Pietro Mazzara has labelled Pervis Estupinan and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as players Milan should have moved on from in the summer, arguing that neither has justified their place in Ruben Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system after another poor showing in the derby della Capitale draw against Lazio.
Both have been given chances to prove themselves under the new manager, but the Roma fixture laid bare the same recurring problems. Mazzara used his weekly column for MilanNews to dissect a first half he called "unacceptable" and to single out the two players he believes Amorim should stop persisting with.
"Roma's draw against Lazio told us a lot about the state of this AC Milan side," Mazzara wrote. "A terrifying first half, a second half that's exactly what we'd like to see, and many factors that need to be reshuffled to find a solution that will give Milan consistency throughout the match."
On Estupinan specifically, the journalist was blunt. "Floriani Mussolini and Cancellieri made him look the other way, he was put through the ring with extreme ease by top-class players, for goodness' sake, but we're not talking about top-class players, and then, defensively, he's a constant lapse in his ability to read the game," Mazzara wrote. He pointed to the opening goal as "a clear snapshot of how a player who should have been sold in the summer was wrongly retained and inserted into a system he can't cope with."
Mazzara added that Amorim himself bears some responsibility for Estupinan still being at the club, having wanted the full-back on the pre-season tour to evaluate him while Aston Villa had already reached an agreement with both player and club to sign him. The problems are not new either: "He demonstrated this last year under Allegri and is confirming it now under Amorim."
Loftus-Cheek fared no better in Mazzara's assessment. The Englishman was handed a start after Amorim publicly questioned his ability to ignite a match, and the columnist said he "miserably squandered" the opportunity. "The repertoire of errors is always the same: tackles lost too easily, poor ball protection for someone with his physique, poor passes, and a lack of consistent connection with Gonçalo Ramos," Mazzara wrote, noting Loftus-Cheek did not even last until the final minutes in Rome.
The contrast when Milan changed personnel told its own story. With Loftus-Cheek withdrawn and Christian Pulisic inserted alongside Cisse, the attacking midfield pushed roughly ten metres higher and the entire complexion of the second half shifted. In Mazzara's view, the 3-4-2-1 demands things from its attacking midfielders that Loftus-Cheek simply cannot provide, "especially if his competitive spirit is this high."
Two players, one verdict: Amorim now has the evidence from his own experiment, and the next step is whether he acts on it.