AC Milan slipped to a 1-0 defeat to Udinese at San Siro on Saturday night, as jeers from the stands echoed around the stadium at the full-time whistle.
The Rossoneri were bitterly disappointing before conceding just after the hour mark, with Roberto Pereyra scoring from the spot to secure all three points for the visitors.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan squander lead in Napoli draw
That leaves us six points adrift of Serie A leaders Inter, and that’s now three defeats and one draw in our last four outings across all competitions as our poor form continues.
No ideas, direction or quality
We’ve seen some poor performances from Milan this season and in recent years, but this was up there with the most painful to watch in terms of a lack of quality to our play.
The Rossoneri looked directionless, devoid of ideas and with no real structure or strategy to what we were trying to do other than get 1v1s out wide and try to create something.
We’ve been a well-drilled machine in recent seasons to achieve the progression and success that we have, but there are signs even when we win this year, that that is starting to break down.
Pioli has a big task on his hands
It’s one thing losing this game at home against a side who hadn’t won in the league so far this season, but the manner in which we didn’t even come close to turning it around is a real concern.
The reception at the end of the game in the stadium and the reaction online shows the growing pressure and frustration with Stefano Pioli and the football his side are producing, and it’s on both to get it right.
Our game-plan was questionable at best as we didn’t seem to have any clear identity or strategy that exposed Udinese’s flaws and vulnerabilities, and the Milan boss has to find a way to get more out of his players as they were largely ineffective throughout.
Leao needs to step up
Having spent much of the summer and the start of the season lauding the fact that the club took steps to lessen the burden on Rafael Leao to bail us out every week, that doesn’t mean we can afford his standards to slip.
The 24-year-old has just three goals and four assists in 14 appearances so far this season, and that’s now six league games without a goal from the Portuguese international.
As our chief creative spark and threat in the final third, that simply isn’t good enough. When things are down, question marks are also raised over his attitude and approach, and so now is the time he has to step up and deliver to show he can be a leader in this side.
Injuries hurting us
Injuries really are a problem for Milan right now as our bench told a glaring story with the likes of Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Ismael Bennacer, Theo Hernandez, Samuel Chukwueze and Christian Pulisic sidelined.
That undoubtedly weakens us and makes our task even more difficult, but it’s no excuse as there was still enough quality to work with on the pitch on Saturday to get a positive result.
What it did emphasise though is that we need to get some of these key players back in the coming weeks and they need to rediscover some form, as our struggles to find alternative solutions may well continue in their absence.
New players not making decisive impact
Aside from Pulisic, we’ve not really seen any consistency from our summer signings in the final third as of yet, and that’s starting to hurt us.
Chukwueze, Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic have been very limited in their respective contributions, Yunus Musah is impressing with his work ethic and tenacity but hasn’t provided the attacking quality needed in midfield to make the difference.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning from injury was a welcome sight and he’ll be important moving forward, but Tijjani Reijnders is still searching for his first goal and has just one assist in his last 10 league appearances, while Luka Romero hasn’t had a great deal of playing time.
Much of that starts with the system and style of play being effective from the coach to allow the collective and individuals to shine, but the players need to produce when given a chance too, otherwise this dire football from an attacking perspective could continue.
