Milan have lost their opening two home league fixtures of the new season after going down to Sampdoria (0-1) and Atalanta (0-1) and currently lie in a mid-table position with only three points to show from their first three outings.
Many are already predicting that this will be a dismal campaign for the Rossoneri as they do not have enough quality within their ranks to bounce back and challenge for the scudetto as happened last season.
This time last year, Milan were also off to a similar uninspiring take-off as they were held to successive draws at the San Siro by Lazio and Udinese and were outclassed by Napoli down south.
Eventually, Milan stepped up a gear and collected 78 points from their remaining 35 fixtures to finish league runners-up, only four points behind champions Juventus.
However, this summer we all know that Milan lost key players in the transfer market besides the exit of some of their veteran stalwarts.
Moreover, the club did not spend big in line with the policy to balance their books.
Milan’s main signings were Riccardo Montolivo (free agent), Francesco Acerbi (Chievo), Christian Zapata (Villarreal), Bojan Krkic (Roma), Giampaolo Pazzini (Inter) and Nigel De Jong (Manchester City).
Pazzini, Bojan and De Jong all joined towards the end of the August 31 deadline in a bid by the club’s hierarchy to bridge the gap with the other title contenders and stem the supporters’ anguish at seeing Milan almost inoperative on the transfer market.
At one point, club boss Adriano Galliani was also reported to have opened talks with Real Madrid for the signing of Riccardo Kaka.
But the deal for the former Milan darling didn’t materialise because the Rossoneri were reluctant to meet the player’s wage demands.
In the light of all this, coach Massimiliano Allegri expressed his concern and openly stated that with the players he had, his team can only aspire to make a top-three finish at the most.
Galliani expressed other ideas though as he reiterated that although Milan were not among the favourites they are still a force to reckon with.
Perhaps, the truth lies somewhere in between but for sure club owner Silvio Berlusconi seems no longer willing to put his personal fortune behind the team.
Also, the newly-introduced UEFA Financial Fair Play is acting like a watchdog in monitoring the clubs’ spending.
Milan are in a transitory period and it would not be prudent for them to expect to achieve instant rewards. The new players, especially the younger ones, need time to settle in.
Exerting added pressure on the team will only render Milan more insecure. Indeed, there needs to be an alignment between the club’s ambitions and what can this team really achieve this season.
Serie A in numbers
1 player – Andrea Lazzari (Udinese) – received marching orders. Udinese mentor Francesco Guidolin was also ordered off his bench last weekend. Meanwhile, four penalties were taken from which Sergio Pellissier (Chievo), Mirko Vucinic (Juventus), Edinson Cavani (Juventus) and Ze Eduardo (Siena) made no mistake. Of the 13 penalties taken so far, seven were scored.
3rd straight win for Lazio as on Sunday they beat Chievo away for the sixth successive time. Chievo’s only home victory over Lazio dates back to January 2002 (3-1). The last time Lazio had won all their opening three fixtures was in season 1974/75.
4 teams – Juventus, Napoli, Lazio and Sampdoria – have won all their first three matches so far. Juve came from behind to hand Genoa their second straight defeat. Napoli made home soil count against Parma and now almost 12 years have elapsed since the last time these two sides shared the spoils at the San Paolo. Samp increased Pescara’s woes as they conquered the Adriatico Stadium to leave the newcomers pointless.
8 years had to pass for Bologna to beat Roma away. Zdenek Zeman’s side had opened a 2-0 half-time lead. However, Bologna came from the death after the break to record their first win of the season. Fiorentina made it two wins in as many home outings following a convincing 2-0 success over coach Vincenzo Montella’s former club Catania. The Sicilians’ only positive result in their last eight visits to Florence came in October 2011 (2-2).
33 goals were scored on the third day: 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining 19 from the visitors, who managed six wins. Foreigners contributed with 17 goals while there were 14 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 88. Nine players – Vucinic, Asamoah (both Juve), Celik, Caprari (both Pescara), Ze Eduardo (Siena), Sau (Cagliari), Cassano (Inter) and Insigne (Napoli) – came on as substitutes and scored.