AC Milan currently have five forwards in the squad and at present none of them are certain to stay, a report claims.
La Gazzetta dello Sport begin their report with a rather clear statement: ‘everyone is potentially on the market’. Obviously, in practice, not every single Milan forward will leave, but Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao, Santiago Gimenez, Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Füllkrug are all potential exits.
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Five forwards, no goals
Of course, if Milan qualify for the Champions League, it will be because of their solid defensive record rather than the fact that they regularly outscore opponents in shootouts. Massimiliano Allegri has made the strength the rearguard, but he didn’t really have much choice.
Let’s start with the absolute certainty: the departure of Füllkrug. In theory, if it had worked, it would have been a bargain in terms of the transfer fee given the €5m option to buy. However, he has played a bit-part role and has scored only once.
Milan hopes to get the Leipzig version of Nkunku, paying €37m to sign him. It hasn’t gone to plan, but because of that fee paid he can’t leave for less than €30m. He’s the club’s most valuable asset, however, to generate some transfer revenue.
Gimenez could also leave, after a very difficult season with goals that never came (one in the Coppa Italia) and all the difficulties he faced in regaining his form after a long absence. In this case, the player’s primary objective is to prove to himself and the rest of the world that he’s worthy of Milan.
Last, but certainly not least, are those who are supposedly the stars of the team: Leao and Pulisic would both potentially be leaving at the end of this season. Of the two, Pulisic seems the least likely to leave although the US international is in a less-than-ideal situation.
His contract expires in 2027, and a renewal is currently on hold. Adding to this bureaucratic issue is the tactical one: a 3-5-2 formation in which – as Allegri himself acknowledged – Christian struggles to perform at his best.
And then there’s Leao. The club consider him sellable, though the Rossoneri certainly won’t be offering him around. We’re not at that point yet, though Milan and Rafa could have reached the end of a cycle, for various reasons. The club want €70m to sell, amid talk of interest from England.
Gila
Odogu – ???
RWB (Dodo/Palestra)
Goretzka
Estupinan – Grimaldo
RLC – SMS
Nkunku – Chiesa (?)
Leao & Fullkrug- ???
Gimenez – Lewandowski
5 changers would be nuts
Every transfer is a roll of the dice.
You’ve got to stick to some knowns.
Leao and Pulisic are both knowns.
And they can, and probably should, play alongside a CF.
There’s also Camarda. He needs all of the knowns around he can get.
He cannot come into a team in continuous change. He needs a stable environment.
If they f’ck this up everyone needs to get f’ing angry.
1) Gila
2) Odogu – ???
3) RWB (Dodo/Palestra)
4) Goretzka
5) RLC – SMS
6) Estupinan – Grimaldo
7) *Nkunku – Chiesa (?)
8) Gimenez – Lewandowski
9) Leao & Fullkrug – SC
Please don’t ever mention Füllkrug again except in a sentence with “retires”.
Fullkrug needs to leave just like Odogu, Estupinan, RLC, Leao and Gimenez, he mustn’t stay in 26/27…
Leao and Gimenez have to stay. Estupinian can go. Loftus-Cheek can be valuable. Odogu… Who?
Why does Gimenez have to stay? He simply isn’t good enough not even for a backup striker and it doesn’t have to anything with his injuries. Ruben doesn’t have a place in the 3-5-2 formation, that
guy doesn’t exist in defence no matter formation
we are using. Leao obviously can not play in the existing setup, he is a left winger, not a SS or a 9.
I guess we’ve got different opinions then.
Plays a few games with a sore ankle. Gets surgery. Hardly gets any minutes after recovery. Gets kicked out because he is disappointing. Nice.
I keep asking this; why would Pulisic want to stay? He’s a winger. He is also better in a system where he is making runs thru the box, connecting with players, and playing with an overlapping winger. None of these are Allegri. I believe last game he was pissed off coming off the field not at coming off, but at how he was (and is being) played. Hopefully he mouthed off to Allegri a bit. And before anyone dares say anything about that, remember Leao mouthing off in public. I doubt we’ll see him for the rest of the season so he can be sold (please). ACM will be hoping he doesn’t get injured in the WC. As soon as they hired Allegri I saw this happening. Mr. From the North, I think a decision was made already on Gimenez which is why he isn’t playing. Don’t want to risk an injury to him either. I still don’t understand why they let Tammy go and bought Nkunko- Tammy 7 goals in Turkey and 2 in the EPL as a sub. He’s a decent back up. Oh, and Alex Jimenez is doing well in the EPL. Would have been nice to have him rather then Estupinan. But he apparently mouthed off to Allegri.
Just in case my comments gets the boot- I keep asking this; why would Pulisic want to stay? He’s a winger. He is also better in a system where he is making runs thru the box, connecting with players, and playing with an overlapping winger. None of these are Allegri. I believe last game he was angry coming off the field not at coming off, but at how he was (and is being) played. Hopefully he mouthed off to Allegri a bit. And before anyone dares say anything about that, remember Leao mouthing off in public. I doubt we’ll see him for the rest of the season so he can be sold (please). ACM will be hoping he doesn’t get injured in the WC. As soon as they hired Allegri I saw this happening. Mr. From the North, I think a decision was made already on Gimenez which is why he isn’t playing. Don’t want to risk an injury to him either. I still don’t understand why they let Tammy go and bought Nkunko- Tammy 7 goals in Turkey and 2 in the EPL as a sub. He’s a decent back up. Oh, and Alex Jimenez is doing well in the EPL. Would have been nice to have him rather then Estupinan. But he apparently mouthed off to Allegri.
