AC Milan fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Atalanta on Sunday night, as our Champions League qualification hopes continue to slip away.
After our win against Udinese last weekend, it had been hoped that Sergio Conceicao and the players could start to build some momentum in the closing stages of the campaign.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Atalanta: Woeful display ends in disappointing defeat
However, another poor performance and result have left us further off the pace and perhaps questioning if we’ll qualify for Europe next season at all.
With the second leg of our Coppa Italia semi-final tie against Inter to come in midweek, all eyes will be on whether or not we can stay in the hunt for another trophy to salvage something from what has ultimately been an underwhelming and problematic campaign.
Glaring lack of creative quality, ideas
Aside from a late Luka Jovic chance in the first half and pressure at either side of the second, Milan rarely threatened Atalanta’s goal through clear-cut opportunities.
The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession and were relatively comfortable, while we lacked creativity and ideas in attacking areas to find a breakthrough.
Furthermore, it was a disjointed display lacking cohesion, and so although we may well look more solid defensively in this system, we failed to find the balance and quality in this game to make an impact at the other end of the pitch.
Back-three offers solid platform
As noted above, we looked relatively strong defensively as we didn’t concede big chances up until the goal we conceded.
Further, Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori in particular looked comfortable in the system and set-up, and so it’s easy to see why Conceicao stuck with it.
Time will tell if he keeps faith in it this week and beyond though, as it clearly needs to be refined further to get the best out of the players in both phases of the game.
Individually and collectively not good enough against top sides
It’s been a common trend through our season that we haven’t got the desired results against sides in the top half of the Serie A table, and it continued this weekend.
Individually, we weren’t good enough as we lost duels and failed to create enough to trouble Atalanta, while collectively, there was no rhythm or ability to build sustained pressure as a unit and get the San Siro faithful involved to create a better atmosphere.
That would suggest that Conceicao failed to get his gameplan and approach right, but the players must also take accountability too for falling short of the standard required.
Key question marks raised over future
Conceicao labelled ongoing speculation over his future and talk of who the next Milan coach will be as disrespectful in his post-match comments, but as our season continues to fall into insignificance, there are important questions that need answering.
Will he still be in charge next season? Who will be our new sporting director? How will the management structure change? Will there be a major squad overhaul, and if so, how do we fund it?
As we sit in ninth place in the table and potentially face the prospect of no European football next season, speculation is only going to ramp up in the coming weeks.
Season rests on Coppa Italia
Leao noted after the game that our focus is now on the match that can ‘change our season’, as we look to advance to the Coppa Italia final in midweek.
To an extent, he’s right. If Milan can win more silverware, it salvages something from the campaign and gives us something to celebrate amid the mediocrity and frustration with the club from top to bottom.
If it doesn’t go our way on Wednesday night though, all concerned can certainly expect plenty more criticism and anger to come their way as we await changes in the summer to rectify the flaws that have become glaringly obvious this season.