Still no goal for the two attackers, who are struggling to manage the defense alone: why not try fielding them together? For the coach it’s a question of balance
Milan must have drawn the wrong goal card, like in Risiko: “try to win Serie A without goals from the centre-forwards”. Since the start of the championship, it has progressed with goals from second strikers (Pulisic, Leao), midfielders (Modric, Fofana, Loftus-Cheek) or wingers (Saelemaekers). From Gimenez and Nkunku, nothing. Santi and Christo took turns in this Milan-Pisa match but for 90 minutes they never got on target: much more grounded than their nicknames would suggest. Gimenez, in particular, watched the game for a long time, active but disconnected from the rest of the team. More than two months after the start of the championship, the toll is becoming heavy. It’s not the year of the center forward for anyone but Inter have Bonny, Lautaro and Thuram with 3 goals, Napoli Hojlund with 2, Juve Vlahovic with 2 and David with 1. Milan, with the two center forwards, is still scoreless. “We had to be more clear inside the area,” says Allegri and this sums up a lot.
AC MILAN AND THE CENTER FORWARDS
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Why doesn’t Gimenez score goals? Complex and detailed response. In the past, it was due to inaccuracy and bad luck: last weekend De Gea canceled out a goal with a miracle and other times it was a matter of centimeters. Not against Pisa, it was another story and Milan’s slow-paced game is certainly part of the explanation. Santi went in vain, with Milan often sleepy, slow, incapable of creating for him. In the first half a good half ball passed and he wasn’t able to control it. In the second, nothing. Christopher Nkunku, by comparison, has an alibi this big: he only played 14 minutes plus injury time. In those 14 minutes he came closest to scoring: freed by Leao, at least he kicked on goal. Canestrelli, in a slide, canceled out his celebration.
WHY NOT THREE POINTS
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The numbers are clear. For Gimenez, in 76 minutes, no shots on target, only 8 successful passes (one every 9 and a half minutes…), no assists, no crosses, only one opportunity created. For Nkunku, just 4 passes and nothing beyond that blocked shot. Too little. Faced with so much poverty, one wonders why, in a match like this, Allegri didn’t try to have them play together: Nkunku behind Leao and Gimenez. Not from the start – Nkunku doesn’t have 90 minutes and changing the balance would have made no sense – but at least in the last 20 minutes, with