The result of this match was not really a surprise to those who have been paying attention. After all, the Christmas massacre happened away to Atalanta in 2019, with La Penna the referee. Last December, Milan lost 3-2 at the Gewiss, La Penna was the referee. So in losing 2-1 away to Atalanta on Friday with La Penna as the referee, the only mystery was what the scoreline would be and who would score. Our destiny was predetermined. That De Ketelaere would score the opener was really kind of predictable, too, actually. It was all a part of Milan's December Curse in Bergamo.
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| I do believe in curses after three losses with the same ref in the same stadium, always in December. |
If you turned on the match from the first minute, you may have still had hope, as Pulisic took a shot in the first minute that forced Carnesecchi into immediate action. But it only took until the 12th minute for destiny to arrive in the form of a De Ketelaere goal. From a set piece, of course. With controversy for extra spice. 1-0 Atalanta.
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| Revenge is 1-0, foul or no foul. |
Some fans are still upset over the non-call of a foul on Theo here. De Ketelaere definitely seemed to climb on Theo to get to the ball and head it in. However, VAR did review the play, and did not find enough evidence to overturn La Penna's call. Milan-friendly ex-referees say it was a foul. Neutral ex-referees and pundits say it was not. For me, it was more of a metaphor for what is happening in real life, as De Ketelaers is living his best life, Atalanta jumped into first place in the league with this win, and Milan and poor Theo are mired in controversy and inconsistent results. Either way, like it or not, the goal stood.
Ten minutes later, though, Morata equalized on a counter attack that started with the down-trodden Theo, who connected with Leão, who sent the perfect cross into our Spanish striker. 1-1 all. Atalanta took this personally, and had several attempts. Less than 15 minutes later, though, Pulisic was down and needed treatment. He ended up being subbed off, with Loftus-Cheek coming in to replace him.
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| Scoring without controversy, from the run of play. |
I love Loftus-Cheek, he is a monster of a midfielder, and clearly, Fonseca loves him, too. But so far, he has not been able to deliver in this system like he did last year with his ten goal debut season. And it is very, very strange to see a player like Pulisic be replaced by a player like Loftus-Cheek, because they really couldn't be more different. In fact, there really isn't a place for him in this system, yet Fonseca plays him in just about every single match. And I feel for Rubes, because he is the odd man out, and also a representation of how Fonseca keeps trying to force himself and his ideas on this team instead of utilizing the talent he has.
Lookman was obsessed with getting the ball past Maignan, but one of his first efforts, just before halftime, was just wide. In stoppage time, Hien shoved Leão, which, for most referees, would have been a yellow card. But remember, this is our curse, and La Penna is part of it. So he just broke out his mom voice and gave Hien a little lecture instead.
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| Loftus-Cheek is a midfield monster, but he doesn't really fit in Fonseca's system. |
After halftime, Lookman's drive to score seemed like it would be successful, but for Thiaw's excellent block. Amidst all the controversy about Milan not being able to defend this season, Fonseca's center back pairing randomizer has settled on Gabbia and Thiaw as his best options to start, and it is good to see both young defenders step up to the task.
Much of the second half was the kind of battle that gives Milan fans hypertension, and it wasn't exactly pretty for Atalanta fans, either, but neither side could get the winner. Gasperini wasn't even on the bench, but his assistant, Gritti, made much better substitutions than Fonseca. When matches get this tense, he has substitution amnesia. Obviously, he had some substitution issues at Roma that cost the team points, so maybe it's more anxiety, but either way, after the forced Pulisic substitution, he did not make another substitution until the 78th minute, bringing Tammy Abraham on for Morata.
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| Losing Pulisic was not great, either. |
That did seem to impact the game somehow, but not for our good. Lookman had yet another shot saved, then first Loftus-Cheek was down for treatment, and then Maignan, always a very worrying sight. In the 86th minute, Lookman's determination was getting more dangerous, forcing Maignan into another big save, pushing it over the bar. But a minute later, from a corner kick, of course, Lookman finally headed it past Maignan. 2-1 Atalanta.
Literally in the 90th minute, Fonseca apparently remembered he still had substitutions left, so he brought on Chukwueze to replace Musah, I'm not sure what miracle he was expecting there in stoppage time. An he still only used three of his five subs. Our main man, Mike, still came up big with another huge save (his sixth on the night,) against Retegui, who is currently the league leader in scoring, with 12 goals. That closed out the match/torture session for Milan fans.
