A.C Milan 1-0 Genoa

sourced from themilanguy.com Milan: Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Yepes, Antonini, Muntari, Van Bommel, Nocerino, Emanuelson ; Ibrahimovic, El Shaarawy - 4-3-1-2 Genoa: Frey, Granqvist, Kaladze, Moretti, Birsa, Kucka, Jankovic, Blondini, Bellushi, Sculli, Palacio – 4-5-1 Milan don’t have enough attacking firepower on the field. Boateng shouldn’t start and Cassano shouldn’t start yet, but nonetheless is there really a need for Van Bommel and Muntari? First Half: Genoa’s three to four man defense (they added an extra man to the defense in the opening 10 minutes) is looking suspect in the opening minutes. Emanuelson and El Shaarawy were able to break it down using their pace, but there was no support for them, as Ibrahimovic wasn’t in the mood. It’s amazing to see the pace in the front three after the weekend’s fiasco of Slowdorf and Slowbinho (who can accelerate from 0 to his top speed of 3 km/h pretty quickly to be fair).

Player positioning chart Milan(left), Genoa(right) There was some subdued controversy early, as Nesta seemed to unintentionally handle the ball (he was facing the other direction sliding, but his hand was away from his body, therefore should have been called). I would call this the worst half of football Milan have played all season, but that wouldn’t be fair to some of the truly woeful performances we’ve seen out of the boys in the last few months. This was certainly near the bottom. There was no movement in the midfield, there was no creativity on the pitch (especially since Zlatan wasn’t in the mood). Allegri was no help with his tactical instructions from the sideline, “Dai Dai Dai!” Other instructions include “break wide when you get the ball” and another “Dai Dai Dai” for good measure. It would be nice to get some real instruction every now and again.

Matchwinner BOA BOA BOA, TENG TENG TENG!!! The frustration builds even more if you take a look at Genoa’s records coming into the match, leading Serie A in goals conceded, and having the least clean sheets of any team in the league. Nonetheless, it took Milan more than a half to break the deadlock. Until the introduction of Cassano and Boateng after the break no one had a clue what to do. The Milan Plan: Step 1: Kick the ball to Ibra Step 2: ????? Halftime Stat: (Via OptaPaolo) AC Milan have made just 9 touches in the opposition box in the 1st half vs Genoa, only 1 by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Second Half: Allegri caught me off guard by making a substitution at a reasonable time, however, didn’t surprise me with his incorrect selection of the player to come off. El Shaarawy had been one of the only players stretching the defense in the opening half, however, Cassano’s introduction needed to happen. El Shaarawy will get more chances, not to worry. Van Bommel was also substituted for Boateng.

Positioning after the introduction of Boateng and Cassano Around the 60th minute, Milan began playing like the squad they really are, as the introductions of Cassano and Boateng were huge. One must wonder how the season would have gone if Cassano had been healthy. Allegri is playing for his job. Plain and simple. If he were to lose or draw against Genoa, after losing to Fiorentina, and drawing Bologna at home, Berlusconi might not have him last the night. Allegri needs to instill some sort of tactics to this squad. The situation became more desperate as news came through Juventus scored, via Marco Borriello. I shit you not. Genoa were subsequently brought down to 10 men as Bosko Jankovic saw his second yellow card and was sent off. This did little to the Genoa shape, however it helped Milan have a bit more space to pass through, and they began connecting on more and more passes, building up momentum. It seemed that this momentum would all be for nought, as through the 80th minute there was no break through. Allegri then substituted Antonini for Maxi Lopez, moving Emanuelson back to the LWB role, his natural position, for which he’s seen precious little time. Emanuelson is perfect for the left wing back position in Allegri’s formation, especially when Nocerino and Boateng are playing. Nocerino’s exploitation of space, and Boateng’s aerial threat are two of the reasons Emanuelson was one of only 6 players in the starting lineup who had assisted a goal in Serie A play thus far.

The setup and positioning for the goal. Emanuelson was the man to make the difference, for yet another game (most under-appreciated player on the squad). Urby’s 6 crosses tied him with Cassano for the most by any player on the field, and it was his last cross that was the most important, glancing off the thigh of Ibrahimovic and falling to the foot of the one man that Milanisti wanted to have the ball in the box, Kevin-Prince Boateng, who made no mistake, drilling the ball with all his might under the onrushing Sebastian Frey giving the Rossoneri a crucial 3 points. Final Thoughts: I would talk more about tactics in this match, but there weren’t really any from Milan. Genoa attacked directly after sitting in their organized defense, with 9 men behind the ball. They broke with flair, and were dangerous on the counterattack, however these counterattacks were so infrequent that they never really looked like putting a goal in, despite their best efforts. The Scudetto is still up for grabs, and that means Milan must win out. It may not be enough. The goal came down the left side, unsurprisingly. No team attacks less down the right side of the pitch in Serie A than Milan.

This is the work of Pete Acquaviva, who does the best Milan match reviews on the web. Follow him on twitter @PDAcquaviva moonbyte