AC Milan have racked up only 25 points since the start of January, which has put their top four finish in doubt once again.
Corriere dello Sport begin a report by asking the question: where has the Milan of the first half of the season gone? The compact side that was just one point off first place in December has completely disintegrated since the turn of the year, with a Conference League points average.
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It is a worrying situation that has led Massimiliano Allegri himself to urge the team not to throw away what they have built in these ten months. The Champions League target has not yet been reached and Roma are closing in. But how did this collapse happen?
Signs of a slump
The attacking numbers are disconcerting: in their last five games, Milan have scored only one goal, against Verona. Then none against Napoli, Udinese, Juventus and Sassuolo. Allegri’s team have suffered a blackout, but there’s both a mental and structural explanation behind the decline.
From a motivational standpoint, at Milanello they’re convinced that the defeat against Lazio at the crucial moment of the Scudetto race against Inter has ‘mentally destroyed’ the team. Since then, the team have ‘given the impression of having given up’ and just doing enough for top four.
In fact, after the match at the Stadio Olimpico on March 15, the Rossoneri have plummeted and have become unrecognisable for the past two months. They cannot score, and defensively they are giving up way more than they were before.
Not even the derby victory changed the momentum of the season. It is a clear sign that the team still shows some character flaws despite the presence of experienced players like Luka Modric, Adrien Rabiot and the captain Mike Maignan.
The transfer market also played a role, or rather lack thereof. The Rossoneri were pushing hard until January, when they were just one point off first place, but at that stage Allegri would have expected reinforcements to fuel their title race.
He wanted least a strong centre-back and a natural striker other than Niclas Füllkrug, like Roma got with Donyell Malen. However, support hasn’t arrived , and in the long run the Diavolo have stumbled, dropping painful points along the way.
Milan have been struggling to get into these final matches of the year and risk jeopardising everything. Allegri has asked the team to be united and and show pride at home against Atalanta to secure a Champions League spot. Then, it will be time to take stock of everything.
Juventus in Allegri’s last season there had a good start, they were in the scudetto race and then they collapsed in the 2nd part of the season. Sounds familiar?
But they got cup at least. Cuppa coffee
Exactly what I was going to remind.
Allegri’s last 15 Serie A matches in Juve:
Wins: 3
Draws: 7
Losses: 5
He’s doing it again. With even worse record. 5 matches and one scored goal. Pathetic. All the other clubs figure Allegri’s ideas out by January and neutralize him completely. He can’t adapt or make changes and the other coaches know it. Time to retire.
You would have a point, had Juve not gone through 5 coaches since then. There’s a reason they’re still behind us in the league. The collapse is due to Allegri and also the players.
That team was also sh*t and Max also over-performed with them.
That Juventus team was so trash that Allegri wants to bring half of those players to Milan.
The signs are there for fans to see but instead they choose to look for excuses.
This. And people love living in the past. Sure, Allegri won 6 scudetti a decade ago. Zlatan was great a decade ago too. Would you still want him to be our #9? Time has gone past Allegri. Once a dinosaur, always a dinosaur.
I do believe ACM will get CL ball by a nose. But do people want this going forward?
No, I think they will ‘part-ways’ mutually. They invested too much to take another risk next season. Yes, Nkunku is fat and slow and Jashiri is a giant fanny, but Gimenez was scoring in the UCL before he arrived. We’ve got from dominated and missed chances in the first half of the season to being dominated and not even creating chances to miss.