AC Milan 0-0 Newcastle United (19/09/23)

[SteV]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

We’re going through a period of finding form as well, I’m heartened by Brentford and Milan games. Almost going back to just working and waiting for the attacking form to return. 

Yep. The heartening thing is that since Howe’s been here we’ve had periods, right at the start, the start of last season, around the cup final, where for various reasons, things have gone off track, but he’s found a solution.

 

You’d feel he will again.

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

We’re going through a period of finding form as well, I’m heartened by Brentford and Milan games. Almost going back to just working and waiting for the attacking form to return. 

 

Back to back clean sheets will be a massive confidence boost to a defence looking like it'd always find a way to let one in.

[Groundhog63]

29 minutes ago, NE27 said:

even you can admit we look a bit iffy atm. 

Absolutely frustrated by some of the play. Lack of ball retention and fluidity. But, apart from the fact football is frustrating if you're not in the ascendency, I can see that Howe's trying to change the way we play. Perhaps he thinks we can't rely on 13 players to run half marathons every game this season. There's an adjustment going on and I can see that. I'll give it time and plenty of it. 

However "shit" were playing we still should've beaten Liverpool, for eg. 

 

18 minutes ago, jack j said:

Indeed

Just another case of people forgetting themselves. Fucking buzzing with the point me and most people I know were as well

Reading twitter you'd think we'd got hammered 6 nowt

This

5 minutes ago, SteV said:

It shouldn’t be underestimated how rare away wins in the CL are.

 

Only two last night, one that doesn’t really count (Porto at Shakhtar), and Leipzig at Young Boys, who might be the weakest team in the tournament.

 

Man City won one away game in last season’s CL.

And this. I'm old enough to remember European football. Loads of games like last night's. You take an away point anywhere. 

[The College Dropout]

4 minutes ago, Groundhog63 said:

Absolutely frustrated by some of the play. Lack of ball retention and fluidity. But, apart from the fact football is frustrating if you're not in the ascendency, I can see that Howe's trying to change the way we play. Perhaps he thinks we can't rely on 13 players to run half marathons every game this season. There's an adjustment going on and I can see that. I'll give it time and plenty of it. 

However "shit" were playing we still should've beaten Liverpool, for eg. 

 

This

And this. I'm old enough to remember European football. Loads of games like last night's. You take an away point anywhere. 

I don't think this is by design. In fact, I think the players may be short physically.

 

In his post-match press conference, he said we wanted to press the GK and CBs as that is our style but we had mixed results. I missed the first 15 minutes but I didn't see that at all. So any change in approach was situational. Also by the end, several of the lads were dead on their feet it's not like we are conserving energy well. Perhaps the lads are just a little behind physically? Longstaff I understand because he's come back from injury and Isak isn't a pressing machine at all.

 

IMO we don't have a good non-aggressive press setup. Particularly in midfield and defence. One pass splits the whole thing again and again. We were fortunate that Milan played a similar system to us. So they only got space in between midfield and attack when an 8 got the other side of our 8 or someone broke lines with their movement. But they found lots of joy in wide areas anyway. Chukwueze had the better of Burn. Then Isak couldn't track Florenzi and Florenzi put in a couple of great crosses 1 led to a chance, the other nobody attacked. Then he had a few crossing opportunities he wasted and a few decent passing moves that led to nothing.

 

I liked the look of Chukwueze offensively. 20m euros. Pulisic was poor.

[Curva Sud Milano]

I was impressed by your defense, trippier, schar and botman above all... the goalkeeper is not a goalkeeper of a team that has ambitions (yesterday he played well but I saw other matches in which he was horrible). Seeing Tonali not playing in the middle of the pitch but on the right surprised all in San Siro. Disappointed by the fans...4000 but completely silent, I know that in England the stadiums are not noisy but I had heard that you were among the hottest. See you in Newcastle..

[Shearergol]

Just now, Curva Sud Milano said:

I was impressed by your defense, trippier, schar and botman above all... the goalkeeper is not a goalkeeper of a team that has ambitions (yesterday he played well but I saw other matches in which he was horrible). Seeing Tonali not playing in the middle of the pitch but on the right surprised all in San Siro. Disappointed by the fans...4000 but completely silent, I know that in England the stadiums are not noisy but I had heard that you were among the hottest. See you in Newcastle..

 

Nah, not having that either

 

Tonali mainly played left, surely? Can't remember seeing him on the right much.

[Big Geordie]

Over the moon with the point last night, even if it was a backs to the wall job. We've come so far inside two years - instead of being critical about a point away to the club that have won the CL 3 or 4 times, just enjoy the ride come what may.

[Curva Sud Milano]

6 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

 

Nah, not having that either

 

Tonali mainly played left, surely? Can't remember seeing him on the right much.

 

In a two-man midfield (we played 4-2-3-1),  this year we switched to 4-3-3.

[Shearergol]

Just now, Curva Sud Milano said:

 

In a two-man midfield (we played 4-2-3-1),  this year we switched to 4-3-3.

 

Sorry, I meant last night. Seemed to me that Longstaff played right and Tonali played left?

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Milan have won the CL 7 times. 

[Curva Sud Milano]

3 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

 

Sorry, I meant last night. Seemed to me that Longstaff played right and Tonali played left?

 

U are right...i was in Curva Sud and I saw him on my right in the first half .

I would move Bruno and put Tonali in the middle.

 

[jack j]

15 minutes ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

I was impressed by your defense, trippier, schar and botman above all... the goalkeeper is not a goalkeeper of a team that has ambitions (yesterday he played well but I saw other matches in which he was horrible). Seeing Tonali not playing in the middle of the pitch but on the right surprised all in San Siro. Disappointed by the fans...4000 but completely silent, I know that in England the stadiums are not noisy but I had heard that you were among the hottest. See you in Newcastle..

Tonali played on the left of our midfield 3

Nick Pope has been top class for us. Not the best with the ball at his feet but his shot stopping has saved us plenty

Dissapointed to here that our fans were shit

But doesn't surprise me sadly. Our away support isn't what it used to be.

Will Milan sell the full 3 thousand tickets for over here do you think?

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by jack j

[Gallowgate Toon]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

Milan didn’t look to exploit those areas much. Their wingers were wide and more interested in going 1v1 with our FBs. But they still found plenty of space there. 
 

We didn’t come to press so why didn’t we sit in a compact bank? We struggled to play through Liverpools 10 man bank because it was tight and compact. 

If the space was as wide open as you're saying then they absolutely would've exploited it more. I can't imagine their primary gameplan would really be so many crosses against a very & tall aerially-strong defence so there's a good chance that we preferred to draw them into those areas and let them have a go.

 

We did look to press at the beginning. From their GKs, we set up high as we do against pretty much everyone and we actually did get at their CBs in possession quite a few times especially in the first 10 minutes or so.

 

We settled into more of a midblock once they'd beaten the press a few times which is fine. We still wanted to be in a proactive enough shape to keep a hold of possession, turn second balls into counters, and build a platform for attacks. We actually had the ball in the final third a decent enough amount to be able to do some damage but linking of play was poor there and we lost it very, very cheaply on multiple occasions.

[Curva Sud Milano]

4 minutes ago, jack j said:

Will Milan sell the full 3 thousand tickets for over here do you think?

 

 

 

 

Of course, we are not Inter...and if the match is decisive for qualification they won't be enough.

[jigen]

In these games it is clear that you are missing at least a player with the X factor: a player with dribbling and skills who can scare defenses. You had ASM and you sold him for Barnes... And you lost money. Crazy. 

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

If the space was as wide open as you're saying then they absolutely would've exploited it more. I can't imagine their primary gameplan would really be so many crosses against a very & tall aerially-strong defence so there's a good chance that we preferred to draw them into those areas and let them have a go.

 

We did look to press at the beginning. From their GKs, we set up high as we do against pretty much everyone and we actually did get at their CBs in possession quite a few times especially in the first 10 minutes or so.

 

We settled into more of a midblock once they'd beaten the press a few times which is fine. We still wanted to be in a proactive enough shape to keep a hold of possession, turn second balls into counters, and build a platform for attacks. We actually had the ball in the final third a decent enough amount to be able to do some damage but linking of play was poor there and we lost it very, very cheaply on multiple occasions.

There's no number 10 for them. They play with a DM and two 8's like us. Same thing as Brentford. They had 5 proper defenders. 3 hard working central midfielders and 2 strikers. No 10. If teams have weakness in the half space against us - how would we exploit it? We don't play like that.

 

Their wingers are like inside forwards. They want to get 1v1 against fullbacks or run in behind.

