Despite the fact that mass rotation is expected for today’s game against Sassuolo, Rafael Leao is still expected to get the nod and it will be interesting to see how he performs after Thursday night.
Leao left the field to jeers on Thursday after a poor performance, though they might have been for the decision to bring him off, so the Portuguese winger will look to get back into his groove again today against Sassuolo.
Stefano Pioli will choose to rotate in many areas of the pitch but he will stick with Leao who, perhaps rather surprisingly, should still be deployed on the left wing. Ruben Loftus-Cheek should also be on the pitch with him, behind the striker.
The three goals and two assists served in the previous four games suggested Leao was in electric form heading into the Roma game, but instead he struggled with being double teamed and was anonymous for virtually the entire game.
The doubt that hovered at the time of the substitution still remains valid, because Leao is one of the few players Milan have that is capable of very quickly turning a game around, and that is why some of the discontent was towards Pioli.
His detractors accuse him of having too little impact in the games that count, given his numbers in normal games versus the top-level matches, yet there is also a strong argument that there are only one or two sides in Europe that the winger wouldn’t start for.
We need to carefully observe the turn that events will take between now and the end of the season, the paper states, and that begins with today’s game against relegation-battling Sassuolo.
I think Chuck will be the best options against Roma.. while they double up on Leao, Chuck will have space to dribble and they will no longer be able to double up on Leao…
Solution is moving the ball fast. You don’t need to dribble into tight spaces when the chances of success are low. One touch quick passes have more chances of unlocking defenses. ,give-and-go, give-and-go, gives-and-go, I mean like a lot of it in the final half, with attacking players (not fullbacks) aften dropping off and occasionally interchanging positions to free off from markers. That’s how you basically disorganize opponents. Chuc, Simic, Leao, Musah and even Mirante can make a quick pass!
You are right. Having Leao and Chukwueze on the wings together will give Roma defense a lot to think about because they will be stretched while tying to cover up.
It will even be more balanced if Reijnder gives support to Leao and Theo on the left wing while Loftus Cheek drift to the right to support Chukwueze and Calabria on the right wing.
The likes of Tomori, Thiaw and Adli should avoid joining the attack to prevent counter attack from Roma.
4–2–3–1 formation
—————Maignan————–
Calabria–Thiaw—Tomori—Theo
———Adli———Reijnder———
Chukwu—–Loftus——Leao
—————Giroud————
I know Giroud really fumbled in the last game, but he is still the man for the big moment. If things are getting difficult, Jovic should be introduced around 60 minutes to partner Giroud and Florenzi should replace Calabria so we can put in more crosses to the box 6.
Roma will try to defend deep but having two central strikers will give us a better chance. Once we are ahead, we can sub Giroud for another important player based on the game.
You fail to realise what Puli brings to our attack.
I would rather he replaces RLC in the AM position than sit him on the bench.
Benching our most effective offensive player from the first leg doesn’t make much sense to me. I’d bring in Adli and Tomori as changes and save Chuk for a 60th minute substitution if we’re still chasing the game. His dribbling at players works much better when he’s fresh and the defense is tired.