MN: Saelemaekers on the search for consistency as Pioli puts faith in Messias

By Oliver Fisher -

Alexis Saelemaekers is almost always available to head coach Stefano Pioli but he has not yet found a consistent level of performances, a report claims.

MilanNews reports how Saelemaekers has racked up 34 appearances in 34 seasonal games between the league, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League, meaning the Belgian is the only Milan player to have played in every game. Sandro Tonali is behind him, having missed only one match against Spezia at San Siro on January 17.

The former Anderlecht man is not a player who guarantees a good number of goals across the season, but he does a lot of ‘dirty’ work and gives a safe amount of coverage on the right side when left flank – featuring Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao – decide to push forward.

Saelemaekers has scored 2 goals and has 3 assists this season to this point and has been up and down recently, forcing Pioli to turn towards Junior Messias, who has has started four times in the last five games with the exception being the derby when Messias came on.

The Rossoneri No.56 too often lacks the right choice or the key play to put his team-mates in on goal or to score himself but given his young age and his technical quality, the feeling is that time is on his side and – like Leao – an explosion could come.

Tags AC Milan Alexis Saelemaekers

6 Comments

  1. He lacks technical ability, his passing isn’t good and his finishing even less so, his defending isn’t as good as it was, at this point all he does is run, dribble and turn the ball over

  2. His technical ability, passing, reading of the game and work rate are all well above average, final ball and finishing and composure in the box need work. But we have seen this before in another player at Milan, his name is rafa leao and lots were asking us to sell him last season calling him lazy and uninterested most the time. Saelemakers maybe needs a little longer to work on those latter qualities he needs but he has the potential just like rafa.

  3. Infact Pioli needs to work hard to improve himself and be winner and become a real Milan coach not Lazio nor Fiorintina and he should stop killing the talent of Milan players as he did with Hauge and Conti also Messias is useless physically and technically let us ask question how many crosses he made till now statistically not better than Castiligo
    Spezia and Salirnitana is the question Pioli should answer clearly and his Messias was the choice to start with

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