AC Milan’s defensive resilience briefly returned at the start of the season, but now it once again appears that they are in difficulty as goals continue to leak.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall the ‘Scudetto wall’ that was ‘made of reinforced concrete’ and where at most a draft entered every now and then, capable of making up for moments when the attack struggled.
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As we know, in the vast majority of cases the title goes to the one who lets in the fewest goals and not the one who scores the most. The two central bricks of the wall were Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori. One was signed for a minimal amount from Lyon, where he had never played a professional match, the other signed from Chelsea where he was an afterthought.
Only a year and a half has passed since the title win, but since then it has been a tale of lost synchronies, tactical blunders and individual amnesia.
A fix was brought initially by Malick Thiaw who, like Kalulu and Tomori, has forged ahead and has grown very quickly. So much so that he earned the starting position at the beginning of this season. The downside is that from a player who has just turned 22, and with rather limited previous experience in the Bundesliga, you cannot expect perfection.
The bad news was the evident physical decline of Simon Kjaer, who from a pillar has become a reserve with an ailment always around the corner. He who was a guarantee is now no longer in a position to be one, net of his extreme professionalism and attachment to the club.
The last example is the most illuminating: Kjaer did not leave for Naples due to a last-minute muscle strain, and when Kalulu left the field at Maradona, Pioli was forced to give Marco Pellegrino his debut. He was not ready for use – in tactical terms – by the coach’s own admission, and the result was evident on the first goal by Napoli.
In reality, the defensive phase has been creaking in an ominous way since this summer. There were matches in which there was the feeling that the opponents could score more or less every time they attacked, especially in the derby for example.
In some cases they were the so-called calculated risks of the coach, as in the matches in which both full-backs worked as additional midfielders, leaving the flanks unprotected. In other cases there was just confusion.
In others – and here we are at the most serious aspect – attention and ferocity were lacking. PSG’s second goal, which comes from a corner (therefore with the Rossoneri defence theoretically lined up in the most organised way), is a chilling snapshot: the French club have three men in the area against the nine (plus Maignan) Milan players. When PSG take the set piece, you can even see Tomori still tying his shoes.
Now, however, the most pressing problem is the infirmary. Kalulu out for at least four months, Pellegrino for about one and a half, Kjaer doing what he can. Even Caldara, theoretically out of the sporting project, could have found playing time in similar conditions but he too is a long-term patient.
In the meantime, Pioli is praying that Thiaw and Tomori never even get a cold and is waiting for January, when it will be necessary to put a bandage on things in the transfer market.
The only difficulty is becoming putting Pioli and “tactics” in the same sentence.
You didn’t read the article
You don’t understand what I wrote or English is your second language. What I mean is that Pioli tactics are an oxymoron, i.e., he has none.
“The last example is the most illuminating: Kjaer did not leave for Naples due to a last-minute muscle strain, and when Kalulu left the field at Maradona, Pioli was forced to give Marco Pellegrino his debut. He was not ready for use – in tactical terms – by the coach’s own admission, and the result was evident on the first goal by Napoli.”
Pioli tactical error “BY HIS OWN ADMISSION”
“In some cases they were the so-called calculated risks of the coach, as in the matches in which both full-backs worked as additional midfielders, leaving the flanks unprotected. In other cases there was just confusion.”
Pioli tactical errors.
“In others – and here we are at the most serious aspect – attention and ferocity were lacking. PSG’s second goal, which comes from a corner (therefore with the Rossoneri defence theoretically lined up in the most organised way), is a chilling snapshot: the French club have three men in the area against the nine (plus Maignan) Milan players. When PSG take the set piece, you can even see Tomori still tying his shoes.”
Lack of attention and ferocity are on the coach. Pioli tactical errors.
He’s literally saying this for everything you comment on . just ignore him, he’s a troll
Oliver, Why don’t you stop slagging off Kjaer. Why don’t you go look how many clean sheets Milan had last season when Kjaer started vs when he did not.