Ismael Bennacer has been ruled out for the rest of the season and that means Stefano Pioli will have to find a different solution for the No.10 role. As things stand, the manager has three options.
Yesterday’s game was a big blow for AC Milan not just because of the scoreline, with a mountain to climb in the second leg, but also Bennacer’s injury. Today, it was revealed that he will miss the rest of the season.
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The Algerian helped Milan bounce back from a tough period, playing in the No.10 role rather than in the tandem. According to MilanNews, Pioli now mainly has three options for that role as Milan look to finish the season strong.
The first is replacing Bennacer with Tommaso Pobega, a straight swap in other words. The second is to play Pobega in the tandem alongside Sandro Tonali, with Rade Krunic taking the step up. The third and final is to move Brahim Diaz into the centre, where he has played so many times before.
Pobega has a pretty good chance of replacing Bennacer in the No.10 role, based on what we have seen over the last few weeks. Perhaps he will be tested against Spezia on Saturday evening.




4th. Play Saelemakers in the center
And when that fails who takes the blame 😒⁉️
5th.play Tonali in the playmaker role pairing krunic & Pobega in front of the defense.
Sandro is an all rounder , determined, disciplined and inspirational.
Diaz is too soft for that role and is much better in the more attacking roles. If I was Pioli I would try Leao, Diaz, saelemaekers(removing Giroud) in front of Tonali (playmaker),Pobega & Krunic, with a back four of Theo, Fikayo, Thiaw, Kalulu.
Tonali was not determined yesterday. He was the reason why the second goal was scored. Too lazy to run after Mkhitaryan to try and thwart him.
In any case, best solution would be 4-2-3-1:
Maignan
Calabria-Kjaer (Thiaw)-Tomori-Hernandez
Tonali-Krunic
Saelemaekers-Diaz-Leao
Giroud
Are u sure we still need Calabria in this Line up against Inter .? Kalulu or Thiaw can play there. We need someone fast and strong.
Sandro didn’t take his man in the second goal and was at fault but after that he was the best player on the pitch, hit the post and tried to regain control of the midfield almost on his own. If you say he wasn’t determined I don’t know what game you were watching .
6th. Play Calabria in the pivot, Kalulu at RB and move Krunic up into the hole. Lol
Low key the best one on here. Last time Calabria played DM is worked very well. Kalulu’s athleticism offers a different look on the right too
Best
Must we try to make fishes fly when the there’s no water to swim ? Given the players to fit the system ain’t available, why not try a new formation that everybody will be comfortable with? What happened to Adli?
A 4-3-3 will do or a 3-5-2, we have players suited for these formations, but what do I know ?
Adli and Pioli do not get along. Period. There is not a right or wrong person here. If two people cannot work together one must move on, in this case it is Adli for the sake of his career.
Pobega is the right option. He was absolutely fantastic against Bologna, not just his awesome strike/goal; but all match long he ran well, had excellent first touches and perfectly weighted passes. He has height/size to deal with the big Inter players in the box on free kicks/corners.
Whoever suggests Saelemakers in middle or putting Diaz back in the middle where he gets beat up, doesn’t understand what is good for Milan. Saele and Diaz are MUCH more effective out wide where they have more space to operate and do their fancy dribbles.
Yes. Completely agreed with you DB.
I’m not sure you do watch the Milan games times, the attacking midfield needs a skillful, shooter with both legs, presently the player that fit In that spot mostly is Saelemakers, toneli, krunic and Leao. I don’t understand what u people sees in diaz, one day good game 10games off, please check Milan 4 vs 0 Napoli games and this inter games, 3 players always marked him. Imagine it’s attacking midfield.
4-3-3. Play Tonali, Krunic, and Pobega to start, bring on Salad early in thr second half for Pobega or Krunic and give an injection of pace and try him as the attacking member of the midfield 3. He’s got great close control just not breakaway pace which to me says he shouldn’t be played out wide.
Also, Pobega is the only player who Milan has that can shoot from distance besides Theo. Sad but it’s true. Not even Leao is good outside the box.
True but I still think Pobega doesn’t have the awareness or athleticism to offer much against Inter or Juve
Just erase that no. 10 role / position already. Don’t see the need on why we have to push it when we clearly do not have a decent resource to fill the post. Moreover, Benny, the one who’s ‘transformed’ to fill the position is out now. We have many CMs, playing with 3 mids is only logical.
Hey guys, Pobega can score, his left foot has a tendency of hitting the target. He’s the perfect replacement of Bennacer.
What about Adli ? I would support trying Pobega in the 10 role, but at the moment he is still inured. Didn’t he broke his rib on traning two weeks ago ? How can an injured player be ahead in the picking order. I still remember when Pioli forced Bennacer to play with an injury two years ago. It didn’t went well with Bennacer picking up a bigger injury. Maybe this is the time for Adli to finally be given a chance.
Pioli before put Adli, he would use Bakayoko as number 10, and talking about crazy ideas I won’t discard that, Pioli get us used to do very weird things