkaard, and Gianni Rivera then come talk to me. Matri… oh where do I begin? He did nothing today. Absolutely nothing. He can’t even connect a pass. We have given rivals millions for their deadweight and continue to pay him an exorbitant wage. Why is he here? Is he Da Milan? Does he represent anything that Milan stand for? GET RID OF HIM IN JANUARY, PLEASE!! My heart cannot bear much more of this. Now for Zapata who, despite his terrible defending, managed to score one of the least technical, lucky goals I have seen since Paul Scholes at the San Siro in 2010. What happened to Zapata? He’s no Maldini, but words cannot describe how atrocious his defending is this year. He significantly regressed since last season. I’m sick of seeing him play in this form. The problem is we cannot bench him because Zaccardo would replace him (although Zaccardo fits my M&M’z acronym too!)
Allegri and building youth: I am ready to make a shocking, controversial statement. Brace yourselves- Allegri is bad with youth. There I said it. Now that the tremendous burden has been lifted, let’s dig a little deeper. Earlier I talked about how I was excited to finally see Saponara start for Milan. Yet Allegri went with an archaic formation then decided to bring on the prematurely decomposing corpse instead of Saponara. In past weeks, Nocerino has gotten the nod over Cristante. Niang almost seems like a think of the past. No one knows what is going on with Vergara. All these are youngsters are victims of this season alone. These kids aren’t stupid. They see how bad Nocerino, Matri, Birsa and Zaccardo are, and yet all these goons are still ahead of them in the pecking order. What do you think that does to their confidence? How can we expect to build through the youth like we have been promised many, many times by management if the kids are never given a chance? I mean seriously, Petagna scored against Manchester City for crying out loud. Then we waste millions on Matri. I could hear Petagna’s confidence shattering when I heard about the deal. Get rid of the waste. Place confidence in our talented youth. Start this so-called “youth project” that we have heard so much about. But no, we continue to play Matri. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something is wrong.
Overall, one would say that Milan did well to get a point of the undefeated, Scudetto-contending Roma. We came from behind twice and score 2 goals against Serie A’s stingiest defense. Yet I do not feel good about the game. I will not feel good about a Milan result until I see the real Milan again. Until then, I will suffer through these matches waiting for the turning point. Through the thick and thin, Forza Milan.
Agree? Disagree? Have anything to add? Let me know what you think below! You can also follow me on twitter @JohnathanClancy.
Agreed! We need to buy in january 1GK 1CB 1LB and 2 CM considering monto and muntari are suspended for cl, sell matri and robinho, loan out niang and gabriel, keep saponara, vergara, cristante and get rid of zaccardo, nocerino,constant,amelia.
Gabriel is the only youth player getting time with Milan, why would we loan him out?
Pathetic display! I’ve never seen Milan play this bad since the last days of Zacheroni before he was fired! At least then we had proper footballers in Maldini, Albertini, Boban, Weah and then of course Sheva. Allegri’s tactics are just too negative and predictable. Look how many passes Muntari misplaced. Compare Dejong’s positioning (He is a good player but he drops WAY too deep) to DeRossi’s. When Roma has possession, DeRossi pushes up the pitch like an anchor. For us, DeJong acts like a third defender in possession simply because Zapata and Bonera cannot be trusted with the build up.… Read more »
I agree with what you said about De jong. He did play well yesterday, but a large amount of his passes were long passes trying to find balotelli and kaka up front, he did well most of the time to find the player but its low perentage football really. Definietly neeeds to be passed the ball from the CBs standing further up the field rather than being in line with them when distibuting the ball.
