AC Milan are experiencing a complicated period made up of various individual issues, and one of them concerns what to do with Joao Felix.
Milan found themselves distant from the top four places and thus they decided to intervene during the winter transfer window, bringing in Kyle Walker, Santiago Gimenez, Warren Bondo, Riccardo Sottil and of course Felix too.
As Calciomercato.com recall, the Portuguese forward arrived on loan from Chelsea and – despite scoring a goal on his debut in a 3-1 Coppa Italia victory over Roma – the needle on the balance of his time so far remains on the negative side.
After showing what he could do with a dink over Mile Svilar, Felix got lost in the darkness that has fallen on Milan in the recent period. In the games that followed, he lost possession 17, 13, 8, 16 and 18 times against Empoli, Verona, Torino and Feyenoord (first and second leg).
The total is 72 balls lost in just five appearances in all competitions, a disproportionate amount of possible chances never created by the feet of the player who should be the creator in the attacking midfielder role.
There are some mitigating circumstances, as always. The first is that he arrived not in the best physical condition given a lack of regular starts with Chelsea and then played full 90s, while he has not had many ‘normal’ training sessions with the games every three or four days.
Milan cannot afford to wait: they need to speed up to reach fourth place, before it becomes too late. That objective also passes through the feet of Joao Felix, whose fluctuating performances on the field risk becoming more and more a completely unpleasant habit.
Ever since leaving Benfica, Felix has developed a reputation for being an inconsistent player, a magician capable of lighting up certain matches with his class, before disappearing from the scene for a long time. He can show flashes of genius, but also be incredibly wasteful.
At Atletico Madrid he started with two goals and an assist in the first six games in LaLiga, before a goal drought of four months. At Chelsea he was sent off in his first game, he returned, scored and then only scored one goal in the following 11 matches.
The only hint of consistency came in Barcelona, even though nine matches passed between his first goal and his second in the league. The same thing is happening at Milan: a brilliant debut, before ‘a slow decline into anonymity’.
Despite this, Joao Felix seems to enjoy a different treatment compared to his teammates, also thanks to the trust placed in him by Sergio Conceicao. The 25-year-old has started every game barring his debut because Conceicao is convinced that he can relaunch his talent.
The former Porto boss has seemingly made it his personal mission to improve his compatriot physically and in terms of performance levels, so as to become more effective and decisive on the pitch. This unwavering trust means he does not feel his spot is under threat.
There is another issue too: the arrival of Felix and his role as the No.10 are limiting the range of action of Tijjani Reijnders, the real driving force – also in terms of goals – of the season. The Dutchman is still finding a way to make an impact even from a deeper role, yet he doesn’t have the same freedom.
Beyond the technical-tactical evaluations, the feeling emerging from Milanello is that Conceicao will give up one of the ‘Fab Four’ in favour of the insertion of an extra midfielder, switching to a 4-3-3. Will Joao Felix drop out? No, it seems Rafael Leao – the highest paid player in the squad – will be sacrificed.
This in itself prompts reflections. Is it right to give up on using and potentially developing a player of your own to give prominence to a player who, after all, is not actually a permanent asset for the club? A complex question, with answers to follow on the field in the coming weeks.
Annoying player and seems to be escaping the flak that Leao is having to face
It’s not the player that is annoying; it is our approach to the game, taking ages to build an attack and then no one willing to shoot at goal.
If we buy this player, and we properly manage him, he has a good preseason, then everything will be well, he is a good player, a very good one at that.
No, everything will not be well. This is who Felix is as a player. It will not change.
He’s probably been more minutes on the floor complaining then involved in our goals.
A hard pass.
you re confusing him with Morata …… haha
I feel sergie is hinging a lot on felix and its causing us trouble, all the blame goes to leao and no one sis question why felix is playing the full 90 with no product. The agenda is to win not to relauch felix
Joao felix is coach compatriot. They also have same agent, the great milan agent, jorge mendes. So he should play, others can be bench, but not him, he must play.
If Conceicao wants to keep his job, he’d better drop this fraud.
And the management already talking about making this guy permanent. Fking hell 🤮🤦♂️
One of the few things working under Fonseca was Pulisic and Reinjnders playing higher and inside the pitch, in a sort of 3 man midfield with Fofana as n6. Felix has ruined both, forcing Reijnders 30 meters back and Pulisic wide on the right. A tactical suicide.
100% agree. Neither is allowed the freedom to roam and create that they used too before Felix.
I have to say, that Pulisic and Reijnders didnt drop consistansy when Felix arrived. It was when Conceicao came in and changed the tactics. Fonseca didnt delivered, but atleast he had a philosophy. I cant see that with Conceicao.
Pulisic like one-two offense, Reijnders likes one-two offense, Laeo at times likes one-two offense. Felix comes in and tells the press he likes goals way more than assists. he’s playing the 10? the guy who is supposed to link up the entire offense. Instead he is trying to take on guys and losing the ball at a much too high rate. Since he’s arrived Pulisic, and Reijnders production has dropped considerably.
Whether of not people like it Musah and Fofana should play the double pivot with Reijnders in an advanced roll. Pulisic and Laeo on the wings. let Felix sub and run at tired legs for whoever is playing the worst (3 attackers or Reijnders)
This is the best comment I have read for the day. You hit the nail on the hammer.
Yes
yup. I would argue when ready Bondo can replace Musah. Bondo i think is more ready for primetime than Musah at this point.
And not only Reijnders – Pulisic’s game’s also been thrown off course by Felix… Sergio – I know you love to see Felix’s ass out there, but let it warm the bench in the next game so we can get back to basics, please.
