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fossadeileonixv · 6 years

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Professor Rockett's Final Grades

This is a good picture that I like.

So as we wind up the season, I've decided to grade Milan's major players (at least five league appearances) as well as coaching and management on a very American A-F scale. Not much else to say, just read, respond and riot. Remember, these are only my opinions, so while probably right, feel free to disagree.

Keepers

Donnarumma (B+): The final month of the campaign was stormy, to say the least, and there’s little doubt that he cost us points in the league and a chance at the Coppa, but subtract those couple matches and you had a very solid junior season from The Don. During the hump of the season the wantaway (or manipulated, or both) youngster was vital in saving points to keep us within reach of the Champions League and without some of those performances we’re missing out of Europe next year. Markedly improved his footwork and distribution, and aside from his recent form, continued as a stalwart between the sticks. He’s a polarizing dude around these parts, but I for one, am gonna miss the big lug.

Defense

Calabria (B): I was not high on Calabria prior to this season. I thought that he had decent pace, good vision on the counter, and was capable of placing some accurate crosses but I felt he was undersized and slow to react on the defensive side. However, the gains Davide made this season were palpable and made me a believer. He filled in better than anyone really could have expected after the Conti blow, and minus a few hiccups, was a consistent performer for the bulk of the season.

Bonucci (C+): After a disastrous first half of the season where nearly every game was punctuated by at least one inexplicable personal mistake, the 42 million euro man settled in alongside Romagnoli nicely after Gattuso’s appointment and subsequent switch to a four-man back. While never really reaching the form displayed at Juventus, was a solid battery-mate to the breakout A.R., and seemed to nurture his growth.

Romagnoli (A-): Aside from Koulibaly, was maybe Serie A’s best defender from December on. Was the anchor of the defense when we implemented the 4-3-3, providing a stout base to, at times, a curvy spine. The comparisons to Nesta extend far beyond the number as his positioning, awareness, technique, and timing all made dramatic improvements. My team MVP.

Rodriguez (B-): Advertised as an inverted fullback, I expected a lot more from the Hot Rod after his move from Wolfsburg last summer. Stymied somewhat by a significantly weaker attacking left side, R.R. left a lot to be desired in attack, with many of his crosses and shots wildly off-the-mark. However, he held up his end of the bargain on the defensive side of things (let’s just forget that whole Arsenal tie), again, with less protection than the rest of the defense, so all in all, a nice little campaign, albeit a quiet one.

Abate (C-): Gattuso relied on his old chum a little too often for my liking, especially at the end of the season, allowing us to experience his footballing decay in real-time. Pizza making gif was worth keeping him around for though ("I'm gonna let you in on a little Abate family secret here, but the secret to any Neapolitan pizza is cheese.").

Zapata (B-): Can you name a game when Zapata went full Zapata? I’ll wait. The arrivals of Bonucci and Mussachio seemingly damned the Colombian to Europa and Coppa fixtures, but the latter’s inability to secure playing time and a small stretches where A.R. was injured provided Zaps with a couple handfuls worth of starts. Never really went into the ‘God-Zapata’ video-game mode that once cancelled out Higuain, but was consistently good, which is good enough for me.

Musacchio (D+): A weird combination of being third, and then fourth choice, and never really dazzling when given the opportunity left the former Villareal man on the outside looking in. To be fair, he never looked inept, and I would have liked to see him a bit more, but neither Montella nor Gattuso seemed impressed enough in training to make it happen.

Antonelli (INC): Came on mostly as a sub in the dying embers of the match.

Midfield

Kessie (B): I can see a couple eyebrows raised here, but while Franck is probably my favorite player on this squad outside maybe Romagnoli, and though I think he was indispensable to the midfield as our only true box-to-box guy, he suffered mightily at times from being overworked. I’m not faulting him at all as his energy, ability to push possession up, and marking were vital, and far ahead of his age. However, he was a net negative looking absolutely gassed in a number of matches due to a lack of a second option. Here’s hoping we get a vice-Kessie this summer because this kid is too good to run into the ground.

Biglia (B-): It seems so long ago that Lucas Biglia was in such poor form that the timeless Rick Montolivo displaced him in the starting eleven. Then Montella was fired and Gattuso gave him a second chance and he totally redeemed himself! In the few games he missed in the second half of the season, the drop-off in organization was noticeable. Provided uncompromising cover for the backline, short, silky distribution in possession, and was a vital cog in our unbeaten run in the winter.

Bonaventura [C]: This was a rather frustrating season for Jack. While the numbers are respectable with 9 goals in 47 games across all competitions (a more respectable 8 in 33 league appearances), more often than not he cut an uninspired figure on the pitch, giving away possession, running straight into defenders, and disappearing for large swathes of the match. The move from wing to mid may have something to do with it, but even so, that trademark ability to win one on one matchups that made his wing-play so effective was by and large absent.

Montolivo [C]: Old Lady Face did what Old Lady Face does, and that’s do an average job. I’m by no means a hater, as Monty was neither stellar nor poor, filling in admirably while Biglia got himself sorted. Much like a lukewarm cup of water to wash down some advil before bed, necessary and effective.

