Journalist Franco Ordine believes that the break for the World Cup could have actually had a negative effect on AC Milan, who are now also feeling the impact of a sub-part summer window in his opinion.
Milan’s last win was back in the first game of 2023 when the Rossoneri won 2-1 away against Salernitana on 4 January, but since then they have failed to emerge victorious in any of the last four games, tying the longest winless run under Pioli’s tenure.
Pioli’s men were 2-0 up against Roma in the game that followed but threw it away and drew 2-2, they were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Torino despite having a man advantage from the 70th minute and they drew 2-2 against Lecce after what was a dreadful first half where they could have been out of sight.
Ordine wrote his weekly column for MilanNews immediately after the 3-0 defeat against Inter in Saudi Arabia, and he did not hold back in questioning various different aspects of the club.
“This was reported in advance by Mario Ielpo who is a very acute and well-informed observer of Milan’s events. ‘The stop took energy away from Milan,’ he explained. The Riyadh derby said much more: the stop erased all the qualities of the Scudetto AC and brought out, in a sensational way, the limits of the individuals and collectives that had been hidden by the ferocious attention and tension shown in the months of April and May 2022,” Ordine began.
“If it is necessary to draw a first balance of the season, an alarming deficit must be declared: 1) eliminated from the Coppa Italia; 2) lost the Supercoppa Italiana, perhaps the only available trophy of the season; 3) struggling in the league with Juve and Inter just one point behind. And since it is right to do the analysis here is mine.
“Let’s start with the summer market which should have added something for the Rossoneri and the coach, instead it subtracted a lot because Kessiè’s departure has never been replaced thus depleting the midfield and depleting the spare parts for the usual two, Tonali and Bennacer forced to sing and carry the cross. The arrivals of Origi and CDK have so far contributed zero.
“Will we have to wait for them as Paolo Maldini invites? Ok, but until when? Second annotation: the defensive phase has lost, with the same interpreters, aggressiveness and precision. Oddly enough, the two below their past performance are Kalulu and Tomori who also did not participate in the World Cup: it is as if they have not managed to plug back in.
“The decline of Theo Hernandez who returned from Qatar tired from the World Cup is more understandable. We close with Stefano Pioli: he is a convinced businessman and this has guaranteed him the trust of the owners as well as the recognition of the technical area.
“He did a great job and never complained about the transfer market. On the other hand, he cannot fail to complain about the injuries (9 at the beginning of January) because they are his responsibility. The choice in Riyadh to leave with Kjaer, who is not yet the same as the pre-injury match in Genoa, didn’t help him. A sign that he has lost the magic touch.
“Milan have lost their game, the enamel, the determination and couldn’t recover after a horrible half in Lecce, certainly not against Inter who also put them down physically, another alarming fact already glimpsed during the December 2022 friendlies. They don’t even run like the team used to!”
