AC Milan’s defensive department has once again come under the microscope after six goals conceded in three games, continuing a negative trend from last season under Stefano Pioli.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning, head coach Paulo Fonseca addressed the defensive worries in his first press conference, stating with confidence: “Ee will defend in a different way, I don’t want to say better or worse than in the past, but different.”
Defensive decline
Instead, now the pitch reflects a script worthy of a nightmare, with all six goals conceded in the same way. Milan let in 31 goals in the Scudetto season in 38 games, an average 0.81 per game, with the icing on the cake being two conceded in the last 11 matches.
Pioli had found harmony with Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori in the centre then Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez on the flanks. Kalulu left Milanello a dozen days ago, but for two years all four of the protagonists mentioned. The result: 43 goals conceded in the 2022-23 Serie A, 49 last season.
Yes injuries played a part, but if the faces of the rearguard were always the same and Malick Thiaw was even added to the group (along with an improved Matteo Gabbia), why did the Milan vessel begin to take on water?
Balance issue
It is certainly not (only) the fault of a decline in the performance of the individuals in the department. The title-winning defence enjoyed the protection of Franck Kessie, Rade Krunic and Sandro Tonali in midfield, plus the work in coverage of Alexis Saelemaekers or Junior Messias on the right.
In short, that Milan was perhaps less endowed with quality and attacking endeavour than the current one, but it had balance. They won games by scoring less on average, yet the history books show it is the teams that defend best that win the league.
With Kessie, Tonali and others leaving, Pioli was no longer able to maintain that happy balance between the attacking and defensive phases, looking for solutions such as inverted full-backs and even a three-man defence, without ever finding consistency.
Despite this, he always started the season well and there were signs of hope. Fonseca, on the other hand, is already struggling after three days in the grip of the same problems that have plagued Milan for some time and which have even worsened at least since the end of last season.
The fix(es)
So we come to the present day, with the results showing one win in 12 games across all competitions stretching back to the end of last season.
The six goals conceded are a mass of (repeated and similar) collective and individual errors, which start – as Fonseca himself says – from the pressing phase of the attackers and end with the positioning and attention of those behind.
From the passive attitude of some (Leao and Theo above all in Parma) to the enthusiasm (Pavlovic and Tomori were very aggressive against Lazio, sometimes erratic) of others, adding in some individual calamities (Thiaw against Torino), it is not a good recipe for success.
Strahinja Pavlovic, the latest reinforcement in the centre of defence, admitted after the draw at the Olimpico that there will be work to do to find solidity. The Serbian giant has been promising, but the question remains? will the work be enough to fix a situation that now seems almost endemic to the Rossoneri galaxy?
