The list of AC Milan squad members who have not suffered an injury so far this season is far shorter than the list of those who have, with the staff looking for ways to end a constant crisis.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) relays the eight injury-free players for Milan so far this season: Mirante, Florenzi, Tomori, Adli, Musah, Pobega, Reijnders and Romero.
In total Milan have had 26 physical problems in the season, 18 of which are due to muscular issues. It’s difficult to get worse than that, but the Rossoneri’s history in 2023-24 teaches that there is no end to the emergency, because Pioli finds himself having to deal with a department – centre-backs specifically – which is down to its last option in Tomori.
The latest to get injured was Malick Thiaw early in the second half against Dortmund and after yesterday’s MRI scan it was revealed that he has suffered a severe hamstring lesion. It is the third hamstring injury in a row, after Leao in Lecce and Okafor with the Swiss national team.
For Thiaw, recovery times are not yet certain because yesterday’s MRI was ‘obscured’ by a hematoma which did not allow the medical staff – led by Dr. Mazzoni – to see clearly. With the next scan, in 7-10 days, it will be understood whether conservative therapy will be enough or whether it will be necessary to repair the damage with surgery.
In the first hypothesis it will take a couple of months, and it is in this direction that the first feelings of the Rossoneri doctors converge, with cautious optimism. Otherwise, the return times would be significantly extended.
With 18 out of 26 being muscle injuries, or 69% of the total, there is a very alarming trend. From October 2019, the moment in which Stefano Pioli replaced Marco Giampaolo as head coach, such a high peak has never been reached. The same goes for the muscle injuries at this point of the season: in 2022-23 there were 11, in the Scudetto year 14, 9 in 2020-21 and 7 in 2019-20.
How can we explain the escalation of this season? At Milanello they have not managed to find an answer and everyone, from the technical staff to the medical area of MilanLab up to the management, are working to solve the problem.
Everything has ended up in the cauldron of potential causes, from the methods of the athletic trainers to the Rossoneri’s style of play, but the truth is that, from the outside, it is impossible to clarify things. The feeling is that it is a matter of a combination of blame and that also external risk factors play a role in this story.
From the minutes of the national teams squeezed away from the club – Okafor who started three games in six days with Switzerland, Theo Hernandez who plays 180 minutes out of 180 with France against Gibraltar and Greece in inconsequential matches, situations which have irritated Milan quite a bit – and then those out with flu.
Thiaw remained in Italy during the last international break because he became a father: at Milanello they had planned specific work to improve the German’s condition and make him perform better when he resumed, but a virus struck him, Loftus-Cheek and Maignan and slowed everything down.
A cold shower before the freezing one on Tuesday evening in the Champions League. This is how it goes at Milan these days.
