Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Talk A.C Milan Weekly
Davy & Chin Analyze AC Milan's Season Opener: Optimism Amidst Defensive Flaws
Join David and Chin as they explore the Rossoneri 24/25 season opener against Torino. We discuss the mixed feelings following their 2-2 draw against Torino in the season opener. While old habits die hard and some lineup decisions were questionable, there's an undeniable optimism among fans and hosts about the season ahead.
Is Milan's defense their Achilles' heel? We scrutinize defensive challenges, particularly Duván Zapata's uncanny ability to score against Milan and delve into Malik Thiaw's performance and depth concerns. With new coach Fonseca at the helm, we discuss the team's lack of a distinctive playing style, Rafael's increased shooting efforts, and Chukwu's disappointing start. Important lineup changes, like finding a reliable left-back if Theo is unfit, are also on the table.
Balancing the midfield remains a puzzle for Milan. Focusing on Ruben Loftus-Cheek's limitations and potential solutions, we dissect the need for a cohesive mix of players to provide defensive stability while maintaining fluidity in attack. The potential impact of new signing Fofana, along with the roles of Yunus Musah, Ismaël Bennacer, and Christian Pulisic, is under the spotlight. Wrapping up, we also consider striker options and player assessments for upcoming games, highlighting standout performers and areas needing improvement. Tune in for an in-depth analysis that leaves no stone unturned in Milan's quest for glory.
The Rossoneri Renaissance is complete After 11 years. Once again, milan are the champions of Italy. It's they who wear the crown for the 2021-22 season. Hello everyone, this is David and Chin. Talk Milan. We are back again, chin. What's up, man? Welcome back, bro. Hello Davin, how are you? Oh well, it depends. How am I based on what happened over the weekend, or like, how am I in general?
Speaker 2:No, how are you in general? We'll get to what happened over the weekend. Oh well it was good.
Speaker 1:It was good, it was good.
Speaker 2:It wasn't a bad weekend in general, to be honest for you personally or for Milan, which?
Speaker 1:one overall for myself and Milan. Basically, to be honest, because I know it was. It could have been worse. I mean, some people get beaten 3-0 over the weekend, but I don't want to some people get spanked over the weekend, so it depends.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it was a good weekend in general, to be honest, for me, but for Milan, obviously there was a lot of shocking things that happened, because obviously we're going to do this on Tuesday, but on Saturday Milan had their first game of the season against Torino and we drew 2-2. We came back from 2-0 down basically to come and rescue a point in that game and it's not the kind of start that everybody dreamed of. To be honest, chin, how do you feel?
Speaker 2:Honestly speaking, I was a little disappointed with the first half of the game. We should have seen this coming with the starting lineup, right, but you know, old habits die slow, I guess, so it takes time to get out. Because, yeah, the Milan that played the first half was basically the Milan from last season. Yeah, pretty much yeah, so yeah, and then also some of the, you know, starting line-up decisions were suspicious. That being said, you know, the game progressed. Milan again.
Speaker 2:Am I shocked, really, that Milan considered two goals against a team that has Duván Zapata? Not really, because as long as Zapata plays, he's always going to somehow find a way to score a goal against AC Milan, right, yeah, but you know, during the preview we talked about, for me I was worried about the defense, right, and you saw last weekend why that's the case. We're talking about Malik Teo, the case. We're talking about malik tell. Okay, we're talking about, well, we have pavlovich, but then that's it. You're going to have pavlovich and what's it called tomorrow. So whenever you play malik tell, you're allowed to, basically, he's allowed to put in the performance he put in last weekend and you're okay with that. I feel like, before you get to malik, tears of this world, you must have run out of options, but at this point he's basically like almost competing for a starting position with whosoever those people are.
Speaker 2:I don't know if that makes any sense, yeah, but that, to me, tells me that we don't have that depth. So it showed right, we were not very good defensively. Uh, part of it, obviously, is also what you do with alexis salamacas, but it wasn't all his fault. Um, also we, we were just. Overall, we weren't that good until all the changes started happening, and then Milan picked it up, to be honest. So was I disappointed? Yes. Was I happy at the end that we were able to find two goals very late? Yes, but you know, yeah, it also helps that Milan drew.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, I agree with you, I agree with you, I agree with you. I think, to be honest, we also need to put into perspective that this is the first game of the season, right? So, like, a lot of teams are literally struggling in the first game of the season, not just Milan safe, like, look at the league in general, again, the city rivals like Inter, like Drew, napoli lost, like you know, napoli lost so many things happened over the weekend. So, honestly, this is the first game of the season. I think we're just so used to maybe Fonseca being winning for the past, like, since he started, he's really been winning. He won the three friendlies in the US and the team has been playing well.
