Vincenzo Montella was happy at the end of Milan’s 2-1 win over FC Girondins de Bordeaux last night.
Montella had his friendly debut match against Bordeaux on Saturday evening at Stade Armandie and he started with a 4-3-3 using Giacomo Bonaventura in midfield & M’Baye Niang, Jeremy Menez and Suso switching roles in attack.
Suso, who returned from Milan after a successful loan spell at Genoa, was the one who gave the Rossoneri the win with two well-taken goals in the 28′ and 38′ minutes.
In the second half Montella changed the entire starting eleven, using many Primavera boys and reserve players. In the 74′ minute Milan conceded through Malcom but overall, while the Rossoneri – as expected – did not impress greatly as it was only there first match, they managed fairly well.
“I am certainly happy, as the lads showed their willingness to put the principles we worked on into practice. Fortunately, there is room for growth,” Montella said in an interview with Sky Sport Italia at the end of the match. “The lads interpreted the game well in terms of attitude too.
“We worked a lot with the ball in training, as the secret is in the quality and the predisposition of the players. It was our first match, we have to raise the tempo and especially the passing when we construct moves. But we are only at the start and there are some positive signs.
“Bonaventura in a Borja Valero role? He is more of a trequartista than an internal midfielder. He’s always played as an external midfielder in the past when he wasn’t at Milan. We’ll see what role he’ll play but he has the characteristics to play more or less everywhere in midfield.
“The most important thing is that the team is showing enthusiasm and really participating in the process. The side showed good spirit and gave a good impression. I think we can be satisfied. If I’ve heard from Galliani? No; the team gave a good showing with a good spirit so I think we can satisfied.”
Montella is still waiting for reinforcements and Galliani said ‘I know what Vincenzo wants’ but the Rossoneri are unable to make new signings until they sell / get sold to the Chinese consortium.
Didn’t get to watch the match but am hapi with the out come..hopefully reinforcements would come in and players not needed should start leaving as well.
Comment: no new signings till the Chinese take over is complete.
The clock is ticking.
won’t be complete until Sept. …although a prelim agreement looks to be in place? (not sure on the reports) one which would have significant penalties if either side back out. Looks like we might have to wait until winter until any big top dollar signings occur…of course they are trying to off-load Bacca which might give them some wiggle room this summer
Comment:yes ooooooo because we r Milan and we can afford to lose again.
Milan still need to offload people. Poli, Montolivo, and berlotacci don’t do anything in midfield… We really need some quality midfield players. Honda and Bonaventura are alright but we need way better. 2-3 new quality mid would make us go from 7th to at least 4th-2nd place for sure.
Exactly. Bonaventura is okay for a 7th place in table. People dont realise that. We need waaay better players.. we shouldnt even mention poli bertolacci
Guyz its just the 1st match lets wait and see how the win keeps going
All the changes in the second half turned the side into a primavera team but the first half was positive. You could feel for the first time in years that this team has a real coach with ideas. Obviously it’s very soon and we saw very little of Montella’s imprint on the team but with time and the right players to complete the puzzle this team will be a decent one.
Gabriel was awful though, I remember him being better than that.
Gabriel made alot of good saves in my opinon
I don’t know. He saved a good one on one but to be fair the effort was horrible. Other than that I can’t remember anything. Well other than a ball which was going out by two or three meters, and he still felt the need to save it and gave away a corner. Flapped at almost every other ball that came his way.
Silver is just like the other sleeping fans. Gabriel makes 200 misstakes and makes 1 good save.. wow he was good. Bonera: he made 200 errors.. still he is in the line up because he made 1 good tackle Galliani: he makes 50 bertolacci signings, and then he make 1 good signing.. woow he still got it.. he is our tranfer guru.. we need him to not lose our identity any further. Sometimes, i wonder if these fans are really JOKING or really are sleeping. I wonder i wonder.. HOW u can be so FORGIVING!! Thats the word. FORGIVING.. how… Read more »
It’s not about forgiving or forgetting….it’s about Maturity…..
Ibra was called flopped by Barca fans….because of the Matured mental health
An ok first half- not great but some decent plays. The sec. half was awful and shows to tell that young doesnt mean quality- obviously there is a reason to why our coaches havent used primavera players.
On another subject; Juve is about to activate Higuain’s €94m release clause, therefor they want to raise their funds. Accordring to rumors they could let Rugani go for 25-30 m. We should do everything to get Rugani. With Romagnoli and Rugani ad CB we are set in defense.
Comment: We just hope things get better, not returning to 7th or begging to win matches like we did… Plssss where is vanquez??
