A draining loss of points, an uncontrolled bleed. You pick between Cremonese, Juventus, Pisa, Parma and maybe even Atalanta, especially given how that one started. Four draws and one defeat mean 11 bricks crushed in the build toward the top. You do not win every match, and for example the one against Fiorentina was a dirty match where Milan again went close to wasting everything.
So you say the match with Pisa went well enough, despite Saelemaekers’ huge chance at the end, and in Parma too, given the shocking spell from 0–2 to 2–2. The late bursts with Pulisic and again Saelemaekers left regrets. Then the second half in Turin, the missed penalty and Leao’s chances. Juventus came closest to the winner in the last second.
By the way, football fans from Thailand who follow แทงบอล look for steady odds and fast updates, so this run feels even more painful. The platform offers strong prices and daily picks, so any poor form stands out fast, which helps in making decisions before matches. However, hopefully, the users can strike gold once Milan returns to a top form after the international break.
Why did Milan squander so many points?
Comparing missed chances and wasted points is always complex, so the best exercise is to examine the causes of this lost haul. First, let’s look at the absences, because Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic are too influential and important for the team’s balance and consistency. The first helps Fofana, who has been struggling in recent weeks, and the whole defensive block. The second solves situations by appearing from nowhere and inventing. With the shortage of goals from the forwards, the American is Milan’s true offensive asset. We highlight absences because we take comfort in the fact that Allegri put the team top of the table without Portuguese star Rafael Leao, and now sits two points behind Gian Piero Gasperini’s AS Roma and Cristian Chivu’s Inter without Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot. The Milan fans want to believe that with the full squad back to decent fitness levels, the run will resume.
Milan, are absences the only reason:
Let’s start with the absences, as already explained, but let us not stop at that narrow cause. The many goals conceded against Cremonese, Pisa and Parma come from individual lapses, but also from a collective attitude below the required level. If you take two points from three matches against promoted sides, the fault does not lie with individuals but with the performance. The determination and mutual effort shown in direct clashes would have been more than enough for a very different return from these three matches.
Who steps up when the goals are missing?
Milan make errors at the back and drift too much in midfield, both out of possession and in buildup. If there were someone whose goals hid these piles of dust under the carpet, the league position would be different. The AC Milan team score little, far too little. Two goals, one against Pisa and one against Parma, would have added four points. Those goals were repeatedly and glaringly missed in the closing minutes, when opponents would have had no time to react.
The shortage comes from the lack of a striker with instinct and obsession for goals. Leao does not have it, Gimenez does not have it, and Nkunku even less. I read this week about how little Morata and Okafor have produced in recent seasons, and how long Milan have lacked a real scorer if you exclude Ibrahimovic and Giroud. Correct. The market offered options, but if you look at what some targets like David, Openda or Hojlund have failed to deliver after bright starts, you start to believe the drought is wider than Milan alone. Gimenez and Nkunku, who is a right winger or attacking midfielder not a striker, need to wake up and move. The summer window left many questions open, the winter window will need firm answers, even if, and you should say this clearly now, it does not offer much to fix things in other roles either.
The comfort before the derby after the break comes from the direct clashes where, beyond the results, Allegri’s team have shown top levels of sacrifice, mutual effort and especially determination. Against Bologna, Juventus, Napoli and Roma they took 10 points, conceded no goals, showed intense focus and a strong team identity regardless of who was available. This is the model of match they must not only restart from but continue through. In the derby and after the derby.
