Serie A: Milan, red alert and black crisis

Stefano Pioli is no longer “on fire”. To the point that one would almost wonder if the chorus of the last Scudetto of the AC Milan tifosi, sung on the notes “Freed from Desire” before each match at San Siro to praise their coach, will be launched Sunday noon before the match against in Sassuolo. Without pity, social networks have even already transformed this “Pioli’s on fire” into “Pioli’s in ferie”, literally from “Pioli is on fire” to “Pioli is on vacation”. Erected as one of the heroes of the Milanese epic last season, and rightly so, the 57-year-old coach has definitely come down to earth after a series of poor results and, above all, being at the head of an unrecognizable team. The hard law of big clubs.

Alessandro Nesta summed it up perfectly one day in an Instagram discussion with his friend Fabio Cannavaro: “In Milan, it’s like that. We won the Scudetto and we were already thinking about the Champions League. We won the Champions League and we were already thinking about the European Super Cup. We were winning the European Super Cup and we were thinking of the Club World Cup (…) In a club like that, where you break your ass for ten years, or else you can’t stay there.” “This Scudetto should be a starting point, not an end point“, had also recognized, last December, the Milanese technician. Problem, the machine seems to have completely got stuck at the start of the year. And even since the start of the season.

93rd minute of Milan-Roma, and the light goes out…

There had already been, indeed, some warning signs. Snatch victories against Empoli, Hellas, Spezia or even Fiorentina, in particular. Benefits not completely successful, with a defense that suddenly became friable. Gestures of nervousness, too, often between teammates, as if the spirit of combat and mutual aid had suddenly flown away after winning the title. At the time, the vast majority of observers believed that this team would not reach the end. So, to make them lie, the band at Pioli went after their dream, united and welded, aware of not being the strongest, but quite simply the best. Since then, this new champion status has changed everything. And not necessarily for the better.

Sandro Tonali, the soul of this team, understood this on August 21st. “We are not different, but we must understand that it is another championshiphe dropped after a draw on the lawn of Atalanta. It’s a difficult moment off the pitch, you have to be good and leave everything aside, think only of yourself. When you win a Scudetto, you come back with enormous enthusiasm. But we started the season as if it were the 39th day of last season, and not the first of the current one…“. Strong and unexpected words, but which take on their full meaning today.

After having often pitched, the Milanese boat still managed to follow, somehow, that of a Napoli launched at full speed. At the November break, the distance was “only” 8 points. A month later, in the middle of the World Cup, the heavy defeats against Arsenal, Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven in friendlies (still) reassured no one. Stefano Pioli then used the hard way by forcing his troops to sleep in Milanello after the 3-0 in Dutch lands, a symbol that something was already wrong. What he will reproduce after the elimination in the Italian Cup against Torino (0-1), yet outnumbered, on January 11, three days after a draw against Roma (2-2) which seems rushed everything. 87th minute, Milan leads quietly 2-0 against Mourinho’s men. His Milanese counterpart then took the opportunity to make changes and modify his tactical base (switch to three-man defense) for the end of the match, which completely pushed back his block. 93rd minute: 2-2. And there, the light will go out completely without ever lighting up again since.

Players in poor shape, injured, failed transfer window and complicated management

After the sad elimination against Toro, a no more glorious draw in Lecce (2-2) after being led by two goals. Next ? A big slap on the right cheek in the Italian Supercup in the derby against Inter (3-0), then another on the left during the trip to Rome against Lazio (4-0) on Tuesday evening. “Milan has disappeared (…) Zero reaction, zero solution, a nervous and soulless team“, summarized The Sports Gazette the day after. Despite an obvious imbalance and players out of form, Pioli did not hesitate to renew his 4-2-3-1 game after game. Result, in the last three, his team was trailing by two goals at the break.

Clean sheets? Four since the start of the season. The prolonged absence of Mike Maignan is not insignificant, as is the level of his understudy Ciprian Tatarusanu. Milan are also the 14th team in the distance covered standings with 107.075 behind Lazio, Inter, Juve and Roma. For many, she runs little but above all badly, both in pressing, ground coverage and intensity. “This is a team that especially needs to find itself from a mental point of view“, estimated the Journal.

On the transfer window side, the summer one brought nothing to the Italian champions. While Paolo Maldini felt he needed “three top players” to open a cycle, he finally fell back on other profiles visibly shunned by his coach. The Belgian international Charles De Ketelaere, bought 35 million euros, has started only five times in the league, ahead of from now on to be satisfied with simple entries in game. All for an assist and zero goal. Not to mention Divock Origi (581 minutes), Yacine Adli (114 minutes played), Aster Vranckx (153 minutes) or Malick Thiaw (124 minutes) Income from loan, Tommaso Pobega (769 minutes) has shown his limits For this winter, Nicolò Zaniolo is still being tracked, but requests from Roma (final transfer between 30 and 35 million) should reduce this possibility to nothing despite the will of the Italian international, who is pushing to join Lombardy.

Giroud in difficulty, Théo too

On the ground, the leaders of the group are also in the hard. Olivier Giroud has not scored for eight matches and is struggling to recover from the World Cup. Same thing for Théo Hernandez and Rafael Leão, however author of 9 goals and 9 assists this season. Without him, it’s hard to say where his team would be. Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori, impassable in the final rush of the last Scudetto, find themselves vulnerable, as does Sandro Tonali, also in difficulty. “It makes you wonder what kind of preparation was done during the internship in Dubai this wintersays a source close to the club. Between the number of injuries and the physical condition of the players, the management is more than questionable. The head is not there, but neither are the legs. And Pioli persists in always having the same players play without setting up real competition, which really doesn’t help. The team is taking on water everywhere and nothing changes. It’s up to him to react and find the solutions.”

The technician of the 19th Scudetto has always proven, during his management, to know how to manage these difficult moments, even if this one seems the most complicated. After a 5-0 against Atalanta, in December 2019, he changed his system and successfully switched to 4-2-3-1. In May 2021, he innovated with a decisive 4-4-1-1 in Turin against Juve (0-3). In October of the same year, he invented more central positions for his side and left victorious after a demonstration in Bergamo (2-3). Facing Sassuolo on Sunday, Pioli will therefore be expected at the turn. The Scudetto probably already devolved to Naples, he will have to obtain, at least, a qualification in the Champions League. Not easy given the pack on his heels. “He has our complete trust, what kind of questions do you ask me ?”, annoyed a Paolo Maldini who came to calm the fire after Tuesday’s 4-0.

“This group must rediscover the humility, the grinta, the hunger and the desire that characterized it last yeartestifies a regular of Milanello. It almost looks like they all have the ‘pancia piena’ (a full stomach, editor’s note) after winning a Scudetto. This should be the start of something, of a cycle, but not the endThe return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scheduled for February, could serve the general interest.