Milan have conceded 13 of 15 against bottom-half sides – Allegri’s thoughts

AC Milan have dropped too many points against teams in the bottom half, and largely because they have let in too many goals.

As MilanNews write, against teams in the other half of the table, Milan have conceded 13 goals. How many goals have they conceded so far this season in general? 15. Therefore, against the top ten teams in the table, they’ve conceded just two (against Napoli and Atalanta, one being a penalty).

Why do the Rossoneri concede so many goals against lesser teams? It’s undoubtedly primarily a mental issue, because the team enter the field with a bit less concentration. A lot of the goals could have been avoided with a bit more focus.

There’s also a tactical issue: it’s undeniable that Milan are better at counter-attacking, while when they have to dominate the game, they sometimes leave too much space for opponents to hurt them in transition. Allegri addressed the issue in his pre-Como press conference.

“On Sunday we played in Florence, and after a golden quarter, we should have had three goals through Pulisic. If you score, the approach is right, but if you don’t… Everything depends on the result.

“Against Roma at home, we had a terrifying half-hour, then we took the lead, and in the second half we had four or five chances… that’s football. Then there are unexpected events, and you have to manage them. But every game is different.

“I agree that we went behind eight times, but we also recovered eight times: it depends on whether you see the glass half full or half empty. If everything were perfect, and in football that’s impossible, the games would all end 0-0 or the same team would always win.”