Sacchi: ‘Milan have no squad, there is no continuity’ 

Legendary former coach Arrigo Sacchi was majorly critical of Milan and their playing staff in his weekly column with La Gazzetta dello Sport on Sunday morning, following Friday’s disappointing 2-2 draw at home with Salernitana. 

The Rossoneri had led early on through Fikayo Tomori, but were pegged back by Federico Fazio and Antonio Candreva, before Luka Jovic popped up to rescue a point in the 90th minute. 

For now, Milan still find themselves in third place in the Serie A standings, but now sit just two points above Bologna in fourth and three above Fiorentina in fifth. 

“Simply: it’s not a squad,” Sacchi told La Gazzetta on Sunday in response to Milan’s latest setback. I should say, sometimes it is and sometimes it looks like complete darkness,” he continued. 

Sacchi explained that: “There is no continuity, it’s too fluctuating. In Salerno there was no collective idea, but a group that was scattered all over the pitch. Everyone does their own thing. 

“The defence is in difficulty because the attackers aren’t helping. This is the real problem. The fact is that there are players who don’t have continuity of performance.” 

Sacchi also believes that Milan’s individualistic style of play is part of the reason why the squad have encountered quite so many injuries this season. After 17 league matches, the Rossoneri have accumulated 30 separate injuries so far. 

“This is an issue also because of Milan playing individually. When you do everything alone, it’s easier to pick up physical problems.” 

Milan’s current issues will not be solved by a change in management, however. 

“I don’t think the problem will be solved by getting rid of the coach. Pioli has done great things, but he hasn’t managed to show continuity in his work. But it must be said, I don’t know if there is anyone around who would be able to bring continuity to this squad.”

When asked where the original issues have come from, Sacchi replied: “In my opinion, in the summer transfer market. Only foreign players were brought in, who hadn’t had brilliant experiences beforehand. Also, they had to get used to Italian football. 

“But we need to understand that it can be difficult for young lads arriving from abroad to settle in immediately. Even great champions have had difficulties at the beginning. If you build a completely new team based on foreigners, you need to have patience. But patience in football, as we know, is a rare commodity.”