Dzeko-Gosens vs. Messias-Lazetic: Gaps in Milan’s squad exposed as market strategy is questioned

By SempreMilan -

AC Milan were dumped out of the cup by Inter last night as they lost 3-0 at San Siro, showing there is still an awful lot of work for the management to do.

As our colleagues at SempreMilan.it write, Milan’s season has been above expectations and Stefano Pioli has done a masterful job of fixing the defence and building a tactical idea. The Rossoneri concede few goals, they are still at the top of the table and in the Champions League they did what they could.

Despite the scoreline, Inter’s passage to the final is not a bad reflection for the team or for the coach because not many fans would have imagined Milan to be in a title challenge with five games to go, because the squad on paper is not up to par with the big European teams and is inferior to Inter.

However, it is not even the fault of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara who have tried to make a competitive team with limited resources. It seems harsh to blame Junior Messias who until a few months ago was with Crotone and gave us moments like the Atletico Madrid winger, but he is not going to be a difference maker for a serious side.

The choice not to replace Hakan Calhanoglu is costly too, because keeping Brahim Diaz and hoping that Rade Krunic, Daniel Maldini or a solution found by Pioli (like Kessie) could solve the problem was naive. The fact remains that Elliott did not make the resources available for the attacking midfielder, aside from Yacine Adli who is on loan at Bordeaux for the season so a few million could be trimmed off his price.

The Turk went to Inter and his back-up (Brahim) was promoted without an alternative on the bench. On balance in that area of ​​the pitch the Rossoneri have both a qualitative and a quantitative gap, without a real reserve.

Maldini and Massara convinced Olivier Giroud to join Milan but few resources were made available. Instead just a few million were spared the loan of Pietro Pellegri which was ended early and then the permanent signing of Marko Lazetic.

While Milan had known age problems in the department with Giroud and Ibrahimovic heading into January, they stayed still while Juventus snatched Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina and Inter got Robin Gosens from Atalanta.

Gosens and Dzeko came on in the second half of last night’s derby with the score at 2-0, while Pioli had to deal with yet another absence from a 40-year-old Ibra and bring the following: Messias, Krunic, Diaz, Lazetic.

Pioli is doing everything possible to get the best out of what he has been given but the gap in squads is there to see and for the first time this season (after two draws and a win in February) it was there to see on the field. If the Scudetto were to arrive, it would be almost a miracle.

There are of course accounts to look at and a budget to be respected, yet football business shows us that the indebted Barcelona, ​​Juventus, Inter and others continue to spend money.

The Blaugrana got Ferran Torres in January along with Adama Traoré and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Inter, after the sale of Lukaku and Hakimi, reinvested in Denzel Dumfries plus Edin Dzeko, Joaquin Correa and the latest coup Gosens at the request of Inzaghi in January.

Juventus unleashed a big hit with Vlahovic and while the Nerazzurri dream of Lukaku’s return, Milan are looking at a free transfer like Divock Origi who has not been a regular starter for years.

Tags AC Milan

14 Comments

  1. At first I was so mad at Pioli after this game. But I thought abt our season as a whole after I relaxed and he is doing an amazing job with a team of mostly average players.
    We don’t have a player like Lautaro in our squad who can score goals consistently.
    We also don’t have a CAM or RW….Pioli is currently doing his best but you can see how we’ve struggled for goals in 2022…the team does create chancs but most are wasted due to lack of quality.
    We need investment in the squad ASAP and InvestCorp deal should save us..so I hope it goes through

  2. This is somewhat of an inaccurate take. Plenty was spent in converting Tomori’s loan to apermanent transfer. In hindsight, could different choices have been made to bring in different loaned players? Absolutely, but to compare the transfer campaigns based on loaned players without providing a complete picture is a little unfair. The other teams are also drowning in debt and Inter specifically will have to sell their star players to balance the books this summer. Milan instead can focus on adding to the quality of the squad.

