Tactical Review of Milan's Defensively Dominant 1-0 Win Over Parma

AC Milan were bailed out by their new signing Theo Hernandez who intercepted and scored a late goal to take home all three points for just the second time under Pioli. Here's the game review:

Andrea Conti Shows His Defensive Side

Conti has been a revelation under Stefano Pioli and his performances have gone a long way to make up for his time out. It is still very early but Conti has been growing exponentially putting in solid defensive performances shutting out the likes of Ronaldo, di Lorenzo and Gervinho. Conti has been solid and against Parma he made at least three tackles/interceptions that almost definitely stopped goals. He was fantastic with maintaining his position but was clinical in stopping Parma’s counter attacks. Conti easily cleared every long ball that was launched and his pace allowed him to easily disarm Kulusevski. All this was achieved while supporting Suso in attack and putting in some good crosses.

A Disciplined Defensive Display

Milan played an excellent defensive game against Parma and they kept the paths to their goal closed. Musacchio and Romagnoli collaborated well and they seemed to have a good chemistry with marking their players and covering for the advancing wing backs. The sole mistake came from Alessio Romagnoli who misplaced a pass right before half time but the defence changed shape quickly enough to push the attackers out wide where they couldn’t hit the target. Milan did not allow a single shot on goal and Donnarumma was rewarded with a clean sheet. Milan need more discipline in defence and the display against Parma was a solid first step.

Bennacer’s Twinkle Toes

The Algeria international has been leaps and bounds ahead of Biglia and the difference showed against Parma. The regista was quick to distribute the ball around and was able to break Parma’s lines with his accurate passing, the midfielder managed to set up a number of good opportunities for Bonaventura and Calhanoglu. His best attributes still seem to be his ball retention and his interceptions, he marshals the midfield exceedingly well and can almost never lose the ball. He looks like he has super glue on his boots when he dribbles as no one can touch him and these spells of ball retention are key to launching attacks.

Theo Does Not Quit

Somehow our striking situation goes from bad to worse, Piatek is terribly impotent and Leao seems overwhelmed by the task. However from all our despair, Theo has emerged to answer the prayers of the Rossoneri faithful. The left back is makes spurring runs into the heart of the opposition box and cuts back well enough to deliver crosses and to square the ball back in to the centre. Most importantly, Theo does not give up and knows when to pounce. He was opportunistic and took an odd chance into his stride to score the winner for Milan. He created his chance by intercepting Parma’s clearance and then followed it up by pouncing on the loose ball to score, and now our LB is our top scorer.

All Sizzle, No Steak

I’ve used this headline before but it still applies to Milan in their current state. The team managed 27 shots and had 8 on target but never had any real chances that were threatening. To anyone who watched the game, most of Milan’s shots of target were tame or straight at the keeper and a few were snapshots from outside the box that are too predictable to go in. Calhanoglu and Suso were notoriously slow and indecisive in front of goal leading to lots of wasted opportunities while others like Kessie should never be allowed to shoot. Milan dominated the game and held majority of the possession but still needed lots of luck to somehow nick a late winner.