Yahoo Sports CorSport: ‘Two-faced’ Milan rank near bottom in several key stats – the numbers
AC Milan must do more soul-searching now another international break is upon us, with the inconsistency in results continuing.
Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews) this morning describes Milan as a ‘two-faced team’, without grit and heart. The exciting evenings such as the derby win over Inter and beating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu are offset by frustrating dropped points against lower-ranking sides.
The numbers point towards Milan rightly being on the outside looking in when it comes to the Scudetto battle. The Rossoneri are last for fouls committed (117 in total in 11 games) and second-last for fouls per game (10.6, better only than Parma).
Not only that, but Milan are also last in Serie A for balls recovered (435 in total, Atalanta in first have 151 more) and third-last for balls recovered per game (39.55, better only than Torino who are in free fall and Genoa).
Paulo Fonseca’s side are last in Serie A for duels won (472 in total) and third-last for duels won per game (42.91, slightly better than Inter in second-last). To complete the ranking, Milan as second-last in the league for aerial duels won (420 in total) and for aerial duels won per game (10.91), better only than Juventus in both categories.
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In the 3-3 draw with Cagliari on Saturday, Milan lost 69% of the aerial duels against Pavoletti and his team-mates. This allowed Davide Nicola’s side to utilise their best weapon which is crosses, and in the end that’s how they got a late draw through Zappa’s goal.
As during the last break, and the one before that, Milan are being asked to change their mentality to avoid the season being over before the calendar year ends. Fonseca and Alvaro Morata have on several occasions called players and team-mates to be more attentive, yet it hasn’t worked for long enough.
The paper adds: ‘Milan have continued its very fluctuating mood: if properly motivated, if focused, the team performs and the results come, otherwise it runs into bad situations’. The problem is that the leaders in the table are pulling away, while Milan search for consistency.