Speaker 1:The only difference is, again, when you get to the league proper, there's always going to be different energy and different opponent, and again, everybody wants to win. This is the first one of the season. So to me, honestly, I think it's just, it's a test that it's good that we actually got humbled, because again, I feel like we're is up too high, like we need to come down back to the earth and realize that this is a new team, this is a new coach, and again, everybody, like our key players, like Marata, for example, like these players are still coming in, like you know. So the team is all really shaped and ready to get going To me it be honest, the only thing that worried me wasn't really the result.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's forget the result. It was just the fact that, you know, the style of play was not really. I didn't see anything that said this is a fonseca team, right. It felt, to be honest, like I was watching milan from last year. So that was my worry. And then the only thing that made me feel comfortable was okay, well, you know what, like maybe to your point, when everybody comes back and they're gelling, maybe we can see some of that stuff right now. Honestly, even though Rafael missed a couple of chances, one thing I did notice was he was shooting more. Like that's not something he did last year, he was the cutting in. Shooting more.
Speaker 2:Chukwu was a huge disappointment, but again, like to your point, it's the first game of the season, but I just, I was just overall worried with the passiveness, the lack of aggression, the you know, even pressing. I could see the person was there's not. There was nothing pressing about the person. They were not pressing in a way where you're like, okay, these people want to win the ball back. Yeah, it was pressing where you allow it doesn't matter like who you play in, like Serie A, when you allow people time and space on the ball, they will always find the right pass right, and that was what Milan did, and I guess at some point we'll talk about Fofana joining. But that was one of the missing pieces. There was no energy to really press the ball and Jovic was missing. I didn't even realize. Think about it. Did you ever hear the commentator call Jovic's name? It was almost like he didn't play.
Speaker 1:Let's talk more about the analysis of the game Again. Obviously we know that Torino is always the spooky team that sometimes gives Milan problems. They're not really the team that will really just beat Milan, because they've not been able to beat Milan at the San Siro since 34 years.
Speaker 2:Thank God you caught yourself, because I was going to say they haven't won in the league there, although they won in Coppa Italia last year, but not in the league.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so again, they're playing Fonseca, at least the first game under Milan, right? So obviously, again, I feel not too much meaning. The only reason, the only force that I think I'll find in that game, I think should probably be the starting 11. If Fonseca can be forced to go and be playing Alex Salamakas on the left-hand side, maybe if Theo is not fit to give him full 90, right, then that shows that maybe we need to maybe look for another left-back. We cannot trust this kid Jimenez, the other kid that plays for the Futuro team, I think then if you cannot trust him, then why don't you just go and look for another left back? What's your thought Like? Why do you have to play for the Naka's?
Speaker 2:So I told you that, like I told you that one of my biggest worries with Milan is not just defensively. Even the fullbacks overall, like backs overall, like I, aside from teo hernandez, I think the rest of the fullbacks are suspicious. It doesn't matter who you are, whether your name is calabria, whether your name is, uh, terraciano, whatever your name is, you're a suspicious person to me. So to me, yeah, emma royal might help, but I'm not sure how he's still suspicious.
Speaker 2:So the fact that the season starts and then the coach decides he doesn't have a teo her tail, and so he's going to play alexis, and also sometimes too, we have to think of him from this perspective. It's a, it's a give or take, right, so for him he believes well, exactly what happens, which is, if he doesn't work out, and then I need to change things, I can always push alexis up and then bring in teo and then remove, like chukwezi or somebody like you know what I mean. Like those are things that he has to kind of think about, right, which is the next move. So, okay, let me start Alexis as left back, which is worse than when he started as right back, but it wasn't too bad, but at the same time. It wasn't that good, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Like he and.
