Massimiliano Allegri has further food for though, after a tweak in formation brought three goals and three points against Torino.
As Calciomercato.com recall, Milan played with Christian Pulisic and Alexis Saelemaekers further wide against Torino in what resembled more of a 4-3-3. This move completely disrupted D’Aversa’s tactical setup, which had managed to surprise the Rossoneri in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The next evolution?
Milan will most likely continue to build around the 3-5-2 formation that Allegri has been using since day one to bring solidity and balance. The increasingly widespread feeling though is that the team performs better with two wingers and with full-backs and central midfielders free to overlap and attack space.
The most striking example is Saelemaekers, who was excellent in both phases at the start of the season but seems to be running on lower energy. With a full-back behind him, the Belgian international could unleash his creativity without worrying as much about tracking back.
Allegri and Landucci know the team’s strengths and weaknesses and could soon embrace a natural evolution, especially given that there are seven cases of formation changes yielding a big impact on the field.
➤ Against Cremonese, with the score at 0-0, Allegri switched to a 4-3-3 and won the match 2-0.
➤ Against Torino at 1-1, the switch to three forwards brought a 3-2 victory.
➤ Against Fiorentina, at 1-0 down, the switch to a three-man attack brought Nkunku’s late equaliser.
➤ Against Lecce, Füllkrug scored the winning goal in the final minutes, supported by two wingers.
➤ Against Pisa, with the score at 1-1, a change in formation led to a late win.
➤ Against Torino (in the first meeting) Milan overturned a deficit to win 3-2.
➤ Against Fiorentina, at San Siro, with the score at 0-1, the switch to a 4-3-3 allowed the Rossoneri to win 2-1.
Strahinja Pavlovic’s growth – as well as that of Koni De Winter and Fikayo Tomori – could represent the next step in Milan’s tactical plan. The move to a 4-3-3 feels more like a destination point than a gamble at the moment.
For now, based on what Allegri has reiterated in recent weeks, he and his staff see it as an in-game solution. Santiago Gimenez’s return, however, could raise some doubts, and the break could be a good time to develop some ideas.
It’s obvious to everyone but Allegri. Why is he being so stubborn? He doesn’t even have players for 3-5-2.
His team is 2nd in the standings after 30 games playing 3-5-2
Exactly that. Milan is 4-3-3 to me but the amount of tactical criticism Allegri gets is too much. We would do well to remember the 2 managers prior to Allegri taking over. They played 4 at the back, we were unwatchable and not even close to 2nd spot.
Yes, and by “everyone” you mean random clowns that don’t even understand football completely? I agree, you all think you know better but are actually clowns. That is how it is.
And yet a random clown just wrote an article showing seven different occasions in which coach clown changed his clown formation and achieved less clownish results. Imagine other matches were we might have gone from clown-5-2 to 4-3-3 and maybe gotten a result? Yes, 8th place is a clown finish, but we didn’t have Rabiot and Modric in our 2024-25 clown midfield. Have you noticed how we get clowned every time Rabiot misses a game? This kind of clowning matters, not just clowning the bus. In fact all of Serie A loves using clown-5-2, and Serie A just got clowned hard in Europe this season. Maybe a lesson about using clown formations? Clown.
You must be a hater or just ignorance. Allegri times and times again already said that he needed the balance of the 352. He needed the stability. And he needed the result. And it worked didn’t it? And once he finds the balance, once the team work again as a unit, once our defence grows, that’s when he can start to work on a ‘more offensive’ system.
In a 4 3 3 formation with Jashari being the DM, the wingers and even the No9 will benefit form his vision and long range passing. Jashari would be the dream player in that formation.
Have we learned nothing from pragmatic Allegri this season? He will never start a 433 because that’s his plan B for when 352 isn’t doing it and he can throw an extra attacker on.
if he starts with a 433 and it isn’t working what will he do? Turn to 352? no.
With this team and these players he will always start 352. What he could have done though is coach the malaise out of them in every first 45 minutes.
Milan fans hate having a Plan B apparently.
Basically the idea is to rotate the team by 1 anti-clockwise rotation.
LWB becomes LB if Alexis stay is shifted to RW, while either Tomori/DeWinter stay as RB or Athekame comes in.
now we have Athekame, Alexis, Tomori, DeWinter, Gabbia, Pavlovic and Barte for 5 positions in 3 men defense. obviously 1-2 wingbacks and a CB are needed.
midfield is always 3 men so nothing changes here. just an upgrade on RLC.
attack is the other part that shifts. Puli, Alexis, Leao, Gimenez, Nkunku are the 5 for 3 positions, so another attacker is needed. and we know ST is a target
the beauty of Zalewski is that he is like Alexis but on both flanks. so another LB that can play as CB and LWB to compete with Barte would complete the squad. like these guys:
Gerard Martin, Mykolenko, Ake, Lucas Beraldo, Arthur Theate, Jayden Oosterwolde, Caio Henrique
Zalewski, ST, CM and one of (Gerard Martin, Mykolenko, Ake, Lucas Beraldo, Arthur Theate, Jayden Oosterwolde, Caio Henrique)
Yes, I know we are in second. Here’s the question: Would we be better if we played a 4-3-3 when the players are available? One of the articles suggested there was no real difference in goals against when playing a 4-3-3 but I would like a better analysis. It was a comparison between first and second half goals against. So, second place is better then last year but no trophies and does anyone believe the 3-5-2 will fly in the CL?
You assume that Milan scoring more in 2nd halves compared to 1st halves is thanks to a switch in formation. Not true. Outside of a few games lately, when Allegri switched the formation later in games, Milan played exclusively 3-5-2. Allegri didn’t even have enough healthy forwards at the same time to play with 2, let alone with 3 of them.
Inter went to 2 UCL finals in the last 3 seasons playing 3-5-2.
That’s wjy I asked for a more detailed analysis. Inter plays the 3-5-2 much differently then Allegri. They also pressure the ball more. Explain how ACM had the number of ties they had against lower teams- because they played scared and not like a big club.
Again, its not the formation that is the problem but the approach.
You can line up in 4-3-3 but you play scared, you don’t press, you going to have the same problem vs lower teams.
Milan had problems vs lower teams under Pioli as well, and he had 4 attacking players in 4-2-3-1. Milan had problems vs lower teams last season under Fonseca/Conceicao and they lined up in 4-3-3.
Allegri defensive mindset is the bigger issue than where players a positioned on the pitch.
Last year we played 433 and 4231 and finished the season in 8th.
Case in point.
“Inter went to 2 UCL finals in the last 3 seasons playing 3-5-2.”
LOL!!!! There’s a lot of difference but I’ll just state one that is effing obvious to anyone: Inter has strikers. Many good strikers. Milan had Gimenez (injured for months) and Füllkrug who played a month with a broken toe and wasn’t “in form” anyway.
Allegri is going to start with 353 every time. Why is this a discussion? I’m going to call it wishful thinking?
Yes Milan is more balanced at 4-3-3 other than the 3-5-2. Because Milan 3-5-2 is weak and Milan are not that Good when it comes to double striker acmilan can’t cope with 4-3-1-2 and 3-5-2 but 4-4-2 is manageable because of the two attacking wingers support two forward but in 4-3-3 acmilan under Allegri this season are capable to score goals and maintening stability and flexibility this season under Pioli acmilan are more versatile in the 4-2-3-1 but left for me I suggest Allegri play 4-2-3-1 next season but will need two more attacking midfielders at number 10 and dangerous wingers to score goals and support centre nine to score goals because acmilan can press opponent especially their midfielders.