Milan 1, Lazio 1: More of the Same

In a match where we were playing at home to a team ravaged by injuries and with Matri as a starter, I kind of expected more. And while it seemed that Milan were a bit unlucky at times, with 20 shots and only four on target, I think the word is actually clinical, not luck. While credit must be given to Lazio, not only for scoring first, but for fighting for 90 minutes, Milan really just gave us more of the same.

Galliani seems to be eternally caught with all of us in Edvard Munch's "The Scream"

If Milan’s problems in recent years are truly psychological, then perhaps Berlusconi should designate some of that imaginary money he thinks he’s getting from investors to the therapy bills of millions of fans worldwide who have been traumatized by Milan’s psychological problem. Or better yet, maybe he could look at how he is the primary source of Milan’s psychological problem. With comments before and after the match about how he is not convinced by Mihajlovic, how are the players supposed to be convinced?

Milan were a bit timid in the early minutes, or maybe Lazio were more fierce, depending on which way you look at it. And it proved costly in the 9th minute when Parolo scored, 1-0 Lazio. But at least Milan reacted, with Bacca equalizing just 15 minutes later to make it 1-1 all. After that, it seemed to be Bonaventura’s unlucky day, I believe he hit the woodwork at least twice throughout the match, with tons of other chances.

Chewie the equalizer

Tagliavento seemed to think that the way to not become the focal point of the match was to not give out cards, so he waited until the 61st to give out the first one to Lulic, despite many, many other missed opportunities. But he overestimated Lulic, and was forced to give him a second yellow and send him off in the 84th. He also gave one to Biglia in the 72nd, and then one to Abate in the 76th. But not one for dangerous play in the 63rd when Montolivo was cleated on the knee after a high kick, for instance. And he missed calls like Zapata’s handball in the box in the dying minutes, too. At some point, maybe Tagliavento will learn that the way to not become the focal point is to properly officiate, thus letting the game be the focal point. Well maybe he’ll learn.

Mr. Unlucky

But Tagliavento was not the only one with missed opportunities this match. Not only did Milan take 20 shots but only score once, we had 12 corners, too. Scoring from corners has been our specialty this season, yet we were not able to capitalize on any of these opportunities. So we saw a number of players leave their hearts on the pitch and run for 90 minutes, while others just gave us more of the same. This match should have been ours to lose, so I suppose we should be grateful for the point. But it’s heartbreaking to know that if a coach is judged by his results, there are still too many players who don’t back up their sentiment that they are behind Mihajlovic 100%. And until every player can show that in each and every game, we stand to lose a great coach. Then we’ll start the rebuilding process over yet again, and then we’ll have… more of the same.

This post inspired by the music of Savages’ “The Answer”