Milan, it’s not just Pioli’s flop: from Theo Hernandez to Leao, where would the top players be?|Primapagina

Failed. Without appeal. Everyone. Yes, because in the hours immediately following the debacle in Rome which put away even the last dreams of glory, the last hopes of closing with a flourish a season which already last autumn – with the elimination from the Champions League and the collapse in championship that kicked off Inter’s long escape – had hinted that it would be characterized by anonymity, the focus of criticism was exclusively on Stefano Pioli. The sole survivor of the summer 2023 revolutionthat of the torpedoing of two central figures in the Rossoneri cycle of the Emilian coach such as Paolo Maldini and Frederic Massara and of an ambitious and innovative market, the last opportunity to convince the club to earn reconfirmation was certainly played in the worst possible way, but this cannot and must not focus attention on the responsibilities of others. First of all those of the footballers, they too have never reached an elimination round with Roma which confirmed structural limitations. Above all in mentality.
THE OLIMPICO DEBACLE

DISAPPOINTING – If it is true that when the going gets tough the tough start playing, Milan’s supposed top players kept a silent scene. Also this time. Placing serious doubts on how far that maturation process took them which could not be based on the simple enthusiasm and competitive fury that had animated the victory of the 2022 scudetto. Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Ismael Bennacer and Olivier Giroud represent part of the founding nucleus of the group capable of subverting every prediction in two years, to which are added those custom-built cars that should have allowed over the years to Devil to raise the bar of ambitions and consolidate itself as a winning reality in Italy and competitive in Europe as well. Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Rafa Leao and Christian Pulisic instead disappeared at the moment, swallowed up by the general mediocrity which cannot be exclusively attributable to the game strategies and communication strategies, not at all convincing, of their coach. Especially for those who have been part of Milan for a long time, the impression one gets after the defeat at the Olimpico is of being faced with excellent players who have lived for a long time sheltered from the charismatic aura of enthralling personalities, Ibrahimovic, Maldini and even the first Pioli, only to then run into difficulty when it came to climbing the last step.
ALL PEG ERRORS

MATTER OF THE HEAD – It becomes complicated to talk about salaries almost in double figures or science fiction proposals from top European clubs if the level of performance offered again this year by those who are defined as Milan’s champions is so unsatisfactory in those matches that really make the difference. It will certainly be necessary to start from scratch, with a coach capable of instilling new stimuli and new emotional impulses in a group that, especially since January 2023, has given the idea of ​​navigating by sight rather than following a very specific route. But it will also and above all be necessary to try to recreate an adult mentality for the umpteenth time squad which the current technical cycle and the management groups that have succeeded one another in recent years have only been able to recreate at times, losing themselves at the most beautiful moments. We’re talking about footballers but mainly men. From Milan, the real one.