AC Milan - AS Roma 2-0

Justifications. We played in the heat and excessive humidity to play at high rhythms. Milan had two more days off. But this is not enough. I am convinced that Roma have a higher general technical quality than Milan who had to go out in the second half with the changes. Fonseca fielded this high technical quality with: Pastore, Perotti, Carles Perez and Kalinic, but they seemed listless. I expect more especially from Pastore. Each has its own character, but football is a competitive sport and I expect from him as a competitor plus a fighting spirit.

Roma played poorly overall. I do not want to give the cross of defeat to Pastore or to the changes in general, nor to Zappacosta, who with his serious mistake makes Rebic's first goal materialize, nor to Diawara, who still seems out of condition, neither to the defense nor to the midfield in general that has never managed to get out of the Milan pressing in the second half and neither to Fonseca who perhaps could have changed before Zappacosta, who returned to the field after 10 months of absence. We are all responsible for this defeat. We are all responsible for this mediocre performance.

In the first half we had also played well enough, touching the goal in a couple of occasions. Above all, we could more easily get out of the pressing, taking advantage of the speed of Kluivert and the intelligence of Mkhi and Pellegrini, but then we were wrong in the decisive step. Especially, Justin seems skilled in dribbling and speed, but then he often misses the assist, so we have to train the Dutchman for greater precision in the passage or for greater determination in the shot or for both aspects. In the second half, Fonseca did not want to launch long on Dzeko (who lost most of the duels with Romagnoli), but wanted to build from below and then take AC Milan in a counterattack situation. However, the changes took away our weapons and were not up to par. We were thus closed by the AC Milan pressing that found the two goals (the second on Calhanoglu's penalty) that decided the game. Congratulations to Milan.

My rational hope is that Fonseca wants to get the team used to building from behind as soon as possible and then automatically overtaking the opponents who press. He also built from behind in Shakhtar and the results were not always positive. If Roma wants to become a great team, it must know how to build from behind, but Fonseca must understand that this is not always possible and that Rome can also take advantage of long throws on Dzeko or on fast wings. The solution with Veretout on the left worked partially because it does not have the vision of the game it could have with a central position, but I do not feel like rejecting this solution entirely: it is a reasoning that belongs to Fonseca. For me, he is an excellent coach who will have many successes in the future. Saying that Fonseca was wrong and looking for solutions does not change my unchanged esteem for our coach.

Now we have to start again against an opponent with other technical and tactical characteristics such as Udinese. We will have to be more humble (trying to play easier and working on our flaws such as the back pass and the assist) and we will have to be more concentrated so that certain mistakes no longer happen. It's a game within reach. We can win. Daje Roma!

Giordano Sepi