A psychological battle [Newsletter]

Jan 31, 2024

Another week, another game for AC Milan. Even though the Rossoneri are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run, with five wins and two draws, the momentum has certainly taken a big hit following the 2-2 draw against Bologna at the weekend. Saturday’s clash against Frosinone is thus an opportunity for Stefano Pioli to fix the team’s flat tire, to use a fitting analogy.

We can look at the recent record in Serie A how much we want, but the truth is that Milan find themselves in a tricky situation mentally. Just when we thought they had fully overcome what was an extremely difficult period, they failed to see out a game yet again. On top of that, Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez - who are two stars in the team - missed a penalty each.

And all this talk about a confidence knock is not some crazy conspiracy either, as Pioli highlighted it straight after the game: “Mentally, I have to work well with the team when training resumes. I’m afraid that the group will end up suffering a bit”. This can certainly be considered as shedding light on one of your weaknesses, but the manager is not wrong either and in these cases, it is often necessary to be honest.

Frosinone will head into the game with this in mind, knowing that Milan are far from perfect despite their current position in third place. But instead of letting it beat them down, the Rossoneri will simply have to acknowledge that a lot of work is on the cards. And more so than winning streaks, getting past minor drops in form is what makes great teams, which is exactly how Pioli will have to phrase it.

Milan are still at the mercy of injuries and depending on when the centre-back trio will be back, we will have to settle for the fact that the Rossoneri won’t be perfect week in and week out. In case you are wondering about the trio, there are still no concrete reports on the return dates but Ismael Bennacer - who has returned from AFCON - should be back against Frosinone.

The Algerian’s return is incredibly important, having disposed of the minor injury, as Milan have lacked his defensive awareness in midfield. Yacine Adli and Tijjani Reijnders both did well under the circumstances, but we all know that they aren’t exactly defensive midfielders. Nor should Milan use them like that, since their strengths are more suitable for the other end of the pitch.

In summary, the game against Frosinone will be an interesting one in many ways, but also a very important one for the Rossoneri. A win could be enough to restore the confidence, which almost sounds silly given how much we emphasised the effects of the Bologna draw. But it is the truth, as the mood is always evaluated on a week-to-week basis in the world of football and Milan are no different.

News bulletin

➤ Milan’s Primavera side failed to score against Roma at home and they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw, missing the chance to overtake them in the table. Meanwhile, there are rumours of Buba Sangaré arriving from Spain to bolster the defence.

➤ The disappointing results keep coming for the AC Milan women as they drew 0-0 with Pomigliano, one of the two teams below them. However, they did complete the signings of Danish star Nadia Nadim and Sara Stokic.

➤ In terms of transfer news the narrative seems to be more about departures than arrivals, and Milan could still complete four exits between now and the end of the January mercato.

➤ Two figures who were part of some all-time great Milan teams have laid into the current team and management. Ariedo Braida labelled them a 'mid-table side' while Fabio Capello claimed that third place is far from good enough.

➤ A lot of the attention ahead of the summer is about Joshua Zirkzee, especially after his goal against Milan at San Siro on Saturday, and the management really think they have a chance to land him despite his price tag and the competition.

➤ We have had a couple of features out in the last week, including how Thiago Motta's Milan might look if he took over as well as the midfield gap that was not addressed during the summer.