Speaker 1:I think I understand his style. Offensively right, I could see a couple of times where Alexis Gertrude had to limit the cross instead of Rafael making the cross. You know what I mean. And again, it's the same body angle that both of them were when you take us the cutting in as inverted right and making those crosses. So yes, I mean offensively, it makes sense, but defensively at the same side. Remember, like Belanova really just like climbed over Salimakas and just not the ball, it wasn't even there at all.
Speaker 2:Well, if Calabria was there, it would be the same answer. Someone crossed the ball right. So someone crossed the ball, but at the end of the day, like I think that was one of the next game, that's not going to happen when they play the next game. Jovic is not going to start when they play the next game. You're not going to see probably Ruben Loftus-Chick in midfield, because I believe that.
Speaker 1:Go ahead Talking about Ruben Loftus-Chick in midfield. Let's talk about midfield a little bit, shane, like when you used to Benassi. We've had Benassi for a long time. Like Benassi is one of those midfielders we've had for a long time that we already know his ability. Right, he's more of a someone that makes the midfield very tidy. You know what I mean, which is passes, and you know controlling the game and stuff like that. But defensively, I don't think they really, or even like offensively, I don't think they really gel together. Like I don't think Loftus-Jekyll is the kind of midfielder that could be playing deeper for Milan. Like he's more of you know, either play as part of a 4-3-3, or he goes forward a little bit as players and attacking midfielder for Milan. Like, what's your thoughts on him playing? Rlc and Benassi?
Speaker 2:So the issue with Loftus-Jekins I think I said this the other day that he's not really that good defensively, even though everyone assumes he's very physical, right. So the problem is he's not the best attacking midfielder in terms of moving the ball forward, right? You saw, when Reinders came on the way the ball was moving around, loftus-jekins can't do that for you. Secondly, reinders came on the way the ball was moving around. Yeah, loftus-cheek can't do that for you. Secondly, like I think he was also kind of maybe instructed not to, or technically he couldn't do the carry the ball and run forward thing that he does, which is what Pulisic was doing yeah, now they're attacking me, so he was pulling the ball forward. So, to be honest with you, like Lo luff couldn't offer you defensive coverage, neither would he offer you forward passing or very good ball possession per se. So the question now becomes what was his function on in the team that day? And to me, not much. And the thing with bernard say is, in as much as you know, he's a great player. The thing is he needs complementary guys around him, right. So he needs extra a little bit of leg. He needs people that are also smart in terms of opening. That's why I can't really honestly wait to play, to see what Benassi and Tijani Ryan does with what's his name? Fofana. Fofana Would look like Because, to be honest, those three guys can complement each other well.
Speaker 2:And I think I said this the last time about musa musa could do almost similar stuff because if you throw in musa, uh, rinders and the and benacer, you get. You get good flow. It's a balance. But loftus chick is the odd one out and in. I say it's the other one out because he can't. He's not really that, he doesn't excel at any one of all the good things that a Fonseca team would want. I don't know if that makes sense. Yeah, like I imagine a Fonseca midfielder being either you're going to spoil the ball and help him recover or you're going to be good at moving the ball and passing and opening up right. But Loftus-Chick does not offer any of that and that's why, like, I think, going forward he might be the odd one out, or, if you really want to push it, you make him an attacking midfielder, which is also not good, because it's not really better than that one.
Speaker 1:Because Chin, with the way things are like let's be real, though Like I don't think, I don't think Chukwu is going to play on that for a second ifi is doing this. If he continues like this to be honest, that's the thing, so it's up to if he doesn't step up, francisco might be forced to go and push Pulisic to the right wing and have RLC Loftus-Chukwu to play as an attacking midfield, which I think might end up being the situation. But the most important thing, I think, is basically him being able to cover the defense properly with this midfield, because, again, we got countered a couple of times there on Saturday and I'm like, are we still on the under, purely?
Speaker 2:you know what I mean when you, when you get that counter attack, it's a lack of balance. Usually that's what that tells you. It means that something is off in your midfield, right. So either someone is carrying too much load or people do not understand their positioning uh enough that when you lose the ball, they lose the ball in very dangerous position, and you know, you've watched it enough to know once that happens, people will take advantage of you, right?
Speaker 1:of course yeah, definitely, and that's what I'm saying, like to be honest, like for you to have that balance in the midfield, right, I feel like he needs to have someone like Fofana to start with, then have, like either right, move the ball forward easily. Now he can now play Loftus-Cheek as an ATM, you know, along Brandes, to have that sort of physicality, physical domination, in midfield. Well, it will rub them off creativity a little bit, but at least with Pulisic playing on the right, I think that will bring that sort of balance that we want. That's how I feel.
