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AC Milan’s Spanish midfielder Brahim Diaz (Front) and AC Milan’s Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali … [+]
That sound you hear is Milan’s title defence slowly slipping away, slowly losing its grip, and we’re only three months into the season.
The 0-0 draw against Cremonese at the Stadio Giovanni Zini has done little to calm nerves at Milanello that a Scudetto that took them 11 years to regain is already heading towards the south and into the hands of Napoli.
Stefano Pioli named an experimental side against Cremonese, which was more due to necessity than due to squad rotation. They were starts for Malick Thiaw – making his Milan debut – and Divock Origi, meanwhile Fode Ballo-Toure also started on the left due to Theo Hernandez being suspended.
The result was a severely disjointed performance in which they created precious little, and the chances that were carved out wasted, primarily by Origi and Ante Rebic. Credit must also be given to Cremonese stopper Marco Carnesecchi, who was equal to everything thrown at him by the Rossoneri. Carnesecchi was handed a 7/10 rating from La Gazzetta dello Sport, and deservedly so.
As the game ticked down to its final minutes, Pioli flexed his muscles and brought on Rafael Leao and Charles De Ketelaere in a bid to secure all three points, but the pair of them did little in a creative sense, the latter especially has really struggled since arriving in Serie A and has shown little of the form that propelled Milan to splash out €35m last summer in order to secure his signature from Club Brugge. De Ketelaere hasn’t scored a single goal and has only produced one assist since joining Milan and, in light of his recent form, was benched for the fifth consecutive game by Pioli.
The 21-year-old is clearly adapting to the rigours of the Italian game and the step up in quality, but he’s looked remarkably lightweight in games and had been guilty of making the wrong choice when in possession of the ball a litany of times.
“I still foresee ups and downs, it’s normal for such a young player who has changed environment and his way of working,” said Pioli about the Belgian. “Charles has quality, talent, intelligence and availability. His growth will come but when is difficult to say. I’m absolutely convinced of his qualities.”
Milan’s evening of disappointment was only exacerbated by Napoli’s win against Empoli hours before. Luciano Spalletti’s side left it very late to pick up all three points and keep their runaway locomotive at full speed, but goals from Hirving Lozano and Piotr Zielinski secured a 10th straight win for Napoli, and put them eight points clear of Milan at the top of the table.
And these two games have highlighted the difference in both sides. Spalletti made five changes from the win against Atalanta in Bergamo last weekend for the Empoli game, and yet the end result was the same: a Napoli win.
And herein lies the difference in the quality of the squads. Spalletti can interchange the likes of Lozano, Matteo Politano, Elif Elmas, Giacomo Raspadori and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the wings and not lose quality; Giovanni Simeone has amply filled in for Victor Osimhen when the Nigerian was out for several weeks earlier in the season; Mario Rui and summer signing Mathías Olivera have traded places all season without a dip in quality, and Spalletti can also change things up in midfield, with Tanguy Ndombele can come in for one of the mainstays in Franck-Andre Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka or Zielinski, like he did against Empoli.
Spalletti simply has the kind of options that Pioli doesn’t, and this will make a huge difference in the second half of the season as European football kicks into gear again in mid-February.
Milan’s title win last season was built on the strength of having no European football post-Christmas, leaving Pioli having to only focus on one game per-week. Milan effectively have a very good 13-14 players, but beyond that they struggle. Take one or two links out of the chain and they aren’t the same team.
The same cannot be said for Napoli.
With a third of the season gone, and only a single game left before the World Cup break, Napoli are slaying all. But we’ve been here before with Spalletti, yet with Milan already eight points behind, and Juventus and Inter even further back, Napoli will likely never have a better time to win a third Scudetto.
And when it comes down to it, when the history on this season is written, it’ll likely come down to the depth of their squad, and Milan simply cannot compete on that score.
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Emmet Gates, Contributor
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