Alejandro Jimenez Sanchez of AC Milan

GdS: A dilemma on the left – the two ways Milan could line up against Roma

Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images

The injury bug has hit AC Milan towards the end of the year, forcing Paulo Fonseca to come up with ideas for the Roma game.

Rafael Leao went off after 30 minutes against Verona with a muscle problem, which means that he joins the likes of Noah Okafor and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the treatment room. Christian Pulisic is expected to be back for the Roma match but is unlikely to start out of precaution.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) there are two ideas in Fonseca’s mind regarding how to line the team up for the visit of Roma. Both of them involve the 4-2-3-1 as a starting formation.

The first is Theo Hernandez coming back into the team after a couple of games in which he started on the bench. Alex Jimenez – who has been used at left-back in those games – would be pushed up to play as a winger.

The alternative scenario is that Pulisic is fit enough to start the game and he gets the nod on the left side over Jimenez. However, the Spaniard would move back into the defence with Theo dropping to the bench.

Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia and Malick Thiaw seem certain to keep their spots, as do Youssouf Fofana and Filippo Terracciano in midfield. Samuel Chukwueze, Tijjani Reijnders and Alvaro Morata complete the attack.

la gazzetta dello sport 24 december
Tags AC Milan

33 Comments

    1. I dont know why it is very difficult for the coach to put Jimenez on the right side to solve problems,it is very clear that emerson Royal is not milan worthy at all..

    2. Yeah right
      With pulisic out due to injury.
      Jimenez and Salad would have brought balance, energy, dynamism to right (Theo + Leao/whoever on the left.

    1. Except Krunic was our best midfielder after Kessie.

      It is telling that the people who don’t ‘get’ Krunic all have very similar ideas about football (that seem to be mostly gleaned from computer games and a preference for headless chickens.)

          1. Bennacer wasn’t and hasn’t been consistently fit since the Scudetto season. There isn’t a version of Krunic that is better than Bennacer. Now, with that being said, Krunic certainly wasn’t an awful midfielder by any stretch of the imagination. He was a jack of all but master of none tradesman and I actually loved him for that. He always played with passion for the badge which I admire, which is more than I can say for most of the players we have today.

      1. Krunices problem was not that he was bad but he thought he was good. When he would miss the pass and it happens alot and the waive the hands instead of running would kill me

  1. If Pulisic is healthy and can play 90 minutes, the debate should Chukweze or Jimenez. And Theo should start regardless. We’ve lost enough points because of these games of Fonseca. Get your best players behind you, or get our of here.

    1. Have you seen Theo against Verona? His attitude is unacceptable and unprofessional. He literally walk on the pitch, looking at opponents passing him. The mistake of Fonseca has been not playing Jimenez till December.

      1. It hasn’t been his best season, but he’s still one of the best left backs in the world. And I don’t know about all this attitude nonsense, everyone is a psychologist these days from watching the tv set. There are probably multiple factors for why he’s been subpar this season. But like I said, Fonseca needs to know how to get the best out of his players, especially the better ones. It’s his job to figure it out not mine. And benching for the sake of “discipline”, and not for resting, doesn’t help

        1. Also Theo may be having a burnout. He has been overplayed for a few seasons with very little rest. We needed a deputy that was never purchased to back him up. It is normal that he would slow down at one point.

          1. The reason why Theo plays the way it plays is secondary. Fonseca’s job is to bring results and play the players in best conditions. And Theo is now not presentable in a football pitch. I hope for him and for us that he recovers starting from Sunday, but in Verona he was horrible to watch. Calabria and Tomori may have a problem with Fonseca as well, but they entered the pitch and did their best as professionals.

  2. Pavlov and Tomori will never set foot on the pitch unless Thiaw or Gabbia are unavailable. I know you guyss like to play with formations in your head, me too. But seriously, forget anything with 3 CB’s or without a CAM. Fonseca will never play with 3 CB’s and without a CAM even if the CAM is RLC who is completely useless in the position.

  3. Im thinking he doesn’t put Jimenez at RB has to do with Madrid. Madrid got the buy back and Carvajal is getting old. Milan are probably trying to renegotiate or wait until the clause ends and then would switch him to the right. That’s the only logical reason why they would do that….but then again Milan’s management decisions this last decade or so has baffled me oftentimes

  4. M.maignan
    Calabria, Gabbia, thiaw, Theo Hernandez
    Fofana, terraciano
    Chukwueze, Reijnder, pulisic
    Morata
    Substitute: musah to replace chukwueze
    Benercer to replace terraciano
    Jimenez to replace Hernandez 86th minutes. Tammy Abraham to replace Morata.

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