Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez has been a decisive combination many times for AC Milan, and they each need to be at their best to secure a win against Atalanta tomorrow.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write that Giroud and Theo ‘have some things to make up for’. The striker has had a tough time recently, starting with the winning goal against PSG, continuing with the red card during the frantic finale in Lecce that earned him a two-game ban, then most recently a missed penalty against Borussia Dortmund followed by an anonymous performance.
However, Milan took home six points in the two league games that he missed, Luka Jovic showed signs of life and Giroud caught his breath a bit, which is not trivial given the intensive use that he has been subject to.
In addition to that, against Dortmund he made a mistake that he usually doesn’t make given that he is normally a certainty to score from the spot, so to hold that against him is tough. It is possible though that recent events have ‘psychologically battered’ the 37-year-old.
He will be back in the line-up tomorrow with an extra incentive given Atalanta are the only big Italian team against whom he hasn’t scored yet. The Gewiss Stadium will be intense, but Giroud performs very well on the road as five of his seven goals scored were away from San Siro.
For Hernandez, however, it is a different story. Milan have partially changed the tactically this season, with the switch to a 4-3-3, and Theo often appeared uncertain in the way he positioned himself on the pitch.
He has been a distant relative of the bullet train observed and admired for example – just to stay on the Atalanta theme – in May 2022 with the wonderful end-to-end run and finish that sanctified Milan’s Scudetto win.
This year Theo appears less enterprising on a tactical level and decidedly less carefree on a character level. When he scored the penalty against Fiorentina it was an unsmiling celebration. There are those who claim he is an inconsolable ‘orphan’ of Paolo Maldini’s exit, and those who explain that Theo no longer recognises himself in this way of playing.
Against Frosinone the defensive emergency called him to act as a central defender, in a four-man defence, when at most he had been on the left of a three-man defence. He did more than well, apart from the mistake on Brescianini’s free kick.
At the end of the match, Pioli revealed an interesting and important background: “The idea came from him, it was he who told me that if there was a need he was available. He played a great match and showed a great desire to help the team team in a delicate moment.”
Theo will start again from that, and the season still has plenty of time to take off. Also because in Bergamo, on Saturday afternoon, he will play in the middle again.
