AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli appears ready to ditch the three-man defence and revert to playing four at the back against Napoli on Sunday, according to a report.
Milan face a rather daunting trip to face the league leaders at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday, with a 23-point gap between the two teams and Pioli’s side coming into the game off the back of a winless March.
According to Tuttosport (via MilanNews), the Rossoneri are not expected to stick with the three centre-backs for the trip south as it is no longer giving the guarantees of keeping goals out as it did during the month of February, while the attacking play continues to struggle.
Instead, Pioli is expected to revert to a 4-2-3-1 formation, i.e. the one with which the Diavolo won the Scudetto last season, but instead of playing with a pure playmaker like Brahim Diaz the attacking midfielder will be Rade Krunic, so it will function as three central midfielders in non-possession phases.
I think Milan would be better playing 4231, it gives Leao the space he needs to dribble… I was confused to see Pioli playing Leao as an AM , he should know better that Leao is lazy and he is a liability when it comes to pressing the opposition and he does not moves enough to create space for his team mates in the attacking phase! In a 4231 , he can drift inside if he wants and this will allow Theo space to attack on the left flank! If Leao comes inside ,he would be in the same position when he is playing as a AM in 3421…
I think Leao should understand that a footballer have about 3-5 mins on the ball in a game and if he doesn’t move enough when the ball is not in his feet, he will never be a world class player! A footballer spends most of the 90mins without the ball at his feet and what he does when the ball is not in his feet that makes him a great footballer!
He needs to be more hungry when the ball is not in his feet, he should always move as much as possible to create space for his team mates and himself