Since he signed in the summer, Christopher Nkunku has not been a starter for AC Milan, at least not in Serie A. Now, that will change.
The Atalanta game has brought on a new wave of injuries to Milan. So, Massimiliano Allegri will be forced to change his team a little. Far from ideal, but something which can certainly be dealt with, and Nkunku will want to prove a point, as Gazzetta dello Sport writes (seen below).
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Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez are both doubts, whilst Christian Pulisic is still recovering. There is certainly a bit of interest in who will partner him. Leao did train individually yesterday, but it seems that Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be named alongside him.
Nkunku wants it
For now, though, the spotlight falls on the Frenchman. The summer was difficult for him, and the start to the season has not been much better. Moments have been hard to come by, and he has already been denied a Serie A goal; against Bologna, if the penalty were to be awarded, he would have stepped up.
In that sense, it is somewhat ironic that all three choices from 12 yards are probably going to be unavailable this weekend. So, on his first start, he could be the one to take responsibility for the goals.
This season, he has played five times, clocking up 108 minutes, and this weekend, he could add another 90 to that tally. However, the fact that he has only mustered two shots in these games is certainly a concern. These numbers need to be improved.
The focus will not be on that, though. Instead, it will be the opportunity, and Nkunku, as the report states, is ‘finally ready to take over’.
Lets see it, his first starts so far this season (Copa Italia and French NT) have led to a goal. Can he keep this steak going?
Yep, lets see on sunday. Need a win at least we should win first at san siro…forza milan 🫶🏽♥️🖤
I really don’t understand why every newspaper or fan is so surprised that Gimenez nor Nkunku get off a lot of shots on target. Have you seen us against Pisa and Atalanta? The strikers are totally isolated since Rabiot’s injury (to me it seems Allegri has been betting on drawing games in the absence of all important players, maybe that’s fair). Fofana is NOT a creative midfielder and Ricci – as much as I like his style of play – is not a mezz’ala, and you can’t expect Modric to be a box-to-box player. Also, I love Bartesaghi and his rapid development, but he is no real threat going forward (sure he’s an excellent passer, but not your typical wingback. This makes the formation even more defensive). All in all, our strikers are always numerically outnumbered, and physically bested (often even a 4 or 5 vs 2). It takes a Giroud or Jovic type striker to shield the ball and wait for back-up. Nkunku and Gimenez just aren’t that (ironically and shamefully enough RLC does best in that role). This is not on Nkunku or Gimenez. They need possessive, dominant play to thrive, excel and build confidence. I hate how Gimenez is being slaughtered in the media, seeing that it’s really the management’s fault for not listening to Allegri’s wishes. You can’t expect Gimenez to be the striker he just isn’t. Just watch and see, when eventually he will be sold to – for example – a dominant Spanish team, he won’t be able to stop scoring. Poor guy, playing for the club of his dreams in a system that so obviously does not favour his qualities.
When everyone is fit, isn’t it way more logical to return to a 4231 system with Jashari and Modric as CDM’s, Pulisic and Saelemaekers on the flanks and Nkunku behind the striker? This seems very reasonable to me. Rafa and Gimenez can battle out the striker spot (and of course Rafa and Pulisic will alternate on the left flank, given Puli’s often injured)
We can win on sunday im belieber..😁 kidding believer…😚♥️🖤🫶🏽
You’re like super low iq, aren’t you? How does a striker with most big chances missed not get delivery from his teammates? This is kindergarten logic you can’t wrap your mind around…
You know this is a forum where people with love for the same club come together right? Why is it that you always feel the need to bring down your fellow fans, calling then names? It’s really annoying, please stop it.
And I am 100% sure you’ll now stop writing stupid comments because I said it annoys me. 100%.
Hahaha wow dude, easy, take your medication
Disagree a bit. We definitely need to work on giving the striker (whoever that might be) more chances and yes Rabiot was a big part. BUT, and this is a big BUT 🙂 . Whatever chance we create, the striker should be able to score. And this is where we disagree. Santi specifically, has had plenty of chances to score at least once. Overall, our Striker position should’ve had at least 5-6 more goals this season. We can argue we dont create enough chances, but the few we create, should’ve been scored.
Brung?!
Spellcheck not working at Sempremilan?
He’d maybe be ready if he wasn’t fat.
Neither Gimenez nor Nkunku have offered anything thus far, and while Nkunku may have the benefit of having played less minutes than the Mexican, I honestly don’t think he’ll be very effective because he was never the right striker for how Max is trying to play… I’m not expecting much from him either. So Tare spent close to 80 mil on two striking options that don’t do d**k.
Ultimately, we’re still having to rely on Pulisic and so far to a lesser extend Leao to create something. Not sure how big of a sample size Furlani needs to observe to actually authorize the signing of a difference maker up front (that won’t be available in january).
On target as usual. I think people have to be honest about what Allegri ball is. Few chances and the team needs a good individual play to score. The last couple of goals were not ones I would count on happening regularly. His main goal is to keep the opposition from scoring at the expense of sacrificing any real offense. Go talk to a Juve fan about what they saw. Expect drab football. I think Serie A has improved with the lower teams becoming stronger and more attack minded managers coming in. This makes this approach harder.
…trying to get used to Allegri ball. making pure strikers play D, so many draws, marathon mindset, etc…
Credit to those who tried to warn guys like me. I thought we had some players who would transcend the tactics.
“The Atalanta game has brung on…”. —Brung??? Seriously??? Who speaks like that?
Literally anyone would be an upgrade on Gimenez at this point. Didn’t Nkunku pick up a slight injury on international duty?