Milan have always taken the saying, "You are your own worst enemy" far too literally. In a situation where they held their Champions League Round of 16 qualification in their hands, they were the ones who would have to give up their direct qualification spot. Not helpful that the match was away, in a hostile stadium. Or that Milan's own fans were protesting (again), so they were without support. Not helpful that there were injuries and suspensions that impacted the starting eleven and depth as well. But without crucial errors, Milan's quality should have still helped them see this one through. It was the perfect recipe for Milan to self-destruct, so Dinamo Zagreb won 2-1 and now Milan will have to go into the playoffs to hope for the Round of 16.
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| Even the hopes and dreams of a starting 11 can still self-destruct. |
The match kicked off in the Maksimir Stadium, and with 18,856 in attendance, only about 250 were Milan fans. So, Milan players were greeted with a constant barrage of chants from Dinamo supporters with no reprieve and no audible support from their own fans. No surprise, then that Dinamo Zagreb players started out with more energy and creating more chances in the first half. Disaster struck when, in just the 19th minute, Gabbia lost his footing, and Baturina took full advantage of it, racing in on goal and beating Maignan. 1-0 Dinamo Zagreb.
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| Leão's face was all of our reactions to the crazy errors this team made. |
It should be mentioned that the pitch was very poor and that Letexier was very inconsistent in his calls. Conceição made a quick reference in his postmatch comments, saying "I didn't talk about this, the pitch or the refereeing, which is not at Champions League level." Perhaps that is why Pulisic got so frustrated in the 26th minute when he was whistled for a foul, so he complained and received the first yellow card of the match for dissent.
The frustration boiled over five minutes later. First, Morata fouled Torrente, who was down in considerable pain. But Musah, somehow thinking he was faking it or something, was pulling on the player to get up as if his life depended on it or something, I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. So Mišić came over and defended his teammate, getting in Musah's face (as any self-respecting teammate would have,) and both ended up getting yellow cards.
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| Musah was actually having a decent night technically, but mentally completely lost it. |
Clearly, Letexier did not have control of the match. But also, US Men's National Team fans are always bragging about how their players can take anything "because they've played in CONCACAF." As an American, I'm so embarrassed by these claims. In this match, it was specifically our two American players who couldn't handle the pressure of a real match with actual hostile atmosphere and both got ridiculous yellow cards, both within the first 30 minutes. Sure, Pulisic pulled it together, but there is a reason I don't support the USMNT, and the clueless fans are a big part of it.
As mentioned, Letexier was very poor. In the 34th minute, Pavlović straight up elbowed Kulenović in the back, and there was no card, not even a whistle. Same minute, though he did hand out a proper yellow to Pjaca for a foul on Tomori. So inconsistent. Three minutes later, he showed Musah his second yellow, so sent him off with a red card, after fouling Luka Stojkavić just outside of the box. If Musah had not been carded for the foul, his reaction to the call would have earned him the card anyway. I don't know what caused Musah to lose his mind like that.
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| I would pay good money to know what Maignan said to get carded. |
Maignan also received a yellow card here, Letexier's sixth in 40 minutes, not sure if Maignan broke out some choice French words for Monsieur Letexier or what, but things were very heated. And it was strange, too, because Letexier let all the players talk to him throughout the match on every call. Maybe he was lonely, but most refs these days are pretty strict about only the captains speaking to them. Musah refused to leave, Letexier forcefully pointed toward the tunnel for him multiple times, then Maignan had to get involved before he finally left the pitch. The good news was that the ensuing free kick from Dinamo was poor and easily blocked.
After struggling for much of the first half, Conceição made two substitutions at halftime. Terracciano replaced Gabbia and Chukwueze replaced Morata. Unlike Fonseca's subs, which always seemed desperate and reactive, if they came at all, Conceição's subs always seem strategic, and make sense somehow, even if they are not the ones you might have come up with on your own. And whether it was the subs or what was I'm sure a "calm chat" in the dressing room at halftime, the second half was definitely much, much better, despite being on ten men.
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| Morata has given this team a lot more than just the 6 goals, far more than he is given credit for. |
Unfortunately, Dinamo were also heartened by the fact that we were on ten men. In the 49th minute, Luka Stojkavić scored a goal that luckily was disallowed for a handball after a VAR review. After that close call, Pulisic decided enough was enough. Tomori passed the ball forward, and as Pulisic is wont to do, he showed his quality and sent the ball screaming between Dinamo's defense and beyond Nevestić into the back of the net for the equalizer. 1-1 all. He didn't celebrate much, probably because there was no one to celebrate with. The cameras panned to the Milan section, and there were literally fewer people than at a high school pep rally cheering for this elite club in the Champions League. So embarrassing and pathetic.
