Do you know how many substitutions Milan made in total across the matches against Fiorentina and Pisa?
Five. Three last Sunday, two of them after the 90th minute, including a defender and a youngster from the U23 squad; and two more last night. A figure that brings back, or perhaps never dismissed, doubts about the depth of Milan’s squad.
Who’s missing?
When the summer transfer window closed, many pointed out that a 19-man outfield squad, even without European competitions and with help from Milan Futuro’s youngsters, might be too limited. Sport always includes an uncontrollable variable: injuries. As expected, the injury curse hit Milanello again. Between Fiorentina and Pisa, the Rossoneri were without several key players: Rabiot, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Estupiñán, long-term absentee Jashari, and Nkunku, who returned for the second of those two matches, as pointed out by Milan News. Credit must go to Max Allegri and his team for avoiding defeat despite an almost empty bench. But fatigue became clear in the second half and especially in the final minutes. And this would have remained true even if Saelemaekers’ shot had gone in at the 98th minute.
Milan must act in January's transfer window:
Bad luck has played its part, but the saying "prevention is better than cure" applies to squad building. In short, the squad is thin and must be strengthened in January. If Milan want to reach their set targets, they cannot afford situations like the current one, which is not even over yet, since it’s unclear if some injured players will recover in time for Atalanta. Along with that, there are clear gaps in the squad. A central striker is missing, if not to replace Gimenez, still goalless after eight league matches, then at least to compete with him. A defender is needed to give Allegri more options. And a wide midfielder is also lacking, someone reliable enough to cover for Saelemaekers. Igli Tare and his staff will need to think carefully about all of this in January.
