Mike Maignan was one of Milan’s best players against Sampdoria and Tuttosport wrote Donnarumma is now ‘further away.’
The 26-year-old has joined the Rossoneri in a €15m deal from Lille to replace the Italy international who left Milan as a free agent at the end of his contract in June.
Apparently, Maignan didn’t feel the pressure and marked his Milan debut with a clean sheet against Sampdoria and a few long passes that caught the eyes of Rossoneri fans.
The first one, after just four minutes, sent Rafael Leao clear, but Emil Audero denied the Portuguese striker.
Brahim Diaz broke the deadlock four minutes later with the goalkeeper who initiated the attack with a long ball for Davide Calabria, who assisted the former Real Madrid starlet.
Maignan also accomplished his goalkeeping duties with saves on Manolo Gabbiadini and Morten Thorsby.
La Gazzetta dello Sport rated the France international 6.5/10, while Tuttosport and Il Corriere dello Sport gave him a 7/10 rating.
Tuttosport wrote Donnarumma is now ‘farther away’, given that the performance of his successor.
After the game, Milan coach Pioli praised his new goalkeeper: “Mike’s long passes are strong and accurate, now we have a new option,” he told Milan TV.
“If our opponents press high up the pitch, we can use this solution. We have strong strikers and we can create trouble.
“Mike must read the situations well, he made some exceptional choices tonight, he is a great and curious guy, I am happy to work with him.”
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It was only his first game. There will be tougher challenges ahead. Once again, he did show that indeed he is a good shot stopper and his positioning is decent. Hopefully he will continue to do the basics right. You could clearly see his communication with the defence is still fledgling, when balls were being passed back to him, and he’d be standing in the ‘wrong’ position. I thought he was a little lucky with the Gabbiadini freekick, when flapping the ball onto the bar. Still. First game, away from home, and in front of fans – very decent effort.
Maignan was part of a Ligue 1-winning campaign last season, so he’s clearly an accomplished performer. I don’t think anyone needs to worry about him going forward.
Whilst Donnarumma was and is a great shot-stopper, I never thought that his distribution or positioning around the box were particularly amazing. I don’t begrudge him moving for more money (you only get one career, after all, and Milan are no longer one of the biggest clubs in Europe) – but he could have worked with Milan to recoup something in terms of transfer fees.
So you’re saying he’s likely going to get better once communication with the defense improves as the team gels?
Sounds promising. Enjoy Ligue UH, Dollarumma.
@MC MIker G
‘I never thought that his distribution or positioning around the box was particularly amazing…’
‘Milan are no longer one of the biggest clubs in europe..’
This is expert level trolling.
Mike is definitely better than Dollarumma with the ball at his feet and his passing range, that’s obvious, the rest remains to be seen.
A very good and proactive goalkeeper though, potentially great, I don’t think we have anything to worry about.
The ability with the feet of Maignan is great. Compared to Dollarumma, it is like comparing an adult with a child. That is definitely a leap in quality, let’s see how he consolidate at the sticks
I agree with Rosario, one game does not a make a season. I’m glad AC Milan won, though watching the game they didn’t look particularly impressive to me (was expecting a stronger performance…one well placed kick from the ageless wonder Quagliarella would’ve solidified a shaky start). Still, Maignan secured a win despite some “huh?” moments, and this was important to score an early victory. I’m pulling for them to win the scudetto this year.
Rosario –
What have I said that’s controversial? Donnarumma isn’t a complete goalkeeper yet, he still has a lot to learn. His distribution in particular is suspect. And Milan are patently no longer one of the biggest clubs in Europe, they rarely spend over £10m for a player whilst the likes of Man City, Chelsea, PSG, Juve, Barcelona, Madrid etc etc spend hundreds of millions in each window. You’re either living in the past or massively deluded if you think Milan can compete with those clubs under the current ownership.