AC Milan made 10 signings during the summer transfer window and a midfield revamp was conducted, something Tijjani Reijnders is proving to be at the forefront of.
MilanNews recall how Sandro Tonali’s sale to Newcastle United brought a potential €80m to the club’s accounts (including bonuses) but also produced a gap in the squad that needed filling, especially with Ismael Bennacer injured.
Finding a replacement worthy of Tonali means finding a player capable of having a significant impact in all phases; possession and non-possession, attacking and defensive transitions.
Not only that, but the Italian a player capable of reading the game, understanding the moments of the match, making runs and presenting himself at the right times.
The offer that came from Newcastle – which is currently irrefutable for Italian clubs – came in because the English club see him as one of the most complete interpreters of the role in the world.
The work of Geoffrey Moncada and his team identified Reijnders as the right man to take up his legacy on the pitch, with slightly different characteristics but similar principles.
The switch to a three-man midfield and an attacking trident was made by Pioli, but the fluidity of the coach’s schemes means that there is a lot of dynamic movement and players finding themselves in different positions.
This is why we often see Reijnders get forward into attacking areas, and he certainly covered a lot ground in the first three games as well (over 12km) in each.
He has shown clarity in possession too. Against Bologna he completed 100% of his passes, registering his first assist after 11 minutes. Now the aim is for the 25-year-old to remain consistent, and help guide his new club towards the biggest targets.
Definitely an upgrade over Tonali. Glad to have him.
Man they’re really going to beat this 100% pass accuracy to death eh 😂. Fbref posted the updated stats for the Bologna game and turns out it was 96.7% pass accuracy for that game. Not 100% but still impressive and for his position.
You know who else had 100%? Kjaer, Okafor and Pobega lol 😂 but it’s few passes as subs.
However, there is a Krunic-shaped player who has even better pass accuracy overall this season but I don’t wanna say who it is, it might trigger some people 😂😂😂
Yes, pass accuracy is the most pointless stat. When you pass backwards to the goalie all the time or side to side to your defenders, you are going to have a high pass accuracy. Doesn’t really mean anything, But Krunic supporters love to use that one.
As yes K, the chronic Krunic-hater. So you’re saying Reinjders’ pass accuracy is pointless???
And that Krunic pass backwards to his goalie all the time? Unlike Reinjders who always passes it forward right?
There is a difference. One player distributes, moves the ball forward, and creates chances with his passes and the other plays safe passes back to the defense. So looking at pass accuracy alone doesn’t really tell you the story.
I’ve said this under Pioli Milan has been a bad passing team and someone will always bring up some pass accuracy stat that looks good, but that’s because Milan pass back to the goalie and side to side between defenders more than any team I’ve seen. The stat by itself is meaningless. If you can’t see the difference, I don’t know what to tell you.
I wasn’t going to read ur comment but didn’t realize u made a good point (one I raised previously in a different article but in context to positions). It was one I was hiding all this time to see if ppl were paying attention. Reinjders pass accuracy even if it’s lower than the defenders and GKs and deep lying mids is actually extremely high in a relative sense because of where he plays. Most players in an attacking position have lower pass rates due to the risk associated with their passing. However progressive passing can only tell you so much. But to have a stat like passing accuracy so high up the field is quite incredible. And imo he’s probably been our best buy so far.
That being said, You would want Krunic specifically to have a high pass rate as it means less errors are being made for a player who is the breaching point for the defence. Full backs are fine having lower pass rates too as their passes can sometimes be risky.
You can big up Tijani for a great pass accuracy rate but can’t do the same for Krunic? You can ug up Tijani for covering ground when Krunic also has covered similar yardage?
You’re talking about backapasses. In total, they have the about the same progressive yardage ie passes forwards while Krunic has responsibility for more passes overall and to the number of players. Krunic had vastly more progressive yards vs Roma than Reinjders but don’t let that cloud your hate. There’s your stat!
Never talked about Reijnders pass accuracy rate. Like I said, the stat on it’s own is pointless. I do like that he has vision and creativity and some offensive awareness in trying to break the defense down, while still tracking back and covering a lot ground defensively. Now if you want to say that Krunic is solid defensively I’ll give you that, but if you are trying to paint him as some creative distributor of the ball or even adds anything going forward, I’m afraid you have lost the plot.
So you admit Krunic defense was good and all this time you’ve……sigh 🤦♂️
Anyways met u in the middle in the above comment
pass accuracy aside, as i agree its a stupid thing to harp on.
He is so consistent because he covers so much ground. Hes sitting there at the top of the press and is a pest on defense all over the field. Then hes the first to come back to interchange with the back 5 in the buid up so theo can find space up the field…
I think people are already taking for granted how good he is.
We need Okafor to start over jovic I’m 100% sure Okafor will score
Wow. 100%. Someone should let Pioli know right away.