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Twice in the past few days AC Milan’s unbeaten run looked like ending against a team in the bottom five places, but late equalisers salvaged draws.
As MilanNews write, January started well for Milan with a 1-0 victory away from home against Cagliari, though Massimiliano Allegri’s side were far from their free-flowing best. Since then, draws against Genoa at home and Fiorentina away have followed, two sides battling relegation.
They were two games that were very similar in how they went: equalising goals in the final minutes of the match, with the opponents almost scoring after that to win in injury time. Is it fair to talk about a decline? If so, what are the causes?
Condition, rotation, aggression
The team’s driving forces, the key players, are almost all experiencing poor form. Alexis Saelemaekers, Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot are indispensable players for Allegri, but each of them, for different reasons, are not at 100% fitness.
The Belgian is always a starter on the right because he does not have an able deputy. For this reason, given his very demanding physical role, it would undoubtedly be necessary to rest him for at least one match.
For Leao and Pulisic, the reason is related to minor physical issues that are preventing the numbers 10 and 11 from performing at their best. Pulisic is battling with a minor hamstring problem, and Leao seems unable to sprint and run as he would like and can because of his adductor.
Finally, Rabiot – who was sidelined for more than a month due to a lesion to the soleus muscle in his left calf – has always played as a starter since his return and perhaps he too could use a bit of a rest. He sustained a knock before the Fiorentina game, and dropped to the bench.
This second reason is closely tied to the physical fatigue of the aforementioned players: rotation, as we saw in Florence, doesn’t provide full guarantees for the coach. Therefore, barring exceptional circumstances, Allegri avoids making any changes to his starting XI except for forced choices.
Koni De Winter got off to a poor start in Milan, though he now appears to be improving. Samuele Ricci and Ardon Jashari are not Modric and Rabiot. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has fallen into another rough patch. Pervis Estupinian and Zachary Atekhame are unreliable at present.
With Santiago Gimenez injured, only Christopher Nkunku was left before Niclas Füllkrug’s arrival. Thankfully, the Frenchman finally seems to have found his feet both in terms of goalscoring and fitness. All of this, as mentioned, leads Allegri to make as few changes to his starting XI as possible.
The third point is also partially linked to the first. If the key players aren’t at their best, the result is that the team play slow and lacks the intensity needed to play a full match. In several games, Milan have practically thrown a half away, or even gifted it to the opponents.
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