Milan 0-1 Roma: Borriello punishes parent club
The starting line-ups
At first it looked like Roma were coming for a draw, but they ended up leaving with a win.
Max Allegri stuck with his 4-3-1-2 shape, the only change being Luca Antonini replacing Gianluca Zambrotta at left-back.
Claudio Ranieri made five changes from the team which beat Bari last weekend – the major news being that Francesco Totti was omitted, with Adriano making his second start for Roma. Daniele De Rossi returned.
The first half was played at a slow tempo, and there were relatively few goalscoring opportunities. As we’ve seen before with 4-3-1-2 v 4-3-1-2 battles, it was a cagey opening.
Variations
There were differences in the two shapes, however. Jeremy Menez, Roma’s trequartista, often moved out to the right flank when Roma lost the ball, meaning they sometimes looked like they were defending with two banks of four. Milan, on the other hand, usually protected Christian Abbiati with seven players.
That’s not to say Roma were defending any better, however. When any side wins 1-0 against the odds, the victorious centre-backs are often given plenty of credit, and whilst Philippe Mexes and Juan had good second halves, in the first period they were all over the place. Roma were using three very deep midfielders but a highish defensive line – there didn’t seem be any cohesion in the way they were setting out.
The obvious result was that Milan’s midfielders had time on the ball to chip balls over the top, and both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho should have scored when in on goal – Ibrahimovic chipped tamely at Doni, Robinho slipped over.
Roma weren’t doing much better higher up the pitch – the duo of Marco Borriello and Adriano offered little movement and Roma found it difficult to get the ball forward.
Milan’s shape changed slightly when Andrea Pirlo went off injured after twenty minutes. He’d been coming inside and creating from the centre, but his replacement Clarence Seedorf stayed wider and simply played poorly.
The major feature of the game, though, was a lack of attacking threat from full-back, which meant neither defence was stretched laterally, and both sides played the game in front of each other.
Second half
Roma were much better in the second half. The midfield was higher up the pitch, there was more link-up play from the two forwards, the full-backs had slightly more inclination to get forward – they weren’t necessarily providing width to stretch the opposition defence, but were at least providing a forward passing option for the three central midfielders.
Defensively, Milan were far more secure on their right than on their left. Rino Gattuso moved out to the right flank and covered his full-back well, but on the left Seedorf was lethargic. That was particularly worrying for Milan because Menez (playing as a “central winger”) drifted to that side – and created a goal from that position. A change of pace (not something we saw often during the game) beat Antonini, and his cross ended up the net fortuitously after Ignzaio Abate’s clearance hit Borriello and went in.
Milan’s lack of a plan B was alarming – Allegri failed to change anything until the 85th minute, and that was only when Kevin Prince Boateng picked up and injury and could no longer continue. Ibrahimovic and Robinho both faded – though they could reasonably blame a lack of service.
Conclusion
Neither side played well – but whilst Roma started slowly and improved in the second half, Milan started reasonably well before looking lost after half-time. The goal was fortunate and it’s difficult to attribute too much credit to Ranieri in overall, but it was significant that the only player who provided any width on either side – Menez – created the goal.
Milan 0-1 Roma: Borriello punishes parent club
No Pirlo, no party.
They were awful as soon as he left the pitch, similar to Madrid without Xabi Alonso.
ZM, do you feel that Roma deserved the result? Once they settled down, I felt like they were going to get a draw at worse. Their offside trap worked great in the second half, and Milan had less and less cohesion going forward as the game went on.
And why is Allegri afraid of making substitutes earlier than the last several minutes?
Milan didn’t really have anyone on the bench to bring on with the exception of ronaldinho, who allegri wants out asap to get someone else in, so he waited until he had no choice but to bring him on when boateng got injured.
