GdS: The four backwards steps Milan took during dramatic draw against Pisa

AC Milan dropped points against the bottom-placed side Pisa on Friday night, and it has been described as a step bakwards.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Milan were excellent against Udinese, victorious against Napoli, solid against Juventus and had a decisive comeback against Fiorentina. Milan recovered a point against Pisa but took a step backwards, after a month in which they had established their Scudetto bid.

Attitude

“I saw signs in the first half,” Allegri said after the match. The other 72,615 people seated at San Siro saw them too. Milan entered the game softly, scored early, and perhaps subconsciously thought they would win easily.

They weren’t clinical and never tried to close out the game, even when it seemed like there was space. It’s no coincidence that at the start of the second half, it became clear that the atmosphere at San Siro was different.

Pisa came back much better, and after a first half with 72% possession, Milan gave up the ball, and the game changed. Milan’s cynicism, however, remained elusive.

Photos: Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Rhythm

Anyone who watched the match on TV might have nearly turned the game off. Milan kept the tempo low, never managing to accelerate or surprise Pisa’s defence.

“We needed to be more focused and quick,” said Allegri, and he’s obviously right. Most of all, Christian Pulisic was missing, a man who knows how to raise the pace of a match with a dribble, a move or a goal.

Attention

AC Milan, often perfect in their penalty area, reverted to the blackouts of the past. Allegri must have been thinking about the 2-2 draw before going to bed: according to his principles, with the game in balance, it’s unacceptable for the team to be caught out by a pass from Akinsanmiro.

Aside from the foul-not-foul on Gabbia, the defence was too exposed. And at other moments throughout the match, Milan were less precise than usual, more careless, never ruthless. Even De Winter’s outstretched arm was a game-changing detail. And Allegri builds seasons on those details.

Maignan

One final detail. In his first season with Milan, Mike Maignan was a goalkeeper who saved a lot of penalties: he stopped Salah, Berardi, Depay and even Kvara in the Champions League quarter-finals. He was also a specialist against champions. That hasn’t been the case for some time.

Cuadrado surprised him, and that’s fair enough, even though Allegri said at the end: “I knew it, he’d hit it across goal.” The last penalty Maignan saved for Milan, however, was Kean’s, in Fiorentina-Milan over a year ago. That feeling of being a penalty-saving goalkeeper has vanished into thin air.