AC Milan’s crisis has no end in sight. What is all wrong at the moment and how can the Rossoneri dig themselves out of this blanket?

Comment: AC Milan failed to win another Serie A match on Sunday, losing 0-1 to Inter in the Derby Della Madonnina. It was the fourth defeat in a row for the Rossoneri and the Red and Black’s crisis doesn’t seem to be ending. What is wrong with the Milan giant at the moment?

4. january – this is the date of AC Milan’s last league win, when Stefano Pioli’s charges won 2: 1 at Salernitana. The visiting team managed to decide the match after the first 15 minutes.

The first goal was scored by Rafael Leão in the 10th minute, five minutes later AC’s Sandro Tonali scored the second goal. However, since then the Rossoneri have won only one point, in the very next game against AS Roma. It should be noted, here AC players should have got full points.

But it didn’t happen, the Milanese scored twice in the final minutes and finally got only one point for a 2-2 draw. Then came a home loss to Torino in the Coppa Italia (0::1) and a draw in Lecce (2::2), where AC fans expected a clear three points.

But the last four games were really worth it, in the negative sense of the word. A loss in the Super Cup to Inter (0::3) and three more defeats in the league to Lazio (0::4), Sassuolo (2::5) and, most recently, again to Inter (0::1).

It should be added that if it hadn’t been for some great saves by Ciprian Tătărușan, who exceptionally managed to hold AC, the final result would probably have been similar to the above mentioned matches.

Maignan is sorely missed

Personally, I would have used a completely different word instead of “unbelievably”, which would have made this Commentary unpublishable. The last time Maignan played a league match was on 18 September last year, in a 1: 2 win against Napoli.

Even so, AC subsequently won four games in a row, but by the end of the autumn season, the crisis of the game was already evident. Although the results did not suggest as much at first. After all,

And it escalated to enormous proportions in the spring. The so-called blanket was on everybody. Quite frankly, Tătărușanu, as a goalkeeper, is no longer a win under normal circumstances. But now more than ever, AC are feeling it.

And that’s not to say that the 18 goals conceded in January are entirely his fault. But the fact remains that the defense simply doesn’t play well at the thought of having a goalkeeper at the back who just oozes insecurity.

The defence is conceding too many goals, the midfield is dysfunctional

Where are the days when the Rossoneri received just four goals from February to June. This is exactly what happened last year when AC Milan went for the Scudetto. However, that was Maignan in goal, who can manage it solidly from the box. However, this is one part of the problem.

Captain Davide Calabria is visibly not keeping up on his side of the defence anymore and has had a number of goals go through him. Theo Hernández on the right flank is about the only functional aspect of an already pretty broken defense. And if the opposition wipe him out, the transition of defenders towards the offensive end is absolutely nil.

I don’t even think we need to talk about the stopper pairing. Pierre Kalulu is absolutely out of form despite last season, Simon Kjaer, although coach Stefano Pioli has named him the leader of the team, is also under a big blanket and not having a good season. Moreover, he has often labored with injuries, another factor that is reprehensible in such a big club.

How do you explain so many injured players?

Football is a contact sport, no doubt. But the question is whether there is a problem somewhere in the rehabilitation centre, because having so many injured players across the entire current season is already bordering on a curse. Maignan, Tomori, Touré, Calabria, Dest, Florenzi, Krunic, Rebic, Saelemaekers, Messias, Origi and Ibrahimovic – some of them have even been injured repeatedly.

Unfortunately, we can’t see the team’s cabin, so every AC Milan fan has to make up his own mind. It is, however, very striking to say the least.

RedBird and the new reinforcements

When the American company took over the Italian big club, they were grand plans. Especially when it came to the transfer budget. A false start? How else to explain it, because when the new owners, apparently under the influence of some substance after their arrival, announced that Pioli would have 200 million euros to spend on transfers, every fan must have been gushing with joy.

But world wonder, the reigning champion got some 55 million in transfers. Yes, those are harsh words. But giving the champion of Italy so little money is nothing short of a disgrace. The squad, it should be noted, didn’t even need any rebuilding. But it was needed to fill the gaps left by the departure of important figures such as Franck Kessié and Alessio Romagnoli. However, this was far from being done.

Also, the club’s management had to see the fact that AC were already playing practically without a right winger last season, as Júnior Messias and Belgian Saelemaekers were far from being able to fill that role. There was speculation about the interest of several players, but the result? Zero, zero and nothing.

Yacine Adli is not getting as much space as he deserves at least in these difficult times, Malick Thiaw is also not popping up regularly despite the blanket of stoppers. Aster Vranckx has fans questioning whether AC are even counting on him anymore, and Bruges’ $30m signing Charles de Ketelaere is in a brutal playing slump.

Paolo Maldini then added the imaginary crown to the whole thing when he said that there is actually no need to change anything because everything is working as it should. And this is where the dissatisfaction of AC fans soared to unbelievable heights. Probably also out of fear of a repeat of what we have all witnessed in previous years.

Offense, transition to attack, Stefano Pioli

The attacking phase is also a big weakness for AC. At the moment, it seems that teams not only in Serie A have read the Milan big club’s game and coach Pioli is unable to come up with something new that would work. If one of the central midfield pair Sandro Tonali – Ismaël Bennacer drops out, we can’t debate about a quality transition to the attack at all.

The almost zero rotation of the squad is also blatantly obvious, the horrible substitutions don’t help the overall game either. The last game against Inter was a case in point. Rafael Leão is then logically completely cut off on the left wing, there is hardly any ideal pass to Olivier Giroud. And when he does, the French striker can even burn an open chance.

In short, the blanket is completely on everyone. Outside of the starting lineup, then, AC has no quality replacements. Rade Krunic in many cases struggles to handle the ball at all, and the likes of Tomasso Pobega is simply not a player that AC can pull off. The Rossoneri simply need more quality in all positions.

In conclusion…

With respect to all the players mentioned, if AC wants to think about regularly finishing at the top of the table, fighting for the league title and succeeding in Europe, it needs a lot more in terms of quality. And personally, I think the Rossoneri are learning that in the Champions League.

Yes, there are several players in the squad who can get the game moving. Like Leão, Brahim Diaz or Hernández. AC simply needs more players like that.

Then the recent Milan derby also showed that putting typologically similar players next to each other (Giroud – Origi) was a big mistake. Pioli, however, is still betting on his horses, even if fans wonder why actually, when such a Krunic or Messias almost never meets with success in the base.

And that’s not counting the factor of Galatasaray winning out over AC in the battle for potential reinforcements, as in the case of Zaniola, who has been linked with the Rossoneri. So what is the way out of such a crisis? Plain and simple, something has to change. Because without that, there can be no rapid improvement.

Football Italia, Transfermarkt