The importance of Tijjani Reijnders to AC Milan can be seen in the fact that he is an undroppable part of the starting line-up, and last night showed that he can add goals to his game.
As MilanNews write, since Reijnders’ arrival at Milan, he has played 61 out of the 63 games available in Serie A, the Champions League, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia. Both Stefano Pioli and now Paulo Fonseca consider him to be at the centre of their plans.
Against Club Brugge the Dutchman scored his first brace with Milan, his first goals in the Champions League. For the type of midfielder he is, gifted with great progression with the ball at his feet as well as fine and calculated timing in his insertions, last year he was accused of a bit of a lack of composure in front of goal.
As proof of this, we can underline that the two goals against Club Brugge already represent half of the tally achieved last season, which was goals. It should also be noted that last year in situations very similar to those of yesterday’s two goals, Reijnders wasted opportunities either due to a lack of conviction or precision.
Beyond the improvement in finishing – which could be a significant plus for Milan – Reijnders’ general performance is growing game after game. This is also due to how he is being used by Fonseca, probably inspired by his position with the Dutch national team.
Yesterday, for example, the 26-year-old played as a mezzala (a box-to-box player) with Youssouf Fofana deeper and Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the other side. This would be his natural role, and it is perhaps for the first time since he has been with the Rossoneri that he has been used there.
This role allows him to play between the opposition lines, finding spaces with less stringent and binding defensive duties, which also tire him out less than when he is deployed in a two-man midfield with Fofana.
I’ve always maintained Reijnders is the most creative mid we have. No wonder that when Loftus-Cheek came off The Dutchman scored two. Because the Englishman has been getting in his way and occupying his space for 60mns.
This is also a problem when Fonseca fields two strikers, one behind the other one and Morata or whoever dropping deeper to create passing lanes and occupying TJ’s space.
Just how I see it.
If we had a proper balanced 433 we’d see more of this from our mezzalas. Lord ruben included.
You think Fofana can play as a 6 in a 4-3-3 ?
nope. he’s a b2b at best. we need to use his strengths now that he is here. and staying back isnt it.
“I’ve always maintained Reijnders is the most creative mid we have.”
Currently he is the ONLY midfielder we have who has something close to creativity.
This. Our most creative player is playing for Viola these days.
Only because the only other creative mid we have decided to get himself injured just 30 days into the current season.
Honestly we should’ve sold him in the Summer and kept Adli or something.
No I agree – once Cheeky went off (who I don’t hate btw like a lot of fans on here) Reijnders’s positioning could kick into gear and find himself in the right place at the right time for the two goals. But what do I know? “Reijnders is nothing special….”
wrong, pulisic moved from right to mid as trequa with chuku on the right, reij beside fofa was then the winning formula , even rafa could manage to find someone with a cross i believe
That’s because Pulisic has synergy with players around him while Loftus simply occupies space and contributes zero. Puli can play anywhere and contribute.
It’s because Ruben excels at bursting forward and using his size and speed. I don’t think RLC is the problem. He’s a good player but he hasn’t had consistency this year. I think the team is slowly clicking together and I think we will see a lot of improvement with players like we are seeing with Chuk and Ok4.
Here we go again with the hype: Okafor being crucial, Reijnders being complete,… gimme a break
Dude scored against Brugge, BRUGGE when they were down to 10 men and now we already back with those articles…
Yes, best midfielder on the planet because he scored 2 goals against a bad team with 10 men. Against Fiorentina and Bayer he was almost invisible.
And Liverpool, better not to mention how good he was against top players.
I like Reijnders but he scored against a 10 man Brugge team that was wore out. I would love to see him repeat but not going to get my hopes up.
Put him in a right position and he will deliver… Oh and a 10 man Serie B level team.
“Reijnders doesn’t score enough”
-Brace
“Oh but its against a sh*t team”
…
Correction: sh!t team AND a man down 🤣🤣🤣
gotta start somewhere…
It isn’t a start, his good games came against teams Milan should beat 5-0. Why doesn’t he play like that against Liverpool, or Inter? Or any other top half team in Italy. Because he can’t. When you face better players you show your worth or don’t. And he doesn’t deliver in those situations. Top players mostly don’t care who is against them.
Look, I do want him to score, and I’d be happy to see him scoring and assisting more often but I’m tired of these articles popping up each time one of our player gets ONE thing right against half decent teams.
I can guarantee he’s not going to show up against Napoli and Real. The real question is why do we all know this
He’s one of our best mids but these sites sensationalize every thing to the max. We hope he can show up against teams all season long because he works hard but is missing that final judgement. That last minute killer instinct for the pass or the shot.
Reijnders is hyped on SM since his arrival. Remember his « crucial » lateral pass during the Euro, or his « meteoric rise » haha
Or even when SM apologized in his ratings for giving him a poor grade when he was atrocious. Or not rating him at all when he received a red card…
Yep and then said nothing about being hooked by half time in the crucial Germany game but noted Pulisic and others played in their games. So sketch! Dude was RLC-level of invisible against Germany but u won’t hear it from here. The hype is real.
Haha bro you’re erupting today. Usually when Reijnders is average and invisible or when he receives a red card like a rookie you’re not here. You know that even Gourcuff, Flamini or Biglia had good games sometimes? But I guess in these times of mediocrity 2 good performances out of 10 games is the best we can ask for.
If they were so bad, Leao should have scored hatrick, but he cant control his feet and arrogance.
I am pretty critical of Leao but that’s not how football works lol. The guy is struggling to do what the coach is asking of him, he’s either gonna figure it out or get sold for 70 mil to an EPL team or Saudi.
Unfortunately Tijjani’s finishing is atrocious. He usually shoots the ball to the clouds or very wide. He seems to be allergic to scoring goals. So, it’s great that this time he shot two on target and scored a brace. But I won’t be excited until he does it consistently. I do hope that this brace is as sign that he is rehearsing his shooting and improving. Otherwise he is a creative midfielder, important to Milan. His defending is faulty and his shooting is horrendous but he does help the offense with his creativity. But creativity-wise I do miss Brahim Dias. There is a rumor that Milan is trying to get him back from Real but they are resisting, deeming him too important for their rotation.