It’s tough for everyone involved. Our players just don’t know how to play with Felix (vice versa), who is given freedom upfront and ends up in the spaces occupied by others. Chemistry takes time.
We don’t have any of it to eff around. Not to mention Felix is a loanee so I’m not sure why Conceicao is trying to revive loanee’s career.
But what is obvious is that he is hindering the movements and positioning of players who are actually contributing – Reijnders and Puli.
So if this Portuguese click is a thing, then alternate them on the LT wing so it doesn’t affect the others. Otherwise I just don’t get what Sergio is doing. Almost like Mendes is pulling the strings and Sergio is the Burattino …
Milan’s trouble doubled when they signed Felix….ultimate atrocity is that there was talk to sign him permanently after the first game…🤪 and some fans supporting it…
They put Felix in a front only to see if they are going to gamble about permanent transfer.
Loan fee is 10 million per year. Huge money. Gross salary almost 9 or 10 million. Huge salary.
And we can now see the difference- there is no great difference on the pitch with this player. Milan must find new number 10 or just use Reijnders properly.
With Fofana new midfielder must arrive. I would suggest Ricci.
Let him come from bench an see what wil happen,n Leo need to work for Milan,leao need to be sell in summer both him n teo and maignan.
I see no reason why he keeps playing Felix in every match and that position itself was occupied by Reijnders and was doing well which even makes Milan looks like that of old(Eleven wise men) and ever since Felix arrived Reijnders is no where to be found again in the scoring chat
Reijnders and Pulisic were carrying the team before Conceicao arrived, and now they’re fading. Reijnders is and should be our AM. Instead of Felix what we needed was a DM. We got Bondo, but only as a replacement for Bennacer. What I’m saying is that we needed an additional DM, not an AM. This loan player is limiting real assets in the likes of Tijji and Pulisic, without bringing much to the table so far. I would only play Felix if it is in place of Leao. I would not play Leao, Felix and Pulisic together.
You just said what portugal did during euros and I believe in their games. Dont play Leao and felix the same time. Bench one and play the other. But Sergie wiill still put him the whole 90 mins just as Pioli sacrificed a stable milan for KRUNIC . Please we need wins not biases
100%
This player was over Milan budget. Milan only wants to loan him not to buy him. End this summer he will back to Chelsea.
“Whether of not people like it Musah and Fofana should play the double pivot with Reijnders in an advanced roll. Pulisic and Laeo on the wings. let Felix sub and run at tired legs for whoever is playing the worst (3 attackers or Reijnders)”
Absolutely correct. Moving Tiji deeper literally weakens two positions.
Felix is a sub or rotational starter at best.
very true
our recent good game is Coppa Italia against Roma. Roma is in good form recently, yet we won convincingly. So, I think a good setup should be Reijnders + Fofana + Musah
Mid-field is why we struggled since the Scudetto season. it should be a core to be stabilized first and the whole body stability will come after
So pretty much another Brahim Diaz
So when we got him and I said he hasn’t hit the same heights since Benfica, got called doom and gloom. But few weeks later ….here’s an article saying exactly the same. And we’re surprised about his performance because….?? Of what exactly? If he did well, that would be a surprise..
#MendesMinions
The knock out of champions league is totally the fault of the coach. Wtf do Felix play 90 mins while puli was sub. Felix is a total waste and that dude can never get any permanent in Milan. The coach id becoming pioli/krunic, and this will ruin his time in Milan.
MIlan don’t have enough quality players to compete on 3 fronts yet (Serie A, Copa, Champions League). They will need to invest in a few more pieces in order to sustain injuries/suspensions and provide rotational relief. But, this will mean that some players will have to sit even when healthy and in form. That requires maturity from both the players and the pundits. Inter’s strategy of getting more mature players on a Free pays better dividends at the San Siro than Milan’s strategy of buying young and building that way.
Sadly, it took the lockdown of Covid to turn things around for Milan. Why? Because they didn’t have the enormous pressure from the San Siro Faithful to contend with while they were forming their identity under Pioli and Ibra. Now that both are mostly gone, they have lost their identity. To many “good on paper” players and not enough authentic leadership invested in for the long term.
JF so far dont have chemistry with other ACM player. I don’t know why Sergio keep playing him starter like his golden boy. Puli, Leao, JF only 2 from this 3 can start while tiji playing more offensive in AM for 4231. While double pivot fofana & YM or bondo this will make team more balance because tiji can cover midfield too helping double pivot while JF cannot
Felix can not play on the wings. Didn’t anyone notice how quickly he was run down from behind last game. He’s too slow. The only position he can play is as a 10 which unbalances the team
it’s little stuart strategy to lower his price cz he’s a genius SD
It doesn’t seem like Felix and Tijji can co-exist. But we did see some really encouraging signs from Felix in the last match, he made some very very classy passes. The timing is just slightly off, the players need to develop chemistry.
Your comment reminds me of an Aerosmith song- Dream On. Look at Felix s history which tells you who he is. I don’t doubt you’ll see a great play now and then, but the downside is too great.
Why do we as average Joe’s see this yet the professional management and experienced owner can’t, what is their goal after destroying the great and fearful Milan that Berlusconi and Galliani built? Tiji in an advanced role, clear even for the blind to see and the rest as explained above but I had to scream Tiji in an advanced role and get a seasoned coach in serie A and champions league, this is Milan and not Bologna, oops now worse than Bologna.
Thank you Gerry Cardinale for showing by providing a training manual on how to destroy a legendary club.