The question is why would any attacking player want to stay here under Allegri? Offense is an afterthought for Allegri. Doesn’t care about it, doesn’t think about it. His only goal is not to concede, and if somehow somebody can create something out of nothing and score a goal and you win 1-0, that’s a bonus.
It’s terrible football to watch and probably as an attacking player, terrible to play in.
Our only hope is that the Italian National team will take him. Sure, he would get the National team to qualify for the next World Cup playing this way but they would not be able to compete with any of the top teams. Just like Milan will qualify for Champions League playing this awful football, but will not be able to compete with any of the top teams playing this way.
All you say is true. I do think Leão is a better fit for his ‘offense’. Allegri’s offense is getting a breakaway. So, a flick from the #9 freeing Leão works. That way there is no real commitment of players going forward. There is no dependence on players working patterns. I wished it had worked out for Pulisic as I think he likes living in Italy (who wouldn’t want to live on Lake Como), loves the team, and loves playing at San Siro with their fans. But, his career needs to come first
This isn’t Allegri‘s first rodeo. The reason his offense sucks is because he is pragmatic and understands the limitations of this squad. We can’t play attacking football without giving up defensive solidity.
He knows 352 won’t fly in Europe so unless his backline has assurances and solidity he won’t rebalance the team to make it more offensive just because.
You’re hopeful, I’m not. I look back at his last stint at Juve. The fans were glad to see him go as the football was dreadful. Top managers tend to be stubborn. I don’t say that as a negative, just that they have a strong set of beliefs. Allegri will always be Allegri. José will always be José.
This. Juve-fans were thrilled to get rid of him. I’m sure when he finally leaves, no one will miss him.
Please let’s stop giving excuses for Allegri.
Milan won the Scudetto without any “special” defensive solidity, yet we conceded the least goals in the entire league.
Our lineup looked like this:
Giroud
Leao – Krunic – Saelemaekers
Kessie – Tonali
Theo – Tomori – Kalulu – Calabria
Maignan
We had a defense of:
Theo – Tomori – Kalulu – Calabria
Today we have a defense of:
Bartesaghi – Tomori – Gabbia – Saelemaekers
I’m just led to juxtapose between the defense we had and what we have now as comparison to see if this “we have no defensive solidity” argument holds any water and we’re now being linked with every defender in Europe.
1. Theo vs Bartesaghi
We all know there’s really nothing to argue about this, Bartesaghi is noted for a defensive solidity far more superior to Theo.
2. Tomori vs Tomori
No comments.
3. Gabbia vs Kalulu
We all know that Gabbia is more defensively solid and intelligent than Kalulu.
4. Saelemaekers vs Calabria
Calabria tops Saelemaekers as a better defender.
Bonus: Add Pavlovic which makes it the 5th defender.
The problem was in midfield and after adding Rabiot, we needed at least two solid and combative midfielders of Kessie and Tonali level to come in instead of a 40 year old Modric and two bench warmers in Jashari and Ricci.
We didn’t need to eliminate the wingers department which had little issues to play with 5 defenders and still solve nothing.
Milan can play with 4 defenders if the selection is right. 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 and allow the wingers to be wingers, allow Fofana to do a Tonali while Rabiot does the Kessie, move Modric forward to do the Krunic and you will see a different team.
But with the back pass master and defensive tactics specialist in charge, formation counts for nothing.
I honestly disagree that we have bad defenders.
We won the Scudetto after scoring 69 goals and conceding 31 goals.
Now we have scored 48 and conceded 27 goals, did we play with 5 defenders just to be 4 goals better?
The stats shows that Pioli played “attacking football without giving up defensive solidity”.
Exactly. It doesn’t have to be offense OR defense. It CAN be both.
As always, a great analysis. Thx
What exactly are the limitations? You can play a 3-5-2 and still attack, just look at Inter. You just have to put some thought and effort into the offensive side of things. Watching Pulisic and Leao trying to go 1 vs 3 last week against Juventus because they had nobody near them to pass to or draw a defender away was a joke. Anybody that supports this style of play really hates football.
9 times out of ten the team that concedes the fewest goals wins the league. Milan have conceded the fewest goals and will not even come close to winning the league. That’s how poor the offense has been. And it’s not on the players. Pulisic and Leao are proven players. 2 of the top 5 goal contributors in Serie A over the last 3 seasons. It’s on the coach.
And finishing Top 4 with this squad, with no European play at all is not some great accomplishment. Pioli was sacked for finishing second with a lesser squad.
Well said, MK. Well said.
Recently most forwards scored more before and after playing with Milan. Hehe
The not playing because of injury risk… don’t think so. Makes no sense to me.
Blowing out an ACL or having any knee injury in general will hurt trying to sell them.