Carlo Pellegatti believes that Santiago Gimenez has gone missing after a fantastic start to life at AC Milan, and because of tactical reasons.
Gimenez was the signing that drew the most excitement during the winter transfer window as Milan finally decided to invest in a striker, agreeing a deal worth at least €32m with Feyenoord for the Mexican.
He certainly hit the ground running, too, with a couple of goals in his first two Serie A starts plus one against his old club in the Champions League. However, barring an assist for Rafael Leao’s goal in Bologna, the last three league games have yielded little.
In his defence, the Rossoneri’s season in general is suffering a near-vertical collapse and the attacking department seems confused, with Sergio Conceicao constantly chopping and changing, putting faith in the ‘Fantastic Four’ then abandoning it.
Pellegatti published his weekly column for MilanNews in which he touched on various topics that are worrying him at the moment, dedicated a paragraph to Gimenez’s recent slowdown.
“In the meantime, after a brilliant debut in the red and black jersey, Santiago Gimenez has disappeared. Luca Diddi, a keen match analyst, explained well what is happening, with clear, strong and worrying words.
“The characteristics of the Mexican striker do not fit at all, absolutely not at all, with his teammates in the attacking department, with Milan’s attacking game. ‘Messico e Nuvole’ is a player who must be launched, who finds space in behind, good at sprinting towards the opponent’s goal.
“Instead, the statistics see him playing in support, as a support, for the runs of Leao, Pulisic, Reijnders and even Musah. Thirty metres away from the goal, where he looks like a trout on a green lawn. He suffers and gasps.
“From the last matches I only remember the shot against Torino, from HIS position and nothing else. It is yet another tactical misunderstanding, with which Sergio Conceicao must share his red and black experience, who does not have a squad suited to his strategies and his playing philosophy.
“An important aspect that had to be considered when it was decided, halfway through the season, to entrust the team to a coach, who needs time and suitable elements to achieve the best results.
“The purchase of the excellent Gimenez, a striker of 20 goals per season, is yet another demonstration that, for the future, the market must be guided and inspired by the coach, based on his knowledge and his technical-tactical ideas, with the long arm of the sporting director and the economic support of the Club. An opinion always supported by the wise aestro Arrigo Sacchi.”
It is because Ibrahimovic thought it is football manager. You buy a striker, new midfielder, but you don’t bother with roles they play. It works anyway, unfortunately not in real life. All the signings made in last 2 seasons were like that. Why is Bondo signed and not a DM? Why does Milan have 3 RBs in team and one on loan? There are so many stupid decisions that it looks like some kid is playing football manager.
Ibra for real completely messed up the roster. He is the main cause of all this mess. We will continue to struggle even if an SD arrives as long as Ibra continues to intervene. Such a clueless person.
Playing in THIS league with one striker is tough. We are handicapped having Leao playing LW which prohibits us from playing a two-striker formation with a 10 behind them. Find a support partner to Santi and I’m sure our strikers will actually contribute.
Instead, every striker we get has to drop deeper and deeper to recover a ball as our service into the box is awful. I really hope we can transition to a different system again and solve the Leao problem. The Portuguese won’t be ale to play in a 442 because he will never track back enough to be useful in that system. But having two strikers in the box makes for better conversion chances.
To be fair to Gimenez, I can’t think of a single striker in the world that could shine in our current non-system of “continually pass the ball horizontally until someone loses it or Fofana shoots”
You need an intelligent striker. Abraham has shown he can do it simply off his ability to link with his teammates and position himself for scrappy goals. His only problem has been his finishing.
PAPA FREZZ………… HaHa !!
Pulisic played him an excellent ball in behind in the Lazio game and he totally whiffed the first touch. Should’ve been a goal. Strikers have to capitalize on those opportunities because they’re too few and far between.
Overrated and overpriced striker.
Camarda should have more playing time but the management gonna sell him sooner than later.
they guy barely have a few months in, has scored a few goals and already calling overrated. Geez, ppl. Camarda would fare equally. In our system, the only ST profile is one of someone like Ibra himself. A Target man with a huge physical stature and able to hold up play. Lukaku for example. However, most teams are walking away from there because a target man needs service and cant add much in terms of play and “pressing” . Our most recent “successful” striker was in a way a target man. Giroud. None of the strikers we were linked are like that. Zrizke is soft, David is of similar profile as Gimenez, Scamacca is tall but he isnt as clinical or physical. If anyting, Gimenez is the most target man person we were linked.
Giroud and Zlatan could play both hold-up, and dominate in front of the goal. And with this team and manager we need both.
Gimenez is a good striker and he showed in his first matches. Can shot with both legs, good ball control etc. But these guys play in non-system and nothing functions. They all seem lost on the field.
We just need a proper coach who will know how to adapt his game to the players as his disposal. Neither Fonzy or Sergio are capable of doing so. Ok, maybe Fonzy was close but Sergio is completely out.