AC Milan are having a torrid 2024-25 campaign, and there have been few positives in it. One of them though, without a doubt, has been Tijjani Reijnders.
How bad has this season been for Milan so far? Generationally bad. They find themselves ninth in the Serie A table, and on course to ‘secure’ their second-ever worst league finish since the turn of the millennium.
They were also knocked out of the Champions League by Feyenoord, having surrendered a top eight spot in the final round of the ‘league phase’. The Coppa Italia feels like all that can salvage some of the wreckage, though even on that front a tough second leg against Inter awaits.
That loss to Feyenoord by the way came against a side who just a few days before the first leg, sacked their head coach and sold their star player and goalscorer – Santiago Gimenez – to none other than Milan themselves. It was branded a humiliation in the Italian press, and for a reason.
Managerial changes, alleged player bust-ups, public criticism, uninspiring performances, dismal results, Curva Sud protests, a Supercoppa Italiana win and boycotts amongst a 125th anniversary ‘celebration’ – it would be fair to say it’s been quite a season.
One of the few shining lights in the storm has been the performances of Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, as Mussaver Ahmedi writes. They have earned him a contract extension, as the club persuaded him to renew his deal until 2030.
The Milan directors liked what they saw and were sure to get his signature (one of their few sound judgments this year). At the time of writing, he has 14 goals and four assists in all competitions, a stark improvement from the four of each in his debut season in Lombardy.
He has never been in richer form in front of a goal. After scoring on Friday night in the 4-0 rout of Udinese, he now has the most goals by a central midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues (as the data below shows).
He is taking the most shots and is outperforming his xG (Expected Goals, measuring the quality of a chance) quite considerably. This suggests a decrease in sustainability for future seasons, but certainly indicates his outperformance this year, going above and beyond his expectations.
His neat finishes against Empoli and Hellas Verona in particular show his calmness and immense technical ability in front of goal, composure that was perhaps lacking a bit during his debut season at the club.
Reijnders’ influence and ever-presence are shown in his touch map (below). The midfielder pops up everywhere, covering nearly every blade of grass. This could be filling in defensive holes as well as in more advanced positions, in between the lines.
His pass map paints a similar picture: ever involved, forward-thinking and accomplished (below).
Comparatively speaking, Reijnders leads the way with passes and successful passes into the final third, making him Milan’s most efficient creative performer.
He is in second place for most open play passes, just 80 behind Youssouf Fofana, and just two behind Christian Pulisic for most through balls in the squad. His passing accuracy of 89% is equally as impressive, the same accuracy as defenders who generally play safer, risk-averse, non-threatening balls.
Not only has his neat and accurate forward passing been impressive, but equally so is his ability to drive with the ball with speed and grace. Despite having quick, talented dribblers in the side such as Leao, Theo and Pulisic, Reijnders has made the most ball carries and by over 1000m, travelled the furthest with the ball as well as progressive ball carries.
Reijnders is a ticking metronome with his distribution, but he has also exhibited an ability to drive with the ball into space and cover ground easily, spearheading counter-attacks.
The former AZ Alkmaar man has shown the character and confidence in such a challenging season to take it upon himself to charge the team on, like an army general leading The Thin Red (and black) Line.
Simply put, the 26-year-old has become a dynamic, ever-present, influential game controller, but also his match-defining characteristics. He is at the centre of all attacks and is the beating heart of the team. This reliability and consistency in answering the call of duty is something other players have lacked, with increasingly erratic performances.
This development in his game has made Reijnders versatile and transformed him from a central midfielder or regista with deep playmaking abilities to a more proactive box-to-box, roaming playmaker role. In keeping with the American ownership of the club, he is surely Milan’s MVP this season.
Given the fact that some notable European suitors – such as Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid – started to sniff around, all of whom could do with an injection of life in their midfield, Milan’s hierarchy acted swiftly. He got a well-deserved pay rise from €1.7m to €3.5m net per year.
There is no doubting that Reijnders is a fan favourite too. When Milan celebrated their 125th anniversary party in December last year, the Curva Sud protested outside, jeering players and members as they arrived, with the exception of Reijnders. He was one of only three players who were applauded.
Looking ahead, no matter which coach is at the helm next season, be it Sergio Conceicao or a more possession-based coach like Roberto De Zerbi or Maurizio Sarri, Reijnders will surely be adept and/or able to adapt.
He is also the latest chapter in a long love story between Milan and the Oranje, one that has seen the legendary triumvirate of Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard and more recently Clarence Seedorf amongst others.
Certainly, a comparison could be made with the latter due to his all round highly technical, intelligent, but also physical play. Seedorf and Reijnders both share an ability to move powerfully and gracefully with the ball, despite not being blessed with an abundance of pace.
Reijnders is on course to follow in his footsteps and be the future of Milan, someone to be built around, the Duomo to the club’s skyline.
Reijnders is the most hated player soon they will realize their mistakes when he is gone and our midfielders struggle because he was the engine
Just average player who shines against midtable opponent
This.
