Tijjani Reijnders seemed to be an untouchable part of the starting line-up, but the last two Serie A games have caused some surprise in that sense.
As Calciomercato.com report, Reijnders was one of the quickest to adapt to Stefano Pioli’s schemes out of the 10 summer signings that arrived and he didn’t take long to nail down a starting spot.
However, the Dutch international alternated high-level performances with others that were not quite as good, and he has gone 10 games without finding the back of the net while his last assist dates back to the home victory against Roma on 14 January.
In the last two league outings against Monza and Atalanta, Pioli preferred to field Yacine Adli from the first minute and not Reijnders. Above all, the latest exclusion caused some surprise because the former AZ Alkmaar man seemed a better fit to face La Dea.
Instead, Reijnders was not included in the starting XI and it was not because he was due rest or was carrying a knock, it was purely down to a tactical choice, a sign of how the coaching staff clearly noticed a drop in performance.
On Friday evening against Lazio, Reijnders should have a new opportunity from the first minute, at least these are the current indications based on the first training session of the week.
The final choice regarding who will start between he and Adli will only come in tomorrow’s final session before the trip to Rome, but Reijnders is certainly ahead. However, Milan expect a leap in quality in terms of consistency, output and leadership.
Reinjders need to work on his shooting which is really horrible for a professional player at this level. If he gets that right then he should be used more as an attacking midfielder.
Rejinders ist dieses Jahr wahrscheinlich nach RLC der beste Mittelfeldspieler!
why not play them all reijnders adli and bennacer. loftus can sit for that game since pioli wants him in a playing under the striker let the dutch guy have that spot.
Reijnders is a terrific player but his product in final 1/3 is poor. He should have at least 5 goals by now with the chances he has had. Its not technique, its in his head. I still think he is an automatic starter.
Reijnders is the best midfielder we have
I think our best midfield going forward (with them fit and in form) is Adli, Bennacer, Reijnders either in a 433 with Adli at the base or with 1 of Bennacer/Reijnders further forward.
RLC is way to hot and cold. He gets goals but doesn’t contribute enough to midfield.
Musah is still developing but I like him, he has energy, pace and good ball carrying
Reijnders looks better coming off breaks. He’s been run into ground since he came over. I’m glad he gets a chance to rest. Not to mention we could use the rotation between him, Adli and Musah. Especially since RLC looks immovable so far.
But yes, the critics agree, he needs to find a shooting coach this summer and work on those shots.
So surprisingly running a midfielder into the ground, making start week in week out and even during european games did cause a drop in his performance ? Who would have thaught that
With that said, I think it’s gonna become harder for him to gain back his starting position.
Reijnders looked terrific as a mezzala when we used a 4-3-3 earlier this season, but now since we shifted back to a 4-2-3-1 with him as a pivot, he’s less impactful during the games.
Adli has pretty much become our best 6, and it doesn’t seem that Loftus-Cheek is gonna budge from that attacking midfield anytime soon, so the remaining spot is pretty much between him and a better defensive, better moving player named Bennacer. Yes Bennacer is far from his best (I think the injury crisis finally did him dirty) but he has more to offer than a player who, despite having a good engine, never showed much in terms of shooting and defending.
I think we are better keeping RLC as an impact sub. He scores goals but doesn’t contribute enough in build up, which is his main job.
Anyway we have plenty of games to give everyone time.
This midfield was put together based on a plan to play 433, so now we have a decent option in Adli at the base, give it a go.
We still need to buy a DM in summer
“I think we are better keeping RLC as an impact sub. He scores goals but doesn’t contribute enough in build up, which is his main job.”
I agree with you. When I said “it doesn’t seem that Loftus-Cheek is gonna budge from that attacking midfield anytime soon” I meant as it doesn’t seem Pioli will change his position anytime soon. As long as he keep scoring, we will always have this illusion that he is doing a great job as an AM, which I don’t see.
“This midfield was put together based on a plan to play 433, so now we have a decent option in Adli at the base, give it a go.”
That’s the trickier part. There are many ways to play a 4-3-3, but Pioli opted for the Guardiola like system where both fullbacks play as inverted fullbacks where both Theo and Calabria try to tuck inside kind of like midfielder and the wingers will be pretty much the sole players responsible for creating width.
This went catastrophically bad against reasonable teams, since it limited Theo’s offensive contribution. You can see the difference between the beginning of the season and our return to a 4-2-3-1, where Theo had more assists even as a CB ! It also isolated the wingers and while Pulisic seemed to be doing fine, Leao was completely out of the game. Also our approach put the DM in a position where he had to pitch pretty much every single hole, which I don’t think Adli can do.
If we want to go back to a 4-3-3, a different way should be used (like Liverpool or Real Madrid circa 2014-2018).
I agree we still need to acquire a DM