Cagliari vs AC Milan: Return to Zemanlandia

That was a disgrace of a team. Apart from that great goal by Bonaventura, that challenge by Rami and that lucky save from Abbiati they played so horrible that that is hard to explain. They looked like bunch of amateurs who played the game for the first time. So many wrong passes, so many balls from defenders to Torres who was always surrounded by 2 or 3 players. And that defense OMG. 1 or 2 Cagliari players against 6 or 7 Milan players all the time and we are lucky that they scored only once. I lost too many nerves watching this game and my head is spinning around. I am fan of the club over 25 years and i never saw anything like this. Total disgrace and catastrophe.

Another draw Watching the highlight, we truly were awful. Cagliari dominated us. Allegri's goal tho

I agree that this is the worst Milan performance of the Season. Torres is toothless, and Pazzo simply lost it.

That we are depending on goals from Honda to save us exposes how predictable and weak our offense is.

These draws against mid-table teams are going to cost us in the long run. We should be a comfortable 3rd now, but instead we're still in the pack.

All in all, a very poor performance in which Cagliari can consider themselves unfortunate to have not claimed three points. We lacked poise in the final third, struggled to enforce our game on an energetic opponent and remained vulnerable in transition throughout the 90.

Avelar should have been sent off after ten minutes for a second yellow after a clear professional foul on the counter, which I believe would have drastically changed the game, however that we were still so poor was disappointing. It must be said however that Cagliari have shown themselves to be a very difficult opponent already this season and a point is not necessarily a poor result away from home, however my main issue is with our poor control of the basics.

Firstly though, the positives. De Sciglio was greatly improved in attack, showing aggression throughout to provide width whilst also going on one great run to the top of the box having cut in. It was a relative improvement though and it is hard to envision MDS increasing his productivity without more involvement on the ball from our LCM. Muntari however was disastrous. Whilst he at least provided very effective defensive cover against Fiorentina, against Cagliari he was simply lost. Once the team has settled into a defensive shape, both Muntari and Poli are regularly used to step out of the '5' that forms to press a defender in possession, however at times what we saw was Muntari pushing up in addition to our forward line during times when the ball was being contested in the air and given the static nature of the team behind, we saw huge gaps in midfield during the first half that enabled Cagliari to move the ball vertically with ease after they escaped the initial pressure, with De Jong forced to cover too wide an area and forced interventions to arrive at the edge of the box rather than situations being resolved far earlier and higher than usual. We struggled to match Cagliari's tempo and their work ethic overwhelmed us when they built attacks, with the movement of their deeper lying positions in particular being poorly tracked, leading to chances such as Ibarbo's shot on an open goal. It was one of a catalogue of missed chances, with Conti's shot that struck the upright and Farias' late opportunity amongst the best in the whole game.

Their goal itself was a piece of lovely play and one must commend Ibarbo's acceleration, late movement in between the central defenders and deft header. We conceded from a play of great quality, however my frustration comes from the mistakes that led to the initial attack rather than the individual efforts in defence. It characterised the difference between the two sides. There weren't any particular standouts for Cagliari in shutting us out, rather it was the organisation and energy shown by all to effectively restrict the space in which we had to play. Our lack of composure in midfield and poor decision making crippled our ability to regularly open up Cagliari however in the second half we appeared to simply lose belief. We were lethargic and predictable in attack and appeared to be simply holding out for the final whistle to save us. One thing that we have always demanded as fans is that the team fights to the last minute, but from what I saw we'd checked out after an hour. Our substitutes did little to turn this around and I was disappointed to see Pazzini in place of Torres rather than alongside him. If we were to go ahead with a lone forward I'd honestly have rather put Niang in to give us some pace on the counter and let Menez resume a central role.

In attack, El Shaarawy and Honda were both responsible for some careless play, with SES in particular worthy of reprimand for sending the ball in front of the defence at the beginning of the game to spark a dangerous counter. He was at the heart of our best moves however and must be persisted with, however it is clear that he needs a goal to remove the pressure on his shoulders. Honda meanwhile contributed one excellent pass on the counter to send in SES at the top of the box and made some excellent runs at Avelar however it was a relatively anonymous game for him. Torres' touch was routinely poor when receiving the ball to feet and was uncompetitive in the air whilst Bonaventura deserves commendation for a fine goal, however like the others he was part of a listless performance overall.

A point at the end of that performance however was more than we deserved and given the cramped look of the table, it may prove to be a very precious point at the end of the season, particularly given Cagliari's potency, which will only increase under Zeman's guidance.