Massimiliano Allegri designated Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic as his first choice front two, and yet the pair haven’t clicked.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, there are only 12 games to go in the Serie A season and yet Leao and Pulisic need more time form a strike partnership worthy of their potential, at least based on the sample size so far.
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Allegri made them his front two as he considered the duo capable of breaking down any defence, facilitating their team-mates’ runs, scoring goals while also creating others. The reality is that they’ve worked practically alone.
Despite a 2026 season where they’re failing to get going – Leao has only scored two goals against Cagliari and Genoa in early January, while Pulisic has yet to score – their seasonal scoring numbers are certainly not bad.
Why it isn’t working
Much of this is undoubtedly due to various physical issues. Often, when one was present, the other was absent, and vice versa. In recent weeks, both have suffered: Rafa has been struggling with a groin pain that began slowly and never fully resolved, while for Pulisic it’s been a season of one problem after another.
Since the summer, he’s been struggling with a painful ankle, followed by a hamstring injury and bursitis, the most recent problem on the list. So, the designated pair have only been able to share the pitch on a few occasions.
The match against Parma was only the fourth league game in which the two have started together. The feeling has remained unchanged: they’re driven to focus on individual play rather than linking up together.
Looking at the chances last night, Pulisic was denied by Corvi from a Saelemaekers square pass, while he spurned another chance that Rabiot set him up for. Leao hit the inside of the post, but that too was from a Rabiot cross.
The overall numbers are still on their side: both are on eight goals in the league. Christian averages a goal every 112 minutes, while Rafa has already matched his total for the entirety of last season, but the duo are designed to work together. Especially in matches like the one against Parma.
Renew Rafa ♥️🖤
Yes, and then sell Pulisic.
So you want to go back to finishing 8th, eh?
We were 8th WITH pulisic last season in case u forgot
And we’d be again next season without him in case you don’t understand football.
Big problem yesterday was salad maker. Often both leao and pulisic tho mostly puli got into great positions and salad just refused to make the right choice and tried to do too much by himself. Everyone looks high strung and aren’t playing relaxed. We should be careful about making emotional decisions with the squad until the dust settles.
So you probably missed 3 amazing defense-splitting passes by Saelemaekers… 🤷♂️
imho, assuming both Rafa and Pulisic are both healthy at some point, a 3-4-3 with Fullkrug at the 9 is the best formation to maximize their talents. Rafa is a winger, not a withdrawn or target striker. You could conceivably put Pulisic as a CAM but both Puli and Rafa need a target forward alongside them.
The back three will remain the rotation of Gabbia, Pavlo, Tomori and the rapidly ascending de Winter who is going to help the defense’s fitness dramatically.
Where a 3-4-3 is challenging is that Milan will lose a central midfielder. Bartesaghi (who isn’t reliable enough on the backline) and Salemaekers are solid wings, but Sale will need to play more centrally at times as we’ll only have 2 of Modric, Rabiot (the best starting combo), Fofana, Jashari and Ricci at any given time. A very deep midfield but I worry we’ll have less possession.
Will this formation help break down a bunkered in defense better than a 3-5-2 with Leao-Puli up front? Hopefully yes, because that’s what the Rossoneri are going to see the rest of the year.
Funny how the formation wasn’t an issue while Pulisic was playing good at the beginning of the season. Now it is, because the narrative is “Allegri bad, American man good”. And that’s coming from someone who has often claimed Pulisic is our most helpful attacking player ever since he came from Chelsea. One has to be objective, though. He squandered a penalty against Juventus and missed golden chances vs Parma (both games) & Fiorentina, how is all that Allegri’s fault and do you realize how many points these incidents have cost us? Thanking him for our last two seasons instead of looking at the reality nowadays takes us back to Theo Hernandez territory. Pulisic obviously suffers from constant physical issues all season long that have greatly damaged his form and confidence. Same goes for Leao. They’re not 100% fit. You can’t judge if a tactical idea is good or not when the players aren’t physically capable of producing their real quality. They may turn out a not so good pairing, but that doesn’t mean they are suitable for 3-5-2 at all, since they’ve put good numbers with all things considered. Also, Puli is doing pretty well when paired with an actual striker like Santi or Fullkrug. I don’t really see his role being all that different than under Fonseca/Sergio. Even when he was supposedly playing as a winger in 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, he was free to roam the whole final third, often displaying skills, usually associated with an offensive midfielder. It seems to be that Allegri pretty much wants the same from him. Pay attention to the players’ actual tasks and movement within the game, instead of blindly discussing theoretical formation setups.
