Koni De Winter didn’t have the best of starts to life as an AC Milan player, but now he is arguably in the best form of anyone in the squad.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, pressure can break players but it can also make them. Just before Christmas, he was partly responsible for Milan’s Supercoppa Italiana defeat to Napoli after struggling to contain Hojlund. Two and a half months later he’s a starter and has just played in a great derby.
The Belgian kept Pio Esposito and Bonny silent for 90 minutes. To understand why this happened, you have to look beyond the player and get to know the person. De Winter is a calm man, naturally confident, sometimes too much so.
Feeling the pressure of San Siro and Allegri’s rules has done him good: it has raised his level of concentration and lowered the risk factor. He arrived in Italy following a dispute between Juventus and Zulte Waregem, starting as a full-back then being moved, so he is no stranger to change.
Three reasons for the rebirth
Koni also got off to a slow start at Milan. He started on the bench, was logically disappointed, and had a couple of poor performances. Over time, however, he’s risen to the top and three key factors stand out.
The first is his calm: De Winter is naturally composed and he doesn’t read websites, social media, or newspapers. Secondly is his consistency: when he became a starter, he changed his pace. The third: a conversation Allegri gave him at the most difficult moment.
Max chose to be conciliatory, simply telling him to keep working. From there, Koni gained confidence. Igli Tare – the director who spends most time with the team – has also been crucial: before and after the Supercoppa, he tried to revitalise him.
Sunday’s derby was an indication of his growth. While it wasn’t Lautaro and Thuram he was facing, keeping Bonny and Pio Esposito quiet is still easier said than done. Now, De Winter hopes to overtake Theate, Mechele and/or Debast to get a starting spot at the World Cup in the summer.
People keep saying that with the right CBs, Allegri will switch to a back four. I’m HIGHLY skeptical of this, but maybe, maybe, if we can find the right partner for Koni it will happen. He’s risen his level so much since the beginning of the season. I think a back four with a Koni-Gabbia pairing would be something interesting to try out.
I can tell you for free that there is nothing like rebirth here, he was always good but since he didn’t play he had no rhythm and a bit rusty, since he became something of a regular, he has since adapted and gotten his rhythm. Not like he was bang mediocre when we bought him.
Same goes for Atekamen he is been critized when he hasn’t been given ample time to show what he can do, I bet you if Atekamen is give 5 consecutive starts, he’d thrive well.
Alegri should give all the struggling players good game minutes and good game runs.
As it stands we’d never know if Odogwu can even control the ball 😂, Why? Because he hasn’t had a sniff of game time.
As ugly and boring as the back-3 corto muso system is…it gets results. See our goals allowed / games average – best in Europe. I wouldn’t touch the back 3, even if it means we pull a midfielder to keep both Pulisic and Leao on the field with a true #9.