Gennaro Gattuso could barely hide his rage after his AC Milan side surrendered another lead in a Serie A game, this time to Atalanta at home. It was another costly two points dropped in a season where the Rossoneri are meant to barge back into the top four after years of disappointment and underachieving.
It has been a sluggish start for Milan this season with their first four games only yielding five points after a win, a loss and two draws. As things stand, they are ten points off leaders Juventus and five points off the top four but do have a game in hand. Losing ground so early on in a season isn’t cause for panic as it can certainly be made up over the course of a campaign but in Milan’s case, there was added impetus on a fast start so that they didn’t feel the pressure from the off.
The strain of having to witness his team throw away more points from a winning position was evident in Gattuso’s face during his post-match press conference after the draw to Atalanta. Gattuso slammed his side and called them ‘two-faced’ and demanded an improvement when they had a lead.
AC Milan 2⃣ – 2⃣ Atalanta
⚽️ Gonzalo Higuaín
⚽️ Jack Bonaventura pic.twitter.com/yGTkxDclex— Team Milan AC (@TeamMilanAC) September 23, 2018
It was a typical performance in front of the media from the former Italy and AC Milan midfielder and there’s no doubt Gattuso enters a press conference as he used to a tackle, hard and looking to leave an impression. This isn’t a man who is fearing for his job just yet, even if Milan are at an incredible 50/1 to win Serie A after only four games.
Rather, Gattuso has Milan playing attractive football and they do catch the eye when going forward but, strangely enough, do have a brittleness about them, which wasn’t a trait their manager could ever be accused of having during his playing days. At 500/1 there isn’t any worry of relegation at Milan but it’s the mid-table mediocrity that is currently the scourge of the club.
It’s been a winning start in the Europa League for Milan after a 1-0 win against Luxembourg champions Dudelange but, in reality, it could have been another draw late on with Dudelange being guilty of not taking their chances against a creaking Milan defence. The match highlights aren’t flattering for Gattuso’s men against what can only be considered as vastly inferior opposition.
It’s hard to say where the Rossoneri will end up in the Europa League after that performance but they should make it out the group stage and are even 5/6 to win Group F. Punters who think Milan have more than enough quality to finish top can claim a £30 free bet from William Hill as one of the many Europa League betting offers.
1️⃣6️⃣ – #ACMilan are now unbeaten in their last 16 opening games in European club competitions, winning 13 of them in a run stretching back to 1996.
— MilanData (@acmilandata) September 20, 2018
It’s all been a bit stop-start at Milan but change is coming and it will start right at the very top.
Ivan Gazidis will be swapping North London for Milan as he takes up his new role as Milan’s chief executive officer. The Johannesburg-born Gazidis is a typically calm individual who leads through actions and not words, with that in mind, it remains to be seen how the relationship dynamic between himself and the fiery Gattuso will play out.
Some could argue Gazidis is more than happy to let a culture of mediocrity take over at the club he is working for after he oversaw the most frustrating and unproductive Wenger years at Arsenal. Milan are demanding something completely different though with Gazidis’ remit being to restore the glory years at the San Siro. A new broom sweeps clean and Gattuso will be hoping his team aren’t cleaned up anymore by late goals or he could be the one binned.
Read more:
- Contrasting Starts for the Big Three in La Liga
- Five of the Most Improved Players in the Premier League
