What's interesting, per the stats, is that possession was just 51-49 Liverpool, but shots were 20 (12 on target) v 6(2) in Liverpool's favor, forcing saves 9 v 1 for Milan. Liverpool's possession was much more effective and threatening.
It was nice. Liverpool did not have their s**T together at the start of the match and gave up 2 dangerous counters in first 4 minutes with Pulisic scoring on the second. I liked how he dribbled in at full speed in the right channel for something like 30 yds, took his look inside for potential available teammates, decided he was the best option instead of passing and buried it far post from a pretty good angle. Good pace, control, vision and finishing.
Too bad he's stuck playing in front of a relatively atrocious midfield. They just can't connect and advance the ball to the attackers in the run of play. Soft too.
It’s funny how Leao gets the attention, but Pulisic is clearly the superior player at this time. Pulisic needs help with Milan just like he needs help with the US.
Pulisic's first year at Chelsea was at least comparable to Bailey's last year, and Puli was at a bigger club. And despite injuries the following year and the manager drama he played a big role in getting them to the CL final and winning. And then tack on last year at Milan. To say Bailey has "largely" been the better club player is quite the stretch. I'd wager that most managers would take Puli over Bailey and their club resumes speak to that.
Milan will never win anything with that midfield. They were completely outclassed and bossed by Liverpool. I'm not sure how Forest beat LIverpool at Anfield. Milan need to buy a defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder in the January window. It's going to be a long season.
Bailey has never had club production on this level. 30 - Christian Pulisic's third-minute goal on Tuesday was his 30th goal contribution in all competitions for Milan (18 goals, 12 assists).No player has contributed to more goals for a Serie A team than Pulisic since he joined Milan at the start of last season. Home. pic.twitter.com/kiCHJzryFl— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) September 17, 2024
Yup the defense and midfield had no clue how to deal with the Liverpool press. It was embarrassing. Only Pulisic, Reijnders and Morata (who likely isn't 100% fit yet) have any clue what to do with the ball. RLC doesn't really work as DM or CAM. Fofana didn't shine either. Bennacer when fit would probably work well in the double pivot but who knows when that will happen. I thought Musah looked shaky against Venezia and wasn't shocked the coach didn't trust him against Liverpool. I did want to note some great 40+ yard passes from Pulisic yesterday. It's not something I had seen much of before. He keeps adding to his game. Hopefully Milan can get it together so Pulisic's good form isn't wasted. Abraham has provided a spark and it wouldn't shock me if we see Milan start with Morata at the 10 and Abraham up top potentially as soon as this weekend.
I looked it up and this stat is true. Though they're very careful with the wording there because Lautaro Martinez also has 30 goals + assists across all competitions in that same time period.
Milan could certainly use some help at CM/DM but their main issue is at CB. The way they play out of the back requires that the CBs be very precise and creative w/ their passing and none of them seem to be at an elite level... so it can work against most Serie A Teams but against better competition they often have their passes cut out. The CBs are also left on an island on counters because the FBs are often up the pitch at the same time so they need great one-v-one defenders... I thought Tomori fit that bill but he has been less than since returning from injury. And every team needs CBs that show physicality on set pieces.... what a complete break down yesterday. Bordering on the ridiculous. I think Milan has the horses to stay in the CL slots in Serie A but I would be shocked if they were within 6 points of the league leaders by the end of the season. In their current form they would be lucky to be within 10.
At least one of the set piece goals given up was due to a midfielder (Reijnders) allowing his man to walk away from him.
Weird play - it looked like he got shoulder checked off Van Dijk by Maignan. Either way, I'm not sure why Reijnders is man marking Van Dijk, who has 4 inches on him and probably 50 pounds of muscle.
Leao walks to locker room while rest of team stayed on the field to thanks the fans. Not a good look for "the star" of the team. https://www.google.com/amp/s/sempremilan.com/cm-leao-straight-dressing-room-liverpool-fans/amp
Nobody reports to someone in an advisor role, but, Zlatan sees it differently. Does Redbird know what they are getting into?