I totally agree. however, there’s one point i would like to point out. Zapata is the CD with pace and we can’t drop him. We don’t have the money to buy thiago silva so I don’t fault him for that. THAT FARKER IS A HORRIBLE TERRIBLE MANAGER. We all know who should start but he doesn’t after 4 years. He took 2 and a half years to realize that emanuelson could be a left back. The question is how did he take so long? Y wasn’t ema given a chance at LB way before that? if he is only willing… Read more »
I’m just waiting for Allegri to be sacked… I can’t stand to see my beloved Milan play like this. Berlusconi has to open his eyes and realize that Allegri is not the right man for the job! What’s funny is that Milan actually played better when Allegri were sent off…
Agree with everything except a few things. Zapata played well today and so did Bonera as Cbs. You mention nothing of Desciglio’s or Poli’s horrible game! Ds played horrible as a right back and zapata covered him, even our captain had to come and give the kid a hand. Poli played terrible yet u attack Muntari who actually had an ok game by his regular standards. Muntari got us the tie, i’ll take that any day of a mediocre performance like poli’s. If this review if for this game, i must say u got it all wrong buddy. Matri played… Read more »
Poli played badly as there was practically no one to pass to as there are only 2 players up front. Monto was supposed to play higher up n obviously he was very lost. Now the problem is poli is supposed to be playing behind monto n monto drops deep this becomes very very confusing. I believe poli n de sciglio didn’t know what to do. R u a milan fan? Seems like you know nuts about our team n setup. Just as ignorant as Allegri.
Lol I feel the same way about Zapata and Muntari ( Bonera, Amelia, Birsa, Constant) Also whats more sad is that Galliani said that with honda and rami there would be no more reinforcements, unless someone Leaves. It really hurts to here that, because milan ever since I was a little kid has been a top team, but these cheap old bast** ds are really the reason we cant compete with top teams, Hopefully somebody buys all these deadweights and we can bring in a few more good players #forzamilan
I agree with you on the fact that money should be spent in january. But i really dont see why everyone says that Zapata is so bad? I think that Zapata really stepped up his game yesterday and he showed initiative and scored a goal as well as he did against Celtic. Yes, it was a lucky goal but he was there attacking at the right time. And a goal is a goal. Btw. im not arguing that Muntari is better than Poli in general, but i really dont think that Poli has played very good football lately? For example… Read more »
Nice 2 ear dis,hope Allegri red dis,i was awear dat man u were after Zapata i tink dey shld com nd get him on time,all our central defender re flop,dey all lack pace,lack calculating air ball and refuse composed demself in defence,i was so sad abt our last match,Ballo spoil d show in d stopage time,of which forza milan
I agree wit almost ol yr points bt i will add 1 or 2 points t complement yrs.
Another problem Milan facing is lack of organisation which in turn affect d tactics nd strategies,playing lyk street boys is Milan mark 2dy nd i totally blame allegri for dis cos he lost everytn nd he is out of idea,he is jst lyk a dead man walking
Organise in defence or attack? In defence we r pretty organized. The shape is there. In attack there is no need to as there are only kaka n balo. The rest r def mid or defenders. So kaka n balo can organize themselves so there’s no need for Allegri to come up with any form of organization. Muntari will send the ball straight backto opponent. So we r organized in our own way
Thanks for the article Jonathan! I agree on the tactics, because Allegris attitude and tactics really are the reason why our level of football doesnt get higher than this.. About the youth project, you are very right although i can see Allegris struggle. It is hard to field youngsters who hasnt enough experience, when you are forced to deliver results.. BUT experience has shown, that our youngsters do just as good as players like Matri or Nocerino or Zaccardo.. About the M&M’z.. I cant say that i agree and that is especially because of Zapatas game yesterday. I really dont… Read more »
It is logical that if something is not going well you should change your approach. But to our demise, logic and Allegri don’t go together. Vergara, Cristante, Saponara, Niang and El Shaarawy should always be in the starting lineup. How does management expect them to be our leaders in the future, if they don’t let them play in the present ?
I would kiss you if you would be next to me….
