AC Milan Must Find Consistency and Discipline to Succeed This Season

It's been a rocky week for AC Milan. The team has been wildly inconsistent over the last three contests, playing fantastic halves of football followed by others that called to mind the ugly struggles of the past few seasons.

Sunday's game, a lunchtime kickoff against Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, was a continuation of that trend.

In the reverse of Tuesday's match against Udinese, Milan spent the the first half of the game getting run bowlegged. The Grifone had them penned into their own half for much of the first 45 minutes. More significantly, they had them completely disjointed.

For much of the first half, Milan's players looked out of control. They racked up fouls and gave the ball away. Fifteen minutes, in Nigel de Jong had the ball close to the byline and simply dribbled it over for a goal kick under minimal pressure. Defenders were overplaying and running themselves into fouls and, more importantly, cards.

The fouls started quickly, with Cristian Zapata giving Genoa a prime free-kick opportunity. The well-worked routine saw Diego Capel just miss. Davide Calabria committed a foul on the wing five minutes later that further pinned Milan in their own end. Diego Lopez claimed that ball, but two minutes later, they weren't so lucky.

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Facing another direct free kick from just outside the left channel, Lopez set up a four-person wall to try and impede Blerim Dzemaili's route to goal. But the wall only did part of its job. Dzemaili's shot was heading toward the near post but deflected off a head and wrong-footed Lopez, who was stranded as the ball flew in at the opposite post.

The goal threw Milan even further off their game. It was then when the cards started coming. First it was Giacomo Bonaventura, who was shown yellow card for bowling over an opponent at midfield. Then Alessio Romagnoli went through a Genoa player's back on an aerial ball to earn one of his own.

There were a few positive moments. Twenty minutes in, Bonaventura fired just over the bar from a Mario Balotelli layoff, and a few minutes later, Luiz Adriano tried to get onto a Balotelli through ball but wasn't able to trouble Eugenio Lamanna in the Genoa goal.

But the loose play continued. Andrea Bertolacci was soon in on the foul parade, and Bonaventura and Romagnoli both began living on the edge.

For Romagnoli, living dangerously saw his day come to an abrupt end. A terrible giveaway by Zapata, who had easily his worst game since being installed in the starting lineup in Matchday 2, put the young center-back in an awful position. With Capel barreling forward in possession, Romagnoli had little choice but to bowl the Spaniard over. It was a clear tactical foul, and referee Paolo Tagliavento was justified in showing him his second yellow card.

Down a goal and a man, it looked like Milan was about to get totally overrun. But then, as it so often happens, the team with 10 started playing better than the team with 11.

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Balotelli was the catalyst. He moved with purpose, held the ball up and distributed well and took opportunities to shoot.

He even showed off some flair, sending Luiz Adriano into the box by using a rabona.

But for all their efforts, the Rossoneri simply couldn't find an equalizer. The last real chance came from Juraj Kucka, who was clear through after a layoff from Adriano but fired over the bar.  

The positives from this game were certainly there. That Milan picked themselves up and, for the most part, had the better of the second half was encouraging, especially for a team that looked so mentally weak at this point last year.

Balotelli's performance was again a plus. In the past, he often relied on service from his teammates. When that service failed to materialize, he would get frustrated, which would be a key factor in his meltdowns. But so far this season, he has taken the initiative with the ball and been more of an instigator himself. He needs to keep showing he is willing to take that responsibility. If he does, he could really shine.

But manager Sinisa Mihajlovic still has some major work to do. Defensively, Milan is playing far too loose, and the lack of discipline is hurting. Romagnoli is the second center-back to be sent off in six games, and the team has accumulated 13 total bookings this term, not including the second bookings picked up by Romagnoli and Rodrigo Ely.

Discipline was a major problem for the team last season, and if things continue on the path they are on now, Milan will be held back.

Besides that, the fact Milan made that second-half recovery is both a plus and a minus. A great team doesn't have to make that recovery in the first place. Over the last six halves, Milan has played three that have been anywhere from good to excellent and three that have been awful. If the top of the table is the goal, the team has to be more consistent.

In the end, a loss is a loss. In terms of aesthetics, this one ranks somewhere in between the opener against Fiorentina and the derby against Inter. The team showed some signs of progression, but when it comes down to it, Milan still has cracks that need to be papered over.