Charles De Ketelaere will obviously be given ample patience, but Stefano Pioli is hoping that the Belgian’s form explodes between now at the World Cup.
Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) talks about how De Ketelaere has had some growing pains which were always par for the course following his big money move from Club Brugge to Milan, but he appeared to improve in particular during the last game before the break against Napoli as he had a big hand in Olivier Giroud’s equaliser.
During that particular match, the 21-year-old showed a greater tactical understanding too as he was not just more confident and incisive on the ball but he also disturbed arguably the main source of Spalletti’s machine: Stanislav Lobotka.
However, the return has still not been much compared to the expectations that had arisen with De Ketelaere’s arrival. Of course he is very young and it is a whole new club and country to adapt to though, so nobody at the club is putting any pressure on.
What is surprising is that he has not yet managed a shot on target despite scoring 18 goals last season with Brugge, but Pioli has put him closer to the goal – almost as a second striker – with the hopes he will become decisive.
On his debut against Bologna he certainly gave a very good impression but since then things have been more sporadic. CDK is working hard to adapt to the rhythms of Italian football, and the games against Chelsea in the Champions League and the one against Juventus in the league could be a perfect launching pad.
I’m confident that this boy will be our new Kaka , he just needs time! I am ready to give him the whole season to adapt to Pioli’s style of play! if he can get 8 goals and 8 assist , it will be an okay season for me…
I think the guy can get 10 assists by the end of the season, the quality and talent is clearly there but just needs a bit more confidence in himself when he’s shooting and etc
And he needs to feed the right people. Creating scoring chances to e.g. Sealemaekers will not improve his stats. He should be feeding Leao & Giroud if they want goals.
Score goals or not his creativity is for every one to see….he is a star in making if worked in peace and serene manner.. with pioli he is under safe and trust worthy manager…..its just a start of a season..Next year he will be seria a star……
he’s going to be great, he needs time. Kessie was awful for 2.5 seasons, Leao was awful for 2.5 seasons, Tonali was bad for 1 season, they all are top talents now. CDK has what it takes, the talent and the mind are there. He needs time. But also, we have to stop comparing Kaka. He is smart like kaka and can play AM, but Kaka was another level, he had more milan grinta when he needed it and kaka was also lightning fast and he seemed to get faster with the ball than without it. cdk is not slow, but he’s no speed demon like kaka was. different players so stop the comparison please.
I hope Milan give him some time to adapt well then we will get the best out of him
CDK is a raw talents but he has been wary of the competition for the spot of AMF, he only needs to calm down and play his normal game and forget about scoring goals for now.
Yeah yeah yeah, time to adapt blah blah blah. And later on you will said, this guys is good for only half season. Typical commentators in this comment section.