Fan article by JackBueno.
Milan’s fans don’t have a lot to be excited about this season. After an upbeat summer during which the team signed up-and-coming players such as Theo Hernández, Ante Rebić, and Rafael Leão, Milan is underperforming in the league and looks set on missing out on yet another top-4 finish. The team’s performance has been underwhelming even against lower-ranked teams which doesn’t install hope of bringing back the glory days.
For years now, Milan is stuck in quite a pessimistic tone. Last year, a good run saw the team challenge for a top-4 finish but it ultimately missed the mark. Renewed optimism flourished with the arrival of Marco Giampaolo at the helm, but he was sacked amidst a run of bad results. Giampaolo was replaced by Stefano Pioli, but it seems like not even the new coach can motivate the team and bring the best out of the players.
What Do Bookies Think?
It’s not a surprise that bookies don’t have Milan among the favourites for a top-4 finish, let along the Serie A title. The club is sitting well behind the top favourites Juventus and city rival Inter. At the moment, sportsbooks give Milan 40/1 chances to finish in the top 4 teams and 500/1 to win the league. Pre-match odds are even worse – even if you find an enhanced odds offer, it’s clear that bookies don’t believe in Milan’s chances this season.
When compared to the likes of Juventus at 4/11 to win Serie A or Inter’s 5/2, it’s not a surprise to see why so many fans are disappointed.
Napoli, Lazio, Roma, and even Atalanta are ahead of the famous club that won 5 European trophies in the past. It’s clear that a change is needed from top to bottom. A good manager is also required – a high profile name would surely restore the lost confidence of stars such as Polish hitman Krzysztof Piątek.
Piątek was one of the best deals Milan has made in a long time. He has a knack for goal and is quite young at 24. If the team finds players that can feed him with balls in the box, Milan can surely rise up the table.
The Polish striker has had a disappointing season so far. His odds of finishing top Serie A hitman are currently 66/1, but these should improve once he finds his goalscoring touch again. At the top of this market is Ciro Immobile with odds of 1/2 – that may be the kind of striker that can light a spark under Milan and propel the team up the table.
The good news is that the club was recently linked with quality managerial names such as Pep Guardiola for the summer. Although it’s nothing more than a pipedream at the moment, there’s reportedly been interest from the club and the Spanish genius. That can only be a good thing. With Guardiola at the wheel, Milan may become a powerhouse in the Italian Serie A once again.
Other reports say that the club is also looking to add Marc Overmars as director of sport. The great Dutchman has the skills required to pull the right moves and bring in much-needed reinforcements in several areas.
Right now, though, Milan is in dire need of a saviour that can lift the player’s spirits up and establish a regular first 11 that can perform to their best abilities weekend in and weekend out. New players during the winter transfer window are obsolete if the team doesn’t rise from the mess it found itself in.
Fans have the right to be disappointed after yet another miserable start of the season. Make no mistake, though – if a few key players find their form, Milan could be a serious threat to the top 4.
Get a proven striker who is mobile and can build attack with the rest of our attackers. If we are to rely on Piatek the we need at least a solid winger and a good attacking mildfielder whose passing accuracy is solid. We cannot rely on Suso and calhanoglu . They are too slow and predictable.
just we need good coach and gread players like (coach) 1gardiola 2pachettino 3tuchel (players) 1ziyach 2drexlar 3depay 4cheisa 5rakitic 6james etc
Why Pioli is not good enough for you ?? For me, he was an excellent coach until now ! He played against Lazio, Roma, Juve and Napoli taking the job of a dead team destroyed by Giampaolo. The team played good against Lazio, Juve and Napoli, beat themselves against Roma ( Calabria’s assist ), won against Spal and had a lot of bad luck against Lecce ( should have won 5-1 ). So, Pioli was very good as a coach, it wasn’t his fault until now
Well said. I haven’t seen anything wrong with Pioli so far. Tho am not a fan of him till he became Milan’s coach