I would say he is above average. But some people thinks he can walk into any squad on the earth right now.
I never really got the Reijnders hype, and how he is overwhelmingly praised. Even when he does nothing.
And consequently Pulisic is always put down, even when he produces. 🤔
Yeah a good player, though those stats and analysis has been dwell up and overhyped, let’s see my breakout towards his skillset:
-Passing : as mentioned it’s shines in the final third, but the long and passes whether it’s a through ball or an aerial ones it’s so poor.
-Drribling : Making it just once or two at the most, then he completely dissappeard from our attention.
Defensives abilities :
– Tackles : 0, to late or to early
– Interception : can’t remember witnessing such effective ones
Scoring: happening just one we dominate the opponent or against weak opponent, I point out the fact that he just increase the advantage not a decisif ones.
Nb: whilst we got overwhelmed, he desont kick a goal
Leadership: as stated above, he doesn’t stand out when facing tough opposition
Conclusion : he doesn’t have any interesting defensive skillset, while the offensive one isn’t complete and not enough for a true nowadays box to box.
Midtable like Inter and Real?
Empoli, Udinese…. Etc
That means he performs both against big teams like Inter/Real/Spain and small tams like Empoli/Udinese – consistent across the board.
Thanks for confirming that he is very good. Cheers!
teams*
Maybe for once we will sell the right guy. Useless player, who shines when we are 9th.
Useless player wanted by Man City, bona fide starter for Milan plus Dutch national team with transfermaket value of at least 50 millions? You are a useless fan.
Please bro Tijjani. Accept offer from Pep.
Please Milan, you have no money next season.
This is it. One hit wonder. Once in a lifetime bro.
70-100m maybe the highest price.
A good player and certainly way above average but enough with the f***ing world class shouts he wouldnt start in barcelona, inter, real, liverpool, city, bayern etc. Lets see him do it for a few more years with hopefully a top coach & players. 2 decent / good years are not enough wait 1 year actually as his first season wasnt that good
i really like Tiji, but he’s overhyped. remember Kessie is our best Midfield in Scudetto season, but almost nothing he can do in Barca.
Kessié suffered from the Barcelona habit to favour home products and former legends.
With Xavi as a coach and Busquets available, Kessié was always going to be a second or third choice.
Plus they always wanted to build from behind with a defensive holding midfielder who is very good with the ball at his feet. Kessié was more of a destroyer who doesn’t suit their philosophy very well.
Wow I don’t understand why there are so much hate in this section. Reijnders has been performing well for both Milan and Netherlands, and he does it consistently including against the teams with strong midfielders such as Madrid, Inter, and Spain. Even in his first season you can see sparks of his abilities, particularly his progressive carries. Yes he’s maybe not world-class yet but I believe he is on his way there. If you argue that he only looks good because the rest of the team is performing poorly, what does it say about the other so-called star players in Milan that does not even perform this season then?
LOL. So much hate for Reijnders here. People are begging him to leave because he’s “useless” and “mediocre”.
So, riddle me this then. Reijnders scores more goals than Leao but also does 1000% more work on the pitch. I’d be really curious to know their opinion on Leao as well as he doesn’t defend and contributes less goals than Tijj. Is he on their “please stay” list or GTFO-list? And if not, why not? 🙂
Leao has 15 goal contributions and Reijnders 13.
“Reijnders scores more goals than Leao”
You also wrote “and contributes less goals than Tijj”. Assists are part of contributions
Most of the Reijnders haters are Milan fans who are still sore from the sale of Tonali, and passionately hates RedBird and will do anything to discredit them.
I do not like RedBird either – no reason to, as of today but you have to be objective. Reijnders is praised by Milan legends, football pundits and fans of other teams. That tells you something, salty Milan fans.
Reijnders is best central midfield in the world right now
He isn’t.
The best way to describe him is some sort of a forward desguised as a midfielder; absolutely terrific at goalscoring, somewhat good a dribbling and short passes with however tendencies to overcarry, but his playmaking abilities are lacking and his defensive game is close to non-existant.
SO much hate for a player who has been brilliant and showed consistency against big and small teams unlike the rest of the team. Seems like these people who comment are deluded fans who expect a “perfect” midfielder for a milan team who are sitting in 9th place. Calling him “1 season wonder” & “average” shows alot abt how u rate ur own players…
A lot of idiots in this comment section, a lot of he doesn’t shine against top teams, we’ll remind me when Ronaldinho did that. He was adept at ripping up teams like Chievo and Atletico Bilbao in Spain. Also when did Tonali ever shine against any top club? You need to be consistent against all opposition. Our biggest reason for not winning the title was losing to clubs like Atalanta and Sassuolo, and it’s that way again. African and Arab football experts in here.
And if you’re leveling the he doesn’t score against big teams at Tijji you can throw that same criticism at CR7 and Neymar. Easy to score against Luxembourg and Bolivia especially CR7 and then the only goal he scored in his last 10 games in international tournaments was a penalty. Sit down. Maggots