AC Milan's Napoli Defeat Provides Sinisa Mihajlovic with Watershed Moment

It was the worst way to end a bad game. As Napoli once again invaded Milan’s penalty area with a cross from the left, young Rodrigo Ely stuck out a forlorn leg and watched helplessly as the ball rolled in off it. Four-nil to Napoli. Milan heads were down, seats were emptied and questions were being asked.

It’s not the start Sinisa Mihajlovic wanted to his Milan career. He probably dreamt of immediately galvanising the club, heading their charge back to the top of Serie A.

Instead, the Milan boss has watched his side lose four of their opening seven league fixtures, with none more brutally conclusive than this one.

A doggedly ambitious and proud man, Mihajlovic was smarting in the aftermath to the thrashing.

“I know it’s bad to say this, but it is the truth: We lost to a Napoli side that is better than us”, he told Mediaset Premium via Football Italia, before concluding, “There’s little more to say than that.”

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Such a blunt assessment was atypical for someone like Mihajlovic. Gone were the comforting words of consolation. There was also little sign of the ferocity that earned the Serbian notoriety as a player and respect as a managerial taskmaster.

Psychology was replaced by honesty as the wounded coach searched for clarity following what may prove to be a watershed moment in his time in charge at San Siro.

It is at these moments that introspection becomes crucial. Mihajlovic can blame individual player mistakes if he wants, but a more effective post-mortem will involve rational analysis and no little soul-searching.

One thing must be stated clearly: Napoli are a very good side. Maurizio Sarri has been able to transpose the ideas he developed with Empoli on to a much more talented squad and the results have been effective and enthralling.

The Partenopei look like title contenders and have already humiliated Lazio and defeated the reigning champions, Juventus.

However, while the above may provide a small crumb of comfort, the reality remains that a 4-0 home defeat to Napoli is unacceptable and unprecedented as far as Milan are concerned.

The club invested a significant amount of money in improving the playing personnel during the summer but results have not been up to scratch, with this latest one being the worst yet.

One of the more worrying aspects of Milan’s play is they continue to suffer from issues that were prevalent well before Mihajlovic came in, primarily defensive vulnerability.

Half of the four goals Milan conceded to Napoli appeared avoidable. Ely’s aforementioned own goal was unfortunate, while Napoli’s opener came about because of a sloppy Cristian Zapata giveaway pass which fell straight to Marek Hamsik’s feet.

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The easy route would be to blame Zapata and Ely for making those mistakes, though, truthfully, their errors were merely the overt final touches to more-subtle structural problems.

Mihajlovic’s 4-3-1-2 system has yet to prove itself a workable scheme. This was made abundantly clear by the way Napoli were able to press and counter-attack Milan. Every time Sarri’s men won the ball, danger seemed imminent.

Milan were too open and Mihajlovic must now re-assess his tactics. He actually did this during the match itself, bringing on Alessio Cerci and switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation, though by that point the damage had already been done.

The Milan coach would do well to take a leaf out of Sarri’s book in this respect. After witnessing his team conceding too many goals and dropping too many winnable points, the Napoli coach switched from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3 system early in the campaign and has seen the change reap wonders.

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His flexibility is something Mihajlovic should try to learn from, as sticking rigidly to the same tactic has yet to work for him.

It’s important to note that, against Napoli, the Milan coach was without several of his key players including his best centre-back, Alessio Romagnoli and in-form striking option, Mario Balotelli.

Others such as Ignazio Abate, M’Baye Niang and Jeremy Menez will also be positive additions when they return from injury.

Mihajlovic should spend the international break mulling over possible tactical alterations and how his players—when all are fit and available—can best work together.

The Napoli defeat was chastening, but it could prove cathartic if it encourages the Milan coach to untether himself from a system that has yet to work.