AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri will be forced to make changes against Juventus, and there could me more than two.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) the condition of Fikayo Tomori must be assessed after he was brought off against Napoli due to an adductor strain with around 10 minutes of the game to go.
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The evolution of the problem will be assessed day by day, training session after training session. If he fully recovers, Allegri will confirm the defensive trio with Gabbia in the middle and Pavlovic on the left. Otherwise, there will be a chance for Koni De Winter, who has played 77 minutes in Serie A so far.
Davide Bartesaghi is the natural replacement for Pervis Estupinan, who was sent off against Napoli and will be suspended against Juventus. It would be his third start for Milan, his second in the league after last season versus Monza.
Starting an away match against Juve might seem like a big leap forward for a player with such little experience, but Allegri seems to have faith in him. Not only that, but he impressed a lot in the Coppa Italia against Lecce.
The final sticking point is in attack, more specifically who out of Rafael Leao, Christopher Nkunku and Santiago Gimenez starts alongside Christian Pulisic. Rafa would be the favourite if he shows signs of improvement during his weekly workouts.
He returned to the pitch against Napoli after more than a month out due to a right calf injury. Leao’s repertoire is based on sprints and counter-attacks, so he needs to be in top form. Nkunku is better physically too, while Gimenez is still searching for a first Serie A goal.
Besides replacing the suspended and injured players, the rest of the starting 11 should stay the same.
Gimenez should start next to Pulisic. He wasnt involved much offensively vs Napoli, but he runs, presses and defends like crazy and he is helping the team tremendously. Plus, Pulisic seems to thrive playing next to him.
100%. Rafa will probably come off the bench and give his best. But after Rafa fully recovers Santi will be benched unless Max has different ideas on formation.
I agreed with you,rafa will probably come off the bench.He played nothing against Napoli.
I agree with you, Giminez helps the team a lot even though he has not been scoring. Leao is always the same, he doesn’t defend, always strolling when the rest were defending as seen again Napoli
Nkunku should start instead of Gimenez. It should be Pulisic and Nkunku. Then Leao off the bench until he is 100% fit.
Gimenez had a lot of chances to prove his worth and he failed. Besides Nkunku will offer more playing a false 9 than Gimenez running aimlessly around the pitch. Since Nkunku does more in the build up play when he drops deep in midfield.
Good point. The counter to that might be that away at Juve, perhaps we need more “sacrifice” in terms of more pressing, running, physicality and Santi might not be in his top scoring form but he works his butt off and it annoys and disrupts opposites defenses and build up play. We will be even more counter attacking than usual next game. I’m agreeing with you tho, I think next game Nkunku might provide more in the counter attack play than Santi. But i can see the argument of keeping santi there too.
Gimenez’ contributions has been great outside of lack of goals. His movements create space for others, especially if you watch Millan’s first goal against Napoli. Drew defenders towards his position and allowed AS56 to coast in at the back post.
So while he’s not scoring, he’s contributing still. We’re just hoping for the goals to kick in.
If you have nothing to write, just keep your fingers in your pocket. What do you mean by Gimenze is running aimlessly around the pitch? Yes, he lacks goals but you lack ability to observe other strengths.
Gimenez is not running aimlessly around the pitch.
He actually makes very good runs, which is why he keeps getting good chances, he just isn’t finishing. And his pressing and defensive effort is surely better than Leao’s.
I don’t want to keep being negative but had Bartesaghi played like Estupinan in most of his games his career would effectively be over.
Meanwhile Bartesaghi will need to put in twice the performance to win his place.
You can see the double standards from space.
I just hope Allegri can support Bartesaghi the way he supported De Sciglio.
It was a pleasure seeing proper Italian defending compared to whatever it is Estupinan is trying to do.
Yes you do, it’s all you know how to do
Estupinan is trying to get adapted to a new coach in a new team in a new league… Insane idea.
He keeps getting tackled in his own half….
Just stop with the nonsense. Estupian had a rough game but overall he has been solid defensively and has shown to be a very good passer on the offensive side of the ball. By the way Saleamakers had just as tough a time last match if not worse, turning the ball over multiple times in his own end and not marking his man on crosses but I don’t see anyone going after him.
Bartesaghi is young and will maybe end up being a good player but he hasn’t shown anything special when given a chance. But then you think every Italian player is world class. You thought Calabria was so amazing and should be starting for us, meanwhile not a single Serie A team would take him and he is now playing in the 36th ranked league in the world.
If it were up to you we’d be starting Calabria, Bartesaghi, Carmarda, Liberalli, Pobega, Terraciano, Zeroli, Columbo and we’d probably be in Seria B right now.
