After another important win this past weekend, AC Milan are continuing to build ourselves back up and return to a level of performance that we’ve been desperately searching for.
Our run of form between January 8 and February 5 was both damaging to our aspirations this season and painful to watch, as there were fears that a winning formula was possibly broken and we had a long way back to rediscover our identity and style.
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Two draws and five defeats, 18 goals conceded and having seen our hopes of defending our Serie A title evaporate while crashing out of the Coppa Italia and suffering defeat in the Italian Super Cup, it appeared as though it would take something special to salvage our campaign and get back on track.
To the credit of Stefano Pioli, his coaching staff and the players, we found that solution and it has resulted in four consecutive wins across all competitions and four clean sheets in a row.
Admittedly, at times against Torino, Tottenham and Monza, we didn’t look particularly convincing. While we were winning, rebuilding confidence and belief, there were still big question marks over how we could turn this resurgence into a long-term fix.
However, the win over Atalanta this past weekend certainly delivered much more positive assessments, with Milan continuing to showcase a renewed defensive strength to completely nullify their threat, while we showed quality in key moments to build on that and do enough to secure all three points.
It was a fundamental foundation of our success last season – particularly the run to end the campaign – and while the challenge is an ongoing one to prove that we’ve turned a corner and put our disastrous run behind us, we appear to have rebuilt ourselves in the defensive phase to become a much more difficult side to break down.
That came after the crucial decision to switch to a back three, and Pioli’s tactical reshuffle has certainly paid dividends thus far as we’ve found an important balance in the side again after the 4-2-3-1 system seemingly broke down.
The defensive line have been able to offer a real presence and strong base, while we’ve found a refreshed rhythm in midfield and allowed our wing-backs to attack more to share the offensive responsibility. Of course, they can do more and we can improve further, but the fundamental switch in tactics has found solutions.
Boosted by the return of Mike Maignan on Sunday too which will make a decisive difference in itself, combined with the emergence of Malick Thiaw who continues to shine and both Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu rediscovering form, it’s hoped that quartet can continue to form a formidable backline.
If we can maintain that level of defensive play, we have enough quality in the final third to make things happen and score goals. Coupled with the return of talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic this weekend too, there is a really positive feeling around the group again and hopefully we can continue to build on this momentum and extend our current run for as long as possible.
