As has been written about at length in recent days, AC Milan’s defensive record continues to be a worry as they often need to score three goals to win a game.
Calciomercato.com report that while reinforcements for the centre-back department did not come from the winter mercato, they may soon come from the treatment room. After nine goals conceded in their last five official games, they are needed too.
Malick Thiaw: The German went off during the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on 28 November due to a ‘severe myotendinous injury of the femoral biceps of the left thigh’.
He is the closest to returning, and will try to be available again for the second leg of the play-off in the Europa League against Rennes, scheduled for February 22.
Fikayo Tomori: He was injured on 22 December against Salernitana and will need a few more days copared to Thiaw. The myo-tendon injury of the right hamstring is on the mend though.
The English centre-back will aim for Milan-Atalanta on 25 February as the game to return, but as of today it is difficult to give a percentage chance on him making that particular fixture.
Pierre Kalulu: The one who sees the light at the end of the tunnel as being furthest away is Kalulu, who suffered his injury back on 29 October in the 2-2 draw against Napoli.
Three days later he was operated on in Finland by Professor Lasse Lempainen, and his return is expected – barring complications – in the first half of March.
It’s not really defensive woes is it, a dodgy penalty and a keeper brain fart, that could have happened with Tomori and Thiaw playing. Gabbia has been solid and Kjaer has been ok, so this article makes little sense and is uneccesarily undermining our current cb pairing who in all reality did nothing wrong this weekend or last weekend against Bologna, which was another keeper near post error.
We are really missing Tomori in a big way. Kjaer has been poor at best, and I love the guy. But his old form just isn’t there anymore.
It’s a system that doesn’t work with the players we have. Not exactly a rocket science but Pioli keeps deploying it hoping to score “one more than the opposition”.
We press too high up and don’t have the players to man mark opposition. Leaves us unbalanced. It works somewhat with weaker opposition but against top teams we get killed. Case in point – first derby of the season.
Even when our starting Cb’s were healthy we had the same problem. See Thiaw VS Kean… this system leaves us exposed.
And finally Mike: shot at his near post – He struggles. Against Atalanta, Bologna, Frosinone more recently. Its a real issue.