AC Milan’s defensive record has greatly improved this season, as Massimiliano Allegri got to work fixing the team’s biggest flaw.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) recall this morning, Allegri said it on the day of his presentation and has reiterated it several times: “We must concede fewer goals than last year to qualify for the Champions League.”
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
His team are listening so far: the players have assimilated the new tactical instructions and are applying them on the pitch to avoid repeating the mistakes that resulted in them finishing in eighth place in 2024-25.
Twelve months ago, after 10 games, the Rossoneri had conceded 13 goals and only kept a clean sheet twice. Now they’ve conceded seven, four of which came at San Siro against newly promoted Cremonese and Pisa.
The Rossoneri have kept five clean sheets, including in the big matches against Juventus and Roma. They haven’t conceded so few goals at this point in the season since 2008-09. Credit goes to Allegri’s instructions, plus the attackers’ pressing, and the midfielders’ sacrifice when not in possession.
However, it’s undeniable that defenders’ lapses in concentration have almost disappeared. It’s curious that those who made decisive stops and put in outstanding performances today were often on the bench or the perpetrators of glaring blunders last year.
Gabbia: The leader
Matteo Gabbia came through the youth academy and made 35 appearances out of 55 official games last season, starting 32 of them. Looking at Serie A, he started 22 of 38 games, and made 26 appearances.
Now, Gabbia has become untouchable: he was included in the starting XI 10 times out of 10 in the league and so far is the only player not to miss a single minute. In the Coppa Italia, he was rested in the round of 32 match against Lecce.
He has become the leader of the three-man defence, is listened to in the dressing room when he speaks, and – thanks to his performance – has earned him a call-up to the national team again. Right now, he is the undisputed symbol of both Milan and the team’s resurgence.
Pavlovic: The reborn
Strahinja Pavlovic, who was acquired from Salzburg for €18m plus bonuses in the summer of 2024, has also made an impressive transformation. He made 35 appearances out of 55 games in 2024-25, starting 31 of them. In Serie A, he started 21 times, with 24 appearances.
The Serbian started well, but then made several positioning and concentration errors, sliding to the bench. Allegri and his staff have worked hard on these shortcomings, and Pavlovic is now a completely different player.
He seems more attentive in marking and working with his team-mates down the line, and being on the left side of the three he is able to use his aggression and anticipation more. His goal against Roma was beautiful and decisive, but he has also created danger by pushing forward in others games.
Tomori: The rejuvenated
And then there’s Fikayo Tomori, who gritted his teeth to sit on the bench on Sunday despite a thigh hematoma preventing him from playing. He came on as an injury-time substitute and was nonetheless instrumental in the cause.
The Englishman had been a key player in the Scudetto-winning season of 2021-22, but last season – under both Fonseca and Conceiçao – he missed several matches. To be precise, he made 35 appearances overall out of 55 games (see the theme here?) and 31 were starts.
So far, however, he has missed only one Serie A match (against Pisa) and has started eight of 10. He also started both Coppa Italia matches. He’s adapted perfectly to his role on the right side of a three-man defence marker and now, like Ruben Loftus-Cheek, hopes to regain an England call-up.
After returning to the level he enjoyed at Chelsea and the first part of his time at Milan, Tomori can do just that. Fikayo, Matteo and Strahinja have certainly found a remarkable understanding that has left Koni De Winter with only crumbs (in terms of minutes).
With the help of Maignan, who is focused on Milan despite his contract expiring in June, they want to push the Rossoneri higher and higher with clean sheets. This is the path indicated by Allegri, and the defenders are following him.
Pavlovic without question improved this season but I do nevertheless think it was always clear to me at least that we had a diamond in the rough at our hands with great potential. Even with his large frame he made some rather impressive moves turning on a plate regaining possession last season and the guy is far from slow despite his immense size. I can see him develop into a top cb in the coming years so I hope he will stay with us for many years to come.
He is good when there is someone behind him to cover for him, as a defender he is average.
In a 3 man defense he can be world class.
Even though he is probably better suited for a 3 man backline I don’t fully buy the premise that he can’t play in a 2 man cb backline as it all depends on who he is matched with and who he has in front of him combined with how much the lb’s and rb’s are allowed to roam forward. Most players can be fitted into most formations in my view and has played in various positions throughout the youth ranks. He had some bad calls last season but in my view also showed great composure in other matches.
Either way things seems to pan out for both him and the team so I suspect we will continue with the 3-5-2 formation even if I will consider it more a 3-6-1 at present.
He always makes defensive mistakes and if there is no one behind him those will be goals. Against Pisa he was spectating on the goal, same as Athekame. That is the reality. I have watched many of his games for Serbia in the past 4-5 years. He didn’t change, still makes stupid mistakes and fouls. He is 24 now, it won’t change.
That is why I like Allegri, he knows where to put players to suit their qualities better.
Well I knew him pretty well beforehand joining us as well and he was actually one of my favorite buys last summer which I also made clear in previous post back then, I’m not saying he is infallible but as I implied less attacking backs and a solid CDM ahead of him would still leave him the room to for example roam forward and still be protected. The approach of the match could still cover some of his limitations in a 2 cb backline. In the end yes he is 24 years old but still that doesn’t mean he can’t still develop a great deal but in the end we will just have to disagree on this matter and that is also ok as we are just having a friendly discussion.
Yes, I don’t agree as some things are not learnable.
Players usually reach their peaks at 27-28 years so I believe there is still room for that to happen. Time will tell though.
I think Pavlović improving this season is not just a matter of a 3 men defense, but also a matter of us sitting deeper and having midfielders who are good defensively to cover up.
Last season under both coaches we generally sat higher, and our best midfielder from a defensive point of view was Fofana, and not even our fullbacks were defensively responsible.
This season, even when Pavlović loses the ball or misplays a pass, there is always someone to make sure it doesn’t turn into a disaster (the Pisa game being an exception).
In any case, the current system suits him and make well use of his qualities while not exposing his limitations.
It was about the same in the last 7-8 matches of Serie A last season, when we started playing 3 at the back. Try putting 2 of these 3 together into a 4 man back line and see the magic from last season repeat…
The biggest reason for the patched defense is the midfield though. It’s all about the midfielders. The opponents don’t just walk through our midfield like they did last season.
Midfield has indeed helped a lot for the patched defense. Last season we also played with some sort of gung-ho approach under the portuguese coaches which clearly made our defense far more vulnerable.
Our midfield had more holes than Swiss cheese last year.
Last season, Reijnders has no defensive involvement.
This season all of Ricci, Rabiot and Modrić are quite good defensively.
I agree our defense absolutely has improved also on accordance on the midfielders as they help covering them and I also agree with your comment further up as we did indeed play a game last year where we pushed further forward and that also left more room for our opponents to attack.
Who knew that Modric would be even better at defending than Kessie? 🙂
Imagine what Allegri could do with better defenders who work in a back 4 in a 4-3-3 to provide more options up front.