Divock Origi was the big flop in AC Milan’s 0-0 draw against Empoli last night as he failed to have an impact on the game. It was impossible to miss, but the average positions have provided more details on his flaws.
The Rossoneri came into the game with confidence after the 4-0 win against Napoli but ultimately, the rotation ended up backfiring. Ante Rebic struggled (although he was much better than in previous outings) and Origi looked completely lost.
Taking a look at the average positions (see below), it’s clear that Milan had a lot of possession given the high positions of the players. The link-up also clearly worked in the build-up and second phase, but in the final third things were different.
The average position of each #ACMilan player from the draw against Empoli.
[via @Gazzetta_it] pic.twitter.com/hXtuL4M9v7
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) April 8, 2023
Origi’s position is understandably quite high up, or at least that’s what you would think. If we compare his position to Giroud’s usual one (average speaking), the Belgian was simply too high up the pitch.
Giroud often drops down and gets himself involved before making his way into the box, but Origi failed to do this and he also struggled in the box. The image is thus a perfect example of how Origi didn’t connect with his teammates like you need your striker to do.
Origi was completed marked out of the game. Partially due to his positioning (and lack of helping out the Def).
The other part, which can’t be ignored, Luperto completely owned Origi all night. Wore him like a hat.
Origi was getting owned by unknown Serie A defenders. Imagine what the CL defenders would do to Origi. Now you know why he doesn’t play.
Even Fazzini sometimes dropped back and wrecked Origi. The guy has no moves on the ball and despite being at Milan for more than 1/2 year, he has no idea where to position himself.
Sell. ASAP. Please.
“Origi was completed marked out of the game.”
Even if everyone in Empoli ignored him he wouldn’t have found the net. He doesn’t even know what is the goal of the game. He could hit an empty net from 1 meters out even if his life depended on it.
The reason Origi was so far up the pitch was because Empoli dropped deep (in part to counter his pace).
That’s not a criticism of Origi. It’s just the reality of a game where Empoli dropped deep and Milan pretty much dominated.
What would Origi having been doing dropping deep when Milan played most of the game in the other half?
The main reason Milan failed to break down Empoli was because they didn’t have enough intensity from kick off. In these games Milan have about 10-15 mins to score a goal or else they will struggle to break these teams down.
It doesn’t matter who is on the pitch except that preferably if they start with the same team they had last time they’ll carry some of the momentum.