A defensive collapse, but who is to blame? [Bonus article]

AC Milan have conceded 13 goals in the league since December, at an average of 1.3 goals per game, and the last few weeks have been even more disastrous on that front. Why? Because the Rossoneri conceded 6 goals (!) against the likes of Udinese, Bologna and Frosinone. A total breakdown, in other words, and an overall problem which has many roots. But who is really to blame?

Much like this season as a whole, the debate regarding the defensive issues has been lively on social media. And rightfully so, as Milan seemingly have resorted to the foolish game plan of outscoring their opponents to win. A completely different strategy compared to the successful Scudetto season, when a strong defence coupled with fantastic counter-attacking play led the way.

Milan may be on an eight-game unbeaten run as we speak, but a defensive strategy will always prevail no matter how attacking-minded football gets. Aside from the fact that the Rossoneri underwent a complete rebuild in the summer - from the management to the player material - what is behind this negative trend?

As said, the debate has indeed been lively and that is not just because the topic itself is infuriating, but also because it’s extremely complicated. There are so many layers to the issue and this makes it rather difficult to get to the bottom. Having said that, we believe there are three main culprits to highlight and we will do just that below.

The starters are on the sidelines

We cannot predict the future, nor can we change the past, but mere logical thinking would lead us to believe that Milan would have done better with Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori in the squad. They are arguably the three centre-back starters in the squad and one can only imagine how frustrating it must be for Stefano Pioli to see them on the sidelines.

Especially Tomori, who had seemingly regained that amazing form we saw in the Scudetto season, adding goals from set pieces to his repertoire as well. The other two had perhaps not performed on the same high level, but they were at least very familiar with the Rossoneri’s mechanism at the back. In fairness to Thiaw, albeit struggling in a few games, he was also starting to find a consistent groove.