Bologna-Milan Preview: Digging Deeper

Milan are in a tailspin of six games without a win. But for two of those games, against league leaders Juventus and Napoli, we actually performed very well, just didn’t get the result against superior teams. If you look at the table or the scores alone, it would seem to be a big problem. But it’s really not. Milan have matched their opponents in every one of these matches, and all they need to do to stop the spiral down the table is dig a little deeper.

More of this, please

We can’t afford to play to the level of Bologna when we are paying our players so much more than they are paying theirs. They currently sit 12th on the table, 15 points below us. Their current form is D-L-W-L-D, and with all due respect to them, Milan need to add another loss to keep that pattern going. Former Milan great, Donadoni, is still miraculously in charge of the club despite years of public longing for the Milan bench and limited results at Bologna. For their draw vs. Cagliari last week, he lined up Mirante; the other Romagnoli, De Maio, Gonzalez, Dzemaili, some former Milan player called Poli, Crisetig, Masina, Orsolini, ex-Inter Palacio, and former Milan youth player, Verdi, who is also their top scorer. Our old fling Destro is apparently in doubt for the match, but could be fit.

Milan are without Conti, Biglia, and Romagnoli. But Calhanoglu has been back in training and is deemed fit for this match. The mental fitness of the team is the biggest question. After losing to Benevento, Gattuso went on a rampage, canceling everyone’s days off and even his own holiday. I’m not sure if he’s quite OFI Crete angry, or if maybe he’s even more angry than that, I don’t know. Last week, he accused them of having lost their souls, but it’s not that simple. The inherited problems of not being able to score are still there, only now there was a bit of a lapse in mentality in that they now match their opponents instead of destroy everyone and everything in sight like their coach did as a player. We all knew that his infused grinta alone wouldn’t last, and now it’s time not only for them to dig a little deeper, but also for him. He’ll need to do better with his tactics and lineups. Playing striker roulette is no better than playing Kalinic every single match, strikers need to play consistently to break scoring droughts.

Will the student become the master tomorrow?

This is a game that on paper Milan should win. But after last week’s soul-destroying loss to the now relegated Benevento, nothing is beyond this Milan. But that goes both ways. Nothing is beyond them on the positive side of things, either. Well, okay Champions League is mathematically beyond us, I believe. But by digging deeper, they could easily win this game, and possibly even pull off a fantastic performance. I know it’s hard to imagine right now, but it is possible.

This post inspired by the music of Imagine Dragons’ “Whatever it Takes”

Serie A Week 35

Bologna vs. Milan

Sunday, April 29 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)

This match will be shown LIVE on RAI Italia and BeIn Sports in the U.S.