Silva scores his first goal for Milan

A win is a win. Three points is three points. But, while we played well in the first half, in fact, it was probably one of our best halves played this season, I am troubled by our inability to finish off matches. In the end, we were just plain lucky that Lazio did not equalise and whilst it never really seemed that they would, they still had plenty of chances to do so and on another day they may well have done so.

True, it can be argued that we came close to sealing the win later in the second half. Both Flamini and Pato fired in two great attempts and if it were not for Muslera, we would have sealed the win. But this did not happen. Instead, we were outplayed by a poor Lazio side as the match drew to a close. The home side had plenty of chances to score but in the end were just unlucky and we were lucky.

I will give Leo and his boys some credit, however, for some of the nice passages of play in the first half. The players are improving with each game under the new system and the team is really starting to take shape under the guidance of Leo. It was a pleasure at times to watch our side, in the first half at least anyway.

But, we need to learn how to finish off matches. A two nil lead is always a dangerous lead especially when the goals are scored early on as was the case against Napoli and Lazio. In both matches, after going up by two goals early on, we have struggled to come away with the three points. Against Napoli we lost two points in the end and against Lazio we held on for three, but only just.

Against more competent sides, the likes of Inter, Sampdoria, Fiorentina and Juventus, we will not get away with it. Come the latter stages of the Champions League after we qualify, we will absolutely not get away with it. We need to be able to control the match and close it out when we have the advantage. This is what Leo needs to work on.

On the positive side, it is great to see so many of our players performing so much better. Against Lazio, Nesta and Thiago Silva once again showed that they are fast becoming one of the better central defensive pairings in football today. Dida was once again outstanding, pulling off some world class saves to deny Lazio and Zarate on more than a few occasions. In the middle of the park, I continue to be impressed by our captain Ambrosini. Maybe not the best defensive midfielder in the world, but his dogged and tireless displays in the middle are highly effective. Alongside il capitano, and I cannot say that I was particularly impressed by Pirlo. For sure he set up Silva for the first goal, however, he gave the ball away one too many times and in the second half was really over ran in the midfield.

Up front, Pato continues to impress and more importantly score. Ronaldinho, also continued to his own personal renaissance though I will stop short of claiming that he is the Ronaldinho of old. I have said in previous posts that we will never see the Ronaldinho of old, though some commentators are claiming that he is “back”. He is not. But, it is testament to his genius that even as the player he is today, he is still highy useful and for Milan has become absolutely crucial. Three assists and one goal in three matches shows our important Ronaldinho has become to this Milan side.

Staying up front and it is becoming ever so clear that Marco Borriello is simply not good enough. The Italian is a very one dimensional player who can only be effective if given clear cut chances inside the area. He is meant to be strong in the air considering his height and strength yet he barely ever connects on the end of crosses into the box. Playing a 4-3-3, we need a striker with good first touch, capable of holding up the ball and bringing in others to the attack. Borriello struggles to do any of this. His first touch is heavy, his vision is lacking, and he is unable to get in front of the defenders to get to the ball first, hold it up and lay it off. Dare I say it, but even Luca Toni would be an improvement though in no way am I suggesting we sign the has-been Toni. Borriello is the achillies heal in our side at the moment and to a lesser extent so is Oddo. Huntelaar should be given another chance to prove his worth.