Week 16: Milan – Genoa Happy Birthday Milan
Ahead of the team’s 125th anniversary some but not all of the club’s legends will be present for the celebrations. Controversy surrounds the team in several areas. First the absentees as mentioned, second Fonseca’s comments about referees, third the coach’s comments about specific player mistakes and of course the position of the team in the table. A coach calling out referees is not new but only adds to the negativity when results are not as expected. Many would agree that mentioning specific mistakes is best kept in the locker room.
Milan sit in eighth place as this game versus Genoa is to start. The loss against Atalanta highlighted the team’s limitations and the struggle to beat Red Star Belgrade 2-1 with a late goal solidified the evidence. As is now customary for Milan injuries have piled up as well. Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek and Musah are going to be out and Morata is unlikely to be ready and could only make the bench. Bennacer, Florenzi and Jovic remain out as well. Latest reports say that Pulisic is close to a contract extension and he is set to miss games until early January after injuring his calf. The absences mean Mattia Liberali is a candidate to start as playmaker behind Abraham. The 17 year old is a promising and talented prospect but it remains to be seen if he is ready for senior minutes after getting none since the preseason.
Fueling further controversy is the apparent decision to start Theo on the bench. Fonseca seems to be gambling on his starting 11 as he did with leaving Leao out earlier in the season. Terracciano or Jimenez are set to start as left back. This also highlights how the team is poorly built with a natural Theo backup missing from the team as neither are true left backs.
Milan will meet Patrick Vieira as the Frenchman recently took the helm of the Il Grifone in place of the fired Alberto Gilardino.
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