AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli must soon decide on the team that he will field against Empoli on Sunday in what is the last game of the first half of the Serie A season.
According to Sky (as the graphic below shows), the Milan boss is set to name Mike Maignan in goal with Davide Calabria at right-back and Simon Kjaer at centre-back.
There are doubts about the left side of the defence, but they have Theo Hernandez partnering Kjaer and Alessandro Florenzi back in the left-back position.
Sky also think it will be a 4-2-3-1 formation rather than a three-man midfield, with Yacine Adli and Tijjani Reijnders anchoring the double pivot and Ruben Loftus-Cheek further forward.
Christian Pulisic should be on the right side of the attack as he looks to build on his excellent form, while Rafael Leao is tipped to get the nod on the left as he bids to end his league goal drought.
Up front Olivier Giroud is expected to lead the line despite the fact Luka Jovic has been on a hot streak lately, though the Serbia international will be able to come off the bench.
Probable Milan XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Theo Hernandez. Florenzi; Reijnders, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud.
Simic has played overall well so far, sure, he did make a mistake in that pass that costed us a goal against Cagliari, but I think his performances so far were good, and, by playing more often, he can only improve.
I just don’t understand this persistance of keeping him in the bench and using a non-natural CB instead.
Calabria ,florenzi and others makes that kind of mistakes all the time and still playing, pussyball continues (the oldest posible team)
It is the right approach with a young player like him not to overplay him. Kjaer doesn‘t last 90min anyway.
I was miffed to see Simic not starting but you make a great point about Kjaer.
So Simic or Gabbia on at 60 for Kjaer. The other for Flo when game is locked down. Makes sense.
I really would like to see Giroud rest and come in at 60 to tune up for Atalanta in the Coppa.
I understand but we got Atalanta 3 days later if he doesn’t then fair point
I don’t get RLC playing AM. I would rather see Adli in that spot.
I agree! or Pulisic….. RLC is NOT made for that role
Doesn’t seem in form after PSG. May need a break.
I’m guessing RLC is carrying a chronic injury, probably a sports hernia (actually a tear of the inferior rectus abdominis muscle attachment to the pubic bone, not a true groin hernia).
It’s the sort of thing that slows you down but you can still struggle to play until the end of the season when you get the definitive surgery to fix it.
He hasn’t been in form all season, because of nagging injuries, which has affected his fitness. This was his problem for Chelsea too. At peak, he’s a physical beast with skills.
Unfortunately, after many years of carrying these issues, I don’t think they are ever going to fully go away so he’s never going to be a 90 min guy every game and it’s likely he’ll never return to his peak fitness & especially speed/strength.
I have even less confidence with Milan Labs figuring out his issues and solving them, given Milans injury situation is being caused by Milan Labs themselves.
PS. As others have posted, I would also prefer RLC play AM less. He gets pushed up there because Reijnders struggled up front early on, hence very little assists and Pioli doesn’t trust Adli. Musah spends more time on the wing than the middle, hence his usage as RW, RM and RB.
The real issue here is the Reijnders needs to start performing better. He’s supposed to be the little engine that drives the team but so far he’s more like a lawn mower rather than a sports car. It all starts with one good pass bro.
True, since being a defensive midfielder is clearly not Adli’s forte due to his…defending. Might as well try him as an AM, which is his natural position anyways.
Surely makes more sense to play Gabbia and have Theo in his normal spot ?? Florenzi is fine but we lose a lot of Theos attacking threat when he is CB and we have Gabbia back now, so makes no sense to not play him ??
It’s not official yet but why the hell is reijnders there and loftus an attacking midfield? What does Jovic have to do to start over giroud? Man pioli is getting on my nerves
Because you need 4 players for attack press and we only play with 3 attackers, so RLC completes the press and for that he needs to be higher up.
No, that ain’t it. Last year we played with Diaz and looked much better up top. Loftus is not an attacking mid. Reijnders can make those runs and passes and press high. I hate that he plays players like loftus, Kessie, bennacer in a role that’s supposed to be attacking and creative.
Guess Pioli doesn’t think Gabbia is quite ready yet. Jimenez and Simic looked good in Coppa and Empoli is arguably worse than Cagliari. I don’t know.
Pioli needs to go
Hahahaha
I suspected that play the youth nonsense was just because we didn’t care about Copa. Pioli really doesn’t trust them, he only happens to play them either because he has no other choice or its for a competition we generally don’t care about. Otherwise we’d see either of Jiminez or Simic in the team
I’m all in for Simic, but for Jimenez…. if Real Madrid really can buy him back, I’d rather not waste time with him and give more time to Bartesaghi.
All facts! And it’s a double edged sword ….jimi gets more playing time and shows his value makes Real increasingly likely to take him back.
Simic on the other hand is intriguing. I’d like to see more of him to get a better idea. He looks ok but he hasn’t really been tested so far.
it’s infuriating, he gave them a chance, they demonstrate that they are ready, and then he does not play them again! HOW WILL THEY CONTINUE TO GROW
I don’t think he gave them a chance, he just happened to play them and had a story around if they failed ie they’re young. And the reason why I’m saying this is exactly as u rightly said…no continuity. But Pioli doesn’t actively blood youth, instead we see their value only through injuries/necessity. Heck, Gabbia is back isn’t he? He’s played just about the same minutes as Florenzi hasn’t he, so why isn’t he in the starting lineup? Was Villareal using an unfit player this entire time? I highly doubt. Does he have to “get up to speed”? He knows the Milan tactics doesn’t he?
Now we have a formation with two players out of position even though we have two players available in those said positions. Make that make sense!
Settle down dude. They are kids. He gave them some playing time, which is good, but because they did well against Cagliari’s B side doesn’t mean they really proved all that much. And I don’t blame a coach who is fighting for his job every single game that doesn’t want to trust his job to teenagers. He wanted to give some players some rest , and he did. Should they start every game now? And over who? We are still trying to win, right?
I fully agree here K and also made a more lengthy post previously but it wasn’t posted and i couldnt repost it either. I tend to think that some people around here just cant see beyond what they want because there are definiely questions of rotation and those young players has done well but are in no position to expect anything currently and will get other chances. I did expect people would start complaining about Pioli ruining their confidence even when the players in question probably knows better themselves as they are professionals.
Stop criticising Olivier Giroud…yes he should start .
The simple reason is that he is perfect as a centre forward strong ,,technically brilliant and he does score goals ,,,and often against the top sides .Yes jovic has done well lately ,,,but often against mediocre opposition…He scored two goals against calagari ,,but the team calagari put out was very poor indeed ..I think they are more intent on staying in the division.
Had Olivier started this match ,,,I have no doubt he would have also scored a goal or two .
So yes it’s good that jovic does seem to be finding form and no doubt he will be used again .
Piloi knows exactly what he is doing and in my opinion is a top manager ..just look at Olivier Girouds stats 8 goals 6 assists,,,that’s not bad at all ..I said at the start of the season that Olivier will score around 20 goals in all competitions,,and he may well achieve that .
Yes pulisic / Rafeol leao and Olivier Giroud..the top three up front for sure .I think Loftus cheek in midfield is a huge asset to have .I have been impressed of late with Aldi ,,every time he plays ,,he seems to have great vision and awareness…
So things are looking very good for us at the moment .
The youngsters we have are also looking good .
I expect us to go on a winning run now ..
RLC has defensive qualities but does not care enough to do it while Adli lacks such qualities but will do anything Pioli asks. Kessie was excellent at winning back the ball and carrying it forward and he was a hard-working player too. Too bad Europe could not afford having him. Saudi wages are out of proportion.