Franco Ordine believes that AC Milan need to make themselves heard over the management of some players on international duty.
The break has not been kind to Milan, with fans forced to digest another bit of injury news seemingly with each passing day. Alexis Saelemaekers, Pervis Estupinan and Adrien Rabiot have all sustained issues, but Christian Pulisic’s is the one that is dominating the media headlines.
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It is believed that Milan are annoyed about the handling of their star forward by the USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Despite the admission that Pulisic was battling an ankle issue he started him in a friendly against Australia, and 30 minutes in a hamstring injury followed.
‘Like barking at the moon’
Ordine offered his take on the situation during his latest column for MilanNews, choosing to air some frustrations not just about Pulisic but about international breaks in general and the lack of squad depth.
“Blaming the international break is like barking at the moon. In some cases, see Saelemaekers, you can only curse the event; in others, however, you need to investigate further and intervene accordingly.
“I’m referring, of course, to the Pulisic situation, whose muscle injury, according to initial reports, will keep the American captain away from Milan for three to four weeks, until the next international break in November.
“It’s hardly worth pointing out that in the American’s case, US coach Pochettino was extremely irresponsible. First of all, these were two friendlies, and Pulisic arrived in the US with a bad ankle. And this alone should have discouraged his use. Not at all.
“Pulisic was also fielded in the second match and felt the muscle give way. At this point, the question arises: what can Milan do? Little, very little on the formal level. But behind the scenes, something can be done.
“And here I call upon Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who, as the owner’s advisor, is responsible for the player capital, the club’s asset. Zlatan can do something very simple: speak to Pochettino, privately of course, and without us knowing, to make him understand… that he must respect not only the players’ health but also the clubs’ commercial value.
“Now Milan will suffer the consequences, as will Fiorentina, who appear to be without Kean. Sooner or later, it will affect everyone. From next year, the breaks will be concentrated into a single period, and all of this will certainly not yield any useful results. The real solution is to introduce some sort of penalty for the national teams that return the highest number of injured players!
“Lesson: There’s another aspect that shouldn’t be overlooked. At the start of the season, I consistently reiterated that Milan’s streamlined squad didn’t warrant dreams of glory (the Scudetto), and it seems events are supporting my thesis.
“Because if Bartesaghi becomes Estupinan’s replacement, and if Saelemaekers needs to be replaced by Athekame, who has never started, then all of this reminds me a lot of what happened in the final part of last season to Napoli, when injuries to Buongiorno and Juan Jesus forced Conte to field Olivera as a central defender and Spinazzola on the left!
“But let’s not forget that Napoli’s injuries didn’t have serious consequences for the standings solely because Inter, meanwhile engaged in the Champions League finals, dropped points along the way.
“January: This is why, in closing, I maintain that in January, in view of super commitments (including the trip to Perth), it is a good and right thing to think about strengthening the squad with some appropriate adjustments, filling the gaps that we have been highlighting for some time.”
He is right, the squad is paper thin in several positions and this will eventually cause problems.
Still cannot believe we let Jimenez leave, a player who could cover both wing back roles
Wait, so the international breaks will be just one big one next year? When during the year? I guess that’s better?
nvm I just googled it lol. So when do clubs get to play football? Clubs should start asking for loan fees to get these players away from their jobs so often.
We have Leao coming off the bench, and Nkunu waiting as well. Lack of depth?
And Ricci, RLC and soon Jashari too.
Yes, you are right but let me point out one thing which I considered inappropriate.
You can’t punish any international team that report with high numbers of injuries, because I take it on myself and found out that, nations need their players to serve inasmuch he/her accepted. You can stop that, the pride and passion of a nation wining games and trophies is exceptional compared to clubs.
I think the best idea should be, if a player has any slight injury, he/her shouldn’t be use except there is a confirmation from the his/her employer.
Pochettino is under the gun like everyone else, so it is likely difficult to have these conversations. I think Pulisic needs to draw a line when he has the slightest doubt about his own fitness, err toward wisdom over competitiveness, and then his decision needs to be respected, especially by the USA soccer community. Pulisic has the most leverage.
Ibra isn’t going to go lean on Pochettino. not successfully anyway.