Oddo? They had no attacking threat from full-back, and this game – http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/10/26/napoli-1-2-milan-oddo-off-the-bench-to-provide-overlaps-for-both-milan-goals/ – showed how effective they can be
Very true. I have been contemplating recently bringing jankulovski back instead of antonini, who will offer something going forward and can’t be much worse than antonini defensively. Abate deals quite well with pacy players and seems to cover nesta well so he should stay. I wouldn’t sacrifice abate to play oddo from the start, but he could have been useful coming off the bench today for sure.
Ermmm to be honest I think 0-0 would have been the ‘fairest’ result – or the one which reflects the balance of play most, anyway
Those look achingly similar to the ‘Brazilian’ 4-2-2-2 No?
As a Milan fan, I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to watch this team. The midfield contains not a single player who can dribble and drive at a defence. Since bloody 2007 we have had these problems, masked by the fact that we used to have rampaging fullbacks and kaka. The trio of gattuso ambrosini and pirlo/seedorf doesnt work. And when boateng is your trequartista, it is simply an admission that the team lacks drive and is desperate to get it anywhere on the field. boateng simply cant dribble either. It is too easy to defend against because they all end up playing in front of defenses without doing much movement/dribbling (with the exception of boateng who make some off the ball runs).
Cassano is the quintessential italian trequartista, but I don’t think he is the answer either, because with Ibrahimovic in the side a more dynamic player is necessary, to provide some (Im going to sound like a stuck record here) drive!
We are crying out for an attacking leftback who can cross the ball to make up for our dysfunctional midfield. This team needs work, and we cannot rely on ibrahimovic so much, because he has a habit of disappearing when his team needs him the most. Serie A is definitely not over because a full strength inter is so much better.
Robinho can’t dribble at the defense?
Can’t be that frustrating. Easily top of Serie A and a nice draw in the CL.
Yes robinho can dribble at the defense, but he would have to drop too deep to do that. When he drops that deep there is no one high up the field to make runs off the ball or to play off of ibrahimovic’s layoffs.
The tottenham tie is not an easy tie at all for milan. They are the exact type of team that can give milan problems. They are extremely athletic and can counter attack very well. Lennon will give whoever is playing leftback a torrid time and will get crosses in the box for crouch.
Sure Robinho can dribble, but it’s of an indulgent type..often divorced from build-up play involving his other teammates. Kaka’s ‘dribbling’ if you can call it that, was straightforward sprinting goalwards. That Milan (2003-07) had the assurity of imaginative passing (Pirlo from deep )but crucially it was punctuated by Kaka’s incisive movement, plus Cafu’s storming runs.
Boateng in the trequartista role does add an element of directness, but then he lacks anything approaching the vision and passing of Kaka. He is essentially a box-to-box player, and you’ve got to wonder whether Allegri values him in this advanced position for his disruptive pressing as much as for breaking into the box and scoring.
Is there a player out there remotely like Kaka today? Someone whom Milan could use to replicate his style?
Pastore perhaps… but even he seems more like a playmaker than an attacker. Lucho Gonzalez bears a physical similarity, is technically adroit and likes to make runs into the box…but he is a year older than Kaka.
Any ideas?
Pastore is the only one out there who is even remotely similar to kaka and he is the one I would love to see at milan. I can’t think of anyone else who can do what kaka used to do, which is why I would love to get kaka back
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I think allegri is trying to build the side completely around ibrahimovic, which is why he is playing boateng as a trequartista. I think he wants boateng to play the stankovic role of 2008, in that he plays off of ibrahimovic and makes off the ball runs with ibrahimovic essentially playing as a false nine and doing the playmaking. But this tactic is dangerous, as when ibrahimovic has a bad game the whole team seems lost.
But I tell you one thing, milan completely missed to boat on ibrahim afellay who would’ve added that drive from the midfield 3, and would have complemented pirlo very well. Instead afellay goes to barca to back up iniesta. argh!!!!
