Tuesday night brought the first win of AC Milan’s Champions League campaign, but with it also came some excellent signs from Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write that Okafor and Chukwueze ‘are no longer simple extras’ and that with time, they can take on a leading role in the new Milan. It is an ‘increasingly democratic team’, in which everyone is useful and no one indispensable.
The Swiss and the Nigerian came on in the second half for Rafael Leao and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Paulo Fonseca explained it to Sky without beating around the bush. “There is no problem with Leao. I didn’t take him off as a punishment. At that moment I needed Okafor and Chukwueze. It’s something that should be seen as normal.”
The first key word comes from those comments: in the Portuguese coach’s mind there are no untouchable players and the philosophy is simple, in the sense that whoever is better in that moment will play. Whoever can make a contribution during the game, comes on as needed.
The consequence is that in this start of the season his Milan has distanced itself step by step from what in recent years had seemed like a postulate. For this reason, it could become normal to see Leao out of the starting line-up and perhaps on the bench for the entire match, as happened against Udinese.
The second key to understanding Fonseca’s thinking touched on the speed of play needed: “We started without intensity, with ball circulation too slow. When Okafor and Chukwueze came in, however, the game changed. They brought more energy.”
Energy is also the term repeated by Chukwueze after the game: “We try to get on the pitch, give our contribution. Okafor and I managed to give the team extra energy. It’s a good moment, after a difficult start.”
Since August the former Villarreal man has 10 appearances, enlivened by the goal and assist of the last week. However, he remains on three starts and a total of 312 minutes on the pitch after a difficult debut season at the club, so a more consistent use must be the target.
It is a similar story for Okafor, who became an impact man under Stefano Pioli and has 301 minutes so far (split across nine games, with one goal and one assist), but he has always been a valid option in Fonseca’s head.
During the break he used the lack of a call-up from Switzerland to work at Milanello and create an opportunity against Udinese. The first three points in the Champions League came thanks to a burst of speed on the wing, a message to Fonseca after the rumours of a potential sale for both.
Midfield needs upgrades… so does ST
Literally add Frendrup (Genoa crisis can help seal a 20M deal), Ricci (is expensive but needs to be done), and ST profile the coach will know but my favorite would have been Joao Pedro (Watford owner is a Milanista and he said he would have sold him to us on 20M, before going to Brighton)
Sell Bennacer, Jovic, RLC
Terminate/sell Florenzi, Origi, Ballo-Toure
We spent over 100m on the midfield and therefore it is fine /sarc
Heroes this week fools the next. Rinse and repeat based on if we win or draw/lose..
No stopping the media machine
Honestly Acmilan have a distance to cover but is possible to cover it through our players but not on players like Loftus cheek and tomori they are not matured at all. But as for leao he can still improve
It’s not that Okafor and Chukwueze are becoming so great, it’s more like we got away with playing against teams way weaker than us.
Okafor is inconsistent, his finishing is subpar, sometimes he stuggles as a left winger, some other times as a striker and unfortunately for us Leao isn’t that much better than him in some of these aspects.
Chukwueze only knows how to play with his right foot.
Until I see consistent performances from them against decent teams, We’ll just have to admit that this season, only Pulisic is reliable.
Agree in a way. Ironically i think Okafor is a bigger threat to Leao than Chuk to Puli. Leao is clearly the more talented and more polished product. But, i keep thinking just like Neymar or many Brazilians, Talent will only get you so far. His work ethic and attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Okafor is talented, perhaps not as much, but his work ethic and energy are outstanding. He has been unfortunate that as soon as he gets going a bit, he gets injured. The real question is, will he continue to improve fast enough to pose a threat or will Leao understand he’s a leader and should change his attitude? . Which one is easier to change, who will do it faster? that i think is the question.
The problem is the root of the team.
For years this team played under pioli with only one strategy: send the ball to the left and let’s hope theo and leao do miracle, maybe with some help from giroud’s touch too.
I thought last season milan would be more balance with puli and chuk on the right, but then again, back to pioli’s one and only strategy.
Maybe that’s what fonseca wants to fix.
There’s nothing like the Swiss and Nigerian, rather the two Igbo boys from Nigeria.