AC Milan secured a 4-1 win over Monza at San Siro on Saturday night, extending our winning streak in Serie A to four games.
A busy schedule ramps up for the Rossoneri in the coming weeks ahead of the break for the World Cup, as we’re back in Champions League action next week.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Monza: Decisive attacking duo impress in 4-1 win
In turn, Stefano Pioli made changes for this encounter as he rotated his squad and it promises to be a challenging period for both the Milan boss and his players to maintain this level domestically while picking up our form in Europe.
It’s job done for this weekend though as we temporarily close the gap on league leaders Napoli, and it’s vital we continue to apply pressure even at this early stage of the campaign given how impressive they’ve looked thus far.
Origi makes important impact
Olivier Giroud has taken on a huge workload in recent months given the lack of alternative options Pioli has had at his disposal, and so it’s a real bonus that Divock Origi is now available.
Having overcome his injury woes, the Belgian forward bagged his first Milan goal on Saturday and importantly showed other qualities that are going to be vital for us moving forward.
From his movement off the ball to his physical strength and technical quality, he offers a different dynamic in the final third but one that can prove to be very useful.
Brahim Diaz crucially finding form
After his goal against Juventus, the challenge for Diaz was to follow it up and start being a decisive presence in the Milan XI on a regular basis.
Coupled with the quality involved in the brace that he scored against Monza, it was a promising sign and a relief that Pioli confirmed his injury isn’t serious as that would have been a bitterly disappointing blow to lose him off the back of this performance.
Diaz has the ability and quality to make the difference for us, now he must continue in this form and keep making a decisive impact when given such a key role.
Pioli finds right balance in rotation
The concern when making so many changes to the starting XI is that we lose our balance and rhythm, and so the tweaks that Pioli makes must be carefully considered.
He’s shown in recent weeks that he’s getting it right in that regard as despite a changeover in personnel, we’ve managed to maintain our level of performance and pick up wins.
Pioli will need to do this again in the coming weeks, and so it’s a really positive sign that Milan are winning games in Serie A and doing so in good fashion. Now it’s a case of getting the right results in Europe too.
Milan building momentum
After that defeat to Napoli, the Milan players needed to pick themselves up and respond. They’ve certainly done that with four consecutive wins, scoring 11 goals and conceding three.
Given the pace Napoli and Atalanta are setting thus far coupled with how strong they look, we can ill-afford to lose any further ground in the title race even at this early stage as it could ultimately end up costing us.
Naturally, there will be a huge desire to now take this form into Europe next week and make it through the group stages, but the minimum expectation is to keep going at the top of the Serie A table.
De Ketelaere in need of confidence boost
One of the disappointments on Saturday was the inability of Charles De Ketelaere to take a late chance and get himself on the scoresheet.
It was a big opportunity for the Belgian but he couldn’t take it, and he was later seen heading straight down the tunnel instead of joining his teammates under the Curva Sud.
He’s going through a difficult period after a promising start with us, and given we’re certainly going to need him and the quality he brings this season and beyond, it’s hoped he just gets that little bit of luck to go his way to give him a confidence boost and a spark to allow him to get back on track.
