Areas Where AC Milan Are Worse Than Last Season

This season has been one of gradual progress for AC Milan. After the club undertook changes to the playing and coaching staff last summer, the results are finally starting to show, most recently with the 3-0 derby win over Inter last Sunday.

The Rossoneri sit sixth in Serie A and are just six points away from a Champions League place, which was the overarching ambition for the club at the beginning of the campaign. Sinisa Mihajlovic has also led his charges to the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

Everything seems on track at this stage; though, to say the club has improved in every sense since last season would be misleading. Here, Bleacher Report analyses the areas in which Milan have gotten worse in 2015-16.

Lack of Creativity

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At the beginning of this season, Milan’s defence appeared to be a major issue. That has since been dealt with not only through the signature of Alessio Romagnoli, but with the promotion of Gianluigi Donnarumma to first-choice goalkeeper and Coach Mihajlovic’s defensive organisation of the team.

However, as this term has progressed, a new issue has arisen in the form of a lack of creativity. Aside from Giacomo Bonaventura, who has been the Rossoneri’s best player according to WhoScored.com, the side has struggled to prise open defences on a frequent basis.

This issue has been most prominent against weaker, more reactive teams—such as Carpi, Verona and Bologna—who have sought to shut up shop.

If Milan are to overcome this weakness and begin supplying star striker Carlos Bacca with better service, the likes of Andrea Bertolacci, Keisuke Honda and M’Baye Niang will have to up their creative games.

Overreliance on Carlos Bacca for Goals

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Last season, Jeremy Menez was Milan’s top scorer. The versatile French forward earned that status thanks to his 16 goals in Serie A action. Thus far this season, Carlos Bacca has taken on that mantle, hitting the net 11 times.

To some, the fact that Bacca is only five goals away from equalling last season’s top-scorer record having only recently passed the halfway point of the campaign would be viewed as evidence of Milan’s increased potency. In fact, the opposite is the case.

In all, the Rossoneri scored 56 league goals in 2014-15, meaning Menez scored 28.6 per cent of the team’s overall tally. In 2015-16, Bacca has scored 34.4 per cent of the team’s 32 league goals up to this point.

Essentially, Milan are now overly reliant on one player—Bacca—for goals, something that must be rectified by improved displays from Niang, Mario Balotelli and Luiz Adriano.

Big-Game Performance

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One area in which, up until very recently, Milan had appeared decidedly worse this season was in their performance in big games.

By this point last season, the Rossoneri had faced off five times against Italy’s top sides—Juventus, Inter, Roma and Napoli—earning one win against Napoli as well as two draws with Inter and Roma. This season so far, Milan have lost three of their five clashes with these teams, with their only win coming last Sunday against Inter.

The 3-0 derby victory was a huge bonus for Mihajlovic and his players, but going forward, they should aim to take more points off their illustrious rivals.

Transfer Activity

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Away from the pitch, Milan’s transfer activity has differed greatly this season compared to last.

Per Transfermarkt.co.uk’s data, the club’s most expensive signing in 2014-15 was Giacomo Bonaventura, who arrived for £4.9 million. By contrast their biggest outlay on a single player in 2015-16 was on Bacca, who joined for a fee of £21 million.

Milan have invested much more this season; indeed in the last campaign the club made £5.53 million in the transfer market, while this term the Rossoneri’s net spend has been over £50 million.

Despite the hefty increase in transfer fees paid, Milan’s transfer dealings have not been any more effective. Despite making money in the market last season, the club brought in Adil Rami, Jeremy Menez, Diego Lopez, Alex and Luca Antonelli along with Bonaventura.

None of those arrivals cost anywhere near what the likes of Bacca, Romagnoli, Andrea Bertolacci or Luiz Adriano’s signatures did last summer, but they were effective and have proved to be smart, relatively inexpensive additions.

While the club’s chances of Champions League football remain uncertain, CEO Adriano Galliani would be wise to curb spending such exorbitant amounts on multiple individuals and focus on quality over quantity.