A Disgraceful Milan Humbled By United

One word cannot describe how poor Milan were against Manchester United, but disgraceful is the one word that does the best job of this.

It is hard to know even where to start the scolding that Milan’s performance deserves. One would be forgiven for thinking that it was United that had the mountain to climb and not Milan for in the early stages of the match it was the home team that started with a sense of real urgency.

United applied pressure to Milan from the opening whistle, hustling and hurrying for the ball and taking the early initiative. United started the match like Milan should have and needed to, if they had any desire to actually win the tie.

But one questions the belief in the Milan side that took to the field. Despite some positive play in the opening exchanges, and some good chances too which of course Milan failed to finish, the belief in this Milan side seemed questionable from the outset. Then when Rooney put United ahead, any belief that remained seemed to dissipate completely. When Rooney doubled United’s lead, all hope was lost for Milan.

At this level, however, this is simply not good enough. That is, no matter the circumstances, when playing for a club like Milan, one of the most famous club’s in the world, every single player wearing the famous red and black should play their hearts out.

For we are talking about professional athletes here, who are extremely well paid and have a duty to their fans, who pay their wages, to perform no matter the circumstances.

But this did not happen. It was ludicrous just how lazy Milan’s players were throughout the match. To have had any chance of progressing, every player out there had to run, hustle, and get back when the team had lost possession and get forward when possession was regained. Some Milan players were more lazy than others with the main culprits being our front three of Ronaldinho, Borriello, and Huntelaar.

Watching the match, as a Milan fan, it was so disheartening that in a game like this, with the task at hand, when Milan lost the ball our front three would go on a walkabout instead of tracking back and helping their team win the ball back. For when your team has to score goals, then your team needs the ball in order to score. It is that simple.

The lack of commitment displayed by the Milan players in this encounter is a large part of the reason why the evening turned into a nightmare.

But there are other reasons too. United’s tactics, commitment and intensity were sound and they exposed all the weaknesses in this Milan side, which in the absence of Nesta and Pato only became more apparent.

Firstly, the issue of Daniele Bonera. Bonera has and never will be good enough for this level. He is an average player at best who is prone to making costly errors. How Rooney so easily beat him to score his first goal is evident of this. Let us remember that Bonera was also guilty of the same misdeed in the first leg. Bonera’s performance over the two legs hopefully has indicated to the Milan board that this is a player simply not good enough.

Secondly and in relation to the first issue, Milan’s lack of depth at center back was always going to cause real trouble at some stage of the season.

When Nesta and Thiago play together, Milan have one of the better defensive duos around. But when Nesta in particular does not play, Thiago struggles to perform at the levels he does when alongside Nesta. When Nesta was ruled out for this match, for Milan it was always going to mean trouble, simply because there is no one else good enough that can fill in for the Milan number 13.

This lack of depth was highlighted when Leo opted to replace the hapless Bonera with Ambrosini, who is a midfielder, instead of with a player who is a centre half. But Leo made this choice rightly so for Favalli was the only other option and this is no option at all for any right-minded coach.

On the flanks, Milan were made to pay for playing a player who is completely finished and never was that good anyway. Jankulovski is in way above his head. The Czech player has been a liability for Milan for a couple of seasons now and how he is still at the club only shows the tough times Milan are going through. Jankulovski was schooled by Valencia all game, highlighting his defensive frailties. Going forward, he was not much better as he offered very little.

On the other side of the pitch, at least Abate was positive when going forward. The Italian made it to the byline a couple of times and gave Milan a wide option. But, as a defender, Abate still has much learning to do and this was shown by the way Nani dominated him.

Sure, it can be argued that if Antonini had played things would have been better. But there is no denying that Milan need reinforcement across the whole back-line. For the summer transfer season, this is a must.

In midfield, it was United’s tactics that undid Milan. Pirlo, the focal point of our play, was hustled by Park all game and by doing so the Italian international’s impact was minimal. Ferguson did well to recognise that Pirlo, when put under pressure, really struggles. Park did an exceptional job of keeping Pirlo under pressure throughout the game whilst Scholes and the tireless Fletcher won the battle over Flamini and Ambrosini/Seedorf.

But is was our front three that on the night really tormented Milan fans. The lack of commitment by these players was appalling. Not only was there a lack of commitment, but the weaknesses of these three players was greatly exposed.

Borriello again displayed that he is just not good enough at this level. Borriello had next to no impact in the match. The one trait that had won Borriello over in the eyes of many Milan supporters was his commitment and determination. But this commitment, that had gone missing in recent weeks was again missing last night.

Huntelaar, given another chance to prove himself with a berth in the starting eleven, again failed take advantage of his chance, and not for the first time this season. The Dutchman missed a guilt-edged chance early in the first half which was a moment that perhaps could have turned the tie in Milan’s favour, perhaps. Huntelaar also showed why he has failed to become a favourite at Milan for he distinctly seems to lack desire and motivation.

As for Ronaldinho, in Serie A he may still be able to strut his stuff but it appears that it is more due to the lower standard of play in Italy than anything else. In all the big matches this season against the likes of Real Madrid, Inter, and United, Ronaldinho has failed to make an impact. His loss of pace over the years has contributed to this, but more than anything it is his attitude that fails him.

A coach can only do so much, in the end it is the players that have to perform on the pitch. But, Leo, like many of his players, was exposed tonight by his opposite number, Sir Alex Ferguson. Leo showed perhaps some naivety in keeping with the same system that he employed against Roma last weekend. Sure, Milan’s performance against Roma was impressive, but it was still a system the team was not familiar with.

It is hard not to be harsh on Milan, both the players and the coach, for this performance warrants little more. It is in moments like these that the most valuable lessons are learnt and one can only hope that the Milan board have finally learnt their lesson. The lesson being that if you do not systematically bring in new, young and quality players and instead stick with the same old stars year after year, eventually results will go from bad to worse.

This is not the first time Milan have been humiliated this season. We also lost by the same score against Inter in the first derby, and the second derby was equally embarrassing. Last night’s nightmare against United was, however, the worst display this season, if not in recent memory, and the most humbling.

Leo can only be blamed for so much. It was really the players that failed to perform and the board that has much to answer for in regard to the lack of quality and depth afforded to Leo.

One can only hope that this is as bad as it will get. If Milan can now just focus on Serie A, and perhaps maybe even win it, then the season will end with relative success having been achieved.

To finish, United deserve much praise for their splendid performance over the two legs. They were ruthless, clinical, tenacious, and determined ,and in the end they clearly deserved everything they achieved. Rooney, if he continues on in such form, will become world player of the year and United may just push on all the way to the final if Rooney cannot stop scoring. Well done United.