Milan 1 Catania 0

When you watched this one you sort of thought it was played in Catania. A rough and tumble affair with Catania finishing the game with more yellow cards than shots on goal, but the kicker!? Four shots was still more than Milan who managed 18 total shots, but it was more like a Boateng then a clinical attacking team!

The talk about Clarence was that of an attacking revolution and free flowing possession football. But for the fourth match in a row the cornerstone was not slick passing and chances, but sleeves rolled up brutally effective football. I for one am not one to complain, I appreciate this sort of football and more importantly I appreciate the results. But I do find it rather hilarious that what the new Coach was supposed to do has not happened, but what he hasn't done has earned him his results. Say what you want about Milan and what it "should" become but the bottom line is no amount of lipstick is going to make this pig pretty and when the going got tough this team did what it knows and that is destroy.

Even Montolivo had a better more effective performance on this day. He was simpler and more efficient on the ball and his positioning was a bit more fundamentally sound. It helped that Catania preferred to attack the flanks and while Milan fumbled their way through the 90 with misplaced passes and confusion in the attack Catania turned this into a brawl and Milan was more than happy to oblige to roll around in the muck. More alarming, as the game got a bit chippy and less "pretty" Seedorf opted for Pazzo on for Kaka and Abate on for Poli. This seemed to allow Catania a slew of chances late in the match despite being a man down, the switch rocked the boat and while the team needed to steady and galvanize after the red card, the wheels instead fell off the bus!

The Kaka sub was the right one, but not Pazzo. Urby and Abate for Kaka and Taarabt would have been genius but instead it was Poli who made way and his tireless efforts were sorely missed. The disruption caused some chemistry issues on the pitch for Milan and it pressed Abbiati into some late saves but put immense pressure on NDJ and Monty. While the moves seemed to make sense the result was not as expected. At the end of the day it matters little and many will forget, but the decisions being made and the execution on the pitch continues to be a questionable. Twelve points in four games will make everyone feel a bit more warm and fuzzy but a closer look makes thing seem a bit less rosier.