AC Milan defeated Empoli in a 3-0 win on Sunday, as Stefano Pioli and his side produced an ideal start to 2024 in Serie A.
Goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Olivier Giroud and Chaka Traore sealed the three points, as we solidified our spot in third place in the standings and opened up a seven-point cushion over fifth-place.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Empoli: Decisive trio help secure Rossoneri win
As we target a much-improved second half of the campaign, it was an important way to start the New Year, and to build momentum after our win in the Coppa Italia in midweek.
While there is still a long way to go for both Pioli and the players to get this season back on track and to put ourselves in a position to achieve some level of success, it’s a promising start and hopefully we’ll continue to improve off the back of this result.
Confidence-building win for Milan, and Pioli
After wins either side of the New Year, there was a feeling that although our performances weren’t great yet, we were starting to move in the right direction to rebuild confidence and belief.
It was vital then, that we built on that and didn’t slip backwards at Empoli this weekend, and so the manner of the display and win on Sunday afternoon was a real boost as we’re hopefully starting to get our confidence back and play with more freedom and less tension.
The same applies to Pioli as he tries to ease the pressure on his shoulders that has been building for some time, and while it may not please everyone connected in the fanbase that he’s turning the page on a negative spell, it’s great to see us stringing wins together again.
Good management to integrate players back in
One stand-out positive from this win was also those coming off the bench, with both Yunus Musah and Matteo Gabbia getting minutes and reintegrating back into the side.
We’ll need them both in the coming weeks considering our absentee list, and so this would have been valuable for the pair to get back into the swing of things and settle back into the team.
Pioli deserves credit as he tried to balance that with seeing out the victory, as well as introducing more of our youth players and giving them more prominent roles in recent weeks, albeit partly being forced into it given our injury issues.
Theo Hernandez continues to fill in impressively
Admittedly, there was concern when Theo Hernandez was asked to fill in at centre-half, as there were question marks over his discipline and tactical adaptability to play that role.
Fortunately, the Frenchman is ticking the right boxes and proving himself, and that has been a fundamental boost given our injury woes in that area of the squad.
Such is the faith and trust that Pioli has in him now in that centre-half role, he didn’t choose to switch him when Alessandro Florenzi picked up an injury of his own in the first half at Empoli, and so it’s hoped that he can continue to go from strength to strengthen as long as we need him there.
Youngsters step up to play their role
While we could certainly do without the injuries as they have hurt us by weakening our options, it has also opened up opportunities for our youngsters.
Alex Jimenez impressed again, Chaka Traore took his chance with an excellent goal and Davide Bartesaghi got more minutes with the likes of Jan Carlo Simic and Kevin Zeroli also ready to step up if required.
It’s been a refreshing development to see them get a chance to shine, and hopefully they won’t be disregarded and pushed down the pecking order when we start to see players return, if they have indeed earned the opportunity to remain involved.
Most important test still ahead
Without sounding too negative, we’ve seen this script before where we put results together as pressure builds on Pioli and the squad to improve.
What we need now is to find consistency and longevity with this improvement in performance level and results, in order to continue to put pressure on those at the top of Serie A and compete in Europe and the Coppa Italia.
Milan face Atalanta in the latter on Wednesday night before Roma visit San Siro in the league next weekend, and with more difficult fixtures ahead after that, there’s still a long way to go to feel entirely convinced that we have put a bad spell behind us and can now rediscover our best form once again.