Speaker 2:But anyways. So, talking Everyone is aware, obviously Milan signed Fofana. Finally, he's a defensive midfielder from Monaco. I think he's going to help the team in terms of defensive stability. He's probably going to be what we missed since Kessie left the team. That's how I think of it Now. Do I think he's the best midfielder we could have gotten out there? Not really Personally. I still like with Fred Ndidi a lot because I think he has more like offensively, but that's beside the point. But I think having Fofana, if you mix him with the right group of set of players like your Tijani, Reinders and I will still say Benassi, because people don't understand of a midfielder that can help you create space with his movement and ball retention Remember when Kessie was there those days? Right, he's the guy that keeps everything flowing.
Speaker 1:If he's not there, Milan looks disjointed, but you know this though, when Kessie was there, when he was playing along with Kessie, like Kessie's a box-to-box midfielder, so they have a sort of understanding that most of the time Kess is always playing ahead of him and then he's playing more deeper. So again with Fofana.
Speaker 2:Well, he can do the same with Fofana, in a way, like Fofana doesn't have to be a deep lane, because Fofana is not that Like usually. If you want to do at home CDM, right, then you would end up having what's it called Like a guy that is good with distribution of passes. You know what I mean. Like Ofana to me is not like the best distributor of passes. At least it would be a lot I've seen. So you need Benassi, but what you need is a guy that can run in a straight line forward and back and help him cover space. Because that's the issue that Benazir has is that he wants to do a lot when, again, people like Ruben loves to shake are almost always at a position and he doesn't really do a lot of defensive work. Really and I've been saying this since last year that's not who he is. So with Fofana at least you can take that away where, even though he wants to push forward because he doesn't really need to push that much forward he just needs to push forward just a little bit and then just offer that late run into the box. Then Reinders can be more like your creative midfielder from the other side and then Benacer can create from deep, because he has that ability to distribute the ball from a deep line.
Speaker 2:What's it called Playmaker position? Right, that, to me, is an ideal midfield for Milan. The midfield they had this last weekend was the worst case scenario, honestly speaking, because if you have all these guys and you cannot find a way to put in Reinders and whatever and you started the midfield with it was the midfield three of what Pulisic, ruben, loftus-chick and chick and Benassi Well, really think about that. So where's the leg? Where's the leg? That's what you were saying about how the midfield was overrun right, where it looks like it was open all the time and then they were being countered. That's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1:So I expect that to change. Anyways, yeah, I mean, obviously, I think the interesting thing that really happened is, I think that we needed to see was the ability for Fonseca to respond, you know, in situations like that, right, and it was able to do something good, which is basically, you know, making the proper sub and you know, bringing in Okafor and Morata, right, and they were able to have that sort of impact that we expected, you know, in the game yesterday to have that sort of impact that we expected, you know, in the game yesterday. My only thing is just that I feel like Okafor has been underused, to be honest, not just by Fonseca, I know, right, from purely right, but even in Fonseca too, like I don't expect. I know Jovic is a very Jovic as a striker, has his own characteristics, right, but the thing is just that I don't, I feel like Okafor should be ahead of Jovic. What do you think?
Speaker 2:Well, I think I said this in the last podcast. The problem with Okafor is the fact that most coaches they don't know where to place him. You get it Like sometimes that's the cost of you know. You know when they say Mastah, you've been Vasta yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, jack, of all trades, the same thing with, let's say, left back or right back or whatever. But would you ever ask Rafael Leal to go and play left back? No, this is a problem, right, too much versatility sometimes is not a good thing. People tell you that you can make the team Like. For instance, if I'm a coach, looking at the team, why would I play Jovic over an Okafor, based on their level of activity and their level of like? Just general football, right. But when you look at Okafor, you're like, okay, well, I do need an actual striker who's positioning, he's excellent and he can actually hold up. You know what I mean? Defenders, okafor is not that guy, because that's not his strength. His strength is being able to actually free room, which is interesting, because have we not seen him play attacking midfield at one point, as?
