With
this new Budget Milan™ I look at every game as lose-able, there are no
guaranteed wins. But I had really hoped that we could pull this one off.
Especially at home. With the new pitch, neither Milan nor Inter have won yet at
the San Siro. Wouldn’t it have been nice for Milan to break that streak? But
Atalanta, true
to the goddess they are named after, were not going to fight like typical
girls. You can never judge “La Dea” (the Goddess) like an ordinary woman.
Because if you do, you might just get beaten by a girl.
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| El Shaarawy looked great, but just couldn't convert |
It
didn’t start pretty. In the 5th minute, Boateng, with his hand in some type of
cast after his surgery, started his Sky Jousting™ early by taking a perfectly
good opportunity and shooting it wide. Antonini was his typical
not-so-brilliant self, at least for the first 60 minutes, and so he and Urby
missed some great chances to link up simply on account of a lack of abilities.
Continuing with Antonini, in the 21st, his error lead to an Atalanta possession
that eventually forced Abbiati into his first of many saves on the night. In
fact, Abbiati is going to have nightmares of one German Denis coming for him
again and again and again.
I
swear on my life I thought I was watching a youth football match, as everyone
seemed nailed to the ground in their positions, no one was running at all. Then
in the 27th, Boateng, a player who is typically kinetic, fell and seemed to
hurt his hand. Why he was left on the pitch is so beyond me. He was also having
a really hard time staying on his feet the entire first half, too. In the 28th,
we saw Urby hook up with El Shaarawy, a combination that was successful several
times on the night. In the 31st, we saw Ambrosini come forward to take a shot,
something we also saw a few times on the night.
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| Why risk him after surgery? |
In
the 42nd, El Shaarawy earned himself a yellow for a clumsy tackle from behind,
but to be fair, at least one person on the team was defending. Then Antonini
put in a good cross in the 44th (yes, you should have taken a drink for that
one,) and El Shaarawy took a nice shot that was saved, too. El Shaarawy was
very dangerous in the area, with a little more support, I am sure he would have
scored on this night.
Ambrosini
seemed to be trying to show everyone what they needed to do to win, he started
off the second half with a great pass to El Shaarawy, but was subbed off in the
55th for Nocerino, who probably should have started. Abbiati kept saving
everything that came his way, which he had to do because Bonera was playing.
Acerbi was decent, but certainly can’t play the role of two center backs. I am
not sure why Allegri keeps lining up Bonera, in effect having us start with 10
men, but Abbiati was up for the challenge.
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| Ambrosini remembers what to do to win, but he is only one player |
Speaking
of Bonera, he earned himself a caution in the 57th with a yellow card, followed
very quickly by a Biondini yellow for a rough foul on Nocerino. More shots by
Atalanta, more Sky Jousting™ by Boateng. Then, in the 64th, the impending doom.
Our lack of defense could only hold so long, and it was a Cigarini goal that
sealed our fate. 1-0 Atalanta.
After
that, we apparently became incontinent. In the 69th, there was a triple epic
fail where Urby tried to cross it in to Boateng, who kind of whiffed it to De
Jong, who also whiffed just inches from the goal. This inspired Allegri to take
El Shaarawy off for Boy-band in the 70th. Now, I understand like-for-like
substitutions. But Pazzini was struggling just to stay alive out there, having
just come back from injury and still struggling to become match fit. El Shaarawy
was our best player, having created the best scoring opportunities for sure.
This would be a time Allegri would need to have some flexibility with his
formation, maybe try that 4-3-2-1 that worked before. But instead, he left
Pazzini to die and brought on his like sub, just like I’m sure he’s read about
in books.
Nocerino
was playing as beastly as ever, he had some shots and some attempted shots, I
have to think he would have found a way to score if he’d played from the
start. In the 79th, Allegri subbed Constant on for Urby, another like-for-like
that was mindboggling, considering how much hustle Urby gave tonight. Then
Cigarini earned himself a yellow for timewasting as he was being subbed off,
but somehow with the only goal of the match, I’m guessing he could have cared
less.
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| Apparently one's teammate's Sky Jousting™ doth amuse thee? |
In the 84th, Moralez sent a shot that Abbiati just tipped over, again, Abbiati really carried the defense tonight, the score is so unfair to him. Then Moralez got a yellow for timewasting on the ensuing corner, and Raimondi, not to be outdone, earned a yellow just seconds later for tussling with Abbiati in the box. In the 89th, Bonera also Robinhoed™ a shot straight into the stands. A shame, because had he scored that one, it would have doubled his career goal total. Bojan contributed with a nice shot in the 91st, too bad Consigli saved it. And just shortly thereafter, Manfredini was taken out by his own keeper, that looked like a nasty injury. But at full time, Cigarini’s goal was the only one, victory to the Goddess.
Now
for the Allegri rant that you knew was coming. Why? Just why? Two DM’s? We did
that before, it was a failure. Plus, we need to keep at least one healthy at
all times. Boateng may have been too roughed up to be able to play on Tuesday,
he shouldn’t have played today. Bonera is an epic fail, he should not start if
he is the only fit player. Antonini played better the last 30 minutes, but I
still think we can do better with our other options. We need to rotate the
squad, we need better substitutions, and we need better lineups in the first
place.
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| Will all the king's horses and all the king's men be able to save his job? |
Watching
Allegri’s lineups is like watching the story of Humpty Dumpty – when he fell,
all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put him back together
again. Allegri actually has all of the pieces of the puzzle, he just can’t put
the right pieces into the right places. It is so frustrating to watch. I would
love to see someone else take the team for a match or two and just see if our
theories as fans would hold true. He really is a decent coach, but everything
is stacked against him, and his stubbornness will likely prove to be the final
straw. With 63% possession and 17 shots, 7 of which were on goal, compared to
Atalanta’s 10 shots, 4 of which were on goal, we should have really won this
one.
So
here we sit, 3 games in, 2 losses (both at home) and a win, and we host
Anderlecht on Tuesday on the same pitch we lost at twice. Certainly these
desperate tactics and foolhardy lineups won’t hold up against them. But then we
warned ourselves this was coming. Instead of a team built around Ibra and
Thiago Silva, as promised, we have a team being built around Bonera and
Antonini instead. That is not a team that is going to win the big games, that’s
not even a team that will win against a lower table team like Atalanta. But one
reminder – last season, we started off poorly, too. So maybe there’s still
hope. It would be one thing to have been beaten by a girl, but at least we were
technically beat by a Goddess, so with a little luck and a lot
of alcohol, maybe we’ll get through this season after all.
This post inspired by the music of
Rage Against the Machine
Our next match is a
Champions League Group Stage Match
Milan vs. Anderlecht
Tuesday, September 18 • 20:45 CEST (2:45 EDT)