AC Milan’s biggest game of the season takes place on Sunday with them facing Inter in a game which could decide the fate of the head coach and their season as a whole.
Paulo Fonseca is already in a very difficult position where his job is insecure if it even is his job anymore. Throughout the week, it has been suggested that the Inter game would decide his fate but since Tuesday there have been suggestions that a decision has already been made.
With his position not guaranteed, a report has suggested that he will play the derby in his style, rather than altering things. Maybe a move of bravery, maybe a move to show his confidence in his own ability in the hope the management see this as a good thing. We will not know what move it really is until full-time.
Given there are no changes expected to his style, there should not be any formational changes, as Milan News reports. Starting with the defence, Mike Maignan will start in goal after recovering from his knock, Theo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori will be ahead of him, that much is guaranteed.
However, Matteo Gabbia could keep his place in the starting eleven and he will contest a place against Strahinja Pavlovic. Elsewhere, Emerson Royal is competing against Davide Calabria for the starting right-back position.
In midfield, there will be no shocks, and the trio should remain the same, the wingers will also keep their places.
Alvaro Morata currently is preferred to Tammy Abraham to lead the line, but Fonseca is still making a decision.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson, Tomori, Pavlovic, Theo Hernanez; Fofana, Loftus-Cheek; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Morata.
Bench: Nava, Torriani, Calabria, Gabbia, Terracciano, Thiaw, Musah, Zeroli, Chukwueze, Okafor, Abraham
It’s gonna be a bloodbath, I am not sure if I want to witness is.
Best for us is not to play and get 3 0, we will also damage their budget :):):). But if we must:
Pulisic should be benched, but we gave Salemaker to Roma while Cukwatze is a joke. We leak too many goals on that side. Thus Theo and Leao have little to do with our defensive crises, while the crises sure do effect there performance. Theo, in this current Milan must be more involved in the build up. Our midfield and central backs are lacking range making us easy press victims. Povlovlic has much much to learn and maybe he was rushed in the line up, which also is not a confidence boost for Gabia or Tiaw.
Pulisic should be benched is the dumbest statement on any page today! Congrats!
Benching Pulisic for what? For not being a bigger ball hog than Leao? There may be defensive issues, but that doesn’t fall on Pulisic. You must be daft…
Are you serious!. The most consistent player in AC Milan and you want to bench him ??
Theo and Leao have been bad!
RLC double-pivot💀
We seriously need Frendrup and Ricci in winter…
If he is going to stick with 4231, at least play Morata on the left and Abraham up top.
That way it will be 11v11 out there instead of 11v10.
Maignan
Calabria, Gabbia,Tomori, Theo;
Fofana, RLC;
Public, Reijnders, Morata;
Abraham.
The only silver lining this season – you are not the coach. Benching Leao would further fuel dissent and alienate our most valuable player.
Couldn’t care less what will alienate Leao. I need 11 players that will give their all out there.
Leao can bounce the first second January window opens up. It’s been 5 years and we are done tiptoeing around Leao and his feelings.
Some people still wait on Balloteli to grow up, just like they waited on Cassano to grow up. It never happened.
You can continue waiting
True 👍 talk leao is overrated
Until u see him In inter shirt and making headlines as the best winger in seria a ….this club has over fallen and lossing pioli for fonseca was a mistake
Trust me on this. As long as Pulisic is in the teem Milan is doomed. Its worse than Pato being Berlusconi sun in low, and much much worse than Daniele being the sun of Maldini.
P.S. Leao had one of the worse game for a while against Liverpool, but he was great for the Scudeto, he was great for the CL semis, and even last year he was great in probably the most joyful victory against PSG. Give him some break, and do not expect him to carry the team, the team should carry it self.
You think PULISIC is the problem?
You mean the winger that has five goal involvements (3G and 2A) in five matches, and actually gets back to help in defense? That Pulisic?
I’d imagine that Emerson Royal, our mediocre central defenders, lack of leadership on the pitch and our complete lack of defensive midfielders are all significantly bigger problems than CP11, but hey, I’ve only been following, playing and coaching football for 50 years, so what do I know.
Please delete your account. Wow you’re an idiot
Well bless your heart.
This guy just won dumbest comment of all time. Pulisic has been our most consistently good player since he arrived here. Just another troll on here.
Take your anti-American sentiment somewhere else. Pulisic has done more for Milan this season than anyone else. If you are going to blame goals and losses on the right winger then you are clueless.
whats the point of your BF Leao if he doesnt carry the team when needed?
Miss me with this brainless turd
God bless you man! Finito!
