Stefano Pioli made the decision to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 formation for the game against Paris Saint-Germain in the most difficult moment of the season, and it was a mode that paid off.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write how Pioli didn’t invent anything new against PSG. He understood that his trademark – the formation that led him to the first trophy of his career with the 2021-22 Scudetto – would be the tactical key to compete with Luis Enrique’s side.
The result was a perfect mix between past and present, which now also speaks to the future: Leao and Giroud returned to scoring, Theo started pushing again like in his golden days, the midfield impressed.
Each had different tasks from those at the beginning of the season, all comfortable with the new clothes on: Reijnders split himself between coverage and construction, like Bennacer, Musah growled like Gattuso and Loftus-Cheek revealed to everyone that he can be an attacking midfielder if needed.
With the 4-2-3-1 he overcame PSG in less than an hour, with the same formation he wants to use to make up ground on Inter, and it is ‘Mission Possible’ with Loftus-Cheek in this kind of form. The Englishman has never seemed as comfortable as he is in his new position.
After all, he also said it: “The closer I play to goal, the happier I am.” Pioli worked on it in the preseason (the former Chelsea player played as a No.10 during the USA tour), then he changed to 4-3-3 to also take advantage of Reijnders’ characteristics, but RLC sent him signals at every opportunity.
When he had license as an attacking midfielder (against Roma, for example) he made the difference and often showed up in areas where he can make a difference. Pioli also expects goals from him and so far he has one against Cagliari.
“I scored 10 with Sarri at Chelsea, but that year I only became a starter at the end of the season. With Milan I can go further,” Loftus-Cheek said. Against Lecce, Milan will be hunting for a victory that has been missing in Serie A for a month, and he will be the cornerstone of the new formula.
Lightbulb moment.. Ruben as ST. Cant get closer to goal than ST
Different strokes for different folks. 4231 worked against PSG. It’s up to the coach to figure out if it would work against Lecce or do you revert to the 433. It seemed to work well against lower teams early on in the season
Anyone need reminding that with Ruben starting, Milan have won every single match against every low-block team they’ve faced.