Whelp.
In the opening minutes it looked like the same old Milan. Simple passes going astray, players not moving fluidly through the attacking areas. Empoli look to take advantage of a seemingly uninspiring Milan side, as they pressed hard early in the stages of the game.
But hey, remember how Milan spent like, a billion euros (it was actually €90m) in the summer? They’re meant to be good now. So when €6m striker Luiz Adriano, delivered a scrumptious pass in the 15th minute, one that was eerily similar of one Kaká in his prime. Galliani brought the Brazilian with him scoring goals in mind, but gorgeous passes like that are more than welcome. Carlos Bacca latched onto the pass, fought off a challenge from an Empoli defender and rounded Lukasz Skorupski to score his first goal in a Milan shirt. Nice.
AC Milan 1 – Empoli 0 (Bacca 15)
You can spend €90m in a summer, but it’ll still be the same old Milan. And before you could say ‘sign a midfielder, Galliani!’, Empoli caught Milan’s defense in a regular state of chaos, and former Milan midfielder, Ricky Saponara, scored past Diego Lopez. It was the same old Milan. No communication in the defense, no defensive shape, and of course Diego Lopez was left unable to make any kind of save through no fault of his own. Yay for old Milan.
AC Milan 1 – Empoli 1 (Bacca 15, Saponara 18)
The rest of the first half was essentially a nothing game. Milan looked like they still had obvious transfer needs, most notably a freakin’ controller in midfield. Throughout the half Milan never seemed to have a stranglehold on the game, Empoli looked like they could seize control of the momentum at any time. Maybe that’s my Milan pessimism, or maybe Milan still haven’t addressed the need of an elite midfielder. Please develop, Bertolacci. And quickly.
HT: AC Milan 1 – Empoli 1 (Bacca 15, Saponara 18)
At halftime Siniša Mihajlović substituted Antonio Nocerino, who offered the Milan midfield exactly nothing, for Milan new boy Juraj Kucka who offered Milan…nothing they didn’t already have.
I wish I could tell you that Milan ramped it up several gears in the second half and play such scintillating football that even the 1974 Dutch side and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona were left in awe. I wish I could tell you that Arrigo Sacchi was left rubbing his eyes in disbelief. But to be honest, it was rather lacklustre.
In fact, lacklustre is probably too fancy-a-word to describe Milan’s second half. It was boring. Bonaventura was introduced around the 54th minute mark to replace Suso and help introduce some kind of creativity into this Milan side.
But hey, the big boys always win. Skorupski did his best impression of his erratic countryman, Wojciech Szczesny, and came charging out of his goal on a corner Kick. Milan’s very own Brazilian afro Jesus came leaping to beat Empoli’s shot stopper and put Milan into the lead.
And that’s all she wrote.
The first win of the season is nice. But that was an ugly win. Really, Milan had just one more shot than Empoli throughout the whole game. A Sarri-less Empoli! Is winning playing nice football mandatory? Well, no. It’s not. But Milan fans have put up with a hell of a lot of crap over the past few years, so playing some aesthetically pleasing football is a bonus in my years. All I can write about the second half is the goal, because not much happened. Milan never really looked like they were going to kill off the game and Empoli seemed to believe they could score at any time. But then again, maybe that’s my red and black pessimism.
Tactical analysis
Straight outta…ideas?
“If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he’d have put grass up there.” Goes the famous Brian Clough quote. Are long balls and crosses directly correlated to being out of ideas? Well, no. But they’re a great indicator. This Milan side has no creativity (Empoli created 14 chances to Milan’s 5, which I don’t think the word ‘pathetic’ even does that statistic justice), so what do they do? HOOF.
There was nothing going on in the middle of the park.
This is a heat map of Nocerino, Bertolacci, Bonaventura, Kucka and Suso’s heat map. Look at the emphasis on the wide areas. Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano are fantastic at making runs through the defense. Take advantage of it. The 4-3-1-2 focuses on attacking midfielder (Suso) to feed balls through to his strikers and it rarely even happened. In fact, Luiz Adriano did Suso’s job for the first goal!
Essentially Milan’s build-up play was boot the ball out wide and cross it in. Three out of twenty-four successful. Did Milan’s winner come from a cross (corner)? Yes it did. But long balls and crosses are not and never will be a sustainable method of scoring goals and more importantly, winning games. Games against Empoli, largely tipped as relegation fodder, should be the games in which you’re practicing the very essence of your footballing ability. Big hoofs should be saved for emergency, not your first action. Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano are great with their head, but they’re better with their feet, that’s where most of football’s goals come from!
Not all chances are created equally, of course. But Empoli’s sheer volume of chances created is worrying, because, well, it’s bloody Empoli.
HELP THEM OUT.
Yeah Bacca received 30 passes. But look where they are. Carlos Bacca was receiving the ball on the wing and trying to get ball to himself, when he should’ve been in the box! If this isn’t a scream for help I don’t know what is. Bacca, an elite striker, received two balls inside the box, he just isn’t getting the help he needs.
As for Luiz Adriano, his passes received is even worse. I’m aware Empoli sat deep and tried to counter, but no one seemed to offer anything creatively to Adriano or Bacca. No one even looked like potentially unlocking that Empoli defence.
Maybe Suso was under instructions to drift out wide, but the wide areas were always going to do very little for Milan against such a compact Empoli defense. Suso, Honda, whoever, should stay centrally, it’s the best chance of scoring.
Milan’s need for a controller
The first twenty minutes for Milan and much of the second half highlighted a very immediate need for Milan. A controller. Milan looked jittery, like a child who had consumed too much sugar. Passes were inaccurate, there was rarely a player readily available at all times, Empoli’s midfield could’ve seized control at any time.
A controller also helps Milan’s defensive woes. Remember, there is only one ball in football, if you have the football, the opposition can’t score. If Milan had an elite controller in midfield, their games would be a lot less erratic and have a calmer tone to them. Much like the Ancelotti days.
Riccardo Montolivo could’ve been this controller, Poli looked like he had immense potential when he arrived, and Bertolacci simply isn’t ready for such a high responsibility role yet. If Milan are serious about contending for the Scudetto – which they should be. Then an elite midfielder who can control games is needed. These players are passive and do not impress an untrained eye, but they’re invaluable in modern football.
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