Ordine urges Amorim to settle on hierarchies: “The pairings need to be established”

Franco Ordine believes that AC Milan head coach Ruben Amorim must decide on the number one role for certain players.

Since the start of preseason, one of the big things about Amorim’s early tenure has been that several players are considered as being able to play multiple roles. For example, Alexis Saelemaekers has played as a wing-back and an attacking midfielder, while Adrien Rabiot is a mezzala being used as a playmaker.

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There have been some concerns however about a lack of continuity, perhaps first seen in evidence during Sunday’s draw with Juventus in which the Rossoneri generated just one shot on goal. Diego Moreira got his full debut in that and struggled, as did Saelemaekers and Rabiot.

Ordine: Amorim must fix hierarchies

Ordine published his weekly column for MilanNews and in it, he talked about the necessity for Amorim to try and resolve some of the multi-role dilemmas that he currently has.

“It’s worth carefully examining Milan’s setback against Juve to understand where the difficulties and doubts of Amorim’s management lie. Often, during a change of coaching staff, one is naturally led to be influenced by the first few weeks of work to reshape the players’ attitudes.

“It’s always happened; it’s nothing new; in fact, it’s almost a classic transition when changing managers, perhaps exponents of two different cultures. And if, hypothetically, Amorim may have been misled by Rabiot’s debut in Turin in the position previously occupied in Marseille by De Zerbi, the facts, or rather the developments of subsequent matches, may have provided different indications.

“But the essential point is this: this can be done with one player, but it’s unlikely to be perfectly successful with two or three, because then everything becomes more complicated . To clarify things, it’s best to explain in a didactic manner the doubts and uncertainties that need to be eliminated as soon as possible.

“The defence is limited, and Gabbia’s injury has helped, as De Winter has frankly improved between Venezia and Juventus to the point of relegating Kolo Muani to the shadows. There are no problems here. Or rather, there would have been, had Tomori not been reinstated, considered a mistake by the usual group.

“Problems begin in midfield. In theory, the pairings established so far by Amorim are as follows: Musah and Modric starting, and Jashari and Comotto on the bench. It’s clear that it would be useful to revise the formation and move Rabiot back into midfield to add substance and personality to the position.

“It’s true that Musah offers promise in terms of running and stamina, but his football is very disorganised and technically inaccurate. With the Europa League in sight – especially after the break when Milan will face their busiest period (the famous 4 games in 10 days mentioned by the Portuguese coach during the last press conference) – perhaps Bondo should also be given some thought.

“But there’s another interesting aspect. Amorim must convince himself that on both flanks, if he wants to play defensively, Saelemaekers on the right and Bartesaghi on the left are the ideal players.

“Moreira, who was not judged in Turin, didn’t provide a single positive: he received the ball 27 times and passed it back to Gila 27 times, sometimes causing him problems. He never faced a one-on-one situation.

“Chukwueze seems more integrated into the formation when you want to play an attacking game. But the main problem remains the two attacking midfielders, and there’s plenty of them here. That abundance often leads to rotation and therefore mistakes.

“In these roles, the pairings need to be established: Cisse-Pulisic on the left, Rabiot (better if he comes on during the game) – Loftus Cheek on the right with Hutchinson as a backup. The collective technical prowess isn’t brilliant. And above all, we’re still far from having found the right formation.

“For this reason, the trip to Rome against Lazio, which was a decisive defeat last year, can provide us with some authoritative answers.