Milan, from Krunic to Castillejo and Bakayoko: how many players have disappeared from the scene

Among the seasonal topics of discussion on Milan, there is the – unanimous – applause to Pioli for having squeezed the most out of the available squad (currently 27 players, including goalkeepers) and the debate on whether this squad is up to par to win a championship. The Rossoneri coach certainly drew heavily on the staff, partly for technical choice and partly for necessity due to the endless list of injuries. There was a moment of the season when Milan were the team that had 16 players with at least 1,000 minutes played. No club counted more, and we’re talking about a month ago. Then this aspect was partially modified.

Loyal

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Generally speaking, by the time the points started to weigh heavily, some players ended up on the sidelines. Or they have remained (clarification: we are limiting ourselves to reporting, without going into the merits of the coach’s choices). And so we discover, for example, that in the last thirteen games, between the Italian Cup and the championship, Krunic only took 176 minutes. It is impressive because Rade has always been one of Pioli’s loyalists. Maybe more reservist than owner, but always in the thoughts of the coach. To say: of his 30 games this season, the Bosnian has played from the first minute 17. Then, as Pioli also explained a few days ago, other choices were made. Krunic, however, cannot complain in the end, having played over 1,500 minutes over the course of the season.

Appeal

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After that there are “clinical” cases like Rebic, missed for 17 games due to multiple physical problems. But if we limit the horizons to technical choices, Bakayoko’s (sad) parable stands out very much. Do you know how long the Frenchman hasn’t been on the pitch? From 17 January, the day of the tragic 1-2 at home with Spezia. From then on, “zero minutes”, a situation that will most likely bring him back to Chelsea this summer, resolving the two-year loan one year in advance. Because here it is not a question of poor employment, but of a player who is as if he were not in the squad (597 minutes overall). Same goes for Castillejo. Even worse, because the Spaniard has been missing from the field since last year. Last trace of himself: December 19 in the 0-1 with Napoli at San Siro. Then between the choices of the coach and problems – even serious – physical, the curtain fell completely.

Occasions

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Gabbia is another Rossoneri used very little (10 appearances), even if finding himself in front of Tomori, Kalulu and Romagnoli we say that it does not help (while Castillejo could easily try to undermine Saelemaekers and Messias in the upper right). The same reasoning for Ballo-Touré, who revived last week with Genoa – 4 minutes – after four months in the drawer (also for him the last appearance dates back to Milan-Naples on December 19. And the young people? “Few, very few opportunities to show off. Maldini last set foot on the pitch two months ago with Udinese and collected 240 minutes throughout the season. The curiosity about Lazetic, on the other hand, is destined to remain so,” at least for the moment: the 18-year-old Serbian striker arrived in January practically with the preparation to be redone and so far he has only put together 4 minutes, with his debut in the last derby of the Italian Cup. Based on all these data and these arguments, the question arises spontaneously: is Pioli a “bad” coach towards part of the squad or there is an excessive number of elements who, for one reason or another, are not up to the level of the context and the objectives in which he moves AC Milan?