Locatelli (D+): Had a couple sweet performances towards the end of the season, but otherwise seemed to stagnate if not take a step back entirely. Continued to look overwhelmed in almost every duty as a regista, leading me to believe he isn’t really suited for the role, needs significantly more time to grow into it, or both. A year as a starter at a smaller club could do this kid wonders, because the growth has been uneven here and this past season was in some respects a lost year.

Attack

Suso [C]: Ugh. Just ugh. On one hand, he was the catalyst for a lot of scoring opportunities, pulling the strings, especially in the first half of the season, when no one else was stepping up to that challenge. I am inclined to say he was our most important attacker until around January. On the other, Lisi’s favorite whipping boy put it on airplane mode for the final two or three months of the season, with Milan’s best match of the year incidentally not featuring him at all. Whether it was that teams figured him out, or that his head was somewhere else, or a little bit of both, is something up for debate. But as the season wore on it became apparent that he is not as indispensable as many of us thought.

Kalanic (F): Why get worked up? We all know why. Flop of the year, with no second place.

Calhanoglu (B): After a slow start to the season (notice that trend?) Cal took over the reigns as the offense’s playmaker with the final match of the season punctuating his importance to the club going forward. Though the sample size is comparatively small, we haven’t had an attacking mid with this kind of quality since Kaka (and no, he’s not in Kaka’s class) with the Turk able to beat defenders, shoot from range, bury set pieces, and serve teammates on platters. Of all the young guns on this squad, he’s probably the one with the highest ceiling.

Borini (B-): My guy. The loveable Fabolous Borini seemed to find the net when we wanted it most and for the price, was maybe last year’s biggest bargain, filling in wherever was needed.

Silva (D-): Mr. Thursday Night was pretty much just that. Aside from grabbing three points in stoppage time at The Luigi Ferraris, Andre only seemed to show and prove against the farmers, making maddeningly poor decisions when given the opportunities in the league (seriously, remember him trying that backwards header off a bounce against Udinese? Oof.) Flashes of potential weren’t even there for most of the campaign leaving most of us puzzled as to why his price-tag was a high as it was coming from Porto.

Cutrone (B): This may be the most controversial grade on this dang report card. 18 goals and 6 assists across all competitions at the age of 19? I know, I know. The kid could earn close to an A-, but my issue with Young Pat is how inconsistent the performances were, to really, no fault of his own. The kid is a poacher in the purest form and for long spells of the season, the service, especially for someone of his stature, just was not there. And when he wasn’t fed, he had difficulty imposing himself into the match, physical as he was. An effective partner could do this kid wonders, and as such, next year is going to be interesting. One of the few untouchables and my breakout player of the year.

Coaches

Montella (D+): It started of well for The Lil’ Aeroplane, but Conti’s injury knocked out an engine which in my opinion, doomed the three man back. Hitting this turbulence, Vinnie was either too stubborn or too unimaginative to compensate and the team struggled to forge any type of identity. The two players that most outlets claim were his guys in Musacchio and Kalinic were flaming busts and it seemed he alienated himself from both players and management towards the end of his tenure. In the end, wrong man for the right job.

Gattuso (B+): For the record Gattuso is my favorite Milan player ever. Also for the record, I’m not sold on him leading this team to a top-four spot. I’m not as pessimistic as Mike, but also not as optimistic as maybe Russu, however you can not deny that he provided a jolt to this club when it appeared that nothing could save it. The beginning was rocky, and if you believed some of the rumor rags, he was close to walking away, but he stuck with it and led the club on a 13 game unbeaten run that included victories against Inter, Roma, and Nazio. Sure, Benevento proved to be his kryptonite, Juve thoroughly dressed us down twice, and his subs were confusing at times, but if we’re going strictly by results, there was a solid uptick after he took over and a lot of our players kicked it up a notch at the same time. No coincidence.

Management

Fassobelli, Mirabelli, and whoever our owner is (F): Harsh? Fight me. This management team decided to go for broke and buy our way into the Champions League and it blew up in their collective faces. Personally, while last summer was exciting, I didn’t buy it and had us finishing 5th and didn’t even see sixth as out of the realm of possibility. Starting with the coach, and continuing with expensive buys that in many ways contradicted other expensive buys, the group bet against common sense and depth and tallied up a massive bill with a better team on paper, but one with fundamental flaws. Sure, there are some nice pieces for next season (but let’s be real, a lot of these, Calabria, Cutrone, and AR, were here before the splurge), but I can't see into the future and I cannot give a passing grade to these cats when they spent over 200 million euros to finish… well here, let’s compare this season: 6th place, 64 points (18W, 10D, 10L), 56F/42A/+14; to last season: 6th place, 63 points (18W, 9D, 11L). 57F/45A/+12. How Mirabelli in particular still has a job is beyond me, but here’s to hoping they’ve learned from their mistakes.

That's it! You've reached level three.

Mike’s coming in with some heat soon. Me? I’m off to Ecuador for two weeks so I won’t be around. Have fun, and be prepared for Deadpool Pt. II (Murad, I’m mailing your package tomorrow I swear!)

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