Milan fans have suffered a lot of disappointment this season, and been angry when the team lost or dropped points when they should not have. However, despite winning their last four Champions League matches, so many fans have actually been almost more angry about the performance when Milan won the last two. This 2-1 win over Crvena zvezda was perhaps unnecessarily difficult, even Savićević, who played for both teams during his career, pointed out how much stronger this Milan team is than this Red Star team. A subpar performance does not bother me as much as long as we get the result, although it is unfortunate when we also have new injuries. But when the performance was impacted by the poor managing skills of Fonseca, and then he takes zero accountability and he lashes out and blames someone else, then I am not okay with it at all. And this postmatch press conference was his worst ever, leaving fans everywhere to rage against the win.
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| This should have been a win to celebrate. |
It was clear right away that this match was not going to be easy. Red Star's players were very physical, and referee Gil Monzano was letting everything, even dangerous fouls go. But that also included a reasonably hard foul from Gabbia on Milson early on in the 5th minute, which no card was given for. Still, both teams also created chances early on. Leão probably had the best chance in the 14th minute, when he created a 1v1 with Guteša, but the goalkeeper managed to get his leg out to save it.
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| Granted, our players left with muscle injuries, but the referee did nothing to protect anyone. |
However, just a few minutes later, Maksimović hit the crossbar at the other end, and luckily Maignan was able to save the rebound. But then Milan's injury scares began. Musah went down in the 25th, and it looked like he might not be able to continue. But a minute later, Loftus-Cheek left the pitch, also injured, and Chukwueze had to quickly prepare to come on and replace him. So, after some treatment, Musah stayed, but then Morata went down injured, and in the 29th, Tammy Abraham replaced him. An absolutely insane turn of events.
But then the game got spicy again. Almost immediately, Abraham had a header that was deflected wide by Spajić. Elšnik had a nasty little tackle on Reijnders, still no card from Gil Manzano. But just a minute later, he whipped out cards for both our ex, Krunić, apparently for kicking the ball after the whistle, and for Musah, apparently for dissent. Such bizarre reffing, allowing players to hack each other down, but the second they show what he apparently felt was the slightest disrespect toward him, break out the cards. And now all Krunić can say is that he returned to Milan, and all he got was this lousy yellow card.
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| Krunić was greeted warmly by his former teammates after the match, you love to see it. |
That was broken up by some pure magic, however... Fofana sent the perfect long ball forward for Leão, who made the run and surfed his way past everyone, controlled the ball with a sublime touch, and sent it into the back of the net with power and precision. 1-0 Milan, and a win for football fans everywhere. That alone was worthy of him being awarded his seventh all-time Champions League Player of the Match trophy at the end of this one.
In the 45th minute, there were two balls on the pitch, and Theo Hernández, perhaps absentmindedly, kicked one, and was thus shown a yellow card. Gabbia had a nice clearance, then at the other end, Theo had a nice shot, but it was deflected. Abraham also had a shot saved, and Fofana had a header saved before the whistle blew for halftime. In the end, Milan would take a total of 20 shots all night, with ten on target, forcing Guteša into eight saves. Eight saves in the Champions League against a team like Milan, that is no joke. Which is another reason I don't understand Fonseca's postmatch meltdown.
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| Why we watch football. |
Speaking of saves, Maignan made a few as well, including one on Elšnik after Silas' shot had gone wide. Musah was down in the box in the 59th, and VAR reviewed it, but no penalty was given for Elšnik's intervention. Again with the referee, I think Crvena zvezda were incredibly lucky there. Radonjić subbed on and had a shot saved, but five minutes later, he sent a rocket past Maignan to equalize. 1-1 all.
Theo Hernández, who has since been demonized in the media as one of the players Fonseca was speaking of, was shown helping a Red Star player with cramps stretch in the 69th minute, his sportsmanship demonstrating far more class than Fonseca will ever have. Thiaw had a header wide in the 73rd, and then Ivanović got into a 1v1, but luckily, his effort went wide. Shortly after that play, Gil Manzano showed a yellow card to Tomori on the sideline, who wasn't even playing, apparently for something he said, and who will now be suspended for our next Champions League match.
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| Two of the players Fonseca reportedly met with this week, yet teammates defend them. Again. Still. |
In the 81st minute, after all the fouls and potential penalties, if finally happened: the referee finally awarded Djiga a yellow card for an actual foul on Leão. His fourth card of the match, first card for actual physical contact. Then another miracle happened: Fonseca finally made another substitution. Two, actually. I get that he was forced into two substitutions early on, but this is a pattern for him, and he still only used four of his five subs, which was absurd, particularly considering the early subs.
But Camarda replaced Musah, who probably needed to be subbed off about 50 minutes earlier, then Emerson Royal replaced Calabria. And there is where the drama happened. Calabria walked right past Fonseca, did not acknowledge him, and Fonseca, needing to not be publicly spurned (again,) went after him to try to get the handshake, but still got the cold shoulder from his captain, whom he has repeatedly benched since the Lazio match (injuries not included,) and so he gave him a clearly unwelcome pat on the back.
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| Our captain, whom Fonseca has treated horribly this year. |
Calabria is also one of the players reported to be on Fonseca's "list" of players he ranted about postmatch, and for me personally, it was this spurned interaction that likely set him off, as the last truly unhinged postmatch rant was after his players willfully ignored him during the Fiorentina match. However, Calabria took to Instagram to set the record straight, something he pointed out that he should have done long ago, insisting that he and all his teammates are professionals and give 100% every day. Maignan also posted support for Theo and Calabria on Instagram, so it seems that Fonseca clearly is the douchebag he has painted himself to be.
