Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham both arrived at AC Milan this summer, and another thing they have in common is that they each took a very short amount of time to show what they can bring.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Abraham did his medical on deadline day and signed his contract, then travelling back to Rome and coming off the bench to set up the equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Lazio 24 hours later. Morata, meanwhile, scored as a substitute in the 2-2 draw against Torino in round one.
Of course, the situation in the Rossoneri’s attacking department is decidedly particular: the dynamics of the first two games of the league – Morata’s injury plus inconsistent deputies – induced the club to quickly take cover in attack, where Alvaro is the holder starting spot and Abraham the challenger.
Studying Abraham in more depth, we can begin imagine what kind of season he could experience at Milanello. The Englishman obviously remains an unknown even at 26 (he will turn 27 in less than a month), given the injury problems he sustained at Roma.
He scored 27 goals in his first season with the Giallorossi in 2021-22 and from a tactical point of view Abraham is a different centre-forward than Morata. He is more of a penalty box striker, more of a point of destination for quality service rather than a quarterback like the Spaniard.
With Alvaro or Tammy leading the line, Milan will change their way of playing. The movements of the wingers will change and perhaps a few more long balls and a few more crosses will be allowed when Abraham is starting, given his height (6ft3) and aerial ability.
It could be particularly interesting to see them together, maybe not from the start – because Milan’s tactical base is destined to remain a formation with a single striker – but when more presence up front is needed. After all, Milan have already been behind in all three games this season.
In theory, Abraham – who was used in a 3-5-2 with Roma – could be the leader of the line with Morata performing his classic repertoire of movement work, dropping in and drifting wide to link the play. For now, though, they are competing for the same one spot.
In the spirit of Berlusconi!
– Milan should always have two striker on the field!
Play a 3-3-4
——————————-Mike—————————–
——–Pavlovic———-Tomori———–Theo———
—————Fofana—————–Bennacer———–
—————————Reijnders————————–
–Pulisic———————————————Leao—
—————–Abraham——-Morata——————
I don’t think this would be the ideal position theo would like or excell in but the formation looks nice 👍
Given 343 is in Fonzy bag of trucks and our defensive woes I wonder …
Pav – Tomo – Gabbia
Theo – Fof – Benny/Rein – Calabria
Leao – Morata/Tammy – Puli
The / is for tactical opportunities depending on opponent.
Fof balances for Theo defensively. Calabria gives us more of something like a DM when necessary.
When we need to score Morata drops to Benny slot as false 9 and Tammy leads the line.
With the likes of RLC and Musah off the bench to carry the ball situationally and Chuk/Oka4 to add fresh legs in the wings at 69 min it seems to keep us from shipping to goals a game while keeping our attack potent.
I admit I miss Salad for this as he plays both L and R with the energy to defend a lead from the front line at the moment and of games.
You have my vote for the 3-4-3.