AC Milan failed to score for the first time this season during last night’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle United at San Siro, and some changes could now come in attack.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall that Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud were two of the more disappointing notes from the game. The Portuguese winger missed a big chance to score by going for a backheel, while the latter looked a bit off the pace throughout.
Having signed Samuel Chukwueze, Noah Okafor and Luka Jovic in the summer window, it might be time for some changes when Hellas Verona visit on Saturday afternoon.
Three out of four have not yet made an impact and some doubts remain about the choices, but there must be opportunities for those players in order to prove or disprove them.
Giroud could rest for the first time and it is likely that Pioli – before making a decision on Leao – will want to look him in the eyes to see if he needs a rest mentally and physically.
Time to properly assess the bench. Throw in Okafor, Jovic and Chukwueze up front – they need to develop chemistry playing together. Reijnders, Krunic and Musah in the middle. FLorenzi (sadly) on the RW although he didn’t do too bad against NUFC. Maybe Pellegrino can get a shot?
Sportiello
FLorenzi/Thiaw(pellegrino)/Tomori/Theo
Musah/Krunic/Reijnders
Chuk/Jovic/Okafor
I would like to see Reijnders at the base of three with Musah and Pobega at the sides…. And don’t forget Luka Romero, he is an asset that we need to start exploding in the attack
Sporty
Flo, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo (need to keep some consistency in the back to protect the experimenting up front – Pellegrino or Kalulu to come in at the 60 )
Pobega/Krunic/Reijinders (Musah for Reijinders at the 60)
Puli (consistency/leadership)/Jovic/Okay (Chuk to come in on the 60 for Puli or Okay as needed)
That is 3 changes from Newcastle. We have Cagliari mid week to burn this in and make one more if we like. Now our talent starts to become the depth that teams like Inter, Man City and Bayern show.
We need to not be scared and rotate. Leao was CRAP in the Newcastle game because he chose to be. Someone needs to bench him and tell him to play like a man for his team instead of for himself. Ibra was right, he is one stubborn player to crack. Has some intelligence but thinks he is better than the simple things.
Ibra is not the best one to say that isn’t it ? lol the selfish one that want to do it alone when everything is burning
I still haven’t seen Theo replacement or are they waiting for Theo to get injured before giving him some playing time?
We should see minutes for Bartesagi
With this season’s bench, we can afford rotation with more confidence than last season. But like in the Newcastle game, planned targeted rotations of 2 to 3 players at a time, will be the way to go.
Florenzi getting a start, and Pellegrino perhaps coming in for Theo, as a fully defensive LB at some point in the game (so as to gradually introduce him to our game and not disrupt the chemistry of the backline) for the defence.
Musah into the midfield.
And the trio of Pulisic LW, Okafor CF, Chukueze RW up front.