“Also, Puli is doing pretty well when paired with an actual striker like Santi or Fullkrug. ”
Well, this IS the issue.
Either Pulišić or Leão are natural wingers and operate better when paird with an actual striker rather than each other or Nkunku.
But Allegri seems to insist to try these pairings that are clearly not working for either player (Leão-Nkunku & Leão-Pulišić) instead of trusting Füllkrug a bit more.
Well, that’s why I wrote – they may not turn out (Leao-Pulisic) to be a good pairing, but they are perfectly capable of producing decent numbers with Santi/Fullkrug up front. If the fans’ big issue is that one of them has to sit on the bench, then I am sorry, but 3-5-2 seems to benefit most of our other players. Isn’t that the priority, instead of keeping the star players happy no matter what? Not to mention there will be plenty of games next season and everyone will have a decent amount of chances.
As to why Allegri didn’t field a Pulisic/Rafa – Fullkrug duo yesterday, my best guess is that he doesn’t see the latter as a starter. It may have something to do with that minor injury he chose to play with after Fiorentina, or maybe he wanted more mobility to potentially drag players out of position in Parma’s ultra defensive low-block. Sadly, it didn’t work out.
Its not Leao or Pulisic ! Its the coach ! WRONG FORMATION /SETUP ! LEAO & PULI PLAY OUTSIDE WITH A #9 just like some of you have purposed including Kush.
“You can’t judge if a tactical idea is good or not when the players aren’t physically capable of producing their real quality.”
LOL. When you choose to play unfit players it’s 100% a tactical fault.
“Also, Puli is doing pretty well when paired with an actual striker like Santi or Fullkrug. ”
EXACTLY! He does well when he’s playing with AN ACTUAL STRIKER – something that Leao clearly isn’t.
The attack isn’t working because besides the fitness issue, there’s a missing focal point up front for both Leao and Puli to exploit.
Allegri for all his defensive merits only reverts to a 3 man front when he’s chasing a result. Last night, Parma hardly threatened our goal, yet Max/Landucci didn’t introduce a third attacker until the 85th minute. That’s nuts. They sat back the whole game and packed the box, yet when Fulhrug came on it was for Pulisic, not to help Pulisic. We often struggle to break the low block but Max stays set in his ways … i don’t get it.
This. 100%.
The problem is Leao cannot play as a number 9. He is an excellent winger. Pulisic is also a winger naturally but he can put in a shift as a CAM or SS if need be. They both have no reference point to latch on, nobody to receive the ball, pin it down, and lay it off to them. They can attack spaces all they want but the ball coming from the wingbacks afar will not cut it. Too easy to read and shut down.
Its almost like those 2 up top has NEVER WORKED. I cant understand why hes so stubborn he keeps trying to force this when we all know it will fail. Neither is a striker, neither can play that role. We literally have a #9 on the team but he refuses to use him despite our link up play immediately improving when hes in. Weve imrpoved yes but make no mistake, Allegris stubborn nonsense is what let Inter win the title this year
Alexis has seen his form dip dramatically the mast months or so. Earlier in the season Pulisic was not paired w Leao. When Leao has done well he was paired w another. Asking Pulisic and Rafa to play in 3-5-2 trying to get on crosses into the box is not making use of their best skills. Get them running into space w the ball or feeding them the ball while making their run will unlock each of them more. But Alexis is not in great form either and he and Davide are key to getting the ball to the front 2.