MN: Reijnders looks ready-made to contribute in Milan’s ‘work in progress’ midfield

As preseason continues Stefano Pioli is finding out more with each passing day regarding the midfielders he has at his disposal, and the department remains a ‘work in progress’.

As MilanNews writes, Tijjani Reijnders was among the most positive players during the tour in the United States but on Tuesday evening against Monza in the Silvio Berlusconi trophy he was even better.

The Dutchman showcased several glimpses of his elegant and concrete repertoire. His ball management, dialogue with team-mates, head-up dribbling, recovery and verticality all stood out.

Despite playing as the left-sided mezzala against Monza in the 4-3-3 system, there is the feeling that he will be the director of the midfield for Pioli’s new Milan.

The ball often passes through his feet, both when the attacking build-up develops down the left with Leao and Theo and when it has to be carried quickly to the right, where Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic can hurt in different ways.

After Tonali’s farewell and Bennacer’s injury the midfield is still in need of some work and some stability. Reijnders is a fixed point, Loftus-Cheek presumably another, and the third element could well be Yunus Musah.

At the moment Krunic is playing as the deeper-lying player in the three and he has different characteristics from Musah. If Pioli were able to channel the abilities of the USA international for that No.6 role, the department would be almost complete.

In the meantime, Pioli is working to get a complete midfield as the many friendlies prove. Reijnders is showing his ability during these games and making it clear that he is the first name on the team sheet for the trio in front of the defence and behind the attack.

Tags AC Milan

40 Comments

  1. Fenerbahce bid 15M for Fred according to Fabrizio romano, Krunic leaving is just a dream now 😭. Mediocre coach wants a mediocre players but hey atleast the season can only go well as either we have a really good season or else baldie gets sacked and we get a serious manager with serious tactics

    1. i like how people “hate” on pioli like the last few years never happened and Milan never won the scudeto and played the best football in a decade 😀
      twas all a dream

      1. Not hating, I’ll be hating if he stays crying and underperforming when he’s got the signings he’s been wanting. What I do hate is his belief that Krunic is irreplaceable.

        But if you want to talk about hating we can always open the door to your whinging about the signings?

        1. -baldie gets sacked and we get a serious manager with serious tactics-
          nah not crying at all.
          And yes i do whine a lot but not in this case, own it or stfu

          1. i dont think you know what understatement means.
            because in this example by using understatement you are actually saying Pioli is much worse than what you wrote.
            I feel the same way. 90% of people on here are a pest and shoud just stay of the internet altogether

          2. Oh you’re more dumb than I thought, I said you saying you whine a lot is an understatement, meaning you whine WAY more than a lot. Stay in school kids

          3. o ffs. you cant use understatement for ‘a lot’.
            you really dont know what it means do you.
            hyperbole is what you used…

          4. you’re so stupid it’s unfathomable, me saying you saying “I whine a lot” is an understatement is an expression to express how much you whine. Please stay in school kids we can’t go down to this level

          5. You can’t whine more than ‘a lot’.
            I don’t really use grammar properly but shît like this is something you’d better watch out for. By misusing words you only show of your ignorance while trying to seem like a smartpants.
            I’ve established you’re an average idíot football fan. Ta ta

          6. But if I were to give you something instead of “a lot” I’d give you “too much”. At the end of the day I’m not one to say Pioli out before the season starts and that’s exactly why I just stated a scenario by October in which we’ll have many results by then, it’s more than fair we give him a chance to show us what he can do with a more capable team so I admit I exaggerated with my negativity towards him, but paying extra money just to keep Krunic is pathetic, especially when we could use his money to buy a proper, better, younger DM

          7. Also trust me if I was the idiot fan, my name would be flying tortoise and I would give Krunic a payrise and a new contract just for him to stay. Stranzo

      2. Played the best football. What have you been watching. Milan has no style of play and have not had it under all these years with Pioli. And we did not win the scudetto by playing attacking football. It was by barely conceding goals. How often we won with 1-0 because of an individual moment

        1. that is how you win a league.. by not conceding goals.. 1-0, 11-0 a win is a win..
          Just go look at napoli games last season. How many were won by 1 goal?

          1. You’re embarrassing, you don’t seem to understand that depending on mediocrity (Krunic) and individual brilliance performances like leaos get you long-term success.

          2. I don’t think a real Milan fan would want Krunic to be a starter unless you want us out of top 4, maybe move to sempre inter, I think you’d fit in there perfectly with this mindset Mr flying tortoise

          3. It is not about winning by 1 goal or win 1-0. It is how we play. Under Pioli Milan has had no way of play to create chances. Napoli might won by 1 goal but they create chanses to score and tve sam for Inter. Our strategi is give the ball to Leao and play he does som magic or Theo doing his thing. That is nog sustainable and it is up to the coach to fix these tjing but Pioli is out of his depth here

      3. LOL. Clueless.

        Pioli like most bad coaches has favourites he refuses to sit. He is the reason Krunic is saying. No matter what he says to the media. Remember Allegri and Bonera?

        Same thing. Playing a bad player because you like them even at the expense of the team.

    2. If they truly bid $15m for that donkey and we turned it down, we have serious problems. He is so bad. Pioli is clearly letting love blind him

      1. They didn’t bid 15mil for Krunic because he isn’t worth that much – they low-balled. Just like Fred isn’t worth 15mil. Turkish bargaining tactics…

  2. Pioli is not a good coach we all agree, but you fire Pioli you are breaking a system where a lot of players were/are successful. Our defense is bad, we need reinforcement plus Tomori and Thiaw to create solid partnership with each other. Our defenders have been playing for a while, they know what the coaches system is and should be able to fulfill any lacking before the season starts. Pioli should get atheist 5 series A games before we blame him.. Again pioli is a bad coach but is not giampaolo, also any good coach will take a lot of time to build his system and we have to see if our star players can perform better under him.

    1. i dont agree, i think anyone who thinks pioli is a bad coach needs to watch tennis or darts or something.
      oblivious about football

      1. In Piolis career, Milan is the 13th different club he’s coached, lasting no more than 2 years max at any of those clubs (exception being Milan). Pioli is not this great coach you think he is haha wake up

      2. Pioli isn’t a bad coach given what he has been able to accomplish at Milan in this short time. but he is a LIMITED coach. And if Milan want to aim higher, we will need to upgrade on him sooner or later.

        I do want to see what he does in a system with the players he requested. He has zero excuses at this point. Cook, Stefano. Cook!

        FORZA MILAN ⚫️🔴

        1. limited, yes. Bad, only for people who dont know football.
          For a limited coach to stay for 4 years and bring the team from finishing 6th to 1st its not something ac milans fans should ignore. Yet, not only do they ignore it, they diminish what he accomplised.
          Its sad.
          And yes this season he gotta cook. his job is on the line like never before

  3. I don’t actually want Pioli sacked, despite my feelings on Krunic. I just don’t understand his logic on Krunic. So management has to step in and sell Krunic as quickly as possible.

  4. “Work in progress”. The progress comes when we sit Krunic on the bench and put Musah in there. No progress as long as Krunic is starting.

    1. the single pivot requires the most fit player on the field or close to it. RLC has been the least mobile player by far (next to Giroud). Plus he said he doesn’t want to be played like he was at chelsea which was a defensive double pivot.

  5. This article about reijnders but ppl in here fight about pioli & krunic . So many hate about pioli & krunic , but just useless because owner dont read all comment

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