Estupian has definitely not been solid defensively.
He’s been caught on and off the ball multiple times in games. Any one of those incidents would’ve ended the career of a youth player.
Ah and then there’s the ‘something special’ required for Bartesaghi. Why does it need to be ‘special’? Why can’t it just been doing a solid job like he did against Napoli?
Being young has nothing to do with it especially when it’s not held against younger players from other leagues with no Italian experience or language.
It’s only ever youth players. Les’s than 1% going from being the best players of their generation to making it as squad players in Serie A teams.
But people like you never question it.
Clearly you’re not Italian.
So why are supporting an Italian team?
Serie A is a terrible league and Milan have mostly been terrible so why are you coming here to insult and dismiss Italian players?
Bartesaghi played great in his limited time vs. Napoli. After he entered, the runs that Estupion couldn’t prevent, stopped. I have no issues with him starting Sunday.
Everything that people have said about Santi’s hustle is true. He gives 100% effort. But the primary job of a striker is to score goals. He’s not doing that and the team needs someone who can score. Time to try someone else, especially if Rafa is back to form.
Note ,Rafael can not defend and help the team as much as Santiago,rafa will only stroll round the field and expect balls to.come to him just like he did few minutes he was in against napoli….as long as the tram keeps winning i dont care who scores
Rafa did a lot of running and defending on Sunday. He even committed a foul defending too vigorously
You’re exactly right. He did what Allegri wanted him to do . Drop back to help, but remain a driving presence that Napoli’s defenders had to respect.
Leao is the only front line player for Milan who is big and fast enough to consistently create his own opportunities. He puts tremendous pressure on other teams when he’s on the pitch.
No, Rafa did not do a lot of running. He made 2 runs offensively then walked around the pitch when playing defense. ANd he didn’t commit a foul for defending vigorously, but for defending lazily, and it was a dumb foul that could have cost the team.
This. Rafa was poor both as a defender and as an attacking outlet. He only helped the team twice during his 27 minutes on the pitch.
We know what Rafa can do when he’s at his best and he gets the ball in space and can run at defenders. He’s amazing at that one skill. We don’t really know what other talents he has to contribute at this level. We should all hope he starts to show better in the next few matches than he did vs Napoli.
i don’t mind if Santi scoring or scoreless as long Milan win,
he lack goals but he run, press, help defence, creating space & most important we win
Baptism by fire. Starting Bartesaghi and De Winter and keep Tomori on the bench to prevent further injury. Bartesaghi will be supported by Rabiot on his side and Fofana will need to provide extra support to De Winter. I would not use Tomori unless an injury to De Winter. Rafa to be substituted in the second half until he is fully fit to start. Nkunko to come on in the second half for Pulisic. Pulisic to be wrapped in bubble wrap between matches to keep him safe from injury.
With Juventus, we need to be able to score, and sustain it, without relying on Pulisic to do the magic. They’re going to be watching out constantly for him. With Rafa in attack, the gameplay changes. We will get more goals this way, as we did against Liverpool. We can’t afford Juve the space to attack us, as we did Napoli, even before the red card. Juve have players who can score, even though their midfield may not be as good as Napoli’s. We have to take the game to them, to neutralize the home advantage. Rafa’s movement, and, better ability to score, is going to be a problem for Juve, thus, giving more freedom to Pulisic, Saelemaekers, Rabiot and Fofana. We just have to overwhelm them. Second half, Nkunku comes in to put more attacking pressure on them.
No need to change something that is working just fine. Max’s style is to suck up pressure and hit back with a devastating counter attack. It was done even with smaller teams, while change that with Juve by taking the ball to them?
Well, why am I bothered? No coaching staff reads some of these absurd comments.
Does anybody Agree that Rafa, when he entered the game against Napoli did Not press and also was much less engaged than all other Players? I think it will be a problem that Max might let him play but our Defensive strenght will decrease as well as Team Spirit. I Expect than at one Point Rafa will become a substitute if everybody stays healthy in attack and we Stick to 3-5-2. Because the workrate and mindset of the team was decisive for us the last Games….
He was out of action for 45 days, so I wasn’t expecting him to be fully match fit and running tirelessly. He will be an important weapon in Milan’s attack so I’m not worried at all.
Estupinian should sit and think how he was humiliated by Politano on Sunday. Offensively the guy is ok, but defensively – ridiculous..
Good opportunity for Bartesaghi. Milan has plenty of games to go and with injuries suspensions and players needing a rest Everyone will get ample time on the pitch. Ricci was just ok against Lecce, hope he gets some minutes here. Milan will need him down the stretch.