AC Milan did not manage to win any of their preseason friendlies in the United States but midfielder Tijjani Reijnders was among the brighter notes.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how Reijnders was asked what his goal for the season was, and he looked the interviewer straight in the eye before answering: “We want to win the Scudetto.”
There were some question marks about his best role upon arriving at the club from AZ Alkmaar, and he answered that too: “The thing I do best is being a box to box player, effective defensively and in the other half of the pitch.”
He is an all-rounder in the midfield. Last year Reijnders played 54 out of 54 matches, leading AZ to the semi-finals of the Conference League thanks to his goals and his creativity.
Compared to Sandro Tonali or Brahim Diaz he’s a different player, more functional in a 4-3-3 with his late runs into the box, his work rate and his quality. The 25-year-old finished last season with 12 assists, 7 goals chances and a pretty good average of interceptions (at least two per game).
He created more chances than Brahim (15-13) and shot on goal at least 3 times per game (against Diaz’s 1.2). Not counting 91% of successful passes in 4800′ played.
The comparison with Tonali is curious: Reijnders shoots and dribbles much more (2.1 shots per game against 0.9). Against Juve in Carson he touched the ball 47 times and only Tomori had more.
Reijnders always wants the ball and he’s not afraid, while he has already understood how Milan play and the next step is to start contributing.
We saw this coming. It was through the Management that I got to know of him. The only chance I had to see him play was in a YouTube video not full match. Great work by the M&F .
This guy is going to play all of our matches trust me. He is link from defence to attack. Forza Tijjani
Forget these stats, I’m not saying he is not a good player but you can’t be comparing stats between eredivisie and Seria A. Now that he is in Seria A, we will see if the stays are thesame and pray that he plays all our matches, cos to give injury is not hard in Italy oo and you trust our Milan lab and it’s issues
I love his late runs into the box and he is very quick at turning defence into attack and these are the attributes that make him ideal for us with our wingers as well prompting our management to get him.
Yes stats can be manipulated and yes there is a difference between seria a and erwdivise but if it was all based on that then no one would buy players lesser leagues.
This guy is a very good technically gifted player who should thrive in seria a
He’s not talented enough at the top level. Maybe he will become one, probably not, but he’s not now. Facts.
Ok Dave. He’s more talented than Tonali. Better dribbler, better passer, more creative. He’s an upgrade. Facts.
He is an upgrade guys, forget injuries and wish him well. He has already proven himself in the pre-season matches. His qualities were some of the missing pieces we needed last season when we have to force Banercer to play in roles he wasn’t that familiar. forget about comparing eredivisie to seria A, the boy is already mature and will fit in. Forza Tijjani
All of our signings have something that’s different than each other and Tonali and Bennacer for that matter. So this is why I’d say what’s coming from the midfield is rather unknown, it could go great or not so great. There’s less familiarity there compared to last year.
But deers is closer to Bennacer than Tonali. Deer was the “best of the rest” ie best outside of the top 5 leagues so should be a good calculated risk but you can’t compare him Tonali who is more steely in midfield and has higher work rate and in a vastly superior league