AC Milan’s performance in the 2-2 draw has been widely criticised, along with the lack of tactical direction and the repeated injuries that have now claimed Fikayo Tomori.
A report in Corriere della Sera (via Milan News) has not held back when taking aim at the Rossoneri, who look to be even more than just outsiders in the Scudetto race this season.
Having taken the lead through Tomori in the first half, Milan failed to build on their position of strength and allowed Serie A’s bottom team to get back into the game and almost get all three points.
The lack of tactical direction from Stefano Pioli has become a common thread of criticism this season, but there are also demands for consequences when it comes to Milan’s repeated muscular injuries.
An injury epidemic of this nature can be viewed as bad luck, but after a while, it starts to be viewed as incompetence from those in charge of the workload.
A player singled out for criticism was Rafael Leao, who had almost no impact on the game at all despite being regarded as the best player in the team, a tale which is more frequent than many would like it to be.
Leao wasn’t good but he got an assist and another great chance created for Jovic. But where was Pulisic? Did he play this game? How can he be rated higher?
“But where was Pulisic? Did he play this game? How can he be rated higher?”
Because the game lasts 90 minutes and players need to do more than pass the ball to teammates more than twice per match. So yes, Pulisic did more than Leao and deserves more. And players with 7M€ salary needs to perform better than players with 2-4M€ salaries.
…and Jovic (striker in form) needs to be starting and Giroud (striker out of form) benched, as he is a waste of a number 9, 90% of the time
Putting on my “tinfoil hat” a moment …
Milan is having a terrible time with injuries. But so are Inter, Real Madrid, Barca, Man U, Man C, Chelsea, etc to what seems an outsized degree.
I wonder if we are not seeing the cumulative effect of last year’s world cup and the playing of so many games this season already.
Or, was there some new training method everyone bandwagoned on that is causing this “epidemic”
Yeah, either the players are out partying or the World Cup is taking it’s toll now or the training methods are weird.
Either way Pioli hasn’t developed the passing game since the Scudetto season. There is no structure, we rely on magic. If bench players come in they are required to bring some magic as our movement and passing is bad.
We can beat teams like PSG on a good day when Pioli gets the tactics right and the players show up. But we can just as easily lose against any team and be outplayed by any team.
The players are better than this. A better coach will make a difference. Sadly there are no available coaches except Conte who needs $2 billion investment to make his teams play and Potter who needs a few years before the team starts playing well. The others on the list are not good enough.
De Zerbi in summer maybe. Motta is too new. Not sure about him.