Yesterday afternoon at San Siro against Monza Stefano Pioli lined up his Milan side with a three-man defence, and it is something that we could see repeated in the coming weeks.
This morning’s edition of Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) explains that it was a choice obviously dictated by the injury emergency in defence, with Fikayo Tomori and Simon Kjaer the only fit senior central defenders at the moment.
Tommaso Pobega rather unusually functioned on the left of the back three for the first 20 minutes but the formation still gave positive responses, and it could also be reused in future matches for two reasons.
First of all Simon Kjaer – who returned to the pitch yesterday after being out due to injury for several weeks – is less alone in coverage with two players at his side. Playing such a high line and welcoming one-on-one battles can leave the veteran a tad exposed at time.
Moreover, the use of wing-backs as part of the formation frees Theo Hernandez to do what he does best: get forward and create attacking threat, linking up with the midfield and attack.
