"Milan project far-fetched
After five defeats in the opening 11 rounds, those pre-season projections of Milan being title contenders seem laughably over-the-top for Billy Wilkinson.
The first meeting of Milan and Juventus was circled on everyone’s calendars when the Serie A fixture list was released back in July. This was billed as Leonardo Bonucci’s reunion, but perhaps as a wider picture it was billed as Milan’s comeback game.
Despite facing Roma and Inter earlier in the season, this was meant to be the game for the Rossoneri to flex their newfound muscles. After getting most of their business done early and acquiring talent from all across Europe, Milan were tipped to have a say in who wins the Scudetto after acquiring Bonucci from their rivals.
Just three months later and this looks like a laughable projection, as Juventus soundly beat Milan 2-0 in their own stadium. As always with big games, there were a lot of storylines going into this fixture and there’s even more coming out of it. However, I feel the biggest storyline is the reflection of how Milan’s project has fallen flat on its face thus far.
This Juventus side are the benchmark for all sides in the league, how could they not be after winning six Scudetti in a row? What’s worrying for Milanisti is how this performance seems weaker than last year. You could argue that last year’s game at San Siro was a smash and grab job, decided by a Manuel Locatelli scorcher, but this year’s Milan didn’t even seem capable of that.
The decision to allow Vincenzo Montella to lead this €200m side was a brave one, but not without its pragmatic reasons. This side would need time to gel, it made sense to have a manager who knew the club and could create a sense of continuity without a new face having to start from scratch.
As the season wears on, it appears as though Montella is a man who thrives when the expectations are low and the players are of a lower quality. When you give him players of a higher quality, he’s forced to go on the offensive, which isn’t his strong suit. It also sacrifices his ability to set up a defence well.
This result is also a reflection of how eager, or naïve if you want to be harsher, Milanisti were in the summer. The two main Scudetto contenders, Napoli and Juventus, have had their core of players for years. They knew their systems, how good they could be, and there were very few question marks over where they’d end up come May.
For Milan, there were more questions than answers in the summer. On the first Serie A matchday, a 3-0 win at 10-man Crotone, there were six new first XI players. The results early on were good, but the 4-1 loss to Lazio was the first warning side that Milanisti were getting too ahead of themselves.
The mirror has been well and truly held up against Milan’s face against Juventus. This isn’t the first time the reflection has been ugly, either. The 4-1 defeat to Lazio, the 2-0 to Roma, 3-2 to Inter and now 2-0 to Juventus. The reflection keeps getting uglier and uglier.
Expectations should have never been this high. The job to turn Milan from sixth place to Scudetto contenders was far too big. Even going into the season, the idea of turning Milan into a top four side was questionable, with Montella’s outfit fighting Inter and Roma for two places, as Napoli and Juventus were pencilled in for the top two. Even now Lazio have emerged as a top four contender.
Milan’s finances may require some surgery come next summer if they don’t make the Champions League. But relying on getting Champions League with an almost completely new XI and a good (at best) manager was always far-fetched. Perhaps it’s revisionism, but Milan surely can’t be surprised at where they are.
The cores of Napoli and Juventus are like glue at this point. Even Lazio, Inter and Roma largely have their squads intact from two years ago. This transition was never going to be as easy as it was made out to be."
Good opinion piece from football-italia.