Wonderfull phrase 🙂
Read ur article but wud disagree to a great xtent xcept wit d youth project not being tackled & d fact we av a clueless coach! As I say on most milan supporters forum our coach mr alegri does notin in d aspect of off d ball movement & morale building(confidence),our team enters every game wit d belief d best they can achieve is a draw & if they get lucky they might just win. I honestly feel d team needs a psychologist to improve their mentality since d management has refused to do d obvious…#sack alegri Look @ spurs… Read more »
A bit of glimpses of hope ahead; – At the back, Rami is still at an option to buy and he is one of the best French CB’s this era. He is strong, gets out with the ball confidently and attacks very well in corners. Will help us defensively in set peices – Honda confirmed. Old news but still important, Honda will shine how Balo did last winter. – Zapata is an overall good defender. Bonera is reaching his peak and Mexes is being given second thought. Get rid of one of these along with Matias Silvestre and Milan should… Read more »
If all that happens, that would kickstart a long Milan comeback. That would be amazing.
This season is totally lost.Allegri says ”the draw against Roma is a good result”the 3rd spot is 16 points clear,i don’t blame him rather Galliani who kept him i blame,he says ‘no one comes if no one goes’he brought them all,he’s trying for exchanges hope its Matri for Hernanes no Parolo.Barbara where are you?,Silvio you are blindfolded by Galliani and Allegri.
Tottenham,Valencia,Chievo,Sampdoria,Sunderland,Galatasaray have sacked their coaches,Silvio why are you sleeping,Galliani is now a blind man,he’s no more Galliani the fans knew,their won’t be progress in these club except you let go off Galliani and Allegri in january.Our(FANS) hearts is burning in Anger against Galliani and Allegri,you shouldn’t have reversed his resignation,you should have give Barbara the C.E.O,Silvio Berlusconi please wake up and act like a man don’t be blind and childish.WAKE UP,WAKE UP,WAKE UP SILVIO BERLUSCONI.
if tink we’ve lost it al dis season.. Alegri shld play al dis young bois in sum games lyk d games against d lower teams so he can knw who is ready 2 play.. Instead alegri alway prefa 2 burn out d energy of d mediocres he cal’s his 1st choice playas… Gabriel is nw avin confidece in post cus he is bin given d chance 2 play … So alegri please giv d yth chance . Forza! Milan
A blind man leading a group,all will be blind folded.No chance for our young players to boast their confidence,what will they display when these older players go or retire(that will bring the fall of Milan soonest,not even soon or sooner,but obviously soonest,remember SANSIRO 2016)I envy Pogba,Neymar,Oscar,Janujaz,Isco,Morata,Coutinho,Sterling,Veratti,Alcantara,Marquinhos,Alaba,Illaramendi,Montoya,Alba etc for the time given to them at their clubs to prove themselves,we have people better than them but they are dying just like Pato died under Allegri,Cristante,Saponara,Vergara,El Shaarawy,Niang they are dying for the sake of Allegri on the bench.Silvio wake up and SACK GALLIANI AND ALLEGRI in January,we the fans aren’t happy with… Read more »
fire galliani and allegri in january? why you dont want to fire them in december?!??
oh please! Zapata actually played well yesterday! or has it become something that we must always say, zapata is and zapata that…..get rid of zapata… give him credit when due!
A blind man leading a group,all will be blind folded.No chance for our young players to boast their confidence,what will they display when these older players go or retire(that will bring the fall of Milan soonest,not even soon or sooner,but obviously soonest,remember SANSIRO 2016)I envy Pogba,Neymar,Oscar,Janujaz,Isco,Morata,Coutinho,Aubemeyang,Sterling,Veratti,Alcantara,Marquinhos,Alaba,Illaramendi,Montoya,Alba etc for the time given to them at their clubs to prove themselves,we have people better than them but they are dying just like Pato died under Allegri,Cristante,Saponara,Vergara,El Shaarawy,Niang they are dying for the sake of Allegri on the bench.Silvio wake up and SACK GALLIANI AND ALLEGRI in January,we the fans aren’t happy with… Read more »
I absolutely agree with the article i hate allegri he is so stupid and got NO BALLS at all
the formation looks like it seemed more of a 4-3-2-1 to me, the usual, but montolivo’s deployment may have thrown the formation was off. But the intent was clearly for him to take over Birsa’s role. It’s funny you target both of our goalscorers, especially on this night. Muntari is so underrated, he played better than Poli on the night. He doesn’t do anything flashy, but he is so helpful on defending the counter attack, something Poli cannot do. Don’t get me wrong, I love Poli, but Muntari is currently at his level and does not deserve any blame. Zapata… Read more »
allegri is happy with a draw as always… he said he is pleased. i’m soooooo tired of this cagliari man.
great read mate!
