AC Milan are back on the field against Cremonese on Sunday in the early kick-off, and Massimiliano Allegri is making decisions on his line-up.
According to Tuttosport (via MilanNews), Allegri has only one doubt regarding his starting XI for tomorrow’s match. It concerns who will partner the ‘usual’ duo of Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot in midfield.
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Three players are in the running for the final spot in the trio: Youssouf Fofana, Ardon Jashari and Samuele Ricci. The head coach will likely make a final decision only after today’s final training session at Milanello, with an eye on the fact Fofana is one yellow card from being banned for the derby.
A three-way battle
The three players offer three different solutions. Ricci has shown he can be a solid player and has always responded when called upon, Jashari has appeared to be clearly improving physically in recent weeks, while Fofana seems to have lost ground in Allegri’s pecking order but has played most.
What Allegri must decide is whether he wants the third midfielder to be one comfortable in possession who can perhaps participate more in the build-up and breaking down a low block, or a more physical presence to try take control in the middle.
There are few doubts about the rest of the team. In defence, Matteo Gabbia could recover at most for the bench, so the starting trio will be Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter, and Strahinja Pavlovic. On the wings, Alexis Saelemaekers will be on the right and Davide Bartesaghi on the left.
Up front, the same attacking duo seen from the start last Sunday against Parma should be confirmed, namely Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao.
Try 433, please
You are playing against a team that has barely scored a goal as of late and Allegri will no doubt set the team up to be defensive. LOL
From a pure technical point of view, Jashari is the best player. Active defensively but also has really nice long passes. The problem though is that he is mostly a deep lying playmaker. During the last games where he played as a mezzala, you can feel that he doesn’t really know what do once he is close the opposition box. But that might be a temporary thing.
Ricci’s accurate with his passing and doesn’t commit mistakes defensively. The problem though is that he doesn’t pass forward and when he tries, he makes mistakes. He basically has 0 added value when it comes to offense.
Fofana was the former starter has mezzala, he is the most physical, the best presser and has sometimes nice through balls that lead to goals. The problem though is that he is very mistake prone, misses a lot of his passes, loses many balls and is incapable of aiming a shot correctly, be it with his foot or his head.
So overall we’re not really spoiled when it comes to who should play next to Rabiot.
Modric jashari rabiot solid
I’d rest The Duke and play Jashari/modric/Fofana
Jashari and Ricci need to show up in these next few games. Players are on the brink of suspensions and others need a rest. Ricci in particular needs to do a lot more.