AC Milan are looking for any signs of life in their season, and unfortunately, they have struggled until this point. Now, Sergio Conceicao is looking to provide his own ideas to resuscitate.
In recent years, Milan have used two ‘systems’ and whilst there have been slight changes, they have rarely fallen too far from the tree. Of course, we’re talking about the 4-3-3 and the 4-4-2, and on occasion, we have seen the two formations blend into one another.
Outside of this, there has been very little experimentation, barring situations which forced slight changes, and so Conceicao is looking to start a little test, and move outside of the box.
According to Corriere della Sera (via Milan News), the Portuguese is considering a move to a back three – something which the Rossoneri have not seen since Pioli was forced to use the system as his defensive options offered no other solution.
However, the idea is not to improve the defence, though this is hoped, it is actually in the hope of improving the attack.
The report states that the system will ideally ‘close the door’ on opponents, whilst also getting more from Santiago Gimenez, who has been hit and miss since his arrival. Conceicao believes he is best suited to a system with a back three, which would allow Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao to play in more advanced roles, like we saw on Saturday.
So, the plan is to work around this three, and see what can be built, or as Conceicao sees it, awoken.
It’s worth a try, right now anything to bring home good results is all we need
I agree it could be something to try:
Walker Gabbia Thiaw (Pavlovic)
Jimenez (Musah) Bondo Fofana Theo
Pulisic Reinjders
Gimenez
More offensive version with Tiji in midfield and Leao upfront.
Too much tinkering…the team is jist not set up for that. It has be shown so often that Leao cannot function centrally, he needs to be wide. So this rules him out. Tijji and Pulisic love roaming around, so you need Puli more centrally and Tijji in a deeper lying role. My fear is you are going to displace so many players that we end up more confused and unstructured than we already are
Yeah I agree with you. I think a back 3 could work well for us, but we’ve had so much change, we need some consistency. You can’t expect to find success if you’re constantly changing formations and players and tactics.
Even though I feel a 4-3-3 would be most ideal for this team, a 3-4-3 could also work if properly implemented.
For it to be effective,
Two of Musah, Fofana, Bondo and Terrachano need to be considered our CM.
Alex Jimenez has to be our RM.
The joker, if this formation will work for us is who becomes our LM.
A choice has to be made between Theo and Tijji. The seeming understanding between Leao and Theo could favour the latter to take the spot.
I fear Tijji may not have a place in this formation, as fielding him in the CM in front of a 3 man defence could be disastrous.
The squad is not built to play 4231
It worked when we had 2 excellent fighter-destroyers (Kessie & Bennacer), tonali with a more creative edge and krunic who almost always did a good job.
Fofana – box to box (more suited to play in as a defensive 8, not a necessarily a destroyer like Kessie.
Reijnders – ball player/runner/box-to-box
Musah – Runner (NFL type), box-to-box
Bondo – ball player/carrier/engine
RLC – not particularly good at anything but over-running with the ball.
343 would be more appropriate;
Pavlovic can play at LCB, adding more energy to the buildup and transition on the left channel with Theo & Leao high up.
Tomori at RCB and Thiaw in between as the extra CB to tidy up.
Fofana & reijnders in midfield with musah at RM to invert in build up and provide numerical advantage in the midfield (same for Theo on the left, if necessary).
Reijnders could be better in midfield in front of a 3man defence because the LCB & RCB particularly (including maignan and an extra CB would be of huge assistance to the midfielders in buildup, instead of being outnumbered in the 4231.
Gimenez doesn’t have to be really involved in the build-up, just send in good crosses and through balls.
Well, if I were the coach, I would NEVER play Tijj in front of a 3 man defence line. One fundamental factor to success of a 3 man defence is the presence of at least two physical players in front of the 3, especially when you don’t have intelligent players like Barella.
I also would not field Musah in the RM position. I would not assign any offensive duty to him, just pair him with either Bondo or Fofana with the assignment to do the dirty work in midfield and run the opposition rugged with their strength and stamina.
With the right coaching, Jimenez seem to possess the necessary skillset and intelligence to thrive excellently at RM, Musah will be limited in this position in the long run.
Are you increasingly using generative tools to make this content? In recent years we’ve been in 4-3-3 or 4-4-2? Under Pioli, we rigidly stick to a 4-2-3-1 in possession unless we were well out of form when he dabbled with a 3 man backline to stop goals leaking. If
He’s just a young lad who needs to do indept research before writing articles. He also needs to polish his writing skills.
