Stefano Pioli has a new AC Milan side at his disposal and now they are searching for an identity that will lead them to a second star as soon as possible.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes how the first summer friendlies highlighted two problems – the defensive strength (or lack of) and the few goals scored – which creates a paradox.
On paper, this Milan team is full of attacking talent such as Rafael Leao, Samuel Chukwueze, Olivier Giroud, Noah Okafor and Christian Pulisic, while they have a defensive group that has been tested in the last couple of seasons.
These two areas should be the guarantees, while the midfield in theory is the department to be rebuilt. Instead, everything seems to be going backwards even if – this is the truth – a team is a single organism, it cannot be cut into pieces or broken down into self-sufficient departments.
What can Pioli do to give Mike Maignan more protection and to score more? Starting with the attack, Milan will play today at 18:00 CEST against Étoile du Sahel, the team that won the last Tunisian league, and tomorrow at 11:00 CEST against Novara. Both are behind closed doors.
Pioli will alternate all his players and in one of the two games he will have Samuel Chukwueze play from the start. He is the first answer, because what filters from Milanello is that everyone is impressed by his first training sessions:.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders will have to do their bit to help Chukwueze and Leao with their well-times runs and their creativity.
Then responsibility falls on Leao – who is already among the best in the world but in the final third he can grow a lot – and Giroud who is experiencing a difficult summer but should get more chances to put away.
There have also been a number of individual errors in preseason too. Fikayo Tomori was not the only culprit, and the team must act as a unit to shield the back line, include Rade Krunic who will be used in a very different way than last season.
Krunic in the new Milan is the deepest who often drops back to almost be an added defender. It changes a lot, for him and for the team: positions, choices in transition and in the defensive phase.