He has already signed for Sevilla yesterday
Well, the first half was OK, but not much improvement, it looked a lot like Inzaghis football, with a lot of the ball going back to the keeper and not much fluidity in play… however, this was the first game, so i dont take much from it other than Susos two goals and Bona’s new number. Its important to get a win though as it boosts morale and belief for the new system etc. Just an example, Antonelli who is super consistent, even he looked sloppy and a bit out of sorts, so it’s too early to say anything, just… Read more »
Montella speaks a lot less than broccoli thus article of his interviews are a lot shorter with more or less same substance, making it more enjoyable to read. At the very least i give montella that
Agreed
Mistaks has to happen, its just first match and a test match as well. After playing together o believe there is rpom for improvement and better style of play…
Did you see that picture!!! Bonaventura, poli and bertolacci. By far the worst italian midfielders we ever had.
God help us in next season. Arbeloa is a milan player too.
We need more reinforcements, especially in defence “Central” and a good passer of the ball with a typical goal scorer because I don’t think LapaduLa alone can shoulder all the responsibilities. I also think that MiLan should give Suso more time to develop…..Forza MILAN.
Great win for me!! Bordeaux are a decent team who are ahead of us in pre-season and I don’t think they have a new coach like us, considering we also played away from home and won is a good sign despite using largely primavera players for the 2nd half. Miha’s first pre season match was a loss to Lille in France if I’m not mistaken. Let’s hope we keep on improving
Lmao Seedorf said some season ago..75% of the squad needs to go.
If he was coach today he would say 99% of the squad is useless
I really only have donnarumma. NOBODY ELSE
That’s harsh. Romagnoli? De Sciglio? Bacca?
Even the Juventus team that ended up in seventh place for two straight seasons had more or less the same players when they finally won the league the season after. A good coach and a few top players in the right positions and of course regaining confidence will go a long way.
Don’t write all these players off so easily. They need to regain their confidence just like De Sciglio did in the Euros.
I’ve supported MDS since his debut, I still think its possible for him to fulfill his potential, but playing a few good matches for the Azzuri doesn’t erase the atrocious season he had last year…. Calabria was solid in his few opportunities last season, and showed massive growth by dominating the right flank in the cup final against Juve….MDS hasnt produced a performance like that for us in years… This kid has “earned” the right to be ahead of MDS in the pecking order. Yet many want to reward him by loaning him out….? We have 5 capable outside backs,… Read more »
I hear what you’re saying, but De Sciglio’s form started getting better at the end of the season for us as well, not only for the Azzurri. He was fantastic in the cup final just as Calabria was
Yes I agree. Of course they should all start the same and the one who deserves the starting place will take it. Calabria was really great in the cup final against Juventus but De Sciglio was even better! He was man of the match for me in that game. I had really lost hope in MDS after a season of horrible performances and that amazing performance was all the more surprising because of that. He followed that with strong performances in the Euros. Now I’m not saying he should be the starter, but he definitely proved me he still got… Read more »
Calabria should be certain starter for some weaker seria a side in my opinion. So loan would be great.
Im sorry. I havnt seen ANYTHING from romanogli. NOT A THING. Im not saying hes bad, but from what i’ve seen hes nothing special at all. Milan fans tend to HYPE to much around players. I remember fans called vargara the new t.silva 2 season ago. just because his 33 number. i remember a defender called montolongo.. all you hyped WOWW.. and u started to put him in the line ups. Remember sokratis??? same there.. remember Dominic adiyiah??? he is our new drogba.. you milan fans here are HYPED. What have romanogli besides being an average defender shown? You are… Read more »
Sokratis (and subotic) is better than all milan cb, u’d know this if u actually watched football and stopped thinking that football starts and ends with milan season 06/07 (when theyre not even that good compared to previous 4 seasons) Yes roma doesnt hold a candle to nesta or even current juve backline but hes the best milan got right now. Imagine milan without him and bacca last season. Who are you to feel entitled to defame one of milan’s better performers? And if u blame milanisti responsible for not doing anything to prevent milan’s free fall, what is slightest… Read more »
Trust me Romagnoli is a very good defender. Even amazing for his age. Just because he’s not a flashy player doesn’t mean he’s not good. He’s good at reading the play so you won’t see him perform too many last ditch tackles but many easy blocks. It’s a privilege for a defender, not a handicap.
