Blaming the ref is not the right thing to do, and I will not stoop the level of fans of other teams who blame the refs for their teams piss poor performance. I have said it once and I will say it again; these things always tend to balance during the course of a very long season. Milan had some fortuitous calls go their way, today they were not as fortunate.
Blaming the refs is the mark of a uneducated fan, and reserved for fans of certain other clubs, specifically when that fan is unable to place the blame where it truly belongings, their own team. The loss today starts in the front and ends on the bench. For Milan it is the same old song and dance, missed chances in front of goal, poor passes, and the inability to land the knockout punch and bury your opponent long before the final whistle. I am not going to talk about the attack, because the chances were there again today, but the finish left a little to be desired.
In the first 15 minutes it was evident that Milan was trying to find their way as a unit and it showed on the pitch. The pace of the match was frenetic and I was relieved that Milan was able to hang with a Torino team who looked hopped up on Red Bull. Conceding the goal with a poor pass from the back, but answering back so quickly made me wonder if in fact this team is the stuff of champions. But then I we had to factor in the leader of this ship.
The loss today is not all Carletto’s fault but from the first minute this team looked a bit lacking on defense. Typically Milan plays their defensive back four with two defensive minded midfielders alongside whoever the deep playmaker will be. Today this was a little different, with Rino as the only DM, and both Pirlo and Seedorf in the midfield line there was two a bit to much white collar to make a game this quick winnable. To make matters worse, subbing Sheva for Rino and Emerson for Pirlo did not have the desired effect needed on this club. The defense needed assistance and it was evident long before Milan conceded the penalty. Kaka, Seedorf, or even Pirlo who was just back could have made way for Flamini, while Zambro or Antoni could have provided fresh legs in the back as well. Two points lost on stubbornness of the system once again…
However it is not all doom and gloom, as there were bright spots to today’s performance. Bonera had a world class first class but seemed to tire and fall out of the match. Pirlo’s touch was silky smooth despite the long lay off, and it is only a matter of time before it comes back full force. Lastly, teams will be smart not to concede free kicks with both Pirlo and Dinho standing over the ball with the ability to bury it.
As I skimmed the comments on the last post, this quote stuck out. “Dropping points to team like these will haunt us at the end of the season.” I hope this statement as quickly forgotten…