Milan’s dreams of Champions League could remain unreachable

The start of the season gave AC Milan fans some reason for optimism. The team was winning, and scoring quite a few goals in the process. Excitement over legendary player Filippo Inzaghi taking over the coaching job lasted for a few weeks, but was soon replaced with depression over another seemingly average season. The rossoneri began the season by scoring eight goals in their first two wins, victories over Lazio and Parma. It looked like SuperPippo was the right one for the job, but after just two wins over the last eight rounds, that enthusiasm has dwindled.

In theory, Milan have an easier task than most of their opponents in the fight for third place, as they don’t have midweek European games to worry about. They know, however, that being without European play is never acceptable for a club that considers itself “big”, and so missing out again would be considered failure. The good news for Milan is that, with the exception of Juventus and Roma, the other big names in Serie A aren’t impressing either.

But those other challengers for the top three may not playing brilliantly, but have enough quality in the squad and on the bench, so can realistically hope to turn their season around. Doubts remain about Milan, however. Can a team made primarily of players who are past their prime really challenge for Champions League spot? From what we’ve seen so far, no.

There are only two teams that scored more than Milan so far in Serie A, but paradoxically, the attack is their biggest problem. Not in the sense that their forwards aren’t good enough -- they most certainly are. Except, perhaps, for Fernando Torres. The other forwards that have played significant roles this season are the best part of Milan’s team. Keisuke Honda is, perhaps, the most pleasant surprise this far;after looking terribly slow last season, he’s transformed into a consistent danger to opponents. Jeremy Menez, while he never could be described as anything close to consistent ,certainly has the talent. Stephan El Shaarawy looks to have put his injury woes behind him and is becoming what he was always supposed to be -- a leader in this Milan side.

The problems lay behind the forwards. A decade ago, Milan had one of themost creative midfields of the time, possibly in the history of the game.. Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Manuel Rui Costa, to name only a few, are gone. Nowadays, it’s up to the likes of Nigel De Jong, Sulley Muntari, Andrea Poli, and Giacomo Bonaventura to shoulder the creative burden. While they are all decent players, their talent lies mostly in disrupting attacks rather than creating chances.

And so Milan are stagnating. Goals came, yes, but mostly on counter attacks. But when opponent sits back, refusing to leave much space for those quick players up front, there are problems. Milan takes ages to get into a position from which to build a decent attack that can truly threaten those deep-lying defenses.

Milan’s creative troubles should be reduced when captain Riccardo Montolivo comes back from injury in December. But by then it might be too late. Napoli are getting into form, while Lazio and Sampdoria are playing way above expectations. And there are Inter and Fiorentina as well -- while at the moment they seem to be having even more serious headaches, Milan cannot hope it will continue, and instead must start dealing with their own pains.

While Inzaghi may be beloved by the Milan faithful, he’s yet to prove he has any idea how to deal with his side’s woes. For now, Silvio Berlusconi keeps repeating his job is safe. But we’ve heard such reassurances from Silvio before, and it rarely ends happily.