GdS: Thiaw a key part of Milan’s February resurgence – the numbers show it

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan have not conceded a single goal since Malick Thiaw became a starter in the new three-man defence, and the numbers show his level of impact clearly.

La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) recall that Thiaw came on in the second half of the derby defeat against Inter at the beginning of last month, and ever since then the German centre-back has ended up in the spotlight with increasingly convincing performances.

The whole team have improved in the run of four straight victories but Thiaw’s performance in particular as he has become the bedrock of a new system that seems to bring the best out of the abilities of the centre-backs.

The former Schalke man averages 5.65 defensive clearances per game, and 3.7 aerial clearances per game. Then in duels and tackles the data is even more encouraging: 5.65 aerial duels won per game, 2.7 tackles won and 7.39 duels won every match.

Thiaw gets dribbled past 0.13 times per game on average, which is substantially lower than Tomori (0.29) and Kalulu (0.33).

Tags AC Milan Malick Thiaw
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