100% agree. i was completely with Fonseca to bench Theo and Leao at Lazio, but the performances since havent been worse than the rest of the team. bench Leao again would be a pure sign of frustration and desperation. He’s our most dangerous player, why would we not want to use him – just because we are not able to get the best out of him?
He is the most dangerous player for Milan defense too because his man is usually running free down the sidelines while Leao is watching the like the rest of us.
Not being able to get the best out of him?
I thought the same while Pioli was here, but I’ve seen Leao under Pioli, under 2 Portugal NT coaches and now under Fonseca. Either no one can get the best out of him, or what you see is his actual best.
Fans were saying the same thing about other frauds in the past, as beforehand mentioned Cassano and Balloteli. 2 much bigger talents than Leao BTW.
And yet, 90 percent of the goals we get come from the right side :). Hence the other side, Calabrija no good, not to speak about Rojal, but does Pulisic provide enough cover. Will he run with Demarco or will hope for a loose ball to contra attack?
Morata as a winger? 😂 are you trolling or an actual idiot?
Morata played as a winger just 2 years ago for Juventus under Allegri. He will run 100 times more than Leao.
So where do you fall in, a troll or an idiot?
He will also run 100 times slower than leao…Is he a better option than Pulisic on the left? Or Okafor the left? Or even the pacey direct Abraham on the left? If the answer to this is in your opinion ‘yes’ then I suggest you go back to Siempre Madrid and start fiddling with yourself….
Allegri also played Kevin Prince Boateng as a no10….and had a midfield three behind him of de Jong, Flamini and Ambrisini…I think we’ll leave the allegri lesson there shall we….allegri is literally anti football
If you want to drop Leao out of the 11, might as well try a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2.
Why would Morata be preferred to Abraham? Abraham has been brilliant so far this season.
Agree.
And SO MANY people hated this transfer!
Inter played Champions League one day later, they had the trip back from England, Lautaro seems not at his best, Dimarco was injured, they didnt win Monza last weekend. Its not impossible. I think it dont matter much if we play Morata or Abraham, Calabria or Emerson. Whoever is playing must want to badly win the derby and stay focussed the entire game for once. and then maybe we get lucky
Optimism. I like it.
Another!
If we hide Calabria Royal and Thiaw’s boots we may be in with a chance.
I like your positivity but inter did something that nobody else has done this season…shut Man City out…..that is in and of itself one hell of an achievement
Bad news. Dimarco is fit.
with emerson on our team it is 12 vs 10
In my kids football matches if one team starts to get beaten badly you can bring in an extra player..how about we are allowed 12 v inter and we can play Emerson and Calabria 😂
I remember those days! In the US we call it the “mercy rule”
I suspect we will need it Sunday buddy 😂
as long as tomori and Loftus are playing, we will lose, fonseca should try liberali, reindeer and fofana in midfield…..pavlovic does not play well with tomori, he does better with gabbia….
tomori is to agressie which leads pavoliv in a 1v1 situation and he can use his physical strenth but isnt that quick
considering his towering height he isn’t really that slow either.
true but will have it tough to catch up pacy winger or pacy strikers
We need to baton down the hatches and hope to hit them on the break, its the only chance we have.
Calabria, Tomori, Gabbia, Theo
Musah Fofana RLC
Pulisic Morata Okafor
Bring on Leao, Tammy and Reijnders in second half when the game opens up and legs tire
Maybe even start with the defence as
Tomori, Thiaw, Gabbia, Pavlovic
Just stay solid until second half and then hit them
I agree with your first line up.
Our problem is tomori to be honest he doesn’t know how to run and mark
Our midfield doesn’t exist as an entity.
“Simone Inzaghi will set a new record if he and his Inter side beat rivals Milan in Serie A on Sunday, as neither the Nerazzurri nor the Rossoneri have won seven derbies in a row against each other.”
Damn, these last two seasons we are breaking record after record. RedBird are cooking alright🔥
We need to do something about the midfield.
Drop Reijnders and move Calabria into midfield with Fofana and RLC in the hole.
Calabria will at least offer himself up as an outlet and RLC can hold the ball up and win free kicks.
Fofana will need ro do a lot better or else we’ll need to give Musah a go.
The options really appalling for an area that has had so much attention on the transfer market.
I’m honestly shocked by how dense you are. I’m not even kidding. Every new post by you truly floors me. 🤣
Just so I understand, you want to drop an offensive midfielder in favor of a washed up player who cannot even play his own position, yet you want to move him into new position he is even worse than his original job?
Do I have that right???
Yup. The same guy who goes around saying other people have ‘“zero credibility.”
I’m pretty sure I’ve never anyone has ‘zero credibility’. In fact I spend most of the time pointing out to people on here that we’re all just expressing opinions mostly about future events ie are all talking BS.
