Like most areas of the pitch in the opening 21 games of the season, Milan have not had much consistency in the defensive department in terms of selection.
As MilanNews writes, Milan have fielded six different centre-back pairings from minute one in Serie A so far this season due to various problems with injuries and suspensions that have affected the rearguard.
Despite this, Stefano Pioli’s team have not suffered too much, a sign of an excellent defensive unit that also involves the midfielders and forwards. The Rossoneri currently average a little more than one goal conceded per game (23 goals conceded in 21 games), which is a good record considering nine came in games against Roma, Juventus and Atalanta.
With the clean sheet obtained against Crotone, Milan reached eight clean sheets for the season in Serie A. No one has done better. Much credit must also be given to Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is also one of the best in this 2020-21 campaign.
Simon Kjaer and Alessio Romagnoli have played together on nine out of 21 occasions, less than half. Here are the other pairings chosen:
Kjaer-Gabbia: 4 starts
Kalulu-Romagnoli: 3 starts
Gabbia-Romagnoli: 2 starts
Tomori-Romagnoli: 2 starts
Kalulu-Kjaer: 1 start
Despite all these changes, Milan have the third best defence in Serie A behind Juventus and Napoli – who each have one game played less – and on a par with Inter and Verona.
Join in the discussion over on the Rossoneri Discord!
one centre back is needed to off load Romangoli thanks