Rossoneri late on the eve of the start of the season. All the problems of the Portuguese coach in an environment that continues to be depressed…
The extended holidays of Maignan and Rabiot are only the latest chapter in the difficult summer of Amorim’s first Milan. Apart from the week of the Gonçalo Ramos-Gila double blow, it was all a matter of chasing or sewing up, from the delay in putting together the management group to the complex transfer market coming out through some unsatisfactory performances in friendly matches.
The two Frenchmen returning from the World Cup had additional holidays and it is paradoxical that this was made official on the day of Lautaro Martinez’s return to Appiano Gentile, Inter captain with the scudetto on his chest. One is sweating and eager, the others are at sea: direct comparison is poison for the Rossoneri fans.
Having said that whoever granted the holiday supplement for Maignan (until proven otherwise, a point of reference for the nascent dressing room) must have had a thousand reasons, but underestimated the impact in terms of image, the entire Milan project shows some worrying gaps. There is still time to correct construction defects, but not enormous. And, above all, it does not take into account a start to the season in which the margins of error do not exist for a club that closed in May and was fiercely contested by its own people.
Having failed in a comeback against Celtic Glasgow and Inter and being overwhelmed by Chelsea doesn’t help Milan in the summer. In no particular order: can this squad afford Amorim’s offensive and “dominant” game? Can it not have quality and quantity exteriors in the two phases but only a handful of adapted or transferable players? Don’t we need a deputy Gonçalo Ramos? And at least one more defender, since Tomori was rejected?
And did it take a month (for the market) for Amorim to come to the conclusion that some players are not from Milan and should be sold as soon as possible? Amorim said that his Milan are going to win the Scudetto and the Europa League and it is better this way rather than the usual litany of those who are satisfied with fourth place. However, the gap between the proclamations and reality is worrying and shows no sign of decreasing.
Cardinale has been living inside Milan since the beginning of the crisis in May, we must give him credit for that. But after having spent one hundred million everything has stopped and it is a problem: because his Milan must not manage a change but attack it by making an impact on the depths of a squad that with Allegri finished fifth and aims to play the opposite type of football. Very similar to that of Fonseca, architect of the previous failure.
Time is running out, in short. We need a plan, some definitive choices (Leao in or out?) and some functional reinforcements for the Portuguese coach. In addition to a certain realism which also means understanding with humility that the problems have not disappeared and the gap with respect to Inter has not narrowed. On the contrary. And not just because your captain chose to extend his vacation and theirs didn’t.
