Milan Player Ratings: Milan 1-1 Udinese

After being knocked out of the Champions League AC Milan could now turn all their attention to getting results in Serie A, their first opponent was Udinese. Milan looked rough for the entire first half and again individual mistakes cost them a goal. With Udinese leading by a goal the Rossoneri still didn't show much fight in their play. At the half Milan were in shambles down a goal.

The second half told a very similar story to the first as Milan struggled to get anything going offensively. Milan had most possession of the ball but couldn't get their massive amounts of possessions to amount to anything. In the dying embers of the match Milan were of course saved by Zlatan who scored his 300th goal. A performance like this is embarrassing for Milan and if this continues then it could spell doom for the season.

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STARTING LINE-UP

Mike Maignan: A good match from Mike. He didn't have a ton to do but he also made a nice first save on the play where Udinese scored. 6.5/10

Alessandro Florenzi: Florenzi has been a bit disappointing since coming to the club and this match was no different. He doesn't seem to bring much on the pitch and some of the crosses that he sent in were not that great 5.5/10

Fikayo Tomori: I thought Fik had a fine match. For the most part he handled the Udinese strikers and he couldn't really be blamed for the goal against. 6/10

Alessio Romagnoli: Alessio was fine but to me he looks so sluggish and slow on the pitch. Milan played with such a high line and Alessio could get torn apart at any instance. 5.5/10

Theo Hernandez: Theo has had a lot of underwhelming matches this season. I really do not know what is happening to Theo, he doesn't seem to have his head in matches. He dribbles with no idea where he is going and lately in the final third he hasn't made the best decisions. 5/10

Ismael Bennacer: Man, Bennacer has been struggling this season. His pass to Bakayoko was terrible and ultimately led to a Udinese goal. Bennacer has the capability to be better than this. 5/10

Timoue Bakayoko: Just like Bennacer, Bakayoko had a hard time in this match. His passing and dribbling were way off and he got dominated by the Udinese midfield for the majority of his time on the pitch. 5/10

Alexis Saelemaekers: Saelemaekers was a virtual ghost on the right side of the pitch. This isn’t new but it is still hard to see him not produce anything offensively in any match. Without a Leao or Rebic, Saelemaekers struggles are amplified. 5/10

Brahim Diaz: Since returning from Covid Brahim hasn't done anything and has been a non factor in every match. Early in the season Brahim was taking on his man and creating chances for Milan but since then he’s gone downhill. Also he has been having the finishing ability of Hakan lately. 5/10

Rade Krunic: Not sure if Rade even played in this match. 5/10

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Overall Zlatan didn't have a great match but he scored THE goal to draw Milan level. 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Franck Kessie: Kessie was much better than Bennacer and Bakayoko but that isn't saying much. Kessie did have a very vital block in the last minutes that aided in the Milan draw. 6/10

Sandro Tonali: I love the way Sandro plays, he bleeds for the badge every time he steps on the pitch. Sandro has been Milan’s most consistent midfielder all season. 6/10

Junior Messias: Messias has since grown into his own at Milan. I like that he wants to take on his defender and at times he looked to create chances in this match. However, sometimes the quality from Messias is lacking. 6/10

Samu Castillejo: Even with a long injury Samu is consistent. Too bad he isn't consistently good. Injuries forced Pioli’s hand to play Samu but hopefully he exits the club in January. 5.5/10

Daniel Maldini: N/A

MANAGER

Stefano Pioli: Lately Pioli has been rocky and in my opinion his tactics need a little bit of an update. Now, I am not saying to rethink everything but reimagine aspects of what they do now. Playing such a high line is appealing but at times leaves them extremely vulnerable to counter attacks and mistakes in possession. Another thing that I question is pushing the fullbacks so far up and moving the wingers more into the middle. Milan have done this a lot this season and it doesn't seem to be that advantageous for them. In the second half we saw this change a bit with the introduction of Messias as he played more wide. 5.5/10