Tuttosport spoke about the AC Milan injuries issue in this morning's print edition: Milanello has never closed its doors: players affected by injuries have continued their recovery work, while yesterday the ball rolled again on the field for the resumption of training.
These days, however, will also be when the club will thoroughly open various files concerning the problem related to injuries. A plague that is preventing Milan from ever being at full strength, jeopardising its ambitions in both Serie A and the Champions League.
That's why the reckoning is imminent, with the club ready to delve deep into the root causes of the injury issue. This will, of course, involve Stefano Pioli as the head of the staff working daily at Milanello.
The areas of investigation are diverse: from the summer athletic preparation to the daily workloads at Milanello, from managing post-game recovery to injury prevention athletic programs, and ultimately, a comprehensive evaluation of staff members.
On this last point, understandably, it will touch upon a very delicate area for Pioli and those who have collaborated with him for years. It's not easy for a club to intervene with the coach's trusted personnel, risking to generate a matter of principle that could lead the coach to vigorously defend his own men.
It could create further friction, especially since the results - apart from the victory against PSG - have been disappointing, placing Pioli in the uncomfortable position of having very little margin for error.
The post-break recovery won't be easy for AC Milan, with Fiorentina and Dortmund as crucial junctures for domestic and European ambitions, potentially representing a turning point for the Rossoneri's bench.
If the discussion were to take a different direction, putting aside matters of principle, it could open other scenarios such as the introduction of figures into Milanello who could fully take charge of the team's preparation both on the field and in terms of data analysis.
Then there's the third scenario, the one that seems most feasible today. Namely, that the current team of athletic trainers, at the management's request, change their working methodology to see if there will be improvements or if the negative trend will continue. But in any case, the club is monitoring everything and, if things don't change for the better, it will certainly be ready to intervene.
What's certain is that, regardless of the management members, the issue of injuries remains a constant, and even the players themselves cannot be happy to take the field with a team that is never at full strength. Because the great regret looming between Milanello and Casa Milan is that when Pioli had the starting lineup available, results were achieved and an attractive style of play was displayed.
Without a full bench available for Pioli, however, the results obviously are not too pleasing. These will be days when answers to all these problems will start to be sought. Because now there's no more time to sweep the dust under the rug.
