Divock Origi’s injury has made life a little more difficult for Stefano Pioli, who has just Olivier Giroud to rely on up front as things stand. Charles De Ketelaere, therefore, could get a new role.
Due to the World Cup commitment with France, making it all the way to the final, Giroud will have a vacation and will only return just before the Salernitana clash. Throwing him back into action, therefore, might not be wise.
In the last few days, many have suggested that De Ketelaere could be used in that position, given that he’s quite tall and thus good in the air. Pioli responded to this in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport (read in full here).
“De Ketelaere as a striker? Yes, it’s possible even in the next few matches, thinking about the types of opponents we’ll meet. We’ll find many defences lined up in fives, not giving references could be the solution and he has these qualities. In general, he has a whole group at his disposal to help him understand situations and the environment,” he stated.
Milan will, as said, face Salernitana on January 4 and it’s very likely that we could see De Ketelaere up front in that game. The Belgian needs to bounce back from a tough first half of the season and bagging a goal would be a great start.
He is finally going to play the position that suits him the best and the position where he made his name playing for Brugge in the UCL.
Looking forward to the salernitana game and CDK’s first goal in Milan jersey
Let’s be honest… He can’t do much worse than Origi, right? 😀
4-4-1-1 . CDK behind main striker.. this was Kaka’s position. CDK needs to be let free to improvise and not worry about coming back to defend. He has vision and technique needed up front.
Milan literally never played 4411, especially when Kaka was there.
They either played 4312 or ,after Sheva left, the Christmas tree 4321 with Kaka and Seedorf behind Pippo.
😬
Giroud will let no one down ,but of course it might be wise to not throw him in the action to early .I think Salernitana might be to early ..but when he returns to action alongside rafeol leao and Thea Hernández ,then we AC Milan will again be a force to be reckoned with ..We can still challenge for the scuddeto again this season .
Exciting. I’ve wanted to see CDK as a 9 for a while, Diaz and him at the point of attack could work in an open game but Diaz always struggles when facing a low block…