  3. The difference between Milan and inter is very visible.Inter are a solid unit and play an attractive brand of football,as sad as that sounds coming from a Milan supporter it’s true.I have watched Milan matches this season,Milan are still boring,directionless and not entertaining.We were lucky to beat the champions in the league.We are not a cohesive unit,we rely heavily on individuals and not the unit.We have players with amazing talent but are not well coached.We have given Pioli so much time and trust you me I respect the man for what he has done.And I applaud him for it.But he is not the man to take us back to our glory days.He will flounder at the last hurdle again in the race for the Scudetto.As I said I applaud what he has achieved but he is not the man to deliver us our former glory.Milan should have at least a five point gap against inter but my problem is on the field guys.Milan are very boring I stay up very late to watch but time and time again what do you see cagey,spineless battles with all teams.What is shocking is how much possession they lose,how wayward their passing is,how unattractive our style is.That night against inter in the league match,once inter scored,I went to bed because they were just horrendous,only to wake the next morning to the shock result,Milan had won.What I forsaw was a drubbing in the style they did when inter became champions when achraf hakimi and Romelu Lukaku were still part of the group.Those two have left and the style of play has not changed a bit.I want to reiterate Milan has no identity under Pioli we are just a hopeful bunch.But under Pioli we have a strong defence which does not concede much except for last night where champions rise and deliver.We are just not at Inter level truth be told.

    1. I think I’ll rely on what I’ve seen for myself and listen to someone like sacchi rather than some unkown critic in the section, and from what I’ve seen, Pioli is on fire, simple. The identity is there, we lead the table and have been playing with 7-8 regular starters since day 1, and while someone like Conte would’ve jumped ship mid-season, ‘the normal one’ dug his heels in and rode it out. I say give the man his extra 7-8 players and we are good, so I’m not expecting much more than what we have achieved this season (except in the CHMP League, quarter’s is a must)…but the season after is another story.

    2. Much of what you say is valid. I have grown frustrated at how sloppy and individualistic Milan are while in possession. They hold onto the ball for far too long, cannot make simple accurate passes and take much too long to make decisions when in possession relying too heavily on long direct passes or individual brilliance. That isn’t sustainable for success over a long period of time. Not sure how much of the blame for that can be put on Pioli’s shoulders or how much is the fault of the players who try to dribble around a whole team or use flicks instead of simple passes in tight spaces. I think would say it is largely on the players though. Where do I have an issue with Pioli is in his rigid reliance on the 4-2-3-1 and his 0referred players in those roles. Things clearly don’t work well for several games and he has largely stuck with the same system and players. I know there are not many valid alternatives in some roles but changing system on occasion may at least make them less predictable. Anyhow, ultimately I am happy with how the season has unfolded as I thought finishing in the top 4 would have been great when the season started. If we can even stay in contention for the title until the last match, I will be ecstatic!

    3. So which coach you want to change Pioli? You cannot just go hire other club’ coach like Guardiola or Klopp, beside they don’t want to club’ that starting lord saladmaker that only score 2 goal as winger in 2300 minutes,starting old veteran striker 40 years and 35 years striker. Conte ,ancelotti,UNAI Emery under contract with their club’ too. The best you can sign jobless coach are Zidane but he wont come to AC Milan due to his Bond with rubentus

      1. Recca is not about the coach,it’s about the identity.When I was growing up Italian football was catenaccio,now they have lost that somewhat.Football has moved on from the days of Sacchi,Cappello,Lippi etc.I love Roberto Mancini style a lot,I also like Sinisa Mihalovic,The current Napoli coach as well as Lazio coach.Their teams play good football which Milan are not.

    4. Siqalo I pray you know and see how stupid you sound….A man who took mediocers who constantly languish in 6th and 7th places, and got them to second place in his first full season and is currently ontop of the table in this second full season with the same mediocre team is not enough?????????

      What do you take brother? Did you start fanning Milan yesterday? When was the last time Milan topped the table with 5 match to go?????????

