AC Milan have conceded 25 goals in 22 league games and yesterday’s game against Bologna certainly highlighted the defensive issues. A problem that Stefano Pioli should have dealt with a long time ago, as Andrea Longoni states.
In the last two league games, facing Udinese and Bologna, Milan have conceded four goals. They almost didn’t win the first clash due to this fact, while the other ended in a 2-2 draw. The defensive issues are still very serious for the Rosspneri, in other words.
Andrea Longoni highlighted exactly this in his editorial for Calciomercato.com this morning. It’s something that Pioli should have focused a lot more on, as the journalist states, and the manager is now paying the price for failing to do so.
“Milan seem to think that it’s enough to score more goals than their opponents, but they have conceded too many. The defence is not worthy of a great team, in terms of the numbers and how they play. 25 goals conceded in the league, more than one goal per game.
“It’s also the philosophy desired by Pioli this year, with an ambitious but unscrupulous attitude, which often leads you to give space to your opponents, chances, and in the end goals. We are almost in February and this team still has no balance: a concept that was perfect in the Scudetto year.
“In the last 11 games [in the Scudetto season], Milan conceded just 2 goals: today they concede 2 goals against teams like Udinese and Bologna who don’t even have great attacking numbers. Furthermore, a clean sheet makes headlines….”
Milan will take on Frosinone next and a strong performance will be needed to restore some confidence. They are still unbeaten, and Bologna are certainly no pushovers, but the feeling is still that two points were lost yesterday. And the key stats attest to that.