Back to the match, it was the subs, the ones Fonseca did not trust to start, who made an impact. Especially Camarda, whose header in the 87th was rebounded out by the keeper, but then poached and scored by Tammy Abraham. 2-1 Milan. UEFA has officially given Camarda the assist for this, and I am not complaining. Going back to form, Gil Manzano showed Red Star's manager Milojević and possibly his assistant yellow cards for dissent in the 89th minute, it was unclear exactly who or how many cards. Then Camarda, hell bent on getting that first goal for the first team, had another header that was saved in the 91st minute. No goal yet, but he did get the assist, and Milan still got the win.
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| Officially an assist, as per UEFA. Camarda on the books. |
Now on to Fonseca's delusional and freakishly calm tirade against his players. After a win. Their fourth win in a row in the Champions League, which he does not deserve credit for. Rather than say positive things about his team, other than a couple of players, he said he was "sad," because "feeling the players are not giving their all is the worst sensation a coach can get." I can think of a number of other sensations that are worse, and I have dreams of having him feel them, but that is beside the point here.
Then he went on to say, "I know that I work every day to give my all, I don't know that everyone in our squad can say this." What a completely horrific thing for a manager to say. And he wasn't forced to wear those hideous kits with the mint green and lavender on charcoal grey, either. Did he ever consider how they looked might affect how they played? Even if he thought that they were not all giving 100%, some things are better not said in the media, who can devour our players' souls without his help. But he did not stop there. He went on and said, "If I need to bring the boys from the Primavera or Milan Futuro, I will do it."
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| Fonseca was happy with Abraham, whom he did not trust enough to start. |
Now please forget the blood rushing to the other part of your body when you think of young players getting playing time – this is not the way to do it. They are not pawns for him to use in his demented chess match against his own players. Furthermore, Milan Futuro have mentality problems of their own, they sit in 18th place in Serie C, and the Primavera were knocked out of the UEFA Youth League after a defeat to Red Star's U19 team this same day, so what he is saying (and doing) here is absolute madness.
Ibrahimović promised that Milan Futuro would be all about protecting the young players and their development, and here is this sadistic manager using them for all the wrong reasons, getting their hopes up, only to send them back to their team when he thinks he's made his point. Which means we will likely drop points again, like we did with Lazio and Napoli, when he tried benching players to make a point before. He's done this. It didn't work. He even admitted it was "probably not the right approach." But here he is doing it again, after a win.
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| These are our players, teammates, they work together and give 100% every day. |
Which brings me to the most important point about this delusional man. He is so hell-bent on imposing his ideas, his football, making every single player bend the knee to him in the exact way he wants them to, that he is willing to sacrifice results. He takes zero accountability. Ahead of the matches, he complains about how hard his job is, how much he hates Serie A and the way teams defend, and afterward, he blames his players, the referees, anyone and everyone but himself.
He claims to give 100% every day, but the players are the ones who answer to the fans. On the pitch, after the matches, and every single day on social media. Does he honestly think they want to fail? They are not the ones asking to be benched. They are not the ones with completely unrealistic expectations, bizarre lineups, substitutions, tactics, and formations. It is not their fault that he plays them so much that all his favorites are now getting injured. He was specifically brought in to mitigate the injury issue. And they are not the ones responsible for player motivation, either. That's his job, too. And in the last week, Fonseca has been publicly corrected by the club president, Scaroni, Ibrahimović, senior advisor to Milan, and now his own captain. Kind of seems like it might be him.
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| Fonseca is killing this vibe. |
I know I am not the only one completely raging mad at this man for his continued self-importance and abuse of our players. Even the media were completely in shock that he would say these things, and they are used to trashing our players 24/7. This wasn't the best game ever, but it was not as bad as he made it seem. I actually think Fonseca may have some kind of mental health issues, and the club need to keep closer tabs on him, because this is a €562 million squad, and that is a huge asset for them to be putting in the hands of such a loose cannon. What a horrific way to be celebrating Milan's 125th anniversary this week, with this absolute charlatan running around trashing our players in the media like this. This is the second Champions League win in a row that fans were actually upset after winning, this time because our insane manager decided to rage against the win.
Milan Primavera Out of UEFA Youth League after 3-1 Loss to Crvena zvezda U19
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| Not how they wanted it to end. I blame the kits. |
Wednesday was an unlucky day for Guidi's U19 boys, as a 3-1 home loss to Crvena zvezda U19 saw last year's UEFA League finalists exit in the league phase after winning just one of their six matches. Red Star U-19 were already eliminated going into this match, but despite several excellent chances for Milan in the first half, the visitors scored a lucky goal at the end of the half. Milan Primavera then conceded a penalty, then another goal soon thereafter, going down 3-0 to the Serbian side. As the highlights show, Mancioppi's late goal for Milan was of little consolation against 10-man Crvena zvezda, and to add insult to injury, Milan's Perera was sent off late in the match as well. Definitely not the result they were looking for in this match, let alone in the UEFA Youth League. Now they will focus on the Coppa Italia and the Campionato Primavera 1 league.
This post inspired by the music of Rage Against the Machine