Santiago Gimenez’s start to this season has been poor, but it is not through a lack of trying for the AC Milan striker, far from it.
Everyone can see the work that Gimenez does, and denying/ignoring that would be unfair. The Mexican has regularly been praised by Massimiliano Allegri for this, too, which adds significant credit to his situation.
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Unfortunately, though, his account is still in the negatives. Milan, ultimately, paid a big price for a striker who has not scored goals regularly yet. Regardless of anything else, that fact is undeniable and difficult to hide from.
Gimenez’s focus
With that said, there also remains pressure on him for that to change, too much, perhaps. Gimenez is certainly trying, but perhaps he is trying too hard.
Whatever the situation is, he remains focused on the challenges at hand, and Fabrizio Romano has offered an update on his situation on his YouTube channel, as MilanNews relays.
He’s certainly not going through an easy period. Gimenez isn’t taking refuge in the transfer market; he’s working hard to prove he can be important for this Milan. When a player isn’t performing well, rumours will start circulating about a possible departure in January, but Santi isn’t taking refuge in the transfer market.
“He wants to play his cards to the max, he knows he has to improve, he’s the first to know it, but he doesn’t want to get discouraged and look for the easy way out.
“He’s not thinking about the transfer market; he hasn’t asked his agent to explore other options. His focus is only on Milan, his focus is solely on recovering in the best possible way. This is the player’s position, then, as always, the pitch will decide.”
He needs to remove the bandaid on his nose.
I am pretty certain he will score against Lecce. He and nkunku will be very deadly up front. Gimenez just need to get the first goal and the rest will flow back. It’s just a confidence jinx.
This. He has a huuuge gorilla on his back due to missing sitters. Once he scores the first goal the rest will follow soon. Every striker have gone through this at some point in their careers. He hasn’t lost his scoring ability – it’s just a mental block that needs unlocking.
He will score goals, he will. i believe in him
He has great positioning. If the teammates serve him, he is in the position to score. One thing he has to improve on, and this has been evident in the introductory matches of the season – it’s the 1-on-1. He’s been weak in duels.
This is getting ridiculous. The guy has been horrible for Milan, yet he gets treated with kid gloves. I don’t remember all of this sympathy for Abraham last year when he was getting criticized for less than Gimenez has done so far.
Maybe the point there was that we shouldn’t have been so critical of Abraham, who had a pretty good record for us and was also a really good team player.
Gimenez’s issue is clearly a confidence one at the moment – he’s got a good history of finishing/goalscoring behind him (including against Italian sides in the UCL), so this season is the outlier in that regard.
He’s getting to all the right places but can’t finish. That has a mental issue written all over it. And, if the club can figure that one out, he can potentially be a great asset to have.
As with everything in life in 2025, football fans expect instant gratification. If a player is poor for a few games, ‘sell him and buy another’, without really looking at why the club isn’t able to get the best from the player.
Is it a tactical fit? Is it a mental state? Is it the coaching? Maybe he’s not the right player for Milan – or maybe, there’s a good one in there and we’ve abandoned perfectly good players without getting the best from them too many times in the past……
Will we be like this with Jashari when he doesn’t break into the first team during his first season here? How about when Ricci slips up in a couple of games? Camarda had some of this monkey on his back last year, to the point where the club have removed him from the spotlight instead.
Treat him like a rebuild, let him ride the bench on come on as a sub, I confident our attackers can carry the load while he finds confidence and hopefully gets physically stronger. He’s not technically gifted so he’s needs to be able to back into a player and hold up the ball for his teammates flanking him. Obviously he needs to finish more chances but I believe the shooting will come with some improved form. 🤞
What have happened in the summer mercato is still haunting him… He is struggling psychologically…
Maybe some psychotherapy in Milanello could help him…
He wouldn’t be human if the Tare-comments hadn’t affected him. He’ll score soon and then the goals start coming in.