Milan are headed to their first Serie A away match of the season on Saturday evening. So far, there are two serious injuries and a muscle injury, and it is only the second match of the season, so that tracks. Also, our opening match last week was a disappointing draw to Torino, so it really is a bit like we got a younger, cheaper manager who has hair, but the storyline is the same. Oh, and did I mention the mercato is wrapping up in less than a week? So we are heading to face newly promoted Parma on pins and needles, with players moving in and out, injuries happening at the same rate as before. If you have that same, anxious feeling that has haunted you in recent seasons, you are not alone. It's only week two. Here we go again.
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| Thirty minutes in a Milan shirt. Injured. That is how we roll. |
Parma were promoted back to Serie A after two years' absence, and for the first time since being purchased by American Kyle Krause. They are one of the seven clubs in Serie A this season who did not change their current manager. Fabio Pecchia led them to promotion, although a 1-1 draw with Fiorentina was all he could manage last week for their season opener. For that match, Pecchia lined up a 4-2-3-1 with the very first Japanese goalkeeper in Serie A, Zion Suzuki; Woyo Coulibaly, Balogh, Circati, Valeri; Estévez, Sohm; Dennis Man, Bernabé, Mihaila; and Bonny. He will be missing Hernani, Benedyczak, and Charpentier to injury.
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| Pecchia celebrates with his players after earning promotion to Serie A. |
Fonseca is still missing Sportiello and Florenzi to their longterm injuries, but has a new injury in Morata, who suffered a muscle injury following his thirty minute debut last week, but will still be traveling with the team to support them. Adli will not be traveling with the team, as he is being pushed out. Kalulu has officially joined the dark side on a loan with option. We must never speak of this again. Pobega had medicals with Bologna on Friday ahead of his loan with option to purchase.
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| Smile because it happened. |
Without our striker, Fonseca looked at his other, limited options this week, and has chosen Okafor to start, as he feels he is the best option for this match. There are rumors that Fofana could play, but that would depend completely on how Fonseca deems his fitness to be, and there is also a rumor that Pavlović could play as well. Fonseca spoke as if he had studied Parma, and knew that the team needed to defend better, but how much faith can anyone have just yet?
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| Earning the trust of Fonsecat this week. |
Fans are anxious to see the team win, but also wary of coaches who are more convinced of their ideas than their players are, so let's hope that is not the case here. Last week's draw took a lot of the air out of the good feelings the preseason instilled in the team. Even though they have made some changes in the squad, Fonseca wasn't given much time to have everyone together. Then there are also the injuries. It just feels like a slightly more hopeful year than last year... maybe. Mostly, all the same anxieties and apprehensions we thought about all the time before. Here we go again.