As AC Milan’s form continues to spark talk of crisis, Stefano Pioli has a big job on his hands to turn the situation around and get us back on track.
After three consecutive defeats and with no wins in our last five Serie A outings, we’ve slipped to sixth place in the standings as our hopes of defending our Scudetto have gone, and the focus is now on securing a top-four finish.
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Blame as well as responsibility is on those at all levels of the club. From the management and the way they have constructed the squad off the back of last season’s success to Pioli’s shortcomings and the players not performing at the level required, it has all contributed to our current problems.
Injuries haven’t helped either with key individuals like Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori and Ismael Bennacer all sidelined currently, but that isn’t an excuse to explain our troubles in recent months and it certainly won’t help us rediscover our best form.
It was understandable to an extent as to why Pioli tried to change things in the Derby della Madonnina, as having conceded 12 goals in three games prior to that, Milan needed to shore things up defensively, become harder to beat again to give ourselves a chance of winning.
The system change and personnel decisions ultimately didn’t work. We were too passive and negative in our approach in the first half, and that led to a nothing display as we never threatened and came under sustained pressure. To his credit, the changes in the second half from Pioli made a difference, but it wasn’t enough to turn things around and we suffered another disappointing setback.
So, what does Pioli do now to get us out of this rut that not only threatens to derail our entire season, but is now intensifying questions over his future at the club?
Restore key players, find solutions within system and personnel our success was built on
Admittedly, showing faith in the same players and system that wasn’t working before doesn’t sound like a smart idea, and so it’s not just a case of going back to that and hoping everything sorts itself out.
However, we’re at a stage now where we simply can’t be leaving Rafael Leao on the bench, and while we need him to step up and produce too, he has to be on the pitch with a chance to influence games.
We’ve seen enough from the likes of Messias Junior to know that he doesn’t have the necessary quality to deliver on a consistent basis, while options like Rade Krunic are safe and solid, but they are unlikely to get the job done in the long term.
The likes of Malick Thiaw, Aster Vranckx and Yacine Adli were added to the squad for a reason, so why not freshen things up and give them a bigger role to complement the experience and quality from the senior players?
Instead of being passive and defensive-minded, get on the front foot with energy and tenacity across the pitch with the likes of Ante Rebic starting? It’s a gamble given how porous we’ve been defensively recently, but being aggressive, pressing high and pro-active could be a solution.
With just one assist and no goals in 24 appearances across all competitions so far this season, arguing in favour of Charles De Ketelaere getting more playing time is hard. However, we’ve simply got to find a solution with the 21-year-old and get him going after such a big investment last summer. Instead of Messias playing in such a key role, tinker with De Ketelaere’s role and position to see where he can be effective?
Milan have lost our balance, rhythm and mentality over the past month or so. Perhaps a winning formula that was so successful for us has gone stale, maybe this turns out to be the eventual end of this cycle. However, Pioli has to stick to his tactical principles and ideas and have faith in getting them right to get us back on track.
The players will have to respond and react by stepping up and performing too, but we’ve got to get back to the identity and style of play that got us to the top, rather than start looking for solutions that aren’t there and lead to confused and directionless performances like we saw on Sunday.