AC Milan were left to rue what might have been as they were unable to win at home for the second game in a row, following up the shock 2-1 defeat to Spezia by drawing 0-0 against Juventus.
MilanNews describes last night’s game as a ‘dull draw on a disastrous turf’ which would be hard to argue, and while the quality of the pitch certainly influenced the quality of the attacking moves, it would be wrong to ignore that some of the previous defects of this squad have reappeared.
The numbers show that Milan have scored 47 goals in 23 league games at an average of 2.04 goals per match, while Inter are ahead of the Rossoneri, with 53 goals in 22 games. The criticism is rebuffed clearly by the facts, but it is still true that there is room for improvement.
For example, Milan do seem to struggle against opponents who adopt a more prudent defensive style, such as Spezia and Juventus in the last two games. Ibrahimovic, Leao, Diaz and Messias are all very skilled players with the ball at their feet, but they do not get in behind enough aside from Leao, who is often relied upon to go wide and drop in short to receive the ball to dribble.
The return of Ante Rebic is key because he can occupy multiple roles on the attacking front and trying him as a striker again may result in some more fluid play. Then there is Giroud, who occasionally takes up good positions and is always a threat from crosses, but has also missed chances himself and struggles with hold-up play. In short, there are some problems to fix.
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Rebic was fantastic for his pressing and counter attacking at the start of the year. Maybe teams have wisened to this threat but personally I think he’d be worth trying there again. Only playing one if Leao and Rebic is a waste; try him on the other wing if not
Play Rebic on the right, Bennacer as AM