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COMMENT: Milan need the Old Lopez back
Last season, very few things went right for Pippo Inzaghi’s Milan. The defence couldn’t stop anyone. The midfield was riddled with injuries, and even the Jeremy Menez-led attack sputtered without him. As the curtain fell on the Rossoneri’ 2014-2015 season, Milan fans knew that if they rest their hopes in anyone except Menez, it would be Diego Lopez.
This season, even the former Real Madrid man has been swallowed up by the darkness, as his mistake on Daniele Baselli’s goal arguably cost the Rossoneri two points on Saturday evening, in a game in which the defence did a good job of keeping Torino’s chances to a minimum.
Remember when Lopez was the toast of Europe, let alone the town? The man sorely missed by Real Madrid fans once he left, leaving them with a declining Iker Casillas?
In his first season with the Rossoneri, the “Galician Octopus” picked up where he left off at Bernabeu, pulling off save after save to lend Inzaghi’s side a veneer of respectability. A guardian angel between the sticks, Lopez’s saves sometimes bordered on the miraculous.
Now, even he cannot escape the mediocrity that has infected the dressing room, finally cracking behind a defence that has been pathologically incapable of offering him even the slightest protection. Fourteen goals conceded in eight games is a horrific total for a team that spent €30 million for Alessio Romagnoli and brought in a tough disciplinarian in Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Despite the lack of protection, however, Lopez has been directly responsible for a few too many goals this season: before last night’s blunder, he’d been poor against Napoli, hesitated on Empoli’s equaliser (1-1) at the San Siro, not to mention grasping for thin air against Palermo on the first of Oskar Hiljemark’s two goals against the Rossoneri.
What has Sinisa Mihajlovic’s reaction been? He’s decided to play mind games, by getting substitute Antonio Donnarumma to warm up twenty minutes into the Genoa game, which Milan also lost, 1-0.
Having been one of Milan’s only reliable players in the past 13 months, it would be nice to see the Lopez we all know back as soon as possible. Lord knows Mihajlovic needs him to.
Original Piece by Andrea Distasio
Translated by Edo Dalmonte