And also, people argue that Allegri used youth last season, so he has faith in it. But if you think about it, who else was there for him to use? He didnt use the youth because he believed in El Shaarawy and Niang, there was just no one else to play
i read somewhere that galliani will be taken a 5 years deal contract..
and yes this is our doom, galliani and allegri really happy with this roma result and previous ajax result, and some players keep bs-ing that we can go to top 3 like last season, over positive but dont have the strength to reach it..
some people just dont know what they’re doing and talking about.. dreamer bast*rd
men i with you except with zapata he may not be david luix but he is a quality cb milan can afford- judt imagine that we had zaccardo and silvestre as starters salso i think muntari is doing well again he may not be xavi but it is a quality player milan can afford
also as long max is our manager you should support him cause criti. wont help, so just Forza Milan
This is wat I want AC milan to look like come january.
http://www.futhead.com/14/squads/3866110/
we should some how get the hernanes deal done. galliani please!!!! get hernanes. At gk I would swap marchetti for perin…..because marchetti might be better now but perin looks like the next big thing.
De Jong on the bench!!! He has been vital this season!
Allegri doesn’t have a clue and this draw means nothing as the team were horrible and clueless.
At least Berlusconi realize that Allegri is clueless and wanted to fire him but Galliani prevented that from happening.
So its obvious that not only Allegri is clueless but Galliani has no football sense of the game whatsoever.
Galliani may have been fortunate due to Milan’s history but its clear it was not down to him at all!
Keeping Allegri for another season brought us another useless player in Matri when we could have just kept Petagna!
Things we learned from this game:
Milan didnt lose, even tough we played very bad footbal
We rapidly need reinforcments.
Sell: Matri,Zaccardo,Balotelli,Nocerino, Niang,Silvestre,Constant,Birsa,Mexes,Abbiatti,Gabriel on loan
With the arrival of Rami Milan will have a stronger defence he could be a leader together with Zapatta if he plays like against Roma.
Milan still need 1 LB even if Urby played very well, 2 CB
1 striker to play next to EL92 or in front of him
2 fast wingers to speed up Milans style of play
And a goalkeeper, Gabri needs playing tim send him on loan
We n
Well , I think GALLIANi SCHOULD LEAVE that s mean Allegri, medicore players,no winning mentality schould go with him
Only things Galiani saying in the last TWO years are the past sucsess of this club ..
Allegri is happy when Ac milan scoring more than one goal or its enough for him to get the draw against any decent club … Isay
IF u playing defensievly then dont get goals ..
If u playing attacking style than win 3:2 or 4:3
Muntari and Zapata saved the Tie for us, give them some credit.
i agree with you specily about Muntari!
but Zapata this game was good, but in other games was realy disappointing
Although i have Galliani’s phone No,he refuses to pick my call(8 missed call).My question is does anyone have Silvio Berlusconi’s contacts or any of the players or board members?please type it here.2.Aren’t there any italian fan here?,if there is help us and tell other italian Rossoneri to write in a banner-”SILVIO,SACK THE C.E.O AND THE COACH OR WE WON’T SUPPORT MILAN AGAIN FOREVER,WE ARE WITH BARBARA”.pleasssssssss.
Everyone should hold the banner and go to the Sansiro because this season is a total failure in all competition,we are tired of draws,6 lucky wins in about 22 matches in all competion is worst than worst.This isn’t my wish but i must say it-What if Galliani doesn’t get a CB and in Rami’s first match he picks up a rest of season injury,then how will we cope in defence?.That is why we must let Silvio here us not to Galliani anymore and then make a perfect decision by sacking the culprits.Please Italians here help us.