Speaker 1:well During the preseason, yeah, but the thing is he's good. He's the kind of player that is very good with his feet as a striker right, which kind of makes him much more versatile in terms of what we can play from the right, we can play from the left. But you know, honestly, I still feel like he's like For you to get the best, best, out of Okafor right, you need to play him as a striker, as a central striker, and I feel like, again, if I were Fonseca, I would rather start bringing him as a sub or making him Morata's deputy, because, again, morata and Jovic, they have this sort of like typical nine, you know kind of style where, like Okafor brings in different dynamics for them.
Speaker 2:That's how I see it for bringing different dynamics for them. That's how I see it. Well, if or you can play two, two.
Speaker 1:What is it called Two?
Speaker 2:strikers yes, yeah, one actual like nine, and then they support.
Speaker 1:And again, if you look at it again, it's only Okafor that fits into that sort of vibe. That's my point.
Speaker 2:Because I just feel the guy like the guy is good, right, see the technique do it takes to strike?
Speaker 1:that ball.
Speaker 2:Yes, a lot of Milan players, including your best player, rafael Leal, who had a lot of chances in the first half, including one in front. I think we talked about that. Remember the chance he missed Not the one-on-one with the goalkeeper, the one like he was literally in the 18-yard box and the ball just came in.
Speaker 1:The only goalkeeper saved right.
Speaker 2:No, he just shot it over the bar, like right. No, he just shot it over the bar.
Speaker 1:Like it was a reflective one. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Do you remember he just shot the ball Like it wasn't on target. It literally was like it's like a penalty spot, but I didn't blame him much because he was reacting to like whatever a rebound or some sort, but still not to have that. Do you remember the one I'm talking about? I know the one yeah, chin.
Speaker 1:Here's my question about Leal, though, like to be honest, like I know, he didn't really have any sort of. He wasn't around all through the preseason, right, because of the international break and stuff like that. But the thing is just that I feel like this season will be a different finding season for him at Milan because, again, this is a new coach. He has to impress Fonseca, you know what I mean, and the fans have been waiting forever. So this is the season for him. If he does well in this season, I think it will determine where his next move is going to be, or if he's going to stay in Milan for a little longer. My thing is what do you expect from Lille this season? What do you see happening to the other season under franca? Well, I.
Speaker 2:I think he's going to improve, but the thing is, the things he needs to improve on, uh, for me it's just the what's it called his finishing right. He still had that nice one-on-one with the goalie and he still shot the ball. The goalie stopped the ball. So to me, his biggest issue right now is his finishing. And just like when I say finishing being clinical, you know what I mean. Like you know, vinnie used to always be like that and then all of a sudden, with good coaching, he was able to find I don't know someone somehow like confidence to calm down in front of the post and pick a spot and score. So that's kind of what rafael needs. He doesn't need to learn how to run and he doesn't need to learn how to run, he doesn't need to learn how to dribble, he just needs to learn how to score goals when he's in front of post. Like that's the difference between him and the rest of the top, top, top players. Now, right, and once he does that consistently, where you and I can sit back and say well, rafael is true on goal, that's going to be a goal. Do you remember?
Speaker 2:Last year there was a time where he had a run and he scored the goal. But I told you that he mishit the ball and your response was well, no, not really, because he still scored. And I said he didn't hit the ball cleanly. And it's the exact same thing happened this past weekend. Because if he had actually learned how to shoot the ball properly when he's one-on-one with the goalie, he would have known that.
Speaker 2:You know, you know. You know what I mean. Like terry on, rest out, like go far, come back in. You can't play too close to the goalkeeper, but that's beside the point. All I'm saying is he just needs to consistently forget about anything else. Every day, you go to training when everybody's done, or you can come in early work on your your finishing cut, cut in shoot, cut in shoot. I don't know. If he doesn't do that, yeah, that's the only expectation I have for him in terms of growth. And then just keep working on that body language thing. We talk about body language leadership. You know just being. You know what I mean Making the team realize that you're part of the team and you're there to help, right.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, let team and you're there to help, right? So, okay, yeah, let's, let's talk about. Let's talk about Morata for a little bit, right, because when he came on obviously we're really trying to get back in the game and stuff and the first big chance that he saw, I don't know why he didn't take that chance. I don't know why he had to, like, take extra touches and end up being fouled where yeah, why he caught yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:yeah, I expect him to be more quicker than that ball. Again, this goal, the goal he now eventually scored, is a way more technical goal than the first chance that he actually fouled, because I wasn't expecting him to have that sort of quick reaction right to that ball. Like, if I can see this sort of qualities in where, literally that goal came out right, I would say better than Giroud. But go ahead, obviously it's better than Giroud. I mean, obviously, to me I feel like Morata would do better than Giroud and Milan because, again, this is a way more improved squad again, don't forget, right. But looking at how he came in and had that sort of impact yesterday for Milan, like do you think Morata can really step up for Milan? Do you think Morata can really step up for Milan this season?
