A signing campaign involving 10 players for more than 130 million euros, but not all of them lived up to expectations. The Rossoneri will try to fix what’s wrong in January, but the first real “new” signing is the Algerian midfielder
In January, when Milan’s great maneuvers to strengthen the squad will have come to fruition, the Rossoneri will already be able to count on a “new signing”, and it will be a great coup: the return of Ismael Bennacer can change the face of the team, because today Pioli is missing a player like him. The Algerian is now a Milan man in all respects, he knows the game and will not need time to regain control of the midfield, Pioli will gain time with Bennacer. The very fact of having changed so much in the summer, however, turned out to be a risk at AC Milan: the owners invested something like 132 million purchasing ten players, but not all of them proved to be up to the task, at least not for now. I think of Chukwueze, who in Spain, with the Villarreal shirt, did wonderful things but who at Milan is still a too shy player: a question of settling in, of course, but also of pressure. Because the Rossoneri shirt weighs more than the others, withstanding the impact of a stadium like San Siro requires a considerable amount of personality. Like the Nigerian, other newcomers are also struggling. A sign that the summer signing campaign was important, but that perhaps some errors of evaluation were made in the planning phase: however innovative and fascinating, the “Moneyball” system, that is, the one that relies on algorithms to choose the most suitable for the technical project, is evidently not immune to mistakes.
the market to correct
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It is probable that Milan wants to correct what has been done by retouching the squad in all departments, even if intervening to improve things is not enough. What I hope is that the objectives of the winter transfer market are up to the level of the Rossoneri shirt: fixing things in progress only makes sense if the level is raised. If the managers work in this direction, Milan will be able to recover ground and become more competitive. Even if getting back into the running for the Scudetto is objectively very difficult, eight points away from leaders Inter is a lot, and the discontinuous Milan of recent times, without a swerve, risks falling further behind. I think that Pioli and his colleagues must first of all focus on the Champions League area and not lose sight of this objective, the rest will be seen along the way. Ambition is also fueled by results.
the present
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The future, however, is now, there’s no point in beating around the bush. The restart from the international break will line up two matches, against Fiorentina in Serie A and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, which Milan cannot afford to make mistakes. Pioli must win and do it without Leao, and with Giroud only available in the cup, he will look like a feat. The Portuguese always makes the difference, it’s a shame that he got injured just after showing what he is capable of against PSG: I expect Hernandez and Loftus-Cheek to drag their teammates along. The Englishman can have a huge impact, as long as he is physically fit. Giroud, suspended with Fiorentina, is a point of reference and is a guarantee of goals. This is why Pioli’s formation choices will be particularly delicate: the alternatives so far have not convinced, it is to be hoped that Chukwueze will bring out the personality that he has lacked so far and that Jovic can unblock himself. Pulisic has great qualities, he has also shown this at the Rossoneri, but alone he cannot be enough, he will need to think as a team. Never like this time.
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