AC Milan are enjoying the performances of Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer as they continue to be decisive, while Franck Kessie may be reflecting on his decision.
Calciomercato.com report that Kessie is being paid €6.5m net per season by Barcelona and he of course gets to play for a huge club and live in a historic city, but so far he has not been a big part of Xavi’s plans as he has started just two games in the league and two in the Champions League, with 12 total appearances and 1 goal against Viktoria Plzen.
At the same point of last season Kessié was an immovable column of the Milan midfield that would later become Italian champions, with the Ivorian the most used out of the department that included Bennacer and Tonali.
Xavi seems to have Busquets, Pedri and Gavi ahead of Kessie in the pecking order while Milan did not directly replace him. Pobega arrived, a mezzala who showed the best things when Pioli moved to 4-3-3, and Vranckx was signed but he is more of a prospect as not being included in the Champions League squad list shows.
Meanwhile, Pioli is enjoying a midfield with quality, work rate and balance. Bennacer is the brain, Tonali is the engine, and the two have learned to make up for Kessié’s absence, replacing his dynamism by collaborating and covering large portions of the pitch, as they did in Zagreb in the Champions League victory in midweek.
It is an anomalous season due to the World Cup in winter but the good thing is that neither of them – one Algerian and the other Italian – will be involved in Qatar.
The best part will be when Barca ask Kessie to take a 50% pay cut next season LOL
Lol xD
Haha. Funny ‘cos it’s true! 😀
That clown Xavi is actually playing that fossil Busquets ahead not only Kessie but Frankie de Jong too.
They deserved to get knocked out of UCL. So much talent on that team and he still plays Busquets and Pique.
Still miss Kessie though and I wished he stayed but not for 6.5mil
Yup Tonali is better anyway.
Kinda feel sorry for Kessie current situation. But he got what he wanted: more money than what Milan offered him despite he became a benchwarmer lol.
Now i wonder if Kessie feels regret with his decision despite Xavi never guarantee him a first team slot.
And not just that, does Kessie agent try to see from different view if his client will be fit with Xavi formation / strategy?
If money is the only target then why not go to EPL? I’m sure there are plenty of clubs who can offer bigger paycheck than Barca + Kessie physical plays fit with EPL playing style.
Oh well. I guess it’s too late for Kessie now xD
No, we have not made up for Kessie’s absence..we just have bigger holes in the middle of the park at the cost of being “more attacking”. I guess u could call that making up. We haven’t replaced the work he does which is protect the backline and both Tonali and Ben can’t do it the way Kessie does. But hey we are more fluid🤷♂️
Also really sad to see the minutes Kessie has been getting at Barca knowing his quality but also it serves him right..he was never going to replace stalwart like Busquets and Barca loves their academy players at the expense of other better players.
What exactly was Kessie doing?
Do a proper analysis and you will realise that all he brought to the team was muscle. In the 20/21 season when Milan bottled a substantial lead, being winter champion to let Inter win the scudetto, it was all down to Bennacer being unavailable. Kessie was there but Milan kept dropping points.
The Tonali-Bennacer combo is better than when Kessie was in the double pivot and it will become better… Bennacer did a lot of work, but people kept on seeing Kessie.
Even now, Bennacer still does a lot of work, the good thing is, Tonali is not about muscle. He has technicalities and also grits. So, the duo is the best.
@Nino if you’re going to do an analysis make sure it’s based on fact not opinion. Granted it’s hard to come up with positioning stats, I still think Kessie is better in that department.
But anyways since youre into analysis, let’s take a look at last season. According to sofascore, Kessie led Bennacer in mostly all defensive stats. The stats that were close is a toss up but the ones which Kessie led he led by ALOT. The one I thought was the most intriguing was Kessie was dribbled past 3 times fewer per game than Bennacer and this my friends is exactly why I say he protects the backline and why we’re so porous this season than last. Also aerially Bennacer won half as much as Kessie. These are facts. I agree that Kessie brings muscle but that’s exactly what I think is missing this season. We’re lightweight in the middle.
Pt 2:@Nino
Btw, Kessie led Bennacer in attacking stats too (better pass accuracy, own half, opp half acc, long balls), so so much for the narrative that Bennacer is better attacking-wise too. And that “substantial lead” in 2020 you mentioned, was just one point before the winter break. If you are talking about the 18th matchday it was only 3 points difference.
If u “think” Bennacer is better than Kessie I can’t convince you otherwise but factually when looking at stats it’s not just my opinion but the numbers also show Kessie was far better
“we just have bigger holes in the middle of the park at the cost of being “more attacking”. ”
When Kessie was still around the opponents scored a lot due to mistakes/marking errors behind the penalty box line (just as now) and corner kicks (just as now). The difference here is that guy responsible for those conceded goals is other than Kessie.
Bennacer is most likely recovering more balls now than Kessie ever did so yeah… We’re fine without him.
Hi BB
See above reply to Nino.
Now when you compare Kessie with Tonali that’s a little bit different but the overall picture remains the same. Kessie still has better/more stats including the defensive ones that matter (eg. lower dribbled past, better possession won and clearances) but Tonali has a few more attacking stats better than Kessie such as long balls, chipped balls and pass acc. And we see that in his game. I don’t agree with that it’s simply another player that’s conceding the goals. Kessie was difficult to get past and the stats show this. And if we’re missing someone in midfield that was difficult to get, past it shows in how leaky we have been
Kessie is all of us who move company for a bigger payday and less job description and responsibility
Kessie do have better stats than tonali and bennacer.
But no player is above the club. He can kiss xavi ass, and if he come back to italy he can kiss calhagnolu’s ass too
He knows when he leaves for free he hurts the club, but he still did so