Mike Maignan used to be a proper leader for AC Milan, oozing confidence week in and week out. However, as highlighted by Gazzetta dello Sport this morning, it hasn’t exactly been the case this season.
The pink newspaper, following another howler by the goalkeeper, spoke about the situation in today’s edition (see photo below). ‘Mike Maignan is no longer Mike Maignan’, the opening sentence reads, stating that this is becoming more and more evident.
Now the goalkeeper makes mistakes and fails to inspire confidence. Since putting on the captain’s armband, paradoxically, he has stopped being a leader for the team. What happened in Turin is a great example, botting the ball straight at Malick Thiaw rather than clearing it for a throw-in, or even waiting for the ball to come into the box.
These things happen, of course, but the mistakes are adding up for Maignan: on Zortea’s shot in Milan-Cagliari, in Turin on Weah, in Como on Diao, at home against Napoli, on Paixao’s shot in Rotterdam. He has lost his great quality: confidence.
Milan and Maignan are talking about a renewal and there is a basic agreement, as the newspaper continues, at around €5m per season. At this point the question is legitimate: is this what he and Milan need?