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| This would have been another massacre without Maignan. |
Or at least it should have been the end of our torture. We still had to sit through Fonseca's gripe session, in which he blamed the referee for everything going wrong in his life, and is now under official investigation and will likely have to pay a fine or serve a ban for what he said. Even Morata had the class to say, "We can't look at the referee or these things, because we did not deserve the victory today." Fonseca is a foreign manager, but seems to be fitting right into Italy, because just like the racists come out in full force there for the "No to Racism" campaigns, he did this during a weekend when referees were wearing black marks on their cheeks to raise awareness about abuse of referees. He just gets classier all the time.
I do appreciate that Serie A uses red and black marks on people's faces to bring awareness of abuse, it's so appropriate. It's like they see us. It's Milan's 125th anniversary this month, but we are being coach by this charlatan, who took our second place team down to seventh place in Serie A (so far.) He is also now likely to be banned for their big party, because instead of hiring a real manager, they spent all the money on marketing the new commemorative kits and their fancy party. It's perfect.
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| Someone is getting coal in his stocking, and it's not Leão or the fourth official. |
This match took place on Saint Nicholas Day, and ahead of the match, I begged for the intervention of the generous saint to help us break this curse. But obviously, Atalanta are known as La Dea, or "The Goddess," so a mere saint simply did not have enough power to intercede on our behalf. Which is also so representative of this management, who took a winning team built on one 5-0 Christmas massacre, and are so football ignorant and impotent that they turned it into it into our December curse in Bergamo.
Milan Primavera Get Back to Winning Ways with a 3-2 Win over Sampdoria
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| Three goals, three points. They're back. |
After a couple of stumbles in the league, Guidi's boys worked hard for the 3-2 win away to Sampdoria on Saturday. Sala opened up the scoring in the 25th minute in an otherwise quiet half. But Sampdoria equalized in just the 47th minute. Maximilian Ibrahimović pulled Milan back into the lead with his goal in the 50th, then Milan's halftime sub, Di Siena, scored a third in the 60th minute for safety. Which was good, because Sampdoria did get one more goal in the 80th. You can check out some brief highlights here. Up next, the U19 boys will face Red Star in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday.
Milan Futuro Take All Three Points at Home vs. Gubbio
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| Celebrating Chaka Traorè's goal, which was enough for 3 points. |
After so many disappointments, Bonera's side finally got their third win in the league out of 18 matches this season with a 1-0 win over Gubbio at home. And yet Bonera was not even on the bench. Coincidence? Maybe not. Chaka Traoré put Futuro up in just the 23rd minute. After halftime, Captain Bartesaghi hit the crossbar, it bounced down, but was cleared away. Then Milan were awarded a penalty, but Camarda's penalty was saved. There were a few chances for the visitors, but Milan Futuro finally got a win again. Highlights are available on Serie C's YouTube Channel. After playing every three or four days for a few weeks, they will be able to rest until Sunday, when they are away to Vis Pesaro, when Bonera will be back.
When it comes to the Milan Futuro project, there are some warning signs not to be missed. Ibrahimović hired his friend, Jovan Kirovski, from the L.A. Galaxy in the MLS here in the U.S. Their win this weekend of the MLS Cup was a reminder that during Kirovski's time at that club, they won that title only once, the year after he was hired. After that, despite him signing strong players for that league, including superstars such as Ibrahimović, our former midfielder Nigel de Jong, Steven Gerrard, and more, the Galaxy still did not win another title while he was in charge.
That is the level of success Ibrahimović brought to Milan Futuro. And I don't think it will be changing anytime soon, either. Because one of the things that made Milan fans love Ibrahimović so much was his loyalty. And that was a good thing in bringing him back to Milan, helping us win the Scudetto, and I guess in having him as a consultant for management now. Only I think it is going to backfire on us know, because he is not going to fire his friends, he is very loyal to the people in his life. Which is why Kirovski will stay even if Futuro are relegated, and Bonera isn't going anywhere, either, despite it becoming more and more obvious that he is not the right manager for this team. But hey, 18th place after 18 rounds... that's something, right?
This post inspired by the music of The Cure's "Lullaby"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
11:59 PM
Rating:
