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AC Milan’s time in Saudi Arabia was cut short by Napoli, as they prevailed in Thursday night’s Supercoppa Italiana semi-final.
Napoli scored not long before the half-time interval as David Neres bundled in a square ball from Rasmus Hojlund, and then the Dane turned from provider to scorer just after the hour mark, spinning Koni De Winter and firing in from a narrow angle.
The Italian champions saw out a 2-0 win which allowed them to get some revenge after their league defeat at San Siro earlier in the season. It bad night at the office for Massimiliano Allegri’s side, and tensions boiled over towards the end of the game between the two technical areas.
Now, there is only Serie A to focus on, but doubts will once again have grown about how ready this team are to really go on and challenge for the title. Ivan Stoev picks out five things we learned from the defeat in the desert.
1. Not so magic
Let’s just start off by saying that Mike Maignan has generally been really good this season ,and Milan would not have been just one point off Inter if it weren’t for some superb saves by the goalkeeper.
However, against Napoli, we saw a completely different Maignan for the wrong reasons. He could’ve done much better on both goals if we’re being honest and given the standards he himself has set this season both of Napoli’s goals should’ve been saved by the Frenchman.
Players will occasionally have a bad game and we can’t judge Mike too harshly. Interestingly though, there is a parallel with a year ago, when renewing him at a certain amount felt like a no-brainer until a string of bad performances. Let’s hope that doesn’t repeat itself.
2. Nuclear De Winter
Koni De Winter got to start the game in the absence of Gabbia but failed to seize the moment, and was bullied by Hojlund. The Dane beat him easily on the second goal whilst the centre-back could’ve also done a lot more on the first goal too.
Goals aside, he was no match for Hojlund who seemed to get the better of him in every situation. The Belgian seemed to be lacking in confidence and in decision-making when it came to challenging the ball holder or the ball receiver. This hesitance caused general disorganisation.
The struggles De Winter has had every time he’s been on the pitch just further highlight that Milan need to bring in someone more experienced in January that can give the team solidity in the second half of the season.
The addition of someone with defensive nous (Thiago Silva, anyone?) could potentially help them stay close to the top and dream about the Scudetto, which is still a realistic target thanks to the magic that Allegri has done given the squad he has.
3. Blunted, again
With Rafael Leao sat in the stands nursing an adductor issue, it was the two Chris’ who led the line: Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku. It was a night to forget for them both, for different reasons.
We saw very little from the American on the night as he failed to get into those dangerous positions in the box that he usually loves to exploit. When he did drop deeper to get on the ball he was often left isolated in possession and well away from the zones he can make his best impact in.
Then we have Nkunku who continues to struggle, and it becomes more and more frustrating to watch given the price that the club paid in the summer hoping he can make an impact.
The Frenchman is yet to truly grab a game by the scruff of the neck. Playing with his back to goal isn’t his strength and it wasn’t last night, but then when he had some more space he wasted it, like for that counter-attack where he lashed over from Alexis Saelemaekers’ feed (that was admittedly behind him).
To make matters worse, Allegri had nobody on the bench that could come on and influence the game either which highlighted another area where a January signing is desperately needed.
4. Rust to remove
Ardon Jasharu started the game which allowed Luke Modric to take a breather, but there was an evident gap in quality. Jashari still looked a bit raw and not fully fit which is understandable given how long he was out injured.
The midfielder did get on the ball quite a lot which showed a willingness to get involved. He often dropped between the centre-backs like Modric does to be the first pivot in the build-up, but he perhaps wasn’t brave enough in possession.
Moving the ball horizontally far more than vertically meant he failed to help his team find away thought Conte’s compact defence. On a positive side he at least didn’t commit errors, and he should grow in belief with each game.
5. Limitations exposed
We already mentioned that there are some gaps in the squad and the depth is virtually non-existent, but it feels like this topic deserves it’s own point.
The reality is that Allegri has done wonders with the squad he has as he managed to outsmart a lot of his direct competitors, but his team have struggled against the ‘weaker’ sides due to the lack of a central forward that is able to impose himself in the opponent’s box.
Gimenez and Nkunku are struggling, while Leao and Pulisic are not typical strikers. Even if they were, one of them has always been injured whilst the other was fit making life even harder for the coach.
Then in recent weeks the lack of defensive depth has also been highlighted, given that when Gabbia or Tomori were unavailable De Winter failed miserably to replace them even partially.
Looking at the table, Allegri deserves some reinforcements in January, ones that he actually wants and approves of, that can fit into his system and help Milan make a push for the Scudetto. Now, they have the advantage of not playing in Europe or in any cup, so an effort is neeed.
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