Christian Pulisic has avoided a serious muscle problem which is a big sigh of relief for AC Milan, but Saturday’s game against Lecce should see Samuel Chukwueze get a start.
Calciomercato.com report that Pulisic had a muscle contracture that means he is training individually at the moment and will not represent the United States against Trinidad and Tobago over the international break.
Chukwueze meanwhile returned to the bench for the match against PSG after almost three weeks of absence due to the hamstring injury suffered with the Nigerian national team during the mid-October break.
He missed four games (PSG in the Champions League, Juventus, Napoli and Udinese in Serie A), an absence coinciding with Milan’s moment of greatest difficulty, especially from an attacking point of view.
Now, it is time for the most expensive purchase of the summer transfer campaign to step up, recalling that Chukwueze cost €20m as an up-front fee plus €8m in potential bonuses but he is yet to score a goal.
The very positive impact from Pulisic did not allow the former Villarreal man to accumulate a large amount of playing time (less than 300 minutes in total in nine appearances between the league and the Champions League), but there is a need to unlock.
Chukwueze was signed because of his goal threat, his effectiveness in one-on-one situations, and the ability to create numerical superiority with dribbling that had made him, in an ideal world, the equivalent of Rafael Leao on the right wing to give greater unpredictability to Milan’s attack.
These are skills that have so far been little seen at Milan but this doesn’t change Pioli’s mind: the coach is ready to give Chukwueze a new chance.
It’s high time Pioli finds a way to trust other players in his team.
That’s the only way we can compete with other top teams in Europe.
Been stereotype will make us predictable.
Now, we have Musah’ trust, it’s high time he shows the same for Okafor and Chukz.
Carefully throwing each one in the game will make this achievable.
Line up for Saturday should be like this;
Maignan
Calabria Tomori Thiaw Theo
Adli Krunic RLC
Chukweze Giroud Leao
This builds confidence with new legs with the old legs.
@Walking. It’s Chukwueze who needs to prove himself and win the trust of the coach. Pioli cannot just trust players who are not seizing the moment to prove themselves worthy of being a key member of the team.
Chukwueze needs to be working on his game outside of training to improve his weaknesses which is clearing shooting and crossing the ball. The same applies to Reijnders.
100% agreed. Musah, RLC, and Pulisic have seized their moments. Chuk has not, he has to earn it, starting spots aren’t just given because we paid for him. Chuk is not good right now and a flop so far, and doesn’t deserve it until he proves himself worthy which could still happen but I agree this isn’t on Pioli, this one’s on Chuk.
“It’s high time Pioli finds a way to trust other players in his team. ”
Not really. Chuku has done nothing so far to gain that trust. The players need to prove they’re worth the starting-11 spot.
Nah. It was Chuk who should pay back Pioli trust with goals. Pioli already gave him a lot of chance to play but so far 0 goal and he looks like a giant waste of money.
Beside, why Pioli should start Chuk when Pulisic is better and gave him better results?
Trust other players in the team but only one (forced) sub in Chuk? Youre naming basically the same XI from a few days ago.
Why not Pobega, Romero, Bartesaghi, Jovic in the lineup? That’ll show trust
You’re not getting my point.
The last time he changed the whole front line up, it was almost a disaster.
Having them integrated one after the other is my point here.
Just like he did for Musah.
You think if Jovic chukz Bartesgi and Okafor all played at the same time, Musah would have stood out like we noticed? No.
So now, read carefully to understand my POV
Oh I’m with u on the integration 😁 I don’t think you caught what I’m saying. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Pioli only does forced integration. Musah prior to RLC injury only played 1 full game and he only started to field Musah more because of RLC injury. Adli too…we know he has zero trust there. He Would rather throw in a rusty Krunic instead of him in a big game. He doesn’t fancy Okafor too it seems. AND he basically knocked the confidence out of Bartesaghi by starting a Right Back instead of him being the only designated left back.. Imagine what’s going through that kid’s mind. And I still haven’t seen him trust him by playing him minutes at the end of the game
With all due respect IKWYDLS if a 17 year old player loses confidence because an experienced former international player (49 international matches + over 400 senior performances) who is also an allround player who is accustomed to play left back loses confidence of not getting fielded then he is basically mentally feeble as he should know better than that, If thats the case which i highly doubt, its all on himself as he has already been subbed in, in 3 matches this season which should already exceed his expectations for this season.
When that is said its not that i completely disagree with your overall assessment of the matter even though piolialready has fielded 25 of 29 players this season it often happens when we are mared with injuries.
Bro that just shows a severe lack of trust in the player given he’s the only other left back in the team. He also played in other games. I could understand if he had zero total minutes
I always respect your opinion IKWYDLS but truth be told i doubt he is gonna end up as a left back as he is 1.93 tall so im pretty sure he will end up as a cb in the end.
Reminded me of that time we played Bonera ahead of Antonini at left back 🤦♂️
Always respect for sure..I do get your point too.
Chuky needs to get going. Milanisti need to see what the hype and evaluations have been all about.
I agree but you’ve never seen him before? I watched at least 2 games where he beat Real Madrid almost on his own.
I don’t think Chukwueze is worth the hype, hope he proves me wrong
Really? So where’s that Chuk who destroyed Madrid twice on his own?
I’d go with
Florenzi Tomori Thiaw Theo
RLC Krunic Adli
Chuk Giroud Okafor
Calabria and Leao were busting their asses off against PSG and wouldn’t risk them.
Starting Leao is the better option.
Have him play bully-ball on Lecce’s defense for 45 minutes, grab a goal and an assist, and have Noah see out the second half with a healthy lead in hand is always preferable to playing Giroud with two players he’s not partnered up with, and have the team struggling up till the 80th minute and expect Leao to come on in the last 10 minutes to play hero-ball.
Why? They spent money for adequate alternatives. I’d be more concerned if Pioli had Rebic and Saelemaekers/Messias as alternatives. Besides Okafor did a lot more in his 300 minutes (2 goals) than Chuk. Chuk was even at fault for a goal Milan conceded when he lost the ball and did not track back. So technically Chuk is a bigger gamble than Okafor.
This club does not owe Chukwueze anything, he owes this club the hype and expectation. It is all up to him to prove his worth. Do not expect to have 1000 minutes of game time to show his worth. Be in 10′, 15′ or 30′ he must deliver quickly.
This. Thank you.
Milan bought Chuk for 28 million euros and Pioli already gave him a lot of chances to play. But so far 0 goal from him. So it’s just weird to see some people act like Milan owe Chuk a lot of debt when Chuk not yet show he’s worth 28 million.
All of y’all need some reading comprehension. Chuk has played less than 300 minutes for Milan so far this season, how is that “plenty of chances”?
He’s been injured for at least 4 to 5 matches already so far because of that International break, and he’s only came on during garbage minutes to see out the games mostly.
He’s played 209 minutes in the league and 81 minutes in the UCL, barely 2 full league matches and less than a UCL game.
How is that sufficient opportunity to perform? Don’t see you lot complaining about Adli (342′), Musah (832′) or Reijnders (1,210′), who have ALL played more minutes than Chukwueze this season.
Ryan I agree and made a reminescent point earlier that he had only played 290 minutes over 9 matches whereas 3 of them has been between 45 and 60 minutes played, so basically he has played between 15 and 20 minutes each time as a substitute and thats not much time to prove himself and even more so that he quite t often has been subbed in while it was an uphill battle,
I dont think he can demand favors or something and its up to prove himself but he certainly also deserves some decency in how he is portayed and that is even without considering he also propably need some adjustment time to a new country and league.
Ah the ‘he only played xxx minutes’ excuses.
FYI. Okafor played 300 minutes total playing time in Serie A + CL and he already made 2 goals. Compare to Chuk who have 0 goals but also has 300 minutes of total playing time. And every time Okafor played, he mostly made quite an impact and can work well with other players. That’s why Pioli keeps playing Okafor.
Or Sportiello who only had 180 minutes playing time / basically 3 matches and he showed that Pioli can trust him as a backup GK.
So it’s not about a manager needs to give more playing time to some player. But it’s about IF THE PLAYER CAN SHOW THEIR QUALITY AND CONVINCE THE MANAGER THAT THEY DESERVED TO PLAY MORE EVERY TIME THEY GOT THE CHANCE TO PLAY!
So far Chuk doesn’t show that he deserve to start over Pulisic.
Also, if you think 300 minutes of playing time aren’t a lot for a new player than look at Pobega who only have 200 minutes or Kalulu at 198 minutes. Chuk should be grateful that he got 300 minutes of playing time more than some players despite he doesn’t give enough proof to Pioli that he should play more.
This👆
Noah played a full game, all 90 minutes, and scored a goal. His other goal was a substitute appearance where he came on for 24 minutes. Same game, Chukwueze was subbed on with just 8 minutes to go.
Has Chukwueze played a full match yet? Are you expecting any and all substitute forwards to score within minutes of coming onto the pitch?
Unreasonable much eh?
If it were 300 minutes of Hussle showing he knows where to be a d where to find his mates then yeah he deserves more.
Unfortunately most of the minutes are him wandering the touch line lost.
I’m glad he will get the start and moreso that it will be mostly with the first team. I so very much want to believe.
I don’t really care if he scores this time out. At the end of his 390th minute I want to be convinced he understands the system and how to play in it.
Should have bought Berardi or Orsolini, Chuk has failed to convince and very much doubt he will over take Pulisic.
Would like to see Pobega given a chance and give Bartesaghi some minutes.
Didnt chuk start in the first UCL game, and Blow It. He has No right foot, no foot at all. if Pioli started CP11 vs NewC, who wins. I mean CP11 has to deal with so much Stit, confidence crushers like that, and you worried about chuk, he has no right foot. Start him on the LEFT side then, for crosses maybee