AC Milan 0-0 Genoa: Five things we learned – San Siro turns toxic after bitter birthday | OneFootball

AC Milan’s 125th anniversary celebrations were dampened by the action on the field as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Genoa.

Paulo Fonseca decided to make five changes to the starting line-up from the team that beat Red Star with Emerson Royal and Alex Jimenez coming into the defence plus Samuel Chukwueze, Mattia Liberali and Tammy Abraham slotting into the attack.

What he was hoping for was a response after going on a post-match rant following the victory against the Serbians, but it never really came. Milan were slow and unimaginative for most of the match, and when they did generate a couple of big chances Alvaro Morata wasted both.

The Rossoneri restricted Genoa to zero shots on target yet result means that they have not taken any strides towards the Champions League places and have actually dropped to eighth place in the table after Bologna’s win. Below are five things we learned…

1. The gun has jammed

There was a time a few weeks ago when it seemed like the defensive department would be Milan’s Achilles heel for the season, all while goals were being scored in bunches at the other end.

Fast-forward to the present day, and fans are bemoaning yet another blunt attacking display. The Diavolo have failed to score in three of their last four Serie A home games, as many times as in their previous 45 games at San Siro in the competition.

In eight league games out of 15 the team have not scored more than one goal. Against Genoa they huffed and puffed without doing much, then when the final bit of quality was needed for the ball or finish, it totally deserted them.

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There is more to come on the strikers, but in a game like this far more has to come from Samuel Chukwueze and Rafael Leao on the wings. Genoa did a good job generally in reducing the space available to them but they never tried anything different and seemed to settle for being marked out of the game.

Noah Okafor came on for Chukwueze on the right side and it was hoped he could change things, yet it was like trying to jam another key into the lock that was completely the wrong size. A wasteful and unimaginative attacking performance.

2. Green shoots

There wasn’t much to celebrate in terms of individual efforts, but Alex Jimenez’s performance was a positive to the extent La Gazzetta dello Sport had him as their man of the match.

The Spaniard combined well with Rafael Leao down that flank and played the game at 100% intensity throughout, which is more than can be said about the man he replaced, Theo Hernandez. He went into every challenge with guts, got forward with his pace and made smart movements.

The 19-year-old got Vogliacco and Zanoli booked, and it raises questions about how long he has been ready for. He could even play right-back given he is right-footed, but maybe Zlatan Ibrahimovic was right about him being the most natural deputy left-back.

In the meantime, we were able to deduce a bit less from Mattia Liberali’s first start, though there were some promising moments. He grew into the game after a quiet start and did a good job operating in the half-spaces.

Coming up against the duel-winning machine Morten Frendrup and the experienced Milan Badelj meant he was always going to find it hard. That said, he had a couple of nice turns, released the ball in a timely fashion and probably should have drawn a penalty (but also given one away too).

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

3. Reaching breaking point

Despite the magnitude of the occasion and the club doing their best to make it a celebration, the atmosphere felt pretty toxic inside San Siro from the moment (around 30 minutes in) when it became clear it was going to be a long night.

By the time the full-time whistle went it felt like a relief more than anything, because the team had spent almost the entire second half having every misplaced pass, bad decision and erratic shot met with a barrage of jeers.

The fans made their thoughts known by protesting with chants and banners inside the stadium, something that simply cannot have been lost on the directors present. Hopefully the anger reached Gerry Cardinale too, who decided not to attend such an important occasion.

After exiting the stadium, the Curva Sud displayed a sign with some well-chosen words for the management: “Milan management: we have waited for you and supported you endlessly, we have had enough of your mediocrity. Incompetent managers, a club without ambition. You are not up to our history.”

What that suggests is that this is the first step in a series of protests planned because the Curva have made it clear their unwavering support is no longer. Things could get even more toxic before the end of the year, essentially, and who can blame them for having lost patience.

4. What leadership?

Minute 76: Alvaro Morata comes off the bench and has a chance to make himself the hero. Tijjani Reijnders leads a break and slides a through ball to him on the right side of the box, the Spaniard checks back inside but also leans back and curls a shot beyond top left corner.

Minute 79: Reijnders againt provides the pass that opens up the Genoa defence and finds Morata deep inside the box again. This time there is no defender to navigate and he is a few yards closer. The result? He sent a high shot onto the crossbar.

It simply isn’t good enough. At 32 years of age and with so much experience, those chances have to be buried, or at least one of them. Then, we might be talking about a completely different reflection on the game, a win where Milan needed patience but picked their moment.

Instead, the man who has the highest salary on the accounts (in gross terms) and the most silverware to his name was unable to provide that moment. The jury remains out on whether Milan got the decision right to entrust the starting striker spot (he only came off the bench due to passing a late fitness test) to someone who has never been a prolific scorer.

We cannot attack the character of Morata and suggest that he doesn’t care about the opportunities missed, it is rather an observation that there are far too many players in the team that cannot be relied upon to deliver big moments and get the team out of trouble.

5. Silence and absences

For as much as there was vocal disapproval from the supporters and the media after the game, it is perhaps the lack of words and also the absentees that have made the most noise.

We must admit that the pre-game ceremony – including legends being honoured on the field and a three-tier tifo – were brilliantly done and befitting of the occasion. It was touching to see the likes of Pippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf, Alexandro Pato and the Tre Tulipani all get such a warm reception.

These are figures that have built the history of Milan over its 125 years, making it worth celebrating in such a way. Yet, perhaps the favourite son Paolo Maldini did not attend despite being invited. No reason was given but he did send a birthday message to the club on Instagram.

Andriy Shevchenko and Ricky Kaka did not come either due to prior commitments, making three quite heavy absences and leaving the whole evening feeling rather incomplete.

Speaking of non-attendees, the owner of the club Gerry Cardinale was not there. The reason that was fed out through close circles was that he intends to leave the stage to those who wrote the history of the club, in essence implying that he didn’t feel worthy of being there yet.

As noble as that might sound, the history means little without a clear future and the radio silence from the upper management regarding the complicated start to the season means the RedBird Capital founder not being there generates more negative headlines.

Finally, we heard from Zlatan Ibrahimovic before the game and he revealed his backing for Fonseca’s words after the Red Star game. After the full-time whistle, it seems the directors couldn’t get out of San Siro quick enough, given only the head coach and two players spoke to the media.