Joao Felix arrived at AC Milan with a return ticket in his pocket, and after just a few games that is beginning to look like quite a relief.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes, if you were to sign and drop Felix into a functional team he could be a real asset with his flair and creativity. In the context of the black hole that Milan have been sucked into, however, he simply does not have the tools to make the difference.
The forward landed at Milanello a month ago back on February 4, and everything is different from how it seemed it could be. The goal on debut against Roma with the audacious chip over the goalkeeper gave the illusion that Felix was everything Milan have been looking for.
In reality, it would be unfair to put more responsibility on his shoulders than is legitimate, since Joao found himself in an environment consumed by all kinds of problems. At the same time, however, it is normal to expect a greater contribution from the players with his talent and experience.
A strange arrival
It is essential to immediately dispel the misunderstanding: Joao Felix cannot be classified as a flop, for the simple reason that he did not arrive at Milan as a champion, but rather as a player looking for the best stage to be able to find himself and recover his enormous potential.
On the other hand, if Felix were a phenomenon, he would have been on the pitch more than on the bench at Chelsea and they would not have let him go halfway through the season. In short, it was necessary to prepare the right situation for him to turn him on, but this did not happen.
The problem is that we are not talking about inconsistency, but of an eclipse that has lasted six games. The fireworks against Roma in the Coppa Italia were followed by a decent performance against Empoli, and then a series of inadequate displayers.
Then came his exclusion from the line-up against Lazio after six consecutive starts. Sergio Conceiçao decided to put him on after only 37 minutes of the match in place of Yunus Musah, who had messed up a lot up until then. The message was clear: work rate out, technique in.
The problem is that Felix had only one real flash, in the second half when he turned very well in the area and shot powerfully over the crossbar. Nothing else remained and now there are reflections underway.
The dilemma
Joao is one of the Rossoneri’s problems because for Conceiçao he is absolutely central in the choices, but the contribution is not proportional to the trust place in him by his compatriot.
Also, as many fans point out, the use of the No.79 as the central attacking midfielder forces Tijjani Reijnders to move deeper into the midfield double pivot. As he has admitted, this isn’t his best role.
Joao arrived at the end of the winter window as a sort of extra gift for the coach. In January, in fact, all the club’s attention was focused on the centre-forward. When the Santiago Gimenez operation came to fruition, they turned to Chelsea for the ex-Benfica man.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Geoffrey Moncada and Giorgio Furlani saw it as an ‘intriguing gamble’ to be carried out, but it is not working. Joao’s plane ticket from London to Milan will not be a one-way ticket.
Unpopular opinion, i think Reijnders is the problem here if we continue to play 4-2-3-1 he is not a good pivot but also not a good 10
If we really want to build squad with him as central we need a coach to play 4-4-2, 3-5-2, or 3-4-3
Not unpopular to be honest. IF (big IF) we are to build around Tiji, those arent bad options. Our current problem is that we want (not sure if this has changed) to build around Rafa, Theo and Mike. both Rafa and Theo dont do well on a 4-4-2. Rafa does not do as good as a SS as he does on the LW and a 4-4-2 limits Theo’s forward potential (which to be honest is his biggest trait). on the 3-5-2 we kinda solve for Theo but not for Rafa. And for the 3-4-3 we just dont have the midfield depth. Conceicao loves a 4-4-2, Tiji and maybe Felix are well suited for it, Puli maybe as well, the kid is a hard worker and adaptable. But we would be basically move out of position arguably 2 of our best performers (Puli and Rafa). That’s why we are in this mess… We dont have direction or vision and the coach is throwing stuff to the wall to see what sticks. Sorry i rambled on
Good post.
The fact that we decided to loan Felix and Sottil and not a proper regista ready to play immediately is embarassing. We desperately need a DM for 2 years. Fofana is not one and should be clear to everybody now.
Bondo was that player but he’s injured. He is incredibly young too but at least he looks more ready for primetime than Musah. Musah has some skill and traits but the kid wasnt ready to be a full time starter. He was supposed to be the guy playing Monza and Lecce, learning the craft from our experienced midfielders. But here we are…. starting not only most games, but also in every conceivable position. I had faith in Bondo to be honest. He looks ready.
You guys gave him a transfer rating of 7.5/10 😐
We already have a better version of Felix. His name is Pulisic. Felix should have spent more time blending in from the bench rather than being inserted so quickly into a major role which disrupted the team chemistry.
The season is over and we are clearly selling Theo and Leao, so do this…
Maignan
Walker, Gabbia, Pav, Jimenez/Bartesaghi
Pulisic, Reijnders, Fofana/Bondo, Sottil
Gimenez, Jovic/Felix