AC Milan Vs. Chievo Verona: Player Ratings and What We Learned About Milan

AC Milan, fresh off their 3-1 victory over Chievo Verona, have reason to be optimistic about their season again. Despite having been tied for 2nd in the Serie A leading up to the game, the general vibe about Milan was one of slight disappointment over their performances in matches against Lazio, Catania, and Cesena earlier on in the year.

Milan came into the Chievo match in need of a boost for their vital Champions league encounter with Real Madrid on Tuesday night, and delivered a performance worthy of the three points they received after 90 minutes of football in the San Siro. Milan had a welcome boost with two goals from Alexandre Pato, who is in a rich vein of form for both club and country, and the first goal of fellow Brazilian Robinho's Milan career.

Player Ratings:

Christian Abbiati: 8.0 - Milan can be sure that they made the right choice in letting Dida leave this summer after Abbiati delivered another strong performance in goal. Safe and composed in goal, Abbiati's sure hands kept Chievo out of his net (with the exception of the own goal he could have done nothing about), and bailed out the nervy Milan defense on more than one occasion. Excellent performance from the Italian keeper.

Luca Antonini: 5.5 - Not the best performance for the Milanese left-back tonight. Lost Pellissier for the flick that led to Chievo's goal, and was guilty of ball-watching as he lost Gelson Fernandes for a shot in the 73rd minute that nearly made it 2-2. Rumors are abound that Milan are in the market for a left-back, and with performances like this from Antonini, a move may be forthcoming as early as the January transfer window.

Thiago Silva- 6.5 - Solid performance from the Brazilian stopper, stepped up to win several balls in front of his defense, and was a composed figure on a rather shaky back-line; Milan will be very concerned with the ankle injury that forced him out of the game early in the second half, and may face problems if he is out for an extended period.

Alessandro Nesta- 6.0 - Another merely decent performance from Nesta tonight. His ball-playing skills are sharp as ever, but at 34 years of age he can be excused for having lost some pace. Nesta still is one of the premier centre-backs in the world, but was caught out of position more than once, including a second-half run by Pellissier to make it 2-2 that was barely chalked off as offside. The guile Nesta possesses made up for some positioning mistakes he made during the game, but it will be interesting to see how he fares without Thiago Silva if the Brazilian is out for an extended period.

Gianluca Zambrotta- 6.5 - Zambrotta played one of his better games of the season tonight, as he was able to push up the flanks and put in decent crosses every so often. Zambrotta didn't neglect his defensive duties either, and played a safe game devoid of many mistakes on the defensive end. He let Constant get behind him on occasion, but nothing substantial materialized from his half of the field. A solid performance upon which a consistent rhythm can be built upon for the Italian right-back.

Gennaro Gattuso- 6.5- Ringhio, while playing a decent game today, has lost a yard or two of pace and is sorely lacking the speed to match the admirable intensity he brings to the Milan side. Committed several fouls on tackles, one resulting in a caution, that he would have won just a few years ago. Milan will be better served either inserting Mathieu Flamini into his place or delving into the transfer market to find a younger version of Gattuso. 

Andrea Pirlo- 7.5- Another inspired performance from the reborn Italian playmaker. Pirlo controlled the middle third of the field, and placed numerous pinpoint passes to the feet of Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, and Pato in front of him. Milan fans can't help but be overjoyed by his return to prominence this season after a couple of years of uninspired play following Euro 2008. For Milan to progress deep into the Champions League and Serie A this season, they need Pirlo to be on his game and providing the attackers with the types of passes he has been delivering thus far.

Clarence Seedorf- 6.5- It is a wonder why Max Allegri has been using Seedorf so much this season. The Dutchman, much like Gattuso, has lost the pace that he used to possess, and slows the game down nearly every time he collects the ball. Milan's bland second-half performance was lightened up almost immediately after Seedorf was hooked for Kevin-Prince Boateng, who drove forward with the ball and made very few, if any, mistakes during his run. Milan look a much faster, stronger unit when Boateng is on the field, and Seedorf should be taking a back seat to the youngster in the near future.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic- 7.5- Ibrahimovic played another wonderful match for Milan, though his finishing let him down more than once. He turned from goalscorer to provider instead tonight, assisting both of Pato's goals with brilliant vision and alertness, especially on Pato's second goal off the quick free-kick. A rather petulant two-footed tackle in the second-half was an example of the problems he suffers when he loses his cool during games, as the tackle could have been a red card had he connected with a Chievo player, and very likely a multi-match suspension as well. Regardless, Zlatan is enjoying his football at Milan right now and very much resembles the dynamic player Milan hoped they would be getting from Barcelona this summer.

Ronaldinho- 7.0- Found his teammates several times tonight with incisive, crisp passes, including through balls to Antonini, who scored but was ruled offside, and Robinho in the final minute of play. Has been fairly inconsistent this year, but when playing like this, Milan are very difficult to stop. He generated several instances of cheeky footwork, especially in the first half, and will be pleased with his play tonight.

Alexandre Pato- 9.0- A wonderful return for Pato in his first start in weeks for Milan, two beautifully taken goals along with a peppering of shots that left Sorrentino, the Chievo keeper, constantly attempting to protect his goal. Pato is in a groove right now, having scored twice for Brazil in the past week against Iran and Ukraine, and having fired two goals tonight as well. He and Ibrahimovic are beginning to combine well together, and his form will be another huge factor in deciding the fate of Milan in all competitions this year.

Subs

Robinho- 7.0- Anonymous when he came on, but scored his first goal in a Milan uniform and will be pleased with that contribution. It remains to be seen how he will it into Milan's plans this year, but with an increase in his conditioning, anything is possible for the hugely talented Brazilian.

Kevin-Prince Boateng- 7.0- In his limited time on the field he spruced up a dry Milan attack and offered another dimension going forward for the side. Prince has started his Milan career very brightly, and it will be an interesting situation to watch as he presses for more playing time at the expense of Seedorf and/or Gattuso.

Daniele Bonera- 6.0- A decent performance, but nothing out of the ordinary for Bonera, who replaced the injured Thiago Silva in the second-half. Bonera may be forced into action against the high-powered Real Madrid attack Tuesday night if Silva is unavailable.