This win will not change nothing to me, all I need to know when the quality players are coming , these are the same 7th place guys two straight year
Comment:bona is d only better player in our midfield galliani we need good signing dis summer #weareacmilan
Bonaventura should be a bench player in Milan seriously now yes he is versatile but he looks kind of confused wherever he plays like its not his real position and the guy cant shoot a ball but he is a good player to have on the bench used in a rotation when somebody gets injured
If we get better midefield, then I am okay with Bonaventura being a substitute. And his strength is definitely being a wide midefielder not trequartista or centermid.
I agree he’s looked very lackluster in the center midfield in the past but one thing I did notice this friendly was a couple times he received the ball and drove forward at pace passed players and drew an extra opposing player towards him. I’ve never seen that under Miha from him the few times he’s played central. We will findout once the first match of seria A arrives but in general I think myself and others underestimate what a change of gameplan can do for a player. Let’s be honest, Miha had everyone tracking back and no real freedom.… Read more »
He would and he should if milan were milan. As it stands now, bona, niang and monto are better performers of current squad whether milanisti (*cough sheva cough) like it or not. Didnt u see how milan started falling apart in the last 3rd of the season when roma, niang, monto and bona got injured simultaneously? Yes they definitely wouldnt make it into sacchi’s team starting eleven but so wouldnt the great sheva (the player not the troll). Its all matter of relativity
Thanks C !!!!
Thank you!! There is hope among milan fans!! Bonaventura, yes he is better than muntari, (my dog is better than muntari). Yes maybe bona is one of the better players of our shitty team.
BUT
BUT
BUT BUT
BUUUUT… that does not make him milan material. keeping bonaventura in starting line up shows what we are aiming at.
So your idea is that we should bench Bonaventura even before we get better player to replace him?
YES! Ruin is the road to transformation!!
Getting rid of bonacentura MAKES A SIGN. This is our PATH, THIS IS OUR STANDARD.
Keeping bonaventura FORMS A STANDARD, A LOW STANDARD. When we sign players we should compare them to kaka, seedorf, pirlo etc.
Not compare them with muntari and essien and say bonventura is our best player .. we cant get rid of him.
We don’t need to change our team very much, we just need a centre back, two midfielders and a winger. Put Bona in the middle and use him as a back up for the winger we buy. I had hoped the two mids we get would be Zieliniski and Kovacic, but I think we’ll end up with Sosa instead. I’m sure everyone will complain if we sign him, but we need an experienced leader on our team that will help on and off the pitch. He would also finally give us a set-piece specialist, something we have lacked for a… Read more »
Agreed with everything u said mate, except for putting bona in the middle. I think He doesnt have right skill sets to be a playmaker or even cm. If milan buy good lm then bona should be benched
It’s not about forgiving or forgetting….it’s about Maturity…..
Ibra was called flopped by Barca fans….because of the Matured mental health
Higuain to Juve, and we are sitting here doing nothing
If we sell Bacca then we definitely should sell Menez, Honda and Adriano and sign someone better than Lapadula, or are we going to play the whole season with the squad we had against Bordeaux, we are losing time if Juve signs Higuain then we could go for Gabigol, but after we sign quality midfielder.
Higuain is worth as much as Bacca and not a big game player. If Juventus are willing to pay his clause of 94 millions that almost as stupid as Milan paying 20 millions for Bertolacci
Higuain also averaged almost a goal a game last season. And has his name to back it. Bacca does not. Bad comparison.
Higuain had great supply from his midfiel hence he averaged goal every match. I would rate bacca way above Higuain because Bacca had very limited supply from our below average midfield.
Which is exactly why milan shouldnt sell bacca for less than 40 m. They can even get 50 m or more from right buyers like psg or chelsea. Hell, just ask juve to do a swap: him and 10 m for both rugani and pjaca. Fair trade
I said the same thing, that I would only sell Bacca for around 35 or 40, but I got bashed because of his age. “Do you expect people to pay over 30 million for a soon to be 30 year old player”, yes I do, because of his age and his goal scoring attributes.
Selling bacca for 40 million. Not that i want to bash you guys. I am bacca, i will be hoping to join Real Barca munich or even PSG. The market has been ongoing for a few weeks. Are there any strong links to such clubs who are willing to pay 40 million???? Do you think Galliani wouldn’t sell him tonthe highest bidder???? Who has came forward so far? West Ham. Now arsenal seems to be rumored as well but the fact is till now, only west ham are the serious buyer. Yes there are some rumours of ATL madrid, arsenal,… Read more »
Then we shouldn’t sell him. You just don’t sell one of the best strikers around cheap. Especially when you know you can’t replace him with someone as good, not without Champions League football.