AC Milan have battled an injury crisis for the vast majority of this season, and the data regarding the number of players they have used shows just how bad it has been.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report – citing CIES Football Observatory – Milan have used 32 players in the league this season which is the most of any club across the ‘top five’ leagues in Europe.
At this precise moment the Rossoneri squad consists of 29 members which speaks volumes. There have been a number of players who were promoted from Primavera to make their senior debut, hence why it has hit 32.
The Rossoneri are followed by Newcastle, Granada, Betis and Seville (30), and then Manchester United, Sheffield United, Cadiz, Lorient and Metz. It seems clear that in most cases these are clubs that are experiencing a tortuous season, and Milan are not excluded.
It is often the case that opportunity arises from need, and the use of Primavera players since at the beginning of the season caused the squad side to rise from 28 to 32.
Here too, an observation must be made: in a club that starts the season with the aim of competing for the Scudetto and to advance as much as possible in the Champions League, normally such young players find a place on the bench at most.
Offering the opportunity for a debut to young players from the Primavera team, or to those who are making their first permanent appearance in the first team, is essentially a question of necessity.
In the case of Milan and Pioli’s decisions, however, in some cases it has become a question of choices. An example above all is Alex Jimenez, who was given minutes at left-back because Theo Hernandez was the centre-back.
Of course, Jimenez has the penalty conceded against Atalanta on his mind – the classic sin of youth, net of the discussions on the foul that generated the penalty – but in the meantime Milan are planning to buy him permanently.
Kevin Zeroli, Davide Bartesaghi, Jan-Carlo Simic, Chaka Traorè and Francesco Camarda have all made the leap this season and showed their character, but again it was because of having a full treatment room.
Games with seven, eight or nine unavailable players have in fact forced Pioli to broaden his horizons. Physical problems, just to give an example, saw Milan field three goalkeepers throughout the season which is unusual.
In terms of playing time among outfield players, the podium is made up of Tijjani Reijnders (1,709 minutes played), followed by Fikayo Tomori (1,385) and Davide Calabria (1,335′). And then, among the 29 in the squad, there is also a very small group of those who have not been on the pitch for even a minute.
They are only the fourth goalkeeper Lapo Nava, the injured Mattia Caldara, the new signing Filippo Terracciano (who has already made his debut in the Coppa Italia and will soon do so in Serie A too). It cannot be said that Milan are not drawing on all their resources this year.
That happens when most of your team is on the treatment table.