In a must-win game, Milan played a very stale stalemate with
the 17 th place Genoa. Most will argue that we drew because we
played 65 minutes on ten men. However Milan took 17 shots with seven on goal,
and still failed to convert. So it’s not as if they didn’t have their chances.
But if we continue to play like this, our Champions League hopes will be all
but dismissed.
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| VAR strikes when you least expect it |
Fast forward to the event of the game: Leonardo
Bonucci’s sending off. In the 25th minute, as they were struggling
in the box, suddenly Rosi was on the ground, clutching his face and bleeding.
Giacomelli appeared to have not seen anything, and took his time to call for
the VAR review. This is important to note because no foul would have been called
without VAR. When the decision came to send Bonucci off with a straight red,
the first straight red given after a VAR review in Serie A, a lot of people
were shocked. No one more so than Bonucci, who contended that he was just
struggling to shake off the opposition players, of which there were two at the
time of the event. And from most of the angles, that looked to be believable.
However, from one angle, the elbow to the face looks quite
intentional and very incriminating. If the Serie A disciplinary committee
judges the foul to be “violent conduct,” then Bonucci will be banned for two
matches, including our match with his former club on Saturday. They could even
give him a three match suspension if they chose to. But from what I saw, it
would be most fair to give him one match, and I don’t say that just as a Milan
fan. Montella, who almost never talks about the refs, pointed out that there
were penalties that should have been awarded after both Kalinic and Bonaventura
were fouled. But those infractions were not subject to VAR review, and thus
went unpunished. VAR is not being used consistently. And if it were, the games
would be stopping a lot more frequently, and I don’t know anyone who wants to
see that. But thanks to Rosi getting bloodied to inspire the VAR review, our
captain was dismissed.
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| His grinta will be missing if his injury is serious |
The rest of the match was largely unremarkable, save for
Milan being on ten men. Which was almost better in some ways. Montella had
lined up a 3-4-2-1 which wasn’t working on eleven men, and it seemed that there
was a slight improvement initially on ten men. Montella wasa forced into using
two subs early because of Bonucci’s red and a heartbreaking potential injury to
Bonaventura. So his final sub was Cutrone, who brought a few sparks to the
pitch, but not enough of anything to get a goal.
Far more disconcerting than the red card or the
inconsistency of VAR was Montella’s cluelessness tactically. He has been
dropping massive red flags that he has no idea what he’s doing, while still
being cocky and not taking responsibility for anything. Not a good combination.
Meanwhile, management continue to drop hints that he’s got to figure things out
because he is running out of time. And yet after each match, they confirm him.
Sound familiar? Yeah, I don’t want to go down that road again. Losing morale is
much easier than finding it, and we’ve already lost enough to seriously damage
our chance at a top four spot. Regardless of positive words from management, it
seems like sooner or later, Montella will be dismissed.
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| It's a good thing there's no VAR for his job |
A match on ten men, our captain sent off, and our coach
flailing like a fly in a bowl of hot soup… and yet if the players had simply
been more clinical, this would be a very different conversation. So despite the
VAR, the foul, and the manager under fire, this team still wouldn’t have won
this one. They simply don’t have what it takes right now mentally or
tactically. So Montella needs to sort out his job and quickly, lest he should
be dismissed.
This post inspired by the music of the
Sex Pistols
Our next match is
Serie A Week 10
Chievo vs. Milan
Wednesday, October
25 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)