Massimiliano Allegri wants AC Milan to dream big, but he requires at least a couple more pieces to complete his squad.
As Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) write this morning, things at Milanello are going much smoother this season compared to the chaos of 2024-25. At least for now, the Rossoneri can enjoy a first quarter of the season they perhaps never would have dreamed of.
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Allegri’s impact is evident, and being in second place – two points off the top spot – is beginning to make fans dream. The issue though is that dropped points in recent weeks came in part because of the injuries which depleted an already small squad.
Max makes his demands
There have been some difficult moments this season despite the positive league position, such as the defeat to Cremonese, plus the draws against Pisa and Parma.
Allegri wants the team to be strengthened so that he has more options in key roles, to keep energy high but also attentiveness thorough competition for places.
Today’s Corriere della Sera has the headline: ‘With Max (and Mike), Milan are made of steel. And now they can grow’. The subtitle read: ‘Allegri wants a centre-forward and a winger’.
The Livorno-born coach has asked the management for a new signing on the right who can give Alexis Saelemaekers some rest, and a penalty-area striker who could also push Santiago Gimenez away from Milan.
Let’s say they sell Gimenez but then have to reinvest that money on a better striker. Previous two moves were for Gimenez and Nkunku and both have underperformed. I don’t know that I have a lot of faith in Furlani & Tare coming up with the right fix.
Don’t sign a striker in January it’s literally never worked. Live with Gimenez and see what’s available next summer, focus on a backup RWB and either renew or find a replacement for Mike
Balotelli? Piątek? both of them came in january, and scored at least 10 goals each…
Jean-Philippe Mateta may be available in January. He has 18 months left on his contract so certainly will move in the summer and he wants Serie A ball. Pay a little more for him in January and you have a proven striker from a top league. I know I have been promoting this player, but I watch a lot of CP games as Chris Richards plays for them. Not that it means anything, but he has impressed me. My crediablilty is increased as I thought Nkunko was a bad buy. Gimenez I thought was a panic buy. Buying a player from a lower league and throwing him into the first team is a risk. Pulisic came from a top league and was expected to be a backup to Chuck and Leao. Heck, Tammy is better then he is.
Kristensen and Mateta would be 2 great january additions looking at what would be available for a resonable price. Sell Gimenez to fund Mateta as he would be expensive by serie A standards.
Right wing back is harder to find. Not many available that would be a big improvement. Cant Allegri try Pulisic as rwb whenever Saelesmaekers need to rest and then use Athekame again when hes healthy? Pulisic wouldnt be much worse defensively then Saelesmaekers and he can runt a lot as well.
Why would you put your best goal scorer in the RWB position just so the first choice RWB can get some rest? Like what?
Pulisic will be playing as well, he will not be sitting on the bench. So you plug the new CF into Pulisic’s position and Pulisic can go play RWB? Who is going to give Pulisic some rest?
Pulisic been injured, rest is not what he needs primarily, more like minutes. Also hes not gonna play rwb full time. He starts as SS then he can go down as rwb the last 20 minutes of the game if Saelesmaekers is being taken off to get some rest.
We got better coverage up front with Nkunku to take Pulisic place if he moves to another position. Once Gimenez is back (or another forward comes in) the coverage up front is even better.
We dont have any european football so its not like players need to rest an entire game, just come off last 20 min or so to recover better when the schedule is a bit more hectic (with league games more often then every 7th day).
Once Athekame is back he can cover rwb to so its only for a month or so Pulisic would need to relieve Saelesmaekers on occasion.
Crazy when the season began I was most concerned about the back line.
Pulisic is NOT a right wingback.
I keep saying this on this forum, and others have finally started to pick up on this also, but no matter what his official assigned position is, Pulisic has always naturally played more like an attacking midfielder that wanders all over the field to help the team.
When his team is on defense, he is always in the defensive midfield, looking to create a quick turnover and start a counterattack. Look what he did against Inter in the first derby match last season – stripping the ball off an Inter player in midfield and then dribbling past three shocked Inter defenders for the goal.
Whenever his team gets a turnover, Pulisic is always the first to race downfield, looking for the quick through pass. Throughout his career, I’ve seen him score bunches of goals off fast counterattacks this way, including a goal against Real Madrid in the semifinals of the Champions League.
That’s why Allegri ball is perfecf for him and why he’s doing so well this season.
Pulisic has always been far more lethal on teams that emphasize lightning quick counterattacks rather than the multiple pass slow builups.
Despite what the official formation says, Allegri has NOT put Pulisic in as a second striker next to Leao. What he’s done is to free Pulisic up entirely from any traditional zones of responsibility and let him roam all over to help generate offensive attacks, especially fast counterattacks. This is exactly what Pulisic excels at.
Pioli ball was totally stifling for Pulisic – because he was fixed to just the right half of the field, and the left side was reserved for Leao and Hernandez.
There would be entire matches where all of the Milan offense went thru the left side and the team seemingly forgot they even had a right winger.
Pioli’s multi-pass slow buildup also rarely worked for Pulisic because this let defenses get set and clog things up and Italy is just filled with teams that do great low block defenses
My brother your analysis is just too clear and truthful. There is no argument,well said brother.
I concur with everything you said
Sounds like Athekame hasn’t convinced that he a viable alternative? Sale can use a break though, Modric and I think Fofana, have also played almost every game and may benefit from a little rest as well.
Athekame se lesionou
Athekame is injured unfortunately but also young and for the future not a starter for now
Well Said HoHum !! Totally Agree…