This morning, AC Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani spoke to reporters at the Serie A offices following the Europa League playoff draw about the plans for January and the injury crisis that Milan continues to face.
Milan has been given one of the more difficult fixtures of the Europa League playoffs, as they drew Stade Rennais. However, there can be positivity. The French side is experiencing a torrid season in Ligue 1, which sees them sitting in 13th, only three points above the relegation zone.
Regardless of that, though, they are still a side to fear. In Europe this season, they have won four games, with their losses against Villarreal being the only thing stopping them from direct qualification into the next stage of the competition.
The pencilled fixtures mean that Stefano Pioli’s side will play six times in February, averaging a game nearly every four days. Whilst this was expected, the month could be the make-or-break for the Rossoneri.
It is, hypothetically, a month that could see Milan’s title hopes disappear (if they have not already at that point) or, even worse still, put their hopes of qualification into the Champions League into doubt. Alternatively, their hopes for a successful season could be boosted, with progression in Europe likely being seen as the highlight.
Giorgio Furlani represented AC Milan at the Serie A offices ahead of the Europa League draw and spoke to reporters, and his comments were relayed by MilanNews.
Immediate reaction after drawing Rennes…
“We were indifferent. If we want to go and win the Europa League, anyone is fine, we have to face them all.”
Happy with the win against Monza?
“Good to have won yesterday, but a pity for the boys who got injured…”
Is there a fix for the ongoing injury problem?
“It’s not easy, we’re working on it. Fortunately, the youngsters who have come in have had their chance and given good feedback.”
After Tommaso Pobega’s injury, will a midfielder be a priority in the January mercato?
“No, no.”
Will Matteo Gabbia return from Villarreal?
“We haven’t spoken about it.”
The issue with trusting youngsters would be that you don’t know how they will turn out to be against high intensity senior football teams. Not all will play like Simic who showed confidence with good positioning.
I think it would a mistake on their part if we don’t go for a holding midfielder in January. Krunic is to be sold, Pobega got a long term injury, RLC is very injury prone and Benny will have to leave for Afcon.
So when do you expect youngsters to start playing? They have to start somewhere. Maldini, Kaka, and Pirlo etc were young when they became first-team players. Lamine Yamal from Barca is only 16 years old. 18-20 are no longer very young in today’s climate. Milan needs U23 team like Juve. Currently, they don’t have a lot of promising young players.
I agree AC Milan definitely needs an u23 team in Serie C but you are also basically mentioning some of the biggest names of the sport ever and a current generational talent but most youngsters at all clubs are bound to fail and that is a simple fact unless its at smaller clubs or feeder clubs.
Pirlo started at Brescia and played there for 3 years before ending up at inter where he wasnt a success before joing us at the age 22. Kaka played in brazil and with all due respect even though they foster a great bunch of talents the league is not of the same standards as italy and their clubs are bound to sell their biggest talents down the road.
This!
The majority of Primavera players don’t actually make it. Its a fact of life. Some can show quality while others don’t. There are so many factors that make or break players even with talent
Absolutely and I’m not really sure why people think we can field a bunch of primaveras and expect us to perform just as well or better is down to general naivety or that AC Milan has a lot of teen followers on this website because logically speaking most wont be ready and never will be. Even though we all like seeing young players getting their debuts most wont be able to handle such pressure at such a young age and probably later on in their careers will end up in bottom tier Serie A teams, Serie B teams or worse and some will even end their careers at a fairly young age,
It is nice though to see those who succeed but most simply wont.
Fully agree with you there. It’s always a gamble when buying young players with no past experience of playing in a similar quality, it’s like throwing them in lion’s den in some cases (like Pellegrino). Some players are able to adapt to the pressure, some don’t.
Im not really ready to disregard pellegrino yet as he was instantly injured after playing fairly decent in his debut and it was expected that he didnt join us as a starter but as a 5th choice backup player with some promise. Peole just shouldn’t expect too much from him yet and if i remember correctly he is already 20 years old but might still turn out good. He was called up to the argentine international team at least but didn.t get his debut there yet. Overall though most young players are bound to fail at the very top but hats the name of the game. If pellegrino fails with us i think he will end up with a lower ranked serie a team or go back to Argentina.
OHH Juddah has spoken !!
Would love to see Milan win the europa
No return for Gabbia discussed so far? Hum bizarre
There’s still no agreement between government and Lega on extending growth decree. If the agreement is not reached by the end of this year, it means huge blow to Serie A in terms of revenue and global competitivness. It will already impact planned extentions. Good thing is it’ll force clubs to look into domestic and homegrown talent. But it could take years before before we see any results.