AC Milan Club Focus: Balotelli joy reeks of short-term solutions

Date: 27th January 2016 at 4:58pm
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An expected victory greeted the Milanisti following their 1-0 triumph away to Alessandria in the Coppa Italia, prepping AC Milan for the second leg and also welcoming back (again) Mr Balotelli. Can Mario give the Rossoneri a one-up? Possibly, but they need reinforcements first.

The 25-year-old was ruled out soon after his return to the red and black half of Milano, but announced his comeback with a typical non-celebration from his penalty kick. It also seemed rather odd, however, having Balotelli and Luiz Adriano partnering one another at the top of Milan’s attack. It appeared different, yet familiar, considering both the aforementioned names were signed in the summer. The Brazilian was supposed to jet off to China to sign for Jiangsu Suning, but with the deal falling through in the final exchanges, he found himself next to the rather injury-prone Italian.

Carlos Bacca was able to receive a well-earned rest, leaving M’Baye Niang with the job of replacing Balotelli. Giacomo Bonaventura, Riccardo Montolivo and Andrea Bertolacci also took time off during Tuesday’s clash, but the likes of Andrea Poli, Jose Mauri and Kevin Prince Boateng filled in the gaps with relative ease.

Despite the numerous changes in the top-half of the pitch, action in the final third seemed all too similar. Luca Antonelli and Alessio Romagnoli strutted their stuff once more, but both Mattia de Sciglio and Cristian Zapata were once again introduced.

Niang AC Milan

If anything, it highlighted the lack of reserves Sinisa Mihajlovic can field. In recent Club Focuses we have examined, analysed and scrutinised every inch of this club, but one factor that always comes cropping up is the depth of the squad. As already mentioned, the two strikers appeared new, but have been there since the summer. The midfield consisted of another old boy in Boateng, with Poli and Keisuke Honda again featuring. This is further apparent because of the lack of change in the defence.

It is then clear to understand in the front half of the pitch that despite the changes, it is just the same. The Rossoneri parted with a lot of hard-earned cash to try and drive something new out of the team, but it all feels too familiar.

The substitutes don’t change that reading effectively, with the majority on the touch-line first-team players or ones that have featured at the start of the season a la Davide Calabria. The only names that really stood out were Stefan Simic and Alessandro Livieri. Even Antonio Nocerino had his rear end in an available seat at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino.

The problem with Milan is starting to become clear. Depth. It is their Kryptonite. The Bowser to Mario’s woes. What good is it defeating Alessandria 1-0 when those that played reek of rejection and second-class performers. With a few players aside, the team line-up read of players who have failed to cement themselves in Milan’s team for the past few seasons. Even de Sciglio, once touted as the upcoming full-back Italy craved, has not reached the heights that were expectant of him, yet he still features.

Poli AC Milan

The return of Boateng also had hints of a past time in Milano. Adriano Galliani once brought back Andriy Shevchenko after his “failure” with Chelsea, in an attempt to win over the Milanisti. It should have been a superb return, but instead the Ukrainian scored no goals and was voted the failure of the season.

The Boateng transfer feels a little like this, but at least he has his goal. Now Milan must achieve their goal collectively, and bring in some new faces. Recruitment may not be their forte, but the return of a former player is.

Jose Altafini, anyone?

 

One response to “AC Milan Club Focus: Balotelli joy reeks of short-term solutions”

  1. michael says:

    There should be no joy from any Milan fans concerning that game yesterday.