Speaker 2:Yes, so at least he missed the chance. I think he should have at least shot that ball. I don't know why he had to cut, but that's beside the point. He's also rusty. But the thing I like about him is he looks very engaged. He doesn't look like a guy that will come in and just, you know, walk through a game Like you know what I mean, and that's what I used to complain about Jairu before where it's almost like you can go through the game and not see him. But when Morata came on, even though they were not, you know, they were offsides half the time, which is his normal MO, but you know what I mean. Yeah, he was trying right Like he scored an offside goal, which I wasn't expecting anything less.
Speaker 2:But at least yes, but at least guess what he was trying. And that's all I ask. It's like you're part of the team. You can't just stand there, the team is suffering and you're not doing anything to help. So when you are moving, you're active, you're engaged, you're engaged, you're chasing the ball. You know eventually something will happen for you. But we used to have strikers that would sit there for the whole 90 minutes. They would do absolutely nothing, and then Dave would tell me they were trying because they would score one penalty or two penalties. And then he said they were trying, but Morata, no. I think again, like I said, for me Milan's problem this season is not going to be finding goals, because between all the people we have now, they should be able to find goals. Right, pulisic had some good chances. I actually enjoyed him playing as a attacking midfielder. Um, he did. But then my fear is that man, if he keeps doing that all year, he's going to get really hurt.
Speaker 1:You know what. This is how I picture Milan Milan starting at 11, to be right, obviously we have Magic Minion and Magic Mike. By the way, big up to Magic Mike for those fantastic saves, you know, in Alaska. Oh yeah, oh my God, there's another one. Like after the one that he did with his leg, there's another one that came in for, probably on his left, I think his left hand, or so he pired it out, but anyways, yeah. So what I'm thinking is Mike Minyan.
Speaker 1:For sure, emerson Royale, obviously, is going to be the one to play Because, if the way Calabria, calabria will have to give a lot of distance to be able to be, you know, a regular starter for Milan in the right back, and I don't think he does have that sort of strength Because, again, whenever you put in too much, you end up getting injured. So I don't think Calabria does have that sort of energy or that ability to compete against Emerson Riaz right back, to be honest. But anyways, yeah, emerson Riaz right back. Thierry Nannos goes left.
Speaker 1:Then we have Fikai Otomori and Pavlovich to me, because I don't think Thierry is a reliable centre-back for me. I've seen the flow since last season and he hasn't really convinced me that he just had a bad season last year. You know 2024. He doesn't really. He's still the same tier of last season, so I don't see anything that convinces me that he can be a backup or he can be a starter for Milan, basically. So, yeah, pavlovic and Fikai Otomori, that midfield, I expect Fofana and Tijani Reinders to partner together, and it's going to either be between Pulisic playing as a right wing or Pulisic playing as an attacking midfielder and Chukwuzi playing as a left wing, as a right wing.
Speaker 2:Okay, so let's talk about the next game, right? Mm-hmm, assume everybody's. So you're basically saying that you would have Pavlovich and Tomori, yeah, and then right back is Zemmarsin, yeah, and then left back is Theo Hernandez, and in midfield you have your two holding to be Reinders and Fofana yeah, and then who's on your right hand side of your attacking whatever?
Speaker 1:So we can either have Pulisic playing as a right winger or we'll have Chukwizi, and then, on the left-hand side, if it's going to be Rafael Leal, then Morata will be the striker. To be honest, I think that should probably be Fonseca's go-to for starters, at least for the meantime. You know, in terms of big games and all those, I didn't hear you talk about Benassi. Chin Benassi is not the Benassi of three years ago. Man, let's just be realistic, like let's call it like he, but he you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:He got hurt last year, he last year, he like that knee injury is not something you fully recover from.