 

And even then. RLC got the wrong side of Tonali a couple of times which led to openings they should've done better with. And Florenzi and one of the subs found themselves between defence and attack a couple of times which led to shots on goal.

 

But every team that actually has players looking to exploit that space - Villa, City, Brighton in particular - they've had lots of joy.

 

We setup high from GK's but didn't get close to them. The Milan back 5 has good technical ability to play itself out of danger so that would be why that didn't work from what I saw.

 

No, we weren't in a good shape to turn loose balls into counterattacks. That's why players would run like Almiron and just lose the ball or play an over-ambitious pass. We were not in good positions because everyone was super deep defending Milan. Milan didn't press us so we had decent possession with defenders and could move to the halfway line. But with a little pressure, we just went backwards. Didn't put together a single decent passing move all game - again.

[Yorkie]

12 minutes ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

 

U are right...i was in Curva Sud and I saw him on my right in the first half .

I would move Bruno and put Tonali in the middle.

 

 

What exactly are Tonali's main strengths in your opinion? It's early days with us so I've faith that he'll come good; but he's not looked comfortable at any point since his very promising debut. He doesn't make an impact in possession and is routinely caught flat-footed off the ball. That run he made to the byline in the first few minutes last night is the first positive thing we've seen him do since the first week of the season. 

[Curva Sud Milano]

last year vs chelsea, not decisive.

 

[Curva Sud Milano]

14 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

What exactly are Tonali's main strengths in your opinion? It's early days with us so I've faith that he'll come good; but he's not looked comfortable at any point since his very promising debut. He doesn't make an impact in possession and is routinely caught flat-footed off the ball. That run he made to the byline in the first few minutes last night is the first positive thing we've seen him do since the first week of the season. 

he is a modern midfielder with great resistance and excellent feet, he knows how to set up the game and act well in coverage... he is a very shy boy and his first year at Milan was terrible, he exploded in the second year when he took over the keys to the midfield . However he has to play central instead of Bruno... you have Bruno there not Xavi.

[MrRaspberryJam]

47 minutes ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

I was impressed by your defense, trippier, schar and botman above all... the goalkeeper is not a goalkeeper of a team that has ambitions (yesterday he played well but I saw other matches in which he was horrible). Seeing Tonali not playing in the middle of the pitch but on the right surprised all in San Siro. Disappointed by the fans...4000 but completely silent, I know that in England the stadiums are not noisy but I had heard that you were among the hottest. See you in Newcastle..

 

You can't just sign up on  here and start slagging our boy Pope off and expect to get away with it.

[KingArthur]

I think it is unfair to say people should be happy at draw and shut up. Draw is a brilliant result against Milan in CL. We can still be worried about the performance. Tonali will come good, he is finding his feet. No problem there.

[Paully]

https://x.com/paullynufc79/status/1704434952316612738?s=46&t=FsEm6VC2ijNnTjHjyXU7DA

[Curva Sud Milano]

3 minutes ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

 

You can't just sign up on  here and start slagging our boy Pope off and expect to get away with it.

 

he's a good boy , it's the only discordant note in your excellent defensive phase.

[MrRaspberryJam]

1 minute ago, Curva Sud Milano said:

 

he's a good boy , it's the only discordant note in your excellent defensive phase.

 

Right. Are you Kev Lawsoninni?

[The Prophet]

2 minutes ago, KingArthur said:

I think it is unfair to say people should be happy at draw and shut up. Draw is a brilliant result against Milan in CL. We can still be worried about the performance. Tonali will come good, he is finding his feet. No problem there.

 

Worried about relegation, worried about the transfer window, worried about variations in form, worried about Bruno leaving, worried about signing Gordon, worried about the transfer window being a missed opportunity, worried about creativity, worried about the defence, worried about qualifying for the Champions League, worried about another transfer window, worried about the midfield, worried about Bruno staying, worried about playing in the Champions League.

 

It's like a parody at this point. Too many folk spend so much time worrying, they're missing an amazing time to support the club. The path to success isn't linear, it's best to enjoy it and roll with the punches

 

Nothing wrong with analysing performances, where we went wrong, where we can improve and the like, but Christ it's done in such a dramatic "the sky is falling in" fashion we've even had other clubs fans commenting on it. We've just come away from the San Siro with a point, after our first Champions League game for 20 years having been no where near our best, yet I feel like we've just walked into a funeral. 

 

The "b" word needs breaking out again.