AC Milan could lineup with a different attacking shape this weekend, and Niclas Füllkrug could be the key to unlocking it.
Since the new year, it cannot be denied that Milan have been a little toothless in attack. Rafael Leao has found the net three times, whilst Christian Pulisic has failed to score a goal in 2026 so far. In other words, it needs addressing.
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So, Massimiliano Allegri will go back to the drawing board this weekend, and the Panzer, Füllkrug, could be given a rare start.
A new spearhead
As Corriere dello Sport (via MilanNews24) writes, the striker has often played a supporting role since his arrival. However, the Italian would consider offering him a chance to start, to prove his worth. Considering the recent struggles, Allegri is thinking of a change to his style.
Instead of ‘ground play’, Füllkrug would allow a more vertical and direct game to be played, which could be beneficial.
Additionally, it would lessen the responsibilities of Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic, both of whom appear to be struggling still. Neither of them are at 100%, so they could be preserved for the future.
A decision has not been made yet, but the West Ham loanee is pushing, and Allegri is not contesting the idea.
Yeah but is he gonna play Fullkrug AND two wingers or just NF in the 3-5-2 again?
On paper this possibility that this article is describing may look attractive, but I don’t think it will work, because I actually don’t think that Füllkrug is that good. He was good in the past in his career, but he hasn’t been good for a long time, after a series of injuries. With West Ham, in one and a half seasons he scored a grand total of one goal (that’s an Origi-like stat). Sure, he scored one for us already and had good cameos in his first three games, as a late sub. However this promising start has sort of faded already, and in the last few games he didn’t do much, and also had a disastrous game in which he missed a PK and was otherwise arguably one of the worst players on the pitch.
The truth is, with Rafa and Puli having an injury-prone season, with Nkunku being also highly irregular and having only had some good games against very bad teams, mostly showing a disappearing act anytime he faced decent defenses, and with Santi Gimenez still knocked out, we have an extremely banged-up and/or weak offense, and it’s not surprising that we have struggled to score. Compare that to Inter who just in the striker department, have 4 very good players (Lautaro, Thuram, Esposito and Bonny). No wonder they have depth and can play in multiple competitions even though they ultimately dropped out of the Champions League. Instead, we are struggling while playing in only one competition, which is in great part due to our very short and very shallow roster.
I’d say that without a functioning offense, even though we are still 8 points ahead of the fifth placed Serie A team, we even risk a series of dropped points in the last Serie A games, with a significant risk that we won’t even make the Champions League spots (top 4, as Italy is very unlikely to earn a fifth spot, after the elimination of Napoli, Inter and Juve from the Champions League; we are currently 4th in the UEFA coefficient).
This highlights the profound stupidity of our managers (apparently with Allegri’s agreement although one never knows if deep inside he did agree; it may be just because Allegri doesn’t like to speak against the management) in trimming down too much the roster. Sure, we had a bloated squad before, and trimming was needed, but they went too far and made of our roster the shortest in all of Serie A; it is then sufficient to face an injury crises and/or suspensions to be in deep trouble.
Obviously we should have retained at least one additional striker, if not two. We got rid of Jovic and Abraham, and loaned out Camarda (who then got seriously injured with his loan club). If we had a few more bodies in the attacking department, we wouldn’t have needed to run Rafa and Puli to the ground, never giving them enough time to properly heal.
This myopic sight is now likely to further derail our season. We have already lost all possibility of competing for the Scudetto, and now we may lose top 4, again.
Once more, the idiotic managers have practiced the “penny wise, pound foolish” approach. See Jovic’s salary. It was only 1 million Euro. The club had the unilateral possibility of extending it for that amount for another year. They chose not to do that. So we saved 1 million getting rid of Jovic, but may very well miss 100 million of Champions League revenue if we don’t make top 4, because the lack of abled bodies in our attacking department meant little ability to rotate, thus resulting in our attacking players never having time to heal.
