A draw in Bergamo can generally be seen as a positive result. It looks different through a more critical lens because it comes after the draw against Pisa and because it highlights a not-so-positive trend. Milan does not lose, but draws too many matches: 3 of the last 4 in the league. True, some of these were against Juventus and Atalanta, but too many points are being dropped. The moment is complicated for many reasons.
The absences of Rabiot and Pulisic are the main cause, but they do not fully explain this drop in Milan’s performance, writes Calcio Mercato today. Even without these players, Allegri must provide identity, personality, and style to his team. Instead, in recent games, when Milan takes the lead, they stop, close down, and stop playing.
There is an obvious problem in attack. We can accept that Leao’s poor performance was due to his hip issue, but Gimenez has no excuses. He has played 10 hours without scoring a single goal. In any club in the world, a number 9 who does not score in 9 matches would already be on the bench. At Milan, this does not happen because there are no alternatives. The only option, Nkunku, is not up to the task. The 38 million euros plus bonuses spent on him raised doubts in the summer because he is not a true striker, and after a few months, the doubts are even stronger. The former Chelsea player cannot have a fitness problem, as it is now November. The issue is personality and adaptation: against Atalanta, he seemed eager to get rid of the ball. He did not take advantage of some potentially very promising situations.
Now Milan must hope to reach the international break as soon as possible to recover players and for January to arrive quickly, when acquiring a striker, which Allegri desperately needs, will be essential.
