AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli is expected to reverse a previous trend and put a lot of faith in the summer signings from game one, a report claims.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write how Christian Pulisic has already played more minutes in preseason alone than Aster Vranckx did in the entirety of last season.
Then there are Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tijjani Reijnders, the duo who seem to have established themselves as two starters in the midfield from mid-July onwards.
Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor arrived later but are impatient and can’t wait to get into the starting line-up themselves.
Milan are revolutionised and this seems to have rewritten Pioli’s previous rules when it comes to integration time. The coach used to require all new additions to have a period of adaptation, slowly being introduced to the team when they learned more about the mechanisms.
In the last three seasons, seeing a new signing regularly in the starting XI in their first season with the Rossoneri was a rarity. From 2020 onwards, only Fikayo Tomori and Olivier Giroud were deployed from the 1st minute for at least 50% of the season’s games.
The likes of Sandro Tonali, Brahim Diaz, Jens Petter Hauge, Fode Ballo-Toure and more recently Aster Vranckx, Sergino Dest, Charles De Ketelaere and Yacine Adli all struggled for regular minutes.
Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek will form the midfield trio with Rade Krunic to whom Pioli will entrust the heart of the new Milan, given the Bosnian will operate in a slightly deeper role.
Why the change in strategy? Simply put, Pioli was more involved in the transfer strategies than he has been in the past, and logically he is much more convinced of the players he started coaching this summer.
Pioli believes these these are the right players and there is be no need to evaluate them for too long. Instead the mission is to create the right alchemy with those who were already in the team.
To be fair, with Tonali gone and Bennacer injured, I don’t know what to say if RLC and Reijnders aren’t starting lol.
Pulisic is going to be tricky. Where would he slot in? If we’re playing 4-3-3, he might be forced into RW, but then what about Chuk? Play 4-2-3-1 to accomodate Chuk and Pulisic as AMC, then what about the midfield?
Gonna be interesing how this concoction would turn up.
If pulisic play in the middle, rlc must be more defensive.
with pulisic as amc, and okafor as cf, chuck – leao on both sides, the attack dept will be so fast and scary.
Hav no idea how we react for fast counter attack tho
No , i think yunus – krunic – reijnders are trio midfield if 433 . In 4231 double pivot reijnders – yunus. But i prefer 433 because that can maxed the potential rlc ,pobega ,adili but thats sacrifice saladmaker because pulisic ,romero ,samuel compete for RW and no room for salad anymore
What about Romero? He’s LW backup now?
Pioli thinks Romero is faaaaaar too young to be a footballer, so he’s locked him in a cupboard and he’s just hoping we all forget about him.
Exactly. Romero would be lucky to play 500 minutes all season under Pioli.
Romero are AMF & RW position not LW. For LW we have leao ,okafor ,chaka traore
vjerovat če pojačanjima !!! Pa koga stavit ako ne njih ? GLUPI NOVINARI
Not trying to cause a stir but does that mean there was some elements of truth about tensions between pioli and maldini.. based on the fact that it is written here, he is more convinced about the new arrivals and was more involved in the transfer decisions.
We.
Will.
See.
Now, I personally hope he does.
Wonder what the odds are on Pioli making his first sub around the 80 minute mark
“Why the change in strategy? Simply put, Pioli was more involved in the transfer strategies than he has been in the past, and logically he is much more convinced of the players he started coaching this summer.”
False narrative.
Pioli has no one else to play in midfield. Tonali is gone. Bennacer is out injured.
He has only Krunic and he’s a guaranteed starter.
For the RW, Messias is gone and Pioli is going to use Saelemaekers as RB, or sell him if an offers comes.
Besides, he has to please his boss and play Pulisic. Yes, he is better than Saelemaekers, but Milan also signed Chukwueze for the RW.
Lol.. I mean what option does Pioli really have?
You guys must realize that the season is long, potentially we have 50-60 matches next season.
38 serie A
7 CL group stage, followed by home-away matches of 4 round of CL knock out, plus final
4 round of Coppa Italia
He will find time for Pulisic, Okafor and other players.
Chukwueze and Leao will be main players, but no one (attacking players) play every games in a season from start. Not even Ronaldo and Messi.
Imo Pulisic will easily play 2000 minutes next season.
Remains to be seen how many dimensions Pioli has to his skillset and whether he can get the best out of his new look team