AC Milan’s away match against Juventus represented an opportunity for the Rossoneri to claw back some of their deficit to fourth place in the race for the last Champions League spot from Serie A; it also gave Milan a chance to deal a blow to their opponents’ chance of making the top four and thus qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Instead, Milan succumbed to a 2-0 loss against the Bianconeri. Both of Juve’s goals came within a five-minute span in the second half. In the 59th minute, Nico González set up Belgian winger Samuel Mbangula whose shot bounced off the foot of Milan full-back Emerson on its way into the back of the net. Not long after that, Milan midfielder Youssouf Fofana lost possession in midfield, granting Khéphren Thuram to put substitute Timothy Weah through on goal with just Fikayo Tomori to beat - and the American did just that before putting his shot into the bottom corner and clinch the win for Juve.
After having fired previous head coach Paulo Fonseca on December 29 and hiring Sérgio Conceição the next day, many might have expected the usual upturn in form that usually comes with a new coaching hire. This, however, has so far not even been close to what has happened. Despite winning the Supercoppa Italiana - which isn’t even a major title - Conceição’s coaching debut in Serie A after having been at the helm of Porto for seven seasons has been off to a slow start.
Though it’s still very early in his current stint at the San Siro, early signs seem to show that Conceição still doesn’t quite “get it”. The main issue so far has most likely been his squad rotation. While it might be true that Conceição might not have been aware of this quite yet, the fact remains that the recent form decline of players such as Emerson and Fofana can likely be tied to fatigue. Part of Fonseca’s downfall was how he burned out some of Milan’s players by not rotating the squad as regularly as he should have; while there’s still time for Conceição to figure this out, it’s needless to say that this isn’t how things ought to have started for him.
With the January transfer window ending soon, it’s imperative that Milan do something about their squad depth - especially in midfield and up front. As of right now, Milan quite simply don’t have the depth of personnel at the level needed to make a legitimate top-four push. The match against Juve made this fact obvious as all four of Milan’s substitutes were all but completely ineffective, contributing essentially nothing of note.
Beyond that, Milan have to seriously start considering the futures of players such as Fofana, Yunus Musah, Ismaël Bennacer, and Tammy Abraham who are unlikely to be worth keeping around for the long term. It’s become increasingly obvious that none of them are of the calibre needed of squad regulars if Milan are to seriously contend for a Champions League berth next season. Milan have been linked with players such as Saba Goglichidze, Stephen Eustaquio, Marcus Rashford, and Samuele Ricci - certainly not names which move the needle in any notable way. Unless Milan can somehow pull off a significant signing out of seemingly nowhere before the transfer window ends, climbing into the top four by season’s end seems unlikely.
Among the players mentioned, Abraham deserves particular scrutiny. Against Juve, Milan were largely devoid of any output up front, managing just three shots on target. As the starting centre-forward stepping in for the injured Álvaro Morata, Abraham did not even attempt a single shot and was nothing more than a bystander for almost the whole match. The Englishman has become a mere shell of the player who had a breakout season at Roma just three years ago and who appeared to be set for a solid run of at least five to six years as a high-level striker. At this point, Abraham has become a liability and might not even have what it takes to even be a regular substitute.
AC Milan’s window to salvage their season is starting to close - and if they do end up missing out on the Champions League for the first time since, one has to wonder if Conceição will still be in the dugout when next season starts.
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