AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori has made several errors since the Scudetto season of 2021-22, but his actions during the Fiorentina game tipped fans many over the edge.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how Tomori has been a mystery for a long while now. He is and was one of the main reasons why Milan won the league title two years ago, and while he still has performances of that level, they tend to alternate with more negative outings.
The question ‘why has Tomori dropped so much in his performance?’ continues to hang in the air at Milanello and no one can provide a comprehensive answer, not even those who observe him on a daily basis.
Fluctuating performances are more tolerable if a player is showing exemplary professionalism, but Tomori ended up in the crosshairs after the penalty incident when he jumped to get the ball and passed it to Tammy Abraham rather than the designated taker Christian Pulisic.
It is easy to understand that behind that gesture is the friendship that binds Fikayo and Tammy. Both are English and with a long history in the same dressing room starting from the youth teams of Chelsea to their current club in Italy.
The affection and the bond, however, do not justify the transgression: that ball should have ended up in Pulisic’s arms, not Abraham’s. The centre-back has a lesser degree of guilt than the striker, but the fact and the gesture remain.
Tomori is one of the potential captains, he too knew very well that Theo Hernandez taking the previous penalty constituted insubordination that should not be repeated, and yet he acted according to what his head dictated to him at that moment.
He also got a yellow card during the first half for protesting quite aggressively towards Luca Pairetto after being penalised for a foul. If even players with more level-headedness like Tomori behave like this, how can we think that calm will return to the squad overall?
It is a clear sign of being on edge, perhaps of frustration because Tomori looks around and recognises little or nothing of what was there before. Milan’s defence, the jewel in the crown of the 2021-22 Scudetto, no longer exists. It has become an amusement park where opponents come in and have fun without paying for a ticket.
He himself will know well that he has significantly lowered his attentiveness, such as during La Viola’s second goal when he jumped well below David De Gea’s long ball and it led to the winner, scoring by Albert Gudmundsson.
Comparing his stats this season to 2021-22 shows a drop in key data like balls recovered, interceptions, tackles won and duels, while the average rating drops from 6.32 in the title year to a sad 5.62 (among the lowest in the squad) this season.