The extent of AC Milan’s injury problems continues to produce speculation as to what the reasoning might be, given that having so many players out can no longer be bad luck.
Today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talks about the amount of injuries that Milan have had to deal with. They have had 24 separate injuries this season, while Juventus have had 10 and Inter just seven, with their star players no affected.
The paper talks about three possible causes for Milan’s issues. The primary error could be, for example, the workloads and methods of Pioli and the athletic trainer Osti on the training ground.
The fault could also be the Rossoneri’s style of play which is very demanding, intense and is one which encourages one-on-one duels, transitions and pressing across the field.
There might also be some reflections on the USA preseason tour, which began just 10 days after the squad met at Milanello for the first time could have jeopardised/rushed the summer preparations.
GdS bringing up the US preseason tour as one of the reasons for the injuries like the injuries weren’t as frequent the previous 3 years under Pioli.
Milan plays football that isn’t sustainable for a long period of time unless you have a big squad and you rotate properly.
Milan has a big squad but unfortunately the coach doesn’t rotate unless he is forced because of surprise, surprise, INJURIES, or suspension.
I agree, others on here have mentioned it too. Pioli should be constantly rotating players, the whole point of some of the signings this summer was to provide rotation. Pioli only believes in occasional mass rotation which leaves the subs out of form and the starters overworked. The coach needs to institute a staggered/rolling rotation system so players are rested and played with more regularly.
Zlatan said two years ago the new turf they installed at Milanello is too hard. Case closed.
I doubt if it’s down to rotation. If you look at the top 3 clubs, Inter, Juve, Napoli, you’ll find that they rotate minimally with a core 7, 8 players as their first choice squad with a decent bench to call upon. So mass rotation is a myth…Pioli is notorious for relying heavily on the same players but the bench don’t offer much comfort. Chukuweze was unplayable in Spain, he has yet to have a decent 15min with all chances given. A good player doesn’t go from 10 to 1 overnight so something else is at play here. Could the coach be running out of steam ito player management, or the training methods be questionable?
That’s why some of us suggest it might be that the gameplan might be at fault here.
Inter, Juve and Napoli don’t use a high pressing, high block system.
And a high block, high pressing system caused problems even for a club with a lot of depth like Liverpool.
It is the style of play which is causing the injuries. I always believed that a pressing system like AC Milan’s will only work if the club is only focused on one competition and a fresh attack is introduced every 3-4 years.
The reasons are that the style of play along with international games is too much for everyone to cope with. The club also cannot avoid the fact that this brand of football will shorten the effectiveness of most footballers, so a 3-4 year period is needed so as to replenish the wear and tear.
My honest opinion is the crap training jerseys. That colour combo is just plain murder for the eyes