      Some of you here are on dangerous drugs

      1. Hi kossy apologies for insulting your intelligence with my views 😜🤔🤯🤣.Secondly we don’t need credentials to be football fans, even IL Grande Maestro Arrigo Sacchi is expressing his views🤫🤫.Football is about opinion!Now I have been a Milan fan since 1987,I have seen many great footballers come and go through Milan.My view is that we have not improved considerably this season from last.We led the league last season until we got 🔨 by the eventual champions.We even slid to fourth on the table,only a remarkable two away games in Torino against Juve and Torino turned out fortunes around.We won the last match against Atalanta to claim second spot.Now this season,inter are breathing heavily down our neck with a match in hand.And the good results are starting to dry up.We are looking vulnerable to the likes Bologna,Sassuolo and the likes.This drubbing against inter cannot be good for the boys confidence.We are not short of good players in key positions.The new goalkeeper is outstanding,in actual effect we have the right material,in players.Big name players are not everything,if that was the case PSG would be in the final four of the champions League.The players we have are good enough to win the Scudetto.To win in Europe,you need a mature mentality which can only be gained with experience.Now I reiterate Stefano Pioli has really worked wonders but is not capable of taking us to the next level.If he were to be victorious in the league,I would be the first to congratulate him.If Stefano Pioli is your father tell him these are my views 🙈🙈 and I love his fashion sense 👍. Otherwise boys don’t be insulted by other peoples views,just state your views and allow other people to express their own.😎🙏

  4. Kossy I don’t think insulting a fellow fan of the club is the right thing to do brother.

    Milan have not been up to standard in the last few games and i do blame the coach for the selection of players in the past few games, and yes i know you going to say “those are the players he has” but since when would Salesmakers make a Milan side? he to me has to be the worst Milan player to play in the red and black ever!!!

    yes i agree with you what poli has done with Milan in the past two seasons is something magnificent but Siqalo has a point he is not the coach to take us over the line.

    As a Milan fan….do you really believe they will win the league this year after how they been playing the past few games?

    Kessie has been missing since his new contract with Barca playing like he doesn’t even want to be there yet Poli makes him Capitan of the team?

    Milan wont be the Milan it once was 10-15 years ago but we need to start adding more when playing.

    And also another thing everyone has the right to an opinion i do, you do and so does everyone else so don’t come here and insult people for expressing their opinion as you sound plain stupid.

    We all love Milan and all have been supporting them for years but don’t be like the Man United fans except when someone has something negative to say about the club and except when things aren’t going well.

    As always Forza Milan

  5. Look I know Giroud hasn’t scored for a while ,but service to him has been poor of late ..
    I few weeks ago he was getting some decent crosses to him ,of which he converted a few .He will score goals ,but needs decent service ,I have been watching the games ,and to much rush in the final areas .
    I still believe we have a chance of winning the scuddeto ,but it’s a must win game against lazio .

  6. This article is inconsistent and hardly drives home any solid point.

    ” it is not even the fault of Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara who have tried to make a competitive team with limited resources. It seems harsh to blame Junior Messias who until a few months ago was with Crotone and gave us moments like the Atletico Madrid winger, but he is not going to be a difference maker for a serious side.”

    This article fails to point of the fact that what ever amount Elliot made available to M & M, was used to bring in injured players, who they betted on to recover and provide depth, which was sickening just thinking about it; except of course the loans were free. No, they were not.

    Giroud was injured when he joined. The article failed to mention Bakayoko, the writer hides it and wants us to forget the horror that M & M actually orchestrated bring him injured as well. Florenzi albeit the best performer of the summer deals was also brought in injured. Even Messias, the one the writer says fans are being harsh critiquing, The writer keeps cozying up to M & M without calling them out on their terrible decision over the summer, instead he blames Elliot for not investing.

    “Gosens and Dzeko came on in the second half of last night’s derby with the score at 2-0, while Pioli had to deal with yet another absence from a 40-year-old Ibra and bring the following: Messias, Krunic, Diaz, Lazetic.”

    Who’s fault is this:??? Elliot too???

    What M&M demonstrated was that the funds Elliot made available was only good enough to bring in those injured players. Many may not like it, but I’d rather have brought in players with an unknown profile with talent, than fill the bench with so much uncertainties for the sake of having depth in the squad.

    Of course the funds Elliot probably provided may not have been enough to bring in world class players, but the truth is M&M did a pitiful job with the Summer and Winter transfers betting on too many uncertainties, and the writer should say it as it happened.

Comments are closed

Serie A Standings

Live football scores . Current table, fixtures & results.