Santiago Gimenez’s 30-minute stint off the bench against Roma was only meant to be a teaser of what he can do, but it would be safe to say AC Milan fans are excited.
Calciomercato.com have written a piece titled: ‘How did Gimenez’s debut go? In 31 minutes he was already everything that Morata couldn’t be’. Against Empoli, barring any surprises, he will be a starter, so last night was a sort of dress rehearsal for what is to come.
The 31 minutes that Sergio Conceiçao gave him in his baptism at San Siro, as a substitute for Tammy Abraham against Roma, were enough to understand what Gimenez can be. He did not score, but the numbers say it all.
The Mexican had one assist, one key pass, 14 touches of the ball, four successful passes and three attempted dribbles. However, he only one duel out of six on the ground and one aerial duel, losing the ball seven times.
Having shaken off the natural emotion of making his debut, waiting for a better athletic condition and a deeper understanding with his team-mates, he gave the impression of being everything that has been missing in the last six months.
He attacked the space in behind regularly, he looked for openings between the opposing central defenders, he showed boldness in his individual plays and the desire to make things happen. Paradoxically, in half an hour of Gimenez we saw a lot of what Alvaro Morata never showed.
A bigger sample size will be needed and there will be more challenging tests ahead, though the signs are good. Above all, the through balls he provided for Alex Jimenez’s offside goal and Joao Felix’s debut goal demonstrate a good starting platform.
I was also impressed with Felix. New to the team but he was the central-pivot for most passes… everything went through him and the creativity was spot on. Very meticulous and interesting passing routes….
Hope he can consistently play like that and stay after the summer as well…
I am sure these two will give new life to Leao…
Or help him pack
Pump the brakes here, it’s been only one match. Granted a good impression but let’s wait for the longer term performance
yup. Wait and see but it was a good start indeed. I am especially exited because these guys never played with each other and barely had one training session.
Felix have always been like that… A technical player who is smart on the ball
Reminds me of Rui Costa,
I became a Milan fan 2002 after watching Rui Costa on the ball for Milan (as I had been following him since Euro 2000)
I’m not a big Tammy fan but honestly I think he earned another start. How can you not start him after that performance he had? Two very quality goals, if that’s not enough to win another start I don’t know what is.
You can not start him because we just spent 35M on Gimenez and Abraham’s on a dry loan from Roma. Simple.
It was just one match. Should wait until the end of this season if he’s better than Morata and worth the money or not.
I Hope he’s not a dream in that case don’t wake me up please 🙏🏻 that was the first beautiful game I saw this years from Ac Milan hope we continue with that rhythm and beat all our opponents 🔥Forza Milan 🔥🔥❤️🫶
Fonseca level is league 1!look tomori now?was a bless to not sold him
Lol. Another one that doesn’t understand. Conceicao 1 clean sheet in 10 games. I mean I guess Pavlovic and Tomori look good running around like mad, but at some point they will be terrible out of position or make a rash challenge in the box for a penalty. The difference between Fonseca and Conceicao is effort and more goals, which I guess will be enough for more wins, which is the bottom line, but don’t expect many clean sheets.
Clean sheets don’t mean squat if you don’t win the games.
Fonseca’s last 6 matches had 4 clean sheets. But so what? His defense was solid, but they lost 9 points out of 18.
If we have to concede the occasional 1 goal each match but pick up 3 points every match, I’m actually okay with that.
There’s no need to throw Morata under the bus, he was not the only problem with the team (he should have been bought as backup not a starter for us in the first place)
He was good but… Can anyone explain to ke why he suddenly stopped after running 50 meters and lost the ball? I thought he was a starter in Eurodivision. Whats the problem with his conditions?
Yeah he’s “clunky”. He reminds me of Patrick cutrone or mattia destro. In the end it comes down to whether the rest of the team can get the ball to him or not.
He did not stop running, but lost a step and lost his rhythm and balance so could not keep up the pace. Not worried. He is not lightning fast, but not slow either.
First impression is important, we need consistency and never give up spirit, pride to wear AC Milan shirt.
Morata gave us his best and for that he should be treated with respect. This is just one game, let Gimenez be given some matches to prove himself then we can see if we can still be saying sam ethings about him now. Abraham deserves another start given his overall performance last night.
11 wins in serie a this team needs to have opportunity to catch 4 spot.
Maybe Italians will have luck If Spanish clubs leave ucl before and Italians stays later.
It doesn’t take much to improve on Morata. He’s basically Alessandro Matri.
I’m not at all convinced by Gimenez. He reminds me of Patrick Cutrone. We are going to find out soon enough if Gimenez just had a perfect situation at Feyenord or if he’s truly talented.
Pessimists everywhere. When he does well, praise him. And not wait otherwise.
AFTER ALL WE ALL WANT THE GOOD FOR THIS CLUB.