Seven lessons we learned from Milan 2-1 Roma

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Patrick Cutrone, Lucas Biglia, Alessio Romagnoli and Suso celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Patrick Cutrone, Lucas Biglia, Alessio Romagnoli and Suso celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Fan Article by Charm Xtova.

What a game! The Rossoneri came out guns blazing, firing from all cylinders. The least result we deserved was a win especially with how tactically disciplined and attacking minded the team played. Regardless, the game seemed to be heading for a draw in the final minute of added time when a sublime piece of Higuain magic and a Cutrone finish put the game to bed for the Rossoneri.

It was a refreshing and thrilling win at San Siro and here are the 7 lessons we learned.

1. Continuity is key!

Please say that again. The entire starting eleven (aside from Higuain) played together for majority of last season. 10 players out of 11 continued from last season and the cohesion and understanding was inevitable. Higuain had no trouble slotting in and seemed to be somewhat of the missing jigsaw that’s now found in the Milan attacking puzzle. The way they played, you could tell this team has built an understanding which they followed up with from last season.

Suso, Franck Kessié, Mateo Musacchio, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessio Romagnoli, Giacomo Bonaventura, Davide Calabria, Gonzalo Higuain, Ricardo Rodriguez, Lucas Biglia and Hakan Çalhanoğlu before Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Suso, Franck Kessié, Mateo Musacchio, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessio Romagnoli, Giacomo Bonaventura, Davide Calabria, Gonzalo Higuain, Ricardo Rodriguez, Lucas Biglia and Hakan Çalhanoğlu before Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

2. The team’s getting an identity

When Gattuso arrived to replace Montella last season, he wasn’t particular about playing good football. He wanted a more direct bombing football but it dawned on him that though Milan were getting the results, the team was boring and on a bad day, the team was an eyesore. Gattuso is trying to give this team a different Identity this season by enabling them build from the back and play beautiful football. Hence Donnarumma has begun to touch the ball more times with his leg than some players in the opposing teams. This is a good and welcome development as who knows? We could be the most exciting team in Serie A (especially with Maurizio Sarri gone) and it would be surprising to see that from a coach like Gattuso.

Suso, Alessio Romagnoli, Franck Kessié and Davide Calabria celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Suso, Alessio Romagnoli, Franck Kessié and Davide Calabria celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

3. The bench makes the team look really good.

Nothing compares to a team with depth! Having Castillejo, Laxalt, Cutrone, Reina and Caldara on the bench made Milan look like waiting champions. When the game seemed to be heading for a draw, all three substitutes brought in from the bench injected life into the team and somehow, the winning goal was unavoidable.

Patrick Cutrone celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Patrick Cutrone celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

4. Higuain raises the bar.

Higuain is an excellent professional. He looks out of this world and mostly plays like an alien. The way he combines with the midfield and his movement is unrivalled. It was a shame his goal was cancelled but his positioning was class. The way he even finished up that goal was a joy to behold. Then in the dying minutes, he produced a pass that can only emanate from a phenomenal number 10. A pass that got through 4 Roma defenders and straight to Cutrone’s feet to seal the win and the 3 points. Higuain has raised the bar. We’ll need him so much this season and we hope the team will raise their mentality to his. The last person to do this at Milan was Ibrahimović. It’s great to have someone like him again in Higuain.

Gonzalo Higuain during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Gonzalo Higuain during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

5. Donnarumma still letting in cheap goals

Yes… the team is playing well but it’s a thing of worry that Donnarumma is still letting in cheap goals he’d usually save. His positioning was poor for Fazio’s goal, same for Zielinski’s second goal in the Napoli game. We really hope the coaches pay real attention to this and make him step up his game in subsequent matches.

Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluigi Donnarumma at the end of Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluigi Donnarumma at the end of Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

6. The team learned so much from the Napoli game and stepped up!

It’s a fact that the 3-2 loss in Naples was a bitter pill to swallow, however, the boys went back to the drawing board, analyzed their mistakes and came into the Roma game to leave the stats shattered.

From Biglia who had a 98% pass success rate to Suso who had 5 shots on goal to the entire team who combined to deliver over 20 shots on goal and limit Roma to 4 shots on goal especially keeping all the opponents key men (Edin Džeko, Javier Pastore, Patrik Schick and Stephan El Sharaawy) quiet. The team learned a hard lesson in Naples and displayed it at the San Siro. Progress right?

Milan fans during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Milan fans during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

7. Letting legends run the club brings its own Utopia

Maldini, Leonardo, Gattuso (and soon Kaka) are close to this team and it shows. It helps motivate the players and makes the job of instilling the Milan DNA into the players easier for Gattuso.

Milan is known for flair, resilience and brilliance. This management and the charisma brimming from each individual therein will make the boys give their all. We hope this season will be one to remember.

Davide Calabria, Lucas Biglia, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Laxalt celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)
Davide Calabria, Lucas Biglia, Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Laxalt celebrating during Milan-Roma at Stadio San Siro on August 31, 2018. (MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

Conclusion

Gattuso deserves some accolades for his apt substitutions, Cutrone deserves Inzaghi’s boots and blessings for that poacher’s finish. Higuain deserves a round of applause for that pass and Biglia, Kessié, Musacchio and Rodriguez deserve salutations for stepping up their game. As we go ahead into the season, we can only hope for consistency and more wins.

Forza Milan!

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Jed

Bro thanks for this….it was nice reading it

victor

I completely disagree when he says he is thrilled that the keeper often has the ball at his feet. I’d rather see the attackers have the ball at their feet.

Oluwa shevy

luvly article and write up yes this season is ours anything is possible forza Milan

milan fan

Really powerful article

Assim

I really like these kind of articles , i hope we’ll see more of it , keep the good work bro , thanks.

bode

Nice display by the boys,Forza milan!

zahid hossain

Number 8 thing is: we should keep our main focus on Serie A, ( don’t think too much abt Europa n coppa italia)…………. we wanna see our Milan in UCL where Milan belongs to……….Forza Milan

Ross Oneri

I do not agree. We are building a team and less competitive tournaments are vital because they will give us a good indication of whee we are. You must remember clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal etc are participating in the Europa. We don’t want to go to UCL to be participants, we have to go there as good competitors.

zahid hossain

Dear Ross, that’s the same mistake we did last year, we should concern abt our fire power, with 2 strikers n limited midfield u wanna fight team like Chelsea,Arsenal!!!!!…. be practical dear dude……we need 4 more world class player in midfield n forward line, so we need more money more exposure, UCL will bring this money n exposure…… look at Shinter…..By qualifying UCL they get extra buying ability n this yr they bring more quality players( though they start badly this season)………..so we can beat big clubs when we buy big players more like Higuain……think abt our squad of kaka,maldini,Leonardo,… Read more »

Milanista121

Agree with @Ross Oneri, what our last campaign showed was that the players are NOT ready, we could barely handle a good team in the Europa League, how should we handle the good teams in UCL?
We need it to gain more experience. Should prioritize Serie A, but definitely not neglect UEL or Coppa.

Charm

Wow!
Thanks Meytar Zeevi.

Guys y’all can follow me on twitter
@CharmXtova

Much love & Forza Milan