AC Milan have had a very disappointing start to 2023 that has seen certainties vanish and a number of questions asked, a report claims.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (as seen below) has a section on Milan’s struggles which leads with the following: ‘Inter and Milan, winter is not over. Pioli like in January, it is a matter of mentality. Tomori, how many mistakes. Leao off, Tonali tired, defence distracted. After Tottenham, the problems returned. Only one point margin on fifth place’.
The paper states that Stefano Pioli’s side went into crisis at the beginning of the year after going seven games without winning, and then after a recovery of sorts the Rossoneri amassed just one point from the league games against Fiorentina, Salernitana and Udinese.
Qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League gives a different feel to everything, but the suspicion is that Milan are back in the hole they were in a few weeks ago, even if the game against Napoli after the break will provide more clear signs.
One thing that has vanished from this team is the mentality, because up until November Milan gained extra points fighting as a team, winning many games from the 80th minute onwards, but now they are unrecognisable.
In Florence and Udine the team were dull, flat, they did not fight, they lost duels and were not reactive. Fikayo Tomori has been a disappointment in this regard, making some key errors that cost goals meaning the team had to chase the game.
The other contributing factor is that many individuals have disappointed. How tired is Tonali? Very, it seems. Why doesn’t Leao score anymore? The forward hasn’t netted for over two months. Why have so many players, from Kjaer to Vranckx, completely disappeared from rotations?
The certainty in all of this is that Pioli has to change things because Milan are in the top four by just one point with Roma breathing down their necks and Champions League qualification simply imperative for the project.
The attack are failing to score nor are they creating chances while behind them the defence and midfield often look stretched and have lost their compact identity of last season. Now Spring is here, the gear must change.
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“The certainty in all of this is that Pioli has to change things”
the certainty is that he won’t.