Comparing AC Milan's 2013-14 Stats to Their 2014-15 Figures

The standings tell us they have made no improvements whatsoever. AC Milan sit in eighth place in Serie A at the time of writing—exactly where they were a year ago. 

A deeper look at the statistics between this team and last-season's edition does not reveal much of a change. Even with new players, Milan have the same problems. They are still paying a high price for mediocrity, and attendance is shrinking to all-time lows.

The lowest official numbers came in the Coppa Italia. The crowd at San Siro slipped into the thousands for a 1-0 loss against Lazio in January: Only 8,393 people bought tickets, and probably even fewer were there. 

The Coppa Italia was a similar graveyard last year. A game against Udinese drew just 10,227. That followed a season in which Milan sold the fewest season tickets in the Silvio Berlusconi era, per Rossoneri Blog. The downward spiral started its descent in 2013-14, and it has not reversed course.

	2013-14	2014-15 (so far)
Lowest attendance	10,227	8,393
Wages	€105m	€94m
Points dropped	25	21
Points with 10 games left	35	38
Shots per game	16.2	12.1
Red cards	7	8
Yellow cards	86	59
Possession	56.9%	51.9%

But there is a reason. Milan are not Champions League contenders, yet they are getting paid like they are. Their payroll remains unbelievably high. At the start of the 2013-14 campaign, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported wages at €105 million; this season, they dropped to €94 million (h/t Football Italia). Milan are among the top five Serie A clubs in terms of salaries. 

They are paying a steep price for a worse product than Torino, who finished ahead of Milan last year and still lie ahead of the Rossoneri this term despite losing Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci.

And Torino's payroll is only a fraction of Milan's. 

The conclusion here is one of two things: Milan are either overpaying or under-performing. Both are equally bad. Milan can't even play mediocre football without big costs. 

Because it is not pretty to watch them on a weekly basis. Rarely do they put in a solid 90-minute performance, if ever. They have dropped 21 points from winning positions in Serie A in 2014-15—the highest total in the league. It follows a season in which they lost 25 points from that position. 

Different players, same misery. 

Coach Filippo Inzaghi has brought in Cerci, Mattia Destro, Alex, Jeremy Menez and Diego Lopez, and yet they continue to repeat their mistakes. 

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

Some bad influences do remain, and maybe that's the issue. Milan have more red cards this season (eight) compared to last (seven); regardless, the number suggests a lack of discipline. 

Even a hard-working player like Nigel de Jong gets unruly. He has collected 18 yellow cards since September 2013, by far the most among Milan players in that time—a relevant statistic about a player whose contract expires in the summer.

There are just far too many similarities over these past two years. And those effects appear on the field. Milan had 35 points with 10 games remaining in 2013-14. They went on to win 22 of the last 30 points up for grabs, a final run under Clarence Seedorf that ultimately could not save his job.

Heading out of the international break, Milan stand on 38 points with 10 games left. Inzaghi has to hope for such a streak, even if he too is about to lose his job. And the cycle goes on.