I have been noticing his articles are mostly poorly written, but I decided not to comment on it because I noticed he is quite young and and is therefore allowed for some errors.
———leao——-abraham
—————pulisic
jimenez—reijnders – fofana—walker
——–pavlovic–gabbia–thiaw
—————–mike
———leao——-abraham
—————pulisic
hernandez—reijnders – fofana—walker
——–pavlovic–gabbia–thiaw
—————–mike
I like this a lot. We need to realize Pulisic is our best finisher in the box, so we need him as close to goal as often as possible.
So slight tweak:
———leao——-pulisic
—abraham—reindeers
hernandez—– fofana—-walker
——–pavlovic–gabbia–thiaw
—————–mike
Too much tinkering….the team is jist not set up for that. It has be shown so often that Leao cannot function centrally, he needs to be wide. So this rules him out. Tijji and Pulisic love roaming around, so you need Puli more centrally and Tijji in a deeper lying role. My fear is you are going to displace so many players that we end up more confused and unstructured than we already are
The ship has to be steadied. This team has been leaking goals all season both under Fonseca & Conceciao and both haven’t managed a successful, consistent defensive structure.
Having a back three would suit the team ,Theo,Musah and Jimenez can be the wing backs. Reijnders is the only question mark but they can shift from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2(with Reijnders no.10) for tough away games like Napoli,Inter and Atalanta do .
Pioli successfully adapted to a 3-4-3 as well. In Italy only teams with strong defensive setups win titles and that hasn’t happened this season so it’s worth a shot for the next 10 games.
Milan’s problem is not formation, but running without the ball. Theo will not run back faster when the opponent has a counter. Milan must teach the midfielders to come back quickly. With both Leće goals outside the penalty area, neither Bond nor Musah was anywhere. In the video, you can see how Bondo runs slowly while Krstović prepares for a shot for half a minute.
I don’t think any of this really matters anymore this season given we’re heading into a reboot in the summer anyway and Sergio is gone. Not even sure there’s any “grace” to finish this season with.
Anything outside of CL is a waste of playing time and resources.
Yes I agree on the line-up
M.maignan
Thiaw, Pavlovic, Gabbia
Jimenez, Fofana, Reijnder, Hernandez
Pulisic
Gimenez,Leao
For now until we sign two strong attacking midfielder for conceicao then we can return to our 4-2-3-1 so I advised Acmilan to give conceicao a chance he can take Acmilan to champions league this season I’m sure of that.
Theo might thrive.
Leao will struggle.
Jimenez was all over the place last few games. I don’t trust him rn. Wingback is a crucial position in every 3-at-the-back setup. I wish Sale was still around to play RWB.
The team should consist of Geller, three defenders Walker, Pavlovic, Tomori or Gabbia. Theo on the left wing, Jimenez on the right. Reinders in the middle, Pulisic, left and right wingers Joao Felix and Rafael Liao, striker Nok Jimenez or with two strikers, one Jimenez and one Pulisic.
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I think they should have a back 3 option, probably a 3-4-3. At least make teams prepare for two different set-ups. I think the back 3 can be either Pavlovic-Gabbia-Tomori or Pavlovic-Gabbia-Walker. You can technically put Theo back there on the left as well.
For me, the key reason to do this is we actually have 2 potentially world class wingbacks. We have Theo on the left, who is probably better suited to wingback than fullback, and then we have Musah on the right. I know, I know, I said Musah and potentially world class, but hear me out. Defensively, his 1v1 skills are top notch, but his positional awareness is lacking when he’s in midfield. Out wide, you just have him man mark the opposing team’s left wing out of the game. Remember the job he did on Vini jr in the Madrid game? Offensively, he becomes the ball carrier in midfield and/or he provides the width. It’s a dangerous game getting forward, but Walker can clean up a lot of messes.
I like Fofana and Reijnders in the midfield pivot, though Benny was probably our most natural midfield pivot player.
Pulisic is a natural in a 3-4-3, playing in the right channel and doing the work in the box midfield defensively. I don’t know enough about Gimenez, but Abraham would also do well at the 9 in this setup.
It’s Leao that becomes a bit more of a question mark. If he does the work defensively as part of the top of the box midfield, then this could really click and close down space to operate, ideally leading to opportunities on the counter.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this is necessarily the right answer against the bottom half of the league and it’s too late for the UCL, too. Oh well.
Get pulisic as close to goal as possible. He’s our best finisher in the box.
———leao——-pulisic
—————abraham
hernandez—reijnders – fofana—walker
——–pavlovic–gabbia–thiaw
—————–mike