Speaker 1:I understand, but at the same time too, I think it's beyond that, to be honest, because I feel like Benassi needs someone beside him that can really help him be better. You know what I mean, someone that can complement that sort of effort. But again, I don't see that happening, you know. You know, maybe with Fofana, maybe I don't know, but to me, honestly speaking, I'd rather have Benacic coming in as a sub to improve the game for us, like, most especially to tie the things up when we are, when we are, when we are either leading and we just need to to, to, to balance the game and control the game and manage the game properly or at least coming as a second half. If we, if we, if we, if we, if I'm not making any progress in sort of like between the starters, which is for Fana and Tijani Renders, then they can come in and offer different options for us.
Speaker 1:But to me, honestly speaking, I think, at the end of the day, this team is still new. I think I'm going to give Fonseca, like maybe what three, four games to see what it can do in terms of like ideas and stuff, because right now I don't think we really, really I think we still have a lot of work to do in this team, and he said it too. He said it. He said we have a lot of work to do, right? So anyways, let's just quickly go some, some, some, some tops and flops here, please. In the last game, um chin, who are your tops and flops?
Speaker 2:my top one on. One of my top is Morata. I liked his level of energy, like when he came on. I also liked the walk by Moussa. Moussa had a good game as well. He had a good game, yeah so. But Mike Mian was on top form.
Speaker 2:For a guy that didn't play a single minute in preseason, it's almost like he dimmed it a bit. You know so that he was another top for me, and it was nice to see Nokoa score a goal. Right, to be honest, that was good. The goal was good. It was a great goal. It's the kind of goal you need to equalize with. You know what I mean To give people morale. Okay, slops are people that I feel like did not have a great game. Number one was Malik Thiel. Number two was ruben lofty's chick, and then number three, I think, uh, calabria struggled. Alexis alamakas everyone would think he struggled, but calabria struggled every time he was chasing people, like somehow they stole something from him and we're running away and he had to go and catch them every single. Did you not notice? Every time it's like they stole something and he has to go around and chase them. So, yes, that's it. You know, rafael Ea was no. Those are my flops.
Speaker 1:Oh, I see okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Malik Teo, Ruben Loftus-Chick and Calabria.
Speaker 1:Anyways, for me, my top, my number one is Mike Min. The game will have, if you have considered, at least 3-0 at the beginning of the second half. That would have been the end of the game, to be honest, but again, it came up with big saves.
Speaker 2:It's funny, the goalie considered two goals and we're calling him one of the tops of it.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, but to be honest, when you look at those goals, I consider you can't really do game again and we end up with at least with a draw. I think he deserves his flowers. And secondly, I'm going to my second top is Tamori. The physical battle with Torino's striker, which is Sarabia and Zapata, exactly, yeah, he did a very good job and it was very physical. His intensity kept it there as well.
Speaker 1:To me, I feel like if tomorrow could get pavlovich to complement his effort in terms of, like you know, those little flaws that we're seeing from, from tl, I think we're gonna do good this season in terms of defensivity. But again, like you said, you're right, we need backups, at least one more, because now kaluli is heading to juventus, now, so, and again, milan has agreed on a deal with juventus already, so he's on his way out. So we definitely need someone to come in again. Because Thiel, to me, thiel, and I don't know why Fonseca did not even think of Gabi ahead of Mali.
Speaker 1:Thiel, to be honest, that's very weird, but anyways, but yeah, that's my tops, I guess. Yeah. So Mike Mignan and also as well, moussa. Moussa did an amazing job because the way Moussa has grown into Fonseca's team and you know, fonseca has really given him that opportunity and is really using it as well. So that's a good thing. For me it flows obviously Malik Thiel, malik Thiel and Calabria, and also Alex Salamaka in first half, but at least he did better in second half, so I cannot call a player that is played out of position a flop.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to say that part right, because at the end of the day it's not his. You know what I mean. Like, if you want to call a flop, you should call the coach a flop, which I wanted to say Like actually the starting level for that. The coach should take a floppy disk for it, right?
Speaker 2:I understand, alexis is your boy. No, no, it's not that. But you have to be fair, though, right? If you play Rafael Leal as a goalkeeper and then turn around and say he's a flop, that's just being mean, right.
Speaker 1:So yes, let Alexis breathe. I know Alexis is your boy, I understand, so don't worry.
