The last couple of games have seen AC Milan at levels close to their defensive best and it is in some part down to Fikayo Tomori’s seamless return to action.
Calciomercato.com write how a performance with resilience and character was needed last night against a top four rival in Atalanta under the lights of San Siro in the rain and freezing temperatures, and it arrived.
Mental and physical endurance was on display for all 95 minutes of the game, with intensity on and off the ball and – once again – a perfect defensive phase. Mike Maignan had a quiet return to action after five months thanks to the work of the three-man defence, with Malick Thiaw practically perfect and Pierre Kalulu nullifying Lookman well.
Tomori deserves a big mention and his metamorphosis is the same as Milan as a whole. The English defender had a difficult winter with losses in concentration and uncharacteristic errors, then muscle problem that forced him onto the sidelines at the most delicate moment of the season.
However, in the meantime the transition to the three-man defence means that Stefano Pioli’s team have rediscovered the compactness that they had during the Scudetto win, and then Tomori has been added into the mix who seems to be back near his best.
There were two signs above all that suggested so: a tackle he made on Ademola Lookman where he showed his confidence, and the open field recovery to deny Rasmus Hojlund.
That’s because Tomori is a better (as is Kalulu) with Maignan behind them. Thiaw an absolute revelation!