Milan continue to struggle to find their rhythm in Serie A after the disastrous showing and 3-1 loss against Udinese on Saturday evening knocked the Rossoneri further back in the hunt for the top four.
Udinese had not won at home since their 3-1 victory over Inter all the way back in September before Stefano Pioli and Milan came to town this weekend.
But a lack of awareness and a series of sloppy errors had them trailing after just nine minutes at the Dacia Arena.
Lazar Samardzic nicked the ball away from an on-surging Fikayo Tomori, who was turned inside out and back again trying to recover from his mistake before Roberto Pereyra slotted home inside the area.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s record-breaking penalty four minutes into first-half stoppage time looked as if it would send the Rossoneri into the break on level terms, but Udinese’s Neto ensured that wouldn’t be the case, edging the Friulani back in front six minutes into injury time.
Kingelsey Ehizibue tapped home at the back post on 70 minutes, seemingly putting the game out of reach for Pioli’s side.
It has been a disastrous few weeks in Serie A for Milan, who are now winless in their last three and have only picked up one point during that period.
At this point in time, the Rossoneri are clinging on to their top four status, and with such a tight battle for the Champions League places, their place in next year’s edition of the competition is already starting to look under threat.
With fifth-place Roma in action in the Derby della Capitale on Sunday evening, Milan could slip out of the top four by the end of the weekend.
Watching them on the pitch, it has become difficult to comprehend how rapidly this team has fallen, given their deserved Scudetto success less than a year ago.
Granted, there were three major absentees in the loss against Udinese, with Theo Hernandez, Junior Messias and Olivier Giroud all missing out, but the problems don’t just stem from that one result.
Milan have been struggling for consistency in both results and performances for quite a while now, and questions have begun to be raised over the future of Pioli.
Form away from San Siro has been a particular issue, with only five league wins on the road this season and only three in their last 10.
There also seems to be a reluctance to make any major changes to the shape or system of the current set-up which clearly hasn’t worked on certain occasions over recent weeks.
Whether it be through a change of personnel, shape or through dismissing Pioli, which a number of fans have called for over the weekend, something different needs to happen quickly if Milan are to get their season back on track.
Time to go back to a back four, minus Tomori for now. Pobega in midfield with Tonali and Bennacer should shore it up.