Speaker 2:But anyways, he scored a nice goal at the trophy, or whatever Boleskony right that was a nice goal at the trophy, or whatever Boleskony right that was a good goal. Just to be clear please.
Speaker 1:We're going to be playing against Parma on Sunday next week. Oh sorry, this comes on Sunday. Saturday, yeah, no, sunday, I think it's Sunday.
Speaker 2:Saturday 10.30 my time, but go ahead. But yeah, what are you expecting from this game? I'm expecting that Milan should bounce back and win, because they're going to start the game with all their starting 11. And it's a way, weirdly enough, they play better when they are not at home, but that's beside the point. So, yeah, they will start better and then they will win the game. Because guess who's going to win their next game? Inter Milan, exactly, you know, what I mean.
Speaker 1:What's your prediction? What's your score? Prediction for the Parma game.
Speaker 2:I'm not like you. I'm not going to say 2-1. I'll say 3-1.
Speaker 1:Oh well, okay, Well, I think hopefully we get our first clean sheet of the season with Parma to set that tone for us.
Speaker 2:Milan will not get the clean sheet any time soon.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking it's in favor of Milan.
Speaker 2:Well, I hope it does. But I just want I don't care about whether it's 2-0, 3-1, whatever. What I want to see is just progressive football. I want to see them start playing, trending towards what's it called a proper, you know, footballing ideology that we are probably clamoring for. If they are going to do exactly what they did under Pioli, we'll just call Pioli back and continue the journey. Right, because you know what I mean. Because for me, the difference between Pioli and Fonseca is that we were promised clear, concise football that is kind of easy to discern and see what's going on, right.
Speaker 1:Let's just quickly talk about other teams in the league. Are you surprised by the result over the weekend in?
Speaker 2:general? No, not really, because, honestly speaking, what's his name? The internet, bastoni, can I made a comment about? It's only been 21 days or so that he last played for italy, and think about a lot of people that you know, because even real madrid mighty real madrid, they were, they drew. I watched barcelona play a little bit. They almost lost everybody's like out of whack because, honestly, it just feels like it was just yesterday that all these guys were playing either olympics or they were playing euros, right. So they need to everybody's like at a whack because, honestly, it just feels like it was just yesterday that all these guys were playing either olympics or they were playing euros right so they need to take them time to get back to that mental, because football half the time is not really about the physical state, it's about the mental state.
Speaker 2:The mental, yeah. I don't think these guys are like as focused or sharp. They, most of them, don't really want to be doing this, but it's their job so they have to do it. So very soon they will get to that point where, okay, you know what, whatever they will pick, you know mid-season form. So I'm not surprised.
Speaker 2:The biggest surprise for me was if I'm actually going to be surprised was Napoli. I wasn't expecting them to lose that badly. And then Carasvelia got in and you know, conte has started already and the season he didn't even start already. Right, and he banished the OC men already. Like it just looks horrible for them. Right, I won't be surprised. They will eventually put it together, but it just looks bad. I was happy Inter Milan dropped points. I wasn't happy Milan dropped points. Juventus won, atalanta won. Those are not issues like Roma. Roma, those are not issues Like Roma dropped points. So a lot of top teams dropped points In England. A lot of the top teams ended up winning, but they barely won. They were not looking sharp. Right, there was no team this past weekend that I looked at and went, oh my God, this team is looking like a mid-season form. They were all struggling. You get my point, so that makes sense. So, going forward, like by game week three, game week four, you should expect more like teams being more in like a top top form.
Speaker 2:Right, so that was it anyways, chin, it's been a pleasure talking to you today yes, so I look forward to talking to you next time, after Milan has hopefully beaten Parma and like, let's get excited. This season looks good, we have a lot of good players and it should be fun. The very least, they should play fun football, entertaining, attacking football, and we should all enjoy watching Milan and not suffer through. Suffer through, you know the games right.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, thank you very much, guys, for listening to us. This is David Chin. Again, thank you so much for all the support you've given us on our podcast. Thank you, please keep giving us the rating on iTunes. The more rating we get, the better it is for us and definitely the better it helps us in creating more content. Thank you, chin, it's been a pleasure. Man Do have a great week Same here.
Speaker 2:Dave, you too. Yeah, fawza Milano, take care, have a good night, bye-bye.