Ganso’s the one isn’t he? he’s the perfect age (21, the same as Kaka in 2003), the perfect temperament for Serie A, enough mobility to be a “modern” trequartista, and that sublime grace and touch on the ball.
I have my doubts about Ganso in a 4-3-1-2 formation. I don’t think he is mobile enough to shoulder that much creative burden. Stick him in a 4-2-3-1 and he would probably be the first name on my team sheet, surrounding him with pacy players.
But is Ganso suitable for this team? We already have Pirlo for dictating the tempo and making creative passes and Ganso does basically the same thing. We do not need a player who likes to dominate games to such an extent. Not to mention the fact that Ibra drops back so often. Stick any hardworking player who can dribble/run at a defense in trequartista and I think that would be the best solution
Stick any hardworking player who can dribble/run at a defense in trequartista and I think that would be the best solution.
TEVEZ
Pirlo is getting too old to be relied upon to consistently dictate the match. Boateng belongs as a shuttler, not a holder or a trequartista. The narrow midfield will work as long as the forwards can drift and they finally invest in some attacking fullbacks.
milan are drawn against spurs . people are not giving spurs a chance against milan let me tell you i think that they have a great chance this milan midfield cannot outrun spurs midfield where they are some what weak . i think they have a great chance and anyone who bets can make a fortune .
agreed. while Spurs’ backline is no match for Ibra, the same can be said for Bale. considering Milan’s narrow midfield, Bale will be 1v1 with an overmatched fullback.
Is there any reason to put Seedorf on left midfield? His natural position is AM, the 1 in a 4-3-1-2. He is old and slow, so his inability to help out Antonini like Gattuso for Abate is inevitable. Ambrosini or KPB move to left would have been a more reasonable move.
Seedorf in that position poses another problem. He was often too far from goal to effectively link up with the two strikers. He tried to send ball over the top to Ibra, but Seedorf is no Pirlo. It was weird to see Gattuso, who was uncomfortable with the ball, played ahead of Seedorf more often than not.
The problem was plain to see, but Allegri did nothing to change the positions. While he should take credit for finding a good formation for Milan, he must also take the blame for not able to make changes when necessary.
it’s the position he played under Ancelotti, in his prime, right? the famous Pirlo / Gattuso / Seedorf / Kaka quartet? that might be as much the reason as any. also, I remember during the Emirates Cup, Seedorf actually played as a holding midfielder. I think it’s just the role that Allegri envisions for him…
Keep your shirt on, Benn Fitz! You’re top of the league. Your guys just looked tired today. It happens. A bit unlucky to lose, but then you shouldn’t have sold Borriello!
This was a tight game between a motivated side & an very tired-looking side, decided by one good run from Menez. Roma are improving, Adriano didn’t look like a completely lost fat man for once, and we won w/o Totti & Vuc. Things are looking up. I was sure they were gonna give up a goal late on, seeing how many leads we’ve blown this calendar year.
As with Italy, Milan are a different team w/Pirlo on the pitch. He’s always available, and spots runs like no one else. You don’t need Kaká so long as Pirlo is playing & Robinho & Zibra are running. Both of them should’ve been a bit more patient today. They were so frustrated by the end. Allowing yourself to be distracted like that doesn’t help.
Anyway, I wouldn’t be too sure Crouch is gonna play v. Milan in the CL. And while Lennon may be dangerous, I think you’re forgetting Mr. Bale, who’s a much bigger handful on his day.
I think you’re wrong on this one, AS ROMA played a much more superior tactical game. Adriano’s main role was to hold up the ball after tight defending to provide either a counter-attack or force a foul. I thought that Ranieri’s substitutions were spot on including Taddei’s substitution (which everyone tends to disagree with me on).
yes ofcorse his sub’s was spot on (they pretty much always are), he did the regular stuff to close the match out, bring on some fresh legs and rest the big star (Menez is most surly our best player right now), and the Borriello goal made his decisions easy
Im sure some fans would question his motives to play for a draw from the outset thought