Massimiliano Allegri has all of his forwards fit and available, yet none of them seem to be able to get firing in the season finale.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the last goal scored by a Milan forward was on March 1 in the win against Cremonese, with Rafael Leao tapping in from Christopher Nkunku’s square ball on the break to make it 2-0 right at the end.
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The last goal by a striker that impacted the result was Leao against Como, on February 18th, to earn a draw. It’s not normal: great teams thrive on the goals of their strikers, but at Milan it seems that they have all disappeared.
Christian Pulisic scored every two weeks in the first half of the season and had a unique knack of being in the right place at the right time. How many goals does he have in 2026? Zero.
A chasm in attack
Milan have the fourth-best attack in the league and, more importantly, have scored 30 fewer goals than Inter. In 33 games, that’s a huge amount. In the fall, they had two strikers available, sometimes just one, but those who played helped in some way.
In mid-April, the world has turned upside down: five strikers have been fit for the last few games, none of them in good form. Pulisic hasn’t scored since the first leg against Verona, and that was December 28th of last year.
He’s now gone 15 games without a goal, one less than his career-highest goalless streak with Chelsea in 2022-23. Those who could replace him – Santiago Gimenez, Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Füllkrug – don’t have their shooting boots on nor Allegri’s confidence.
Nkunku has started only once in the last two months and hasn’t scored since Bologna-Milan, on February 3. Against Verona, he came on late, when the entire Milan team were clear on defending the lead.
He never had a shot on goal, and neither did Santiago Gimenez, who in 27 minutes managed four completed passes. As for Niclas Füllkrug, he didn’t come on: a step back after playing 180 minutes in the three matches against Torino, Napoli and Udinese.
15-point Leao
Leao, in this context, had the best Sunday and it seems paradoxical. He was booed by thousands of fans, he protested to Allegri over the substitution (again) and seemed to be a burden on the field, but he opened the door for Adrien Rabiot to score with his through ball.
This is a fairly accurate summary of his season, in which he has lacked consistency in matches but he has managed to make an impact several times with a single play. His nine goals and three assists brought Milan 15 points: not a lot, but they’re crucial.
Another statistic that will please his fans: Rafa, with his assist for Rabiot, reached 50 overall goals and assists in Serie A away from home. From 2019 to today, only he, Lukaku, Berardi, Immobile and Lautaro have achieved that.
At the start of the week, the classic question returns: who will play in attack on Sunday? Allegri was calm in Verona: “Unfortunately, seasons start one way and then change, partly due to injuries. Pulisic moved well here, Leao provided the assist. As attackers, they’re judged on the goals they score, but they must remain calm; they’ve made themselves available to the team, and that’s important.”
He’s trying to inspire confidence. Milan-Juventus is on Sunday night, and there’s little to discuss: two strikers will start. Gimenez had a chance, but in the 27 minutes plus injury time at the Bentegodi, he didn’t convince.
So, the favorites are the usual two candidates: the No.10 and No.11, Leao and Pulisic. They’re not ideal classmates, but they’ll remain close, until the end of the year possibly separates them.
Keep Pulisic and Leao and sell the rest.
agree & w/ better ST & SB we can try 343 or 433 vs weaker clubs
Mike
GILA – Gabbia – Pav
Sael – Rabiot – Modric – THEO
Puli – OSI/ VLA – Leao
3-4-2-1
GILA – Kim min Jae – Pav
Alexander Arnold – Rabiot – Modric – Udogie
Puli –Bernando Silva(Xavi Simons)
Vlahovic
Lazy Theo ain’t coming back.
Allegri doesn’t work with players who don’t listen to instructions. Look at how Musah was shipped off after a friendly match.
This is exactly how Chiesa’s career got derailed. Allegri basically plays a 5 in the back system. With fullbacks not wing backs. And while it does a decent job keeping goals out it is terrible for offense.
How many counters did you see either Rafa or Pulisic with the ball at their feet marked by two guys, while the other tried to run off the ball….also marked by 2 guys!!!
What is any attacking player supposed to do?
Chiesa’s career was derailed because he’s a cripple. Allegri had nothing to do with it.
3-4-2-1
GILA – Kim min Jae – Pav
Carvajal – Rabiot – Modric – Udogie
Puli –Bernando Silva(Xavi Simons)
Vlahovic
I mean what do people expect from allegri-ball?
All he wants is a lucky narrow 1-0 win every single game.
What Allegri wants is zero conceded goals and that’s it. If we happen to score and win, it’s only an added bonus to him.
All of these players have contracts that expire in 2027. All Serie A proven. A crack centre forward would still be needed, but this would go a long way to rebuilding the attack.
LW. Lauriente. Sassuolo. 27. 5 goals & 8 assists. €15 million
FW. Zaniolo. Genoa. 26. 5 goals & 6 assists. €15 million
FW. Keinan Davis, Udinese. 28. 10 goals & 3 assists. €15 million
RW. Orsolini. Bologna. 28. 8 goals & 1 assist. €15 million
But that’s assuming the problem is with the individual players and not the system or their compatibility. I don’t think you’d plug any of those (apart from Zaniolo and Davis maybe) into our setup and watch them thrive.
I’m not blaming Allegri there either, he has done what was needed to fix our awful defence – next step is to find a cure for the lack of goals but it will take time and coaching, not just wholesale selling and buying. And it’s not just the forward two either, we’ve got really hard working wingbacks covering good distances but their collective end product has been lacking throughout the season.
Inter have a bunch more goals, but IMO our forwards would be doing a bit better if they had Di Marco putting chances on a plate instead of any of our current WBs.
Not one single or simple solution here, especially now we’ve seen how the team coped with trying 4 at the back and our CBs not really being suited.
I like some of the players but with Allegri, where would Orsolini & Lauriente play? They’d be great but I don’t see Allegri using them as wingers.
Id Rather Start Santi n Fulkrug. Try something different alegri. Put in the true strikers and the others can come in as subs with abit more energy end explosiveness. try something you have not tried alegri.
or even, nkunku n santi