At middle of January and with the Scudetto already out of reach, AC Milan now have a series of short-term goals to achieve in order to return to their top status.
Milan, the underwhelming giants of European football, have their loyal fans in a period of serious confusion. Inconsistency has marred their first 20 games of the 2015-16 season, this in turn sees them sitting sixth and 12 points off first place. The title is out of the picture and Champions League is still a slim chance for the Rossoneri, but the question as to whether the gap can be closed is a serious unknown. Milan have to start looking towards building a big second-half of the season, which begins now in January.
Clear the dead weight and replace with quality depth/starters
The Rossoneri have been known as a team that keep the faith with under-performing players who well overstay their welcome. Massimilliano Allegri, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi had the tendency to keep these names and not replace them with quality depth to bolster their stocks. Questionable players stayed over those who should have been sold, which is evident through Inzaghi’s decision to ship youngster Bryan Cristante and Riccardo Saponara, in-turn keeping Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari. Once appointed as head coach, Sinisa Mihaljovic managed to clean out most of Milan’s surplus talent, but has still been left with a fair few passengers as part of their squad. Phillippe Mexes, Cristian Zapata, Alessio Cerci, Antonio Nocerino and Andrea Poli are among those who must be shown the door.
Mexes has way overdone his stay, but seems to play a reasonable role when called upon. However, at 34 it is time for him to be moved on. Zapata has had a tendency of giving Milan fans a heart attack when in possession and has struggled majorly this season. Cerci has well under-performed considering the hype once he was brought in last January, while Nocerino has passed his prime and Poli has struggled when given the opportunity to impress. Getting rid of these players will clear the wage bill enormously as they all command high values. This will allow for Milan to turn their attention to quality replacements.
The aim should be to sign a centre-back, a midfielder and potentially a winger in this January window, who can all be starters in the Milan lineup without question. Those who have been heavily linked, including Martin Caceres, Marouane Fellaini and Anwar El Ghazi, could really give Milan a fresh outlook in their starting XI and therefore increase the quality going forward. Mihaljovic will then have a chance to really push at closing the gap on third and making a return to the Champions League next season.
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Europa League at the bare minimum, Champions League the priority
Milan sit sixth and are only three points off Roma who occupy the final Europa League place, also sitting eight points behind third placed Inter. The main priority at the start of the season was to finish in the top three and that goal should stay the same. Milan face neighbours Inter in two weeks-time, which could prove to be a real decider in their push for third. If the Rossoneri do come away with three points, they have the chance to close the gap on their rivals to five points.
The men in red and black will simply need to stay consistent for the rest of the season. They have struggled to get a good run of consistent performances and reaching at least the 65-70 point mark should allow Milan to wrap-up a spot in Europe.
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Winning the Coppa Italia
The Rossoneri have not tasted silverware since 2011, though a chance to end that drought is through the Coppa Italia. Milan are into the semi-finals and face third division giant-killers Alessandria – a failure here to knock off the L’Orso would be a disgrace by the club’s standards.
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This tournament needs to be taken as seriously as finishing third on the ladder for Il Diavolo and winning the domestic cup will be something for Milan to add to their already stocked trophy cabinet. Also, the fans will have something to savour in finally winning a competition after two seasons of utter heartache and the absolute low-points of recent years.
Keep the faith with the youth
Mihajlovic has an eye on the future, an aim to get Milan back to their dominant ways of the 1990’s and 2000’s. He has shown astronomical faith to 16-year-old keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who has been beyond impressive in his stint between the posts. Also, Davide Calabria has played a few games in fullback and has not disappointed, but is still behind three Italian internationals in the pecking order.M’Baye Niang has broken out this season and has found himself partnering Carlos Bacca every-week up front as of late.
Names such as Jose Mauri, Alessandro Livieri, Stefan Simic and Alessandro Mastalli have all found themselves on the bench here and there, showing the faith Mihajlovic has in his youth players. We seem to forget the age of the general of Milan’s defense, Alessio Romagnoli, who is being groomed as a future leader of the club.
Mihajlovic needs to make sure he keeps giving opportunities to these young guns so they can start to build successful careers at the San Siro. In turn, one hopes Milan do not let another Matteo Darmian, Pierre Aubameyang or Riccardo Saponara slip through out fingers again.
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