Some good news has emerged from Tuesday’s training session at Milanello as Malick Thiaw is now back with the rest of the squad following his absence over the past few days.
As MilanNews recall, Thiaw suffered foot inflammation (plantar fasciitis) which meant that he had to be carefully monitored by the Milan medical staff last week, and he missed the game against Lecce on Saturday.
That then put him in doubt for the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Roma, especially when the German defender did an individual training session (as did Tommaso Pobega) yesterday.
Nevertheless, this morning positive news arrived from Milanello which gives us hope in view of the match at San Siro, because Thiaw has returned to full training with the rest of his team-mates.
It certainly allows Stefano Pioli to breathe a sigh of relief and have an extra choice in the first leg against Roma, a game in which Fikayo Tomori will be suspended given he reached the yellow card threshold in the second leg against Slavia in the last round.
The source adds that Matteo Gabbia is certain of a place from the first minute, and now the other starting shirt is up for grabs with Thiaw battling Simon Kjaer. Pierre Kalulu remains out with a ligament issue.
This is good news. I can’t understand all the flack Thiaw gets (apart from the couple of bigger mistakes made this season – but it’s a natural Learning Curve).
He’s a young lad in only his second season with Us. ‘Second Season Syndrome’ is very common for young players, especially defenders, who are still developing at this level.
He was, and will once more become a consistent & reliable rock, more so as he gets more seasons under his belt.
I agree completely, it’s a learning curve and ups and downs are normal.
Last season he only got drafted in to action after Christmas and was outstanding in CL and league, especially given his complete lack of experience.
Also he had more cover from midfield last year, so he like our overall defense has been very exposed this season
There is difference between making a mistake and doing it on purpose.
Unfortunately, those penalties and red card were not mistake by Thiaw. He knew what he was doing. I am not trying to say he played against us on purpose but he never cared about consequences of his actions. That is a big problem.
Kjaer and Gabbia usually do mistake or got outplayed by better players but they never do stupidity intentionally.
Tomori has also bitc*ass attitude sometimes (and he is making himself better) and Thiaw referenced him unfortunately.
Last season I remember Thiaw was a solid mature defender. I don’t know what happened to him this season.
Thiaw is just not good at defending 1v1 thus far and needs to improve this game.
This is the worry in transition against Roma in this tie, with Lukaku Dybala and SeS on the counter attacks.
Just don’t want to see the repeat of the way Thiaw defended Kean vs Juve…
Tomori getting a stupid yellow against Slavia might come back to haunt us badly. I think the starting CB pairing has to be Kjaer-Gabbia. The former is the most experienced, and while he’s been in decline, we will need that. The latter has been the fittest and most in form since January. Thiaw has only played a handful of games since returning form injury and a few of those have been horror shows, and was just out again. He clearly does not have the rhythm of the season yet, and at this stage it seems like it’s basically a lost year for him. Play Kjaer-Gabbia against Roma, then use Thiaw with Tomori against Sassuolo, and then we’ll have options for the second leg.
Yeah makes sense to play Kjaer, Gabbia v Roma and Tomri-Thiaw at the weekend
You sure about that?
Tomori is one yellow card away from missing the Derby.
At this point, I’d play Thiaw and Gabbia on the weekend to ensure that Tomori does not miss out on Roma second leg OR the Derby.
That makes sense too. Though I think Tomori is still getting back to full fitness/sharpness so he needs game time