You can’t really do well without a functioning offense. So far, table-wise, we did decently (although by a hair, with many of our victories coming with a minimal advantage, and some of the draws having happened out of last-minute heroics that could have failed, and were in part the result of non-attacking players stepping up, like Modric’s late goal), but now it’s the decisive stretch of the Serie A season, and we are entering this stretch in very bad shape, offensively. I smell disaster waiting to happen.
+21 goal difference is fairly promising, I think your concerns are a bit overstated. Remember you were very positive about the team just a week ago. I think the problems Milan have are far worse at other clubs. Inter are clearly a team that is physiologically fragile, and it’s lucky for them officiating has broken in their favor for the entirety of the season. Saying a disaster is on the horizon is probably hyperbolic. I think there’s a far higher chance of Milan finishing in second than missing UCL qualification
Goal difference is no longer a Série A criterion. If two clubs finish tied for a trophy or for European spots, now it’s an additional game between them.
Yes, I turned pessimistic after we let Inter escape ahead 10 points, drew with Como and lost to Parma. Also, the fact that it’s been said that after playing 90 minutes, Rafa’s inflammation is back. Also, Puli seemingly having lost (hopefully, temporarily) his notorious finishing accuracy, has me spooked.
It’s sufficient to lose 3 games (one of which being the Derby) for our 8-point advantage over the fifth placed club to evaporate.
Of course I hope I’m wrong and I’m just panicking, but yes, I no longer feel good about the last 12 games of the season.
Como was only a draw because Mike gifted them a goal. The balance of play was in Milan’s favor. Parma was bad but not as bad as losing twice to bodo glimt. I’m just contrasting here. Milan didn’t play well but one bad game is no reason to go over the top and freak out. Inter arguably showed more flaws over the last week. If you think the past game says Milan look like they’ll drop out of UCL spots then why not conclude inter will drop 10 points over their remaining games based on how bad they played. Body glimt would be easy handled by Atalanta and was beaten by Juve. Inter didn’t just have a one off bad game they were out played and coached over those games. Of course all the press is focusing on Milan’s first loss in 25 games, the medias is committed to ensuring inter have a pristine atmosphere to regain their form.
Don’t fall for all the hate, every team in the top has shown they have it in them to drop points Milan are not alone in this.
OK, good points. However I’d just remember that Bodo/Glimt is way better than what people give them credit for. Remember, they beat Atlético Madrid and Manchester City, and drew away with Borussia Dortmund, a team that is notorious for playing very well at home. See, Norway seems to have Italy’s number, currently. Their national team destroyed ours. Bodo/Glimt won their top league in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024, and placed second in 2022 and 2025. When they got to Inter, they were undefeated for 7 games, including one draw and six wins (the draw being the one against Dortmund, and the wins including heavy weights Atlético Madrid and Manchester City). They have some good and energetic young players. So I don’t see Inter losing twice to them as proof that Inter will suddenly drop 10 points in Serie A, where they’ve been extremely consistent (after a briefly shaky start while adapting to a new coach).
I was not clear why ACM got rid of Tammy. He’s sort of an awkward striker but does score goals, is tall, and fast. Did they have to get rid of him to get Saelmaeker. I don’t know, but if you were not going to get a high quality striker it made no sense to let him go.
Even keeping jovic would make much more sense.
I think the deal wasn’t there because Roma wanted salad bad and Tammy was the leverage. From Roma’s perspective giving up Salad and sell Tammy on a friendly deal would be too generous a gift to give a direct competitor to UCL spots
You call the shit we’ve been playing all season “ground play”? We’ve been either aimlessly lumping it up the park or slowly working it to Saelemaekers or Bartesaghi to cross for the past 7 months.
LOL
We can just say goodbye to scudetto so why not try 433 against cremonese?
Leao Puli Fullkrug upfront.
Let rabiot sit out the game so he won’t be suspended against inter.
We still need to secure top 4, so not sure this will happen right now, but it may happen as we get closer to the end of the season, like in mid-April.
Change formation, simple