Franck Kessie was let go last summer, Sandro Tonali has been sold and Ismael Bennacer will be sidelined until the end of the year. Therefore, AC Milan are now without the midfield that brought them the Scudetto.
The Milan of the Scudetto, as highlighted by our colleagues at SempreMilan.it, is gone. It seems like a lot of time has passed, but within a year the Rossoneri dismantled the team without major investments. Not only has the team not made the leap in quality, but Franck Kessie is even yet to be replaced.
We can all remember how Kessie was used as an attacking midfielder in the decisive game, perhaps because Diaz had proved to be unreliable. Regardless, he was not replaced and his absence was felt, even if Rade Krunic improved as the season went on.
Having learnt that lesson (or maybe not), it was surprising that Milan decided to sell Sandro Tonali, who was one of the few consistencies in the season that just ended. The question is if a worthy replacement can be found, despite the fact his sale yielded €70m.
Ismael Bennacer’s situation must also be evaluated, as he will be out for the next six months. It will take some time for him to get in shape and there’s also the African Cup of Nations next season.
The Rossoneri midfield will depend on the Algerian, perhaps combined with inexperienced players in the shape of new signings. On paper, to improve on last season’s fourth place, at least three top-level midfielders would be needed. Maybe this is a utopia, though.
No need for three top midfielder if they bring much better striker than Origi and Rebic combined and with quality right winger who will score much more.
Krunic is reliable central midfielder and Pobega showed in Serie a that he can be good rotation. So one very good defensive midfielder we need who will cover blind spots like Kessie did.
Milan will have bad midfield position untill bennacer return but with Tonali money, we finally can have great attack with new striker and right winger, and score more than opposition…
Good attack with no one to transition the ball forward? How does this work?
1) Rely on Theo’s coast to coast dribbles and
2) long balls from defenders to Leao and hope for the best.
I’m sure that’s a scudetto winning tactic.
I forgot, we are playing Moneyball….swing for the homerun, without enough hitting power in your line up and hope the ball lands somewhere else than in someone’s hand….let’s revolutionize the game and Americanize it…don’t forget the extra large hotdogs before games with 4 litres of soda instead of pasta…
Don’t worry we’re going to get the Moncada midfield 😁
Our midfield next season:
Cardinale-Moncada-Furlani
😂😂😂😂
Better than
Stadium – Stadium – Stadium
They are our forwards. 😊
If we are going to talk about a scudetto winning midfield than Rade Krunic should be in there as well, especially if Bennacer is there.
Rade Krunic has been just as important as Bennacer, after Kessie and Tonali.
Bennacer in serie A 21/22,
31 games, 1518 minutes.
Krunic in serie A 21/22,
28 games, 1413 minutes.
Kessie in serie A 21/22,
31 games, 2309 minutes.
Tonali in serie A 21/22,
36 games, 2608 minutes
You are right that he’s criminally underrated by Milan things and was a solid pillar the last two years, though he’s always been the versatile ‘fill in’ player and not the specialist in any particular role
Krunic is a beast bro. Don’t get tied up with commenters here. He’s an incredibly underrated and intelligent player
Yes he is underated & versatile . We have better result when krunic – bennacer or krunic – tonali pairing rather than pairing tonali – bennacer. Krunic are the balance maker in 4231 with ball recovery,helping defense , doing tackling
Yeah krunic is same as intelligent as de bruyne, but not having de bruyne skill
lost hakan, didnt replace. lost kessie, didnt replace. lost tonali, tbd.
I will gladly determine it, won’t replace him…add Leao, Tomori and Hernandez too, none of these guys are going to play for a loosing team with top clubs looking at them and sure as hell won’t want to play 50 games again because no one else can be counted on to win a game. We lost to relegation battling clubs and the team is getting worse. even with great players, it will take a year or 2 to build the chemistry back from the last 3 years, if those players mentioned don’t jump ship
Realistically, we don’t have Bennacer at full fitness for most of the season; even if he recovers before January, he’ll end up either going to Africa or playing without a pre season and likely only able to contribute for 2-3 months at best.
Going to be patching something together last minute here that the entire team isn’t integrated with.
Cardinals isn’t ready for Milan progressive. Become to sell Tolani isn’t progress to Milan . Diaze gone back to his tream Banasa injured.
The problems of Milan wasnt overcome & to sells of our keys players,of possible shall let Tolani to say.
If not we will hanging out support to Milan more,bcs it’s over ten years we didn’t make it EUPA,Seria A & other cups.
The revolutionaries Komrad Cardinale. Hasta La Vista, Cardinale.. hehe
Calabria could replace Tonali as CDM. Use the money from Tonali’s sale and build new stadium. Period!!! We don’t need any new signing.
Ironically… Kessie and Tonali saw themself as new captains and staying at Milan forever… and let’s remember that Tonali, Kessie, and Benacer needed some time to get to the top, they didn’t were at their best in their first season.