I don't know how Milan fans online can criticize the team for having less energy or determination when not only did they have virtually no support, they were constantly inundated by the incessant singing of Dinamo's supporters. No surprise, then, in the 56th minute, that Kulenović scored a goal, which was also mercifully disallowed, as Pierre-Gabriel was offside. But in the 60th minute, Pjaca scored a goal that did stand to make it 2-1 for Dinamo. Milan players were unable to defend for whatever reason, and now Dinamo Zagreb were winning again.
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| Pulisic scoring when we were on ten men was not given nearly enough praise. |
Two minutes later, Leão tried once again to make a difference, forcing Nevistić to foul him, and earning a penalty for Milan in the process. However, the play was reviewed by VAR, and it was determined that Leão's trailing arm elbowed Mmaee in the jaw/face. So the penalty was revoked, the card for Nevistić rescinded, and Milan were once again left on ten men to try to create something else. Which they did, actually. Milan created a couple of more shots than Dinamo, despite being down a man for 50 minutes, and had the same number of shots on goal – five. That demonstrates the quality, even with so much criticism for a poor performance.
But it still wasn't enough. Conceição made two more strategic changes in the 82nd minute, bringing on Okafor for Leão and Tammy Abraham for Reijnders. No one can say that he does not take risks, this was an all-out tactical attacking blitz, even being a man down. But not even Pavlović's massive grinta and last minute header could salvage this one. At the final whistle, Milan had lost to a team they could have definitely defeated without the huge errors. It was definitely a rough night.
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| Loved this for them. |
And while there is plenty to say about the pitch, which really was terrible, and may be at fault for Gabbia ending up with a new injury, there is even more to say about Letexier. The French referee allowed play to continue when there were bodies strewn all over the pitch, instead giving the majority of his cards for dissent or timewasting, while the players caused serious bodily harm to one another under the guise of football. This is a pet peeve of mine, because while referees can definitely be guilty of too many stops, the rules exist to protect players from injury. As a Milan fan, injury is a trigger word that can cause an actual physical response due to so much repeated trauma over the years with this club.
The media and plenty of fans have imploded about this one single performance, and it's not like Conceição had many kind things to say, either, even if at least he took responsibility for it. The loss also seems to have triggered a transfer market reaction from our completely inept management, who have done very little this window up to this point. Unfortunately, they also seem to think that managing the team with the second most Champions League trophies is some kind of video game, where you just switch players in and out with a click.
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| Sure, there was plenty to be disappointed about. But what happened to lifting heads and focusing on the next match? |
They have no concept of the idea that building a successful team takes planning, patience, and that players need time to gel. They have sent away so many members of our Scudetto-winning squad away, mostly for free or very minimal compensation. And they have replaced them with players that cost a lot more, but have a lot lower resale value. They hired a charlatan for a manager last summer, and wasted seven months with him, too.
There is a reason that scouts and investment bankers who never played football don't make good technical directors and CEOs. The fact that Milan pay their Board of Directors the most of any management in Serie A does not sit well with fans, either. Milan still have a chance for the Round of 16, but Dinamo Zagreb are out, in spite of their win. Milan will find out whether they face Feyenoord or Juventus during the draw for the Champions League Playoff Round, which will happen on Friday at 12:00 CET. Milan will have to fit in two more matches into their already overcommitted match fixture list, but there have certainly been worse things that have happened this season. And I'm sure there will be many more, too. But the overreaction to this one poor performance is simply disproportionate.
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| When there are critical errors made, as a team, you shake it off and move on. |
The damage to morale, especially based on the manager's and club's reaction to one bad night may be more difficult to repair. We will have to see what they have done to this squad when the transfer window closes on Monday. Making so many last minute changes the weekend of the Derby is just blasphemous, especially with the current injury concerns. But hey, at least the Milan Clubs issued a statement that they actually will finally be supporting their team again on Sunday for the Derby. Who knew that we should be grateful for fans actually being fans? Yet those are the kinds of issues Milan has when the entire club decides to self-destruct.
This post inspired by the music of NIN's "Mr. Self Destruct"
Serie C Week 25
Reviewed by Elaine
on
11:50 PM
Rating:
