There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding various aspects of AC Milan at the moment, and a collective effort is needed to correct the course.
La Gazzetta dello Sport have picked out five areas in particular which are a cause for concern for Milan at the moment and have contributed to some of the issues that the team are experiencing at present.
Summer signings: The approximately €50m spent on the market in summer 2022 so far has not brought any improvements to the squad and when Milan do well, they do so almost entirely thanks to those who were already there.
Maldini clarified some time ago that he feels he is the guarantor of the project, but as the weeks go on the likes of Charles De Ketelaere, Yacine Adli, Malick Thiaw, Aster Vranckx and Sergino Dest offer few encouraging signs.
Winter mercato: The past market leads to the current one, but Maldini admitted that the window is virtually already shut: “In the winter market we will do practically nothing.”
Of course any new addition make complete sense within the project and that Milan will never buy just for the sake of it, while the accounts must continue to improve, but even without injuries there are obvious areas to improve the squad.
Injuries: The treatment room continues to be nearly full just as it has been for most of the season and this deserves mentioning as a complete Milan squad would almost certainly not find themselves in the current difficult situation.
The team that conceded in extra time against Torino was roughly the starting team, but Pioli has to do without even eight to nine players every game, some of whom enable productive rotations. Playing every three days, it means that the performance of the individuals drops and the risk of new injuries increases.
Coaching: The athletic management is obviously attributable to the coach, but Pioli has recently come under fire for other things too such as substitutions and his management of rotation.
The attacking movements are also questionable when the starters are not out there, as against Torino we saw more than once players calling for a ball in behind but instead the pass was played to feet.
Then, when the main players did come on the performance did not improve. These are things that Pioli will have to work on starting from an objective basis: he is a coach who knows how to squeeze the most out of his team, since he is the greatest architect of the Scudetto and the return to the Champions League.
Defence: It is what stands out most in this moment of confusion, with an alternation between three and four-man defence evidently not so productive. There are drops in attention in individuals – Tomori’s performance for example is below what was shown last season – and in the department such as Roma’s two goals from dead ball situations.
Certain arrangements are dictated by the injuries such as Pierre Kalulu shifting to right-back because of the problems in that role, but there also seems to be lower concentration than a year ago. In six matches – three friendlies and three official – between December and January the Diavolo conceded 14 goals. The team that had clean sheets as a flagship no longer exists and must be fixed.
