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Milan's recent slump, however, is exclusively due to fatigue or a lack of fitness. As Pioli himself acknowledged, there is a psychological component as well.
After the Supercoppa defeat, he acknowledged, "We are currently struggling to react to an error, struggling to remain united as a team, and, collectively, the lack of positive results is starting to weigh on us."
The entire season, Fikayo Tomori has not felt quite right. The former Chelsea player was one of the top centre backs in Serie A last season and helped Milan win the Scudetto with his performance, but he has been awful this year.
Meanwhile, Sandro Tonali, the star midfielder who has been so important for so many months, has not appeared like himself since the turn of the year, seemingly suffering from the general malaise afflicting Milan. Simon Kjaer and David Calabria have also been hindered by injuries.
The team's midfield has been severely lacking as a result of Franck Kessie's free transfer to Barcelona and the inability to find a suitable replacement.
Last summer, Milan only invested €46 million to bolster the team, some of which was used to make loan agreements permanent.
The issue, however, is that Charles De Ketelaere accounted for €32 million of the total expenditure, and the Belgian has been a disaster to date, scoring zero goals in 22 appearances and generally appearing completely out of his element at the highest level.
Additionally, while his countryman Divock Origi came for free, the former Liverpool player's wages were heavily invested, and he has yet to demonstrate the merits of his pay package. Even with injuries, Origi has only managed to score once in 16 appearances.
What do you think is the main reason behind Milan’s downfall this season?