If you are a coach in the UCL Knockout stages and you desperately need reinforcement in the Midfield and defence to play against a top team and you were given Parolo and Burdisso,How will you feel?Milan is doomed by their blind transfer manager.
We are tired of excuses from Galliani and Allegri ”we could have won the match,we had a penalty,we could have lose the match,the players exhausted their strength on Wednesday night”,what would have been the outcome if we were group in Napoli’s group of death,yet they came 3rd with same point with first and second team.”we are a club with great history,won so many trophies”,what kind of a stupid excuse is that.Milan will spend about 4 years before they can regain there form,no one fears Milan anymore,they will only say ”it will be difficult”.”Anything can happen from now to february”says Galliani… Read more »
i was realy dissapointed wit d performance yesterday.the players lack determination and dey mentally and psychologically inferior to roma.their motive was to draw dat was why allegri was happy wit the result.i jst feel sad wen waching milans match bcos dey play witout purpose.Even kaka argued wit our great coach bcos tings were nt going to plan.i jst hope dat we wud sign gud players in jan to save our faltering season.allegri said last year was year zero. Wat abt dis year?
Somehow year -1 even though we have a better squad then last year. Allegri is the worst thing that has ever happened to AC Milan.
Zapata isn’t that bad. Best of an average bunch at centre back! Mexes is worse IMO. Rami, Zapata, Bonera as experienced CB’s with Vergara and Doria (Hopefully) as youngsters. Get rid of the rest. Won’t happen, but maybe Seedorf will see sense next year… 😉
nothing more to add. agree with u especially regarding the youth
Great article..
Mds & poli played badly. But i believe that is not they fautl only, that because the formation & tactics!! We always think about the defense, are you all see every match we use 4 back + 3 or 4 defensif midfielder (monty & de jong playing in front of the back, muntari & poli on the side). I think this formation are very qwestionable, what are we looking for? We play for get 1 poin(draw)? Or we wait for pinalty spot(if we play in UCL)? My solution is; 1. I think allegri must learn more from ancelloti, how to… Read more »
Milan will Play Better at Derby Della Madonina without allegri…
One thing you guys have to realize is the reason why most of the players played very bad is because of Allegri’s tactical selection. The fullbacks played alot as a winger making us reliable to counter attacks everytime we lost the ball. It wasn’t De jong choice to drop deep down, Allegri made him do that and After Allegri was sent off, Milan played a whole lot better has a team. I was surprised.
I totally agree with you, Milan has no chance this year in Italy, there best achievement will be to collect more money at the CL, so we should look a head for the future, next year, play more of the youngsters, fire allergies next year, sell Matri now, see how Honda and Rami fit into Milan, and make the Wright decisions next summer after the world cup, please don’t sell SES, and don’t just get free transfer in January.
Not only Vergara, Saponara and Cristante. Salomon was bought last year and spent the whole time rotting in the bench before he was loaned out without playing a single competitive minute. Sokratis was sold not long after he joined too.
The fact that Zapata happened to be there and so was Muntari does NOT mean these guys are any good, it was just ONE LUCKY GAME…. Muntari has no class and most important, HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED HOW MANY PASSES HE ACTUALLY COMPLETES? He is the most careless Milan player when it comes to keeping posession, which brings me to the point that : He is ruining Kaka’s attack plan, HAVE YOU NOTICED he does not understand him ? Zapata’s lack of positioning is embarrassing , yes He played and ok game with Roma, but what about the other 100… Read more »
allegri is useless he has no substitution planning he has no reading if the game Zapata isn’t too bad a defender he is a lot more controlled than mexes but doesn’t have the skill Muntari has his moments but considering the young talent and the arrival of honda I can’t see him playing a part at Milan Matri is a useless crab with 3 broken legs can’t trap a ball, can’t pass a ball and definitely can’t shoot by far the worst purchase that’s 12 million we could have got telex for less sell him now With rami coming in… Read more »