The sheer confidence that people have in their own opinions around these parts is hilarious.
REIJNDERS IS AMAZING. FACT.
CALABRIA IS WASHED UP. FACT.
Clearly we’re all wrong since actual qualified coaches pick both of them.
Oh sorry I said you had no credibility because you were promoting conspiracy theories about US politics on a football forum….
And people act like I’m the crazy one around here.
Yes which aren’t TRUE of course because CNN says so 🙂 I suppose Epstein and Diddy are top guys in your world too… Anyway, other people with Trump Derangement Syndrome started spouting nonsense on here and so I responded by pointing out a few home truths about Biden. It’s not my fault you’ve got your head stuck down a hole like an ostrich. Probably the same one in which Calabria plays like Cafu.
I cannot watch another game where Reijnders is basically a passenger.
He’s done absolutely nothing this season and most of last season . Name a single game for Milan where he controlled the game?
Calabria has played in midfield including last season as an inverted FB. He is only 27 so I’ve no idea where this #washedup is coming from.
It’d help if people around here were capable of independent thought rather than jumping on bandwagons.
Well… We’re really going against all odds on this goddamned Derby – which in certain situations, as History tells, can be a good omen, let’s us pray..
That said, in order to grab a result that at this stage of events increasingly resembles a true miracle, I would go into the field with the following lineup:
Maignan
Calabria / Tomori / Gabbia / Theo
Musah / Fofana / Reijinders
Pulisic / Abrahams / Leão
Don’t play Emerson Royal please. Abraham is better than Morata up there. Play Gabbia instead of Pavlovic then play Musa instead of RLC
Defend deep and counter. PERIOD.
Try a defensive 3-5-2 with Leao Theo and Abraham/Puli breaking forward on the counters. Otherwise sit back.
Mike
Gabbia Tomori Pavlo
Calabria RLC Fofana Reijnders(Musah) Theo
Abraham Leao
Then sub in Puli/Okafor as you need up front.
And Musah into the middle. This way you have pace breaking forward.
Something along these lines.
I’m all for defending deep but with who? Calabria’s garbage, Royal’s a joke, Tomori’s shaky, Theo’s disinterested, Pavlo looked awful last game… and then to cap it all off we got the “positive news” today that Thiaw’s recovered and threatening to come off the bench… If we sit back and invite pressure we’re fked. If we play as we normally do we’re shafted.
If it’s 352 then its Tammy and Morata up front? Leao has shown he cannot get going from the middle.
That said it relieves him of most defensive duties so seems as good as any other hope/prayer.
That might work.
Maybe Reijnders can produce his Netherlands form in a 352 system with more support around him.
343 with
Tomori Gabbia Pavlovic
Calabria Fofana Reijnders Theo
Pulisic Morata Leao
That might actually work.
Gabbia makes up for our lack of DM.
Fofana can be box to box.
Reijnders may have the support around him to do his thing.
Mike
Calabria-Tomori-Gabbia-Theo
Musah-Fofana-Reijnders
Pulisic-Abraham-Okafor.
Only hard workers should start. Team need the right attitude. Theo have improved in the last match but please no Loftus Cheek, no Royal and nooo Leao.
Lol. Since we’re all at it: Spalletti’s 4-6-0:
Calabria-Tomori-Gabbia-Pavlo
Puli-Musah-Fofana-Reijnders-RLC-Theo
Move Theo back for Pavlovic and bring in Leao and that might just work!
The extra mids are needed to make up for each of their failings.
How did Thiaw manage a return so soon? Like most Milan fan I feel threatened with his presence even on the bench
3-5-2 is the best
Maignan
Pavlovic – Tomori – Gabbia
Theo-Reinjdeers-Fofana-RLC-Pulisic
Leao-Morata/Abraham
Man to man marking all over the pitch. Stay close and compact and defend then counter attack. If we do this we might win
Absolutely agree with this 3man on the back and 5man on the midfield. Tomoris pace on the right and gabbia positioning in the middle would give more stability for the problems we had in this season
Inter can’t wait for Sunday
😂
4:3:3.
Mike
Tomori…Thiew…….Gabbia…..Theo
Fofana…..Tijanah……Musah
Pulisic….Abraham…..Leao.
The problem we have is there is no holding midfielder, you can’t loss ball to opponent on a regular basis. When you loss ball start a close marking immediately, to a avert a danger immediately then the defense will not be expose to danger. But it’s good we lose to they can sack Paulo to bring in Terzic or Perseus Jumil of man city to take over. The management should also sack Ibra and bring in Madini back. You can’t buy average players and expect a good result from top team across Europe
Gabbia-Pavlovic pairing seem a better pairing to me… Is Malick thiaw still injured?
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