Waking up to the news that Loftus-Cheek was having emergency surgery when he was meant to have his first start since December was distressing enough. But seeing the starting lineups made me feel ill. Then we had to suffer through yet another match where we conceded goals and had to try to fight back, which was even more nauseating. We've seen this so many times before. But it ended Napoli 2, Milan 1, we dropped three more points, distancing ourselves further from Europe instead of trying to change our fate. And afterward, we found out that Conceição had to change three of his planned starting 11 at the last minute due to health issues. Every time there is the slightest glimmer of hope to cling to this season, everything that can go wrong does. I'm just sick of it all.
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| Bad luck feels bad for our season. |
After a day of bad news, it only took one minute and five seconds for things to go from bad to worse. Politano scored. 1-0 Napoli. Milan did not exactly drop their heads, but they failed to create much in the way of cohesive play after that. However, that seemed to be a first half thing, not just a conceding an early goal thing. Of course, conceding a second goal when Lukaku scored in the 19th minute did not help, either. 2-0 Napoli. And there were 70 minutes left to play.
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| An insane tackle from João Félix, also lucky he wasn't injured. |
Basically, that was the first half. Maignan made his one save of the match on a shot from Anguissa in the 22nd minute. João Félix made a tackle in the 39th minute that sent him sliding into the bench, and the replay was actually impressive that he got the ball. In the 45th, Fofana's shot was deflected over (but to be fair, he struggles to score anyway, that shot was probably already going over.)
The second half was a lot more intense, and that is because first of all, Conceição finally released the Leão, and secondly, Milan showed up to play. Napoli did not have a single shot on target in the second half. In fact, Milan took 17 shots to their eight, with four shots on target to Napoli's three. Had they played the first half remotely like they did in the second half, this match may have looked very different. Despite it being the second place team vs. the ninth place team.
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| A lot of talk about why Leão did not start, but he absolutely changed the game when he came on. |
Ten minutes after subbing Leão on for Bondo, Conceição also replaced Tammy Abraham and João Félix with Santi Gimenez and Chukwueze. Yet it was Pavlović who had Milan's first shot on target in the 64th minute, testing Meret for the first time. And a few minutes later, it seemed that the little cloud of bad luck that has been following Milan around this season had cleared: Billing fouled Theo Hernández in the box, and the referee, Sozza, immediately called for a penalty.
But Milan's little ray of light was dampened by good old fashioned team spirit. Pulisic, who was our designated penalty taker under Fonseca, handed the ball to Santi Gimenez, showing confidence in him to score the penalty and get his own confidence back. That backfired massively, though, when Meret saved the penalty. A crucial decision in hindsight, but the silver lining is that it demonstrates the team are united. Conceição explained after the match that there are three penalty kickers now, and they work it out amongst themselves as to who takes it. (So it was not a repeat of the Fiorentina debacle in anyway.)
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| Unfortunately, team unity did not pay off on this one. |
Conceição was worked up, though, as he earned himself a yellow card a couple of minutes later. We still haven't seen him sent off, which he is known for. But to be fair, Conte was shown a yellow a few minutes after that. It's difficult to begrudge passionate managers.
Pavlović had his second shot on target saved in the 79th minute. That was two of our four shots on target from our center back. Ouch. I mean, good that he was shooting on target, but with all those attacking players, we needed to do better. Immediately after this, Conceição used his final substitutions to bring on Jović and Álex Jiménez for Pulisic and Walker. He is never given credit for his subs, but they almost always make a difference, if not actually turn the match around.
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| Our star striker. |
After one of Reijnders' several wild shots in this match was sent over, Conceição's substitution paid off once again. In the 84th minute, Theo and Leão connected in their magical way, and sent it in, and Jović scored to pull one back and make it 2-1 now for Napoli. It is of note that Santi Gimenez was within inches of scoring it as well. If Jović had not scored, Santi would have. It was great to see both strikers with that killer instinct.
Speaking of Santi Gimenez, there was an incident in the 88th where Meret caught the ball, but Santi was also there, and Meret didn't hold onto the ball, and Santi's body was in front of Meret, and he used his body to clear the ball forward. I think the Napoli bench wanted a card for Santi for interfering with the keeper, but Meret failed to catch and maintain control of the ball, so I think Sozza was right to not make a call.
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| A tableau vivant starring two strikers (but it was Jović who scored the goal.) |
Álex Jiménez earned his obligatory yellow card for being spicy a foul on Ngonge in the 90th minute. He is often compared to Theo Hernández, and his discipline (or lack thereof) is definitely very similar. Although Theo did have a fantastic game both defensively and offensively this time. Jiménez was also dynamic and made a big impact on the game, though. And stoppage time consisted of last ditch attempts at another goal, with Theo and Jović both having shots go wide. In the 95th, Maignan was up past the halfway mark, pressing with the rest of the team and acting like an outfield player. We were that desperate. But the full time whistle blew, and once again, Milan were left empty handed.
Our 1,500 traveling fans actually supported the team at the beginning of the match. In fact, just ahead of kickoff, there was a somber moment when Napoli paid tribute to one of their 14 year old footballers and fans who had suddenly passed away on Wednesday. Despite all the despicable things that Napoli fans did and all the animosity they showed the season they won the Scudetto, I was proud that the Milan fans were very respectful at this heartwrenching moment.
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| Maignan has decided if Giroud can play in goal, he can play in outfield. |
Our fans have not exactly been bastions of morality this season with their incessant protests and the Curva Sud investigation and arrests, so it was a gamble. Of course, they did deteriorate into their management protest songs as the game went on. But at least they were respectful when it mattered, and for once actually supported the team for a bit. I don't remember the last time they actually did that. I'm pretty sick of all of their pointless protests, too.
It was a really rough day. The surgery for Rubes when he was just coming back from being out for three months. Then Thiaw and Leão not starting. And when the lineups came out, seeing Bondo and Fofana in the spots where just a few years ago, we had choices like Kessié, Bennacer, and Tonali... it was a reminder of what a complete failure this management is. When you're already physically ill before kickoff because of your team, how can you even enjoy the match?
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| Álex Jiménez is an exciting young prospect, but how will he thrive in this environment? |
Granted, we were the ninth place team playing away to the second place team. The result shoud not surprise anyone. But our roster and wagebill says that Milan should be at least fighting for second, if not for the Scudetto. And therein lies the problem We are a team owned by an investment fund that doesn't know or care at all about our club, run by a portfolio manager who doesn't know the first thing about football, and our technical director is a head scout who never played professional football, he doesn't know the first thing about building a team or how to run a sporting sector. And we don't even have a sporting director.
The climate around the club is so toxic, it's not a surprise the players cannot win or even perform well. Now it seems to even be making our players sick, too. It would be one thing to be in ninth place because our club, our manager, and our players had all given their best, and this was the level we were at. But management made all the wrong moves last summer, overcompensated in January, and the poor players don't know if they are coming or going... literally. Rumors of selling even our best three players this summer, with two of the three not renewed only add to our ails. I love Milan, I bleed red and black, and I will never give up on this club. But sometimes, I just get sick of it all.
Milan Primavera Lose to Lower Table Sampdoria Primavera
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| (Super) Pippo Scotti came on and got the goal, but it wasn't enough. |
To complete the Bizarro World weekend where Milan Futuro won, moving up three spots on the table, and the first team lost to solidify their midtable status, Milan Primavera also lost to solidify their sixth place status. Worse, they lost 2-1 to Sampdoria Primavera, who 19th on the table. They conceded a goal in the first half, then another just after the break. Two minutes after being subbed on, Milan Primavera's top scorer this season, Pippo Scotti, was able to pull one back for the home side. However, that was all they were able to do, and it was three points lost to allow the top five to go further out of reach and seventh place to creep up on them, now just two points behind. Brief highlights are available. They will play Cesena Primavera on Saturday.
Be sure to check out the latest Milan Obsession Podcast
Reviewed by Elaine
on
6:09 AM
Rating:
