Sergio Conceicao’s Porto sides were known for their resilience and organisation, yet he has not managed to recreate that with AC Milan yet.
Conceicao’s experience with Milan has only lasted for just over two months, but he has experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. From the Supercoppa Italiana win to the disappointment of being eliminated from the Champions League and three consecutive league defeats seeing fourth place slip away.
As Corriere dello Sport (via MilanPress) report this morning, Conceicao’s Milan have not yet shown the defensive solidity he expected, so much so that they have only recorded three clean sheets in 18 games played (against Girona, Empoli and Hellas Verona).
The Rossoneri have conceded 23 goals, eight of which came in the last four Serie A games (conceding twice against Torino, Bologna, Lazio and Lecce). The Portuguese has yet to find the right balance and against Como he could try a new experiment.
There is talk of potentially trying a three-man back line, thus playing with three central defenders and pushing Theo Hernandez plus potentially Alex Jimenez up as wing-backs. However, the paper mentions that first he may try Youssouf Fofana and Warren Bondo in front of the back line.
As Sky highlighted in an analysis piece yesterday, the problem is that Milan keep conceding in transition, which exposes the balance issue between the possession and non-possession phases that has plagued the team for a long time.
We don’t have a destroyer covering the defence – if he is going to ‘try’ Fofana or Bondo there, why doesn’t he ‘try’ Thiaw. It’s not a position that is alien to him…
He’s too slow. I’d argue Bondo is the right person. He just joined though. It takes time for the player to adjust to tactics. it’s crazy that since Pioli and when Kessie left, we have not had a proper DM. Pioli tried Krunic, everyone hoped for Bennie to be back into shape but nothing. Pioli tried Krunic, then Adli then RLC, then Musah, then Fofana and now Bondo. ask yourself, did any of these guys played DM before joining us? … probably not.
do you even know what DM is 🙂. NPR in Ancelotti’s Milan was registered by Pirlo. That’s the DM position, and Gattuso was box to box, but he was in charge of the defensive. It’s not the DM who breaks the game by nature.
This is some bs. Pirlo played as regista or if you like more english term deep-lying midfielder. Gattuso was at most the holding midfielder, who protected Pirlo defensively.
box to box who rarely ventured forward and whose famous for his defensive prowess? I guess to sound more amateur, i mean a player whose top quality is to defend. Gatusso, Van Bommel, Casemiro to be more recent. Who among our mids would you say if nothing else “the guy can defend”. None.
to add to it.. you got a point but at the same time.. lol come on dude. that Milan had Pirlo, Gatusso, Seedorf, Ambrosini from the bench, world class CB in Nesta and maldini, world class RB in Cafu. Put the back 4 of his milan (Janku, Maldini, Nesta, Cafu) and sure, even our formation with the “fab 4” and essentially Tiji and Fofana as mids and we wouldnt concede either. lol
352 or 343 is worth trying IMO.
We are conceding 2 goals a game in most games. Meaning we need 3 goals just to win.
If we keep playing 4 in defence then we need a purely defensive midfielder. Maybe this can be Bondo
This is impossible without a midfielder who can win duels and hold the ball during transition phases.
Musah, apart from running to attack, adds nothing to this team, while for Fofana the pace of our game is too fast.
The problem isn’t entirely the defense. The problem is the giant void in front of them that the defensive mids are supposed to occupy. If you look at the banner photo, the are where Kristovic is taking a strike from is where at least Bondo/Musah are supposed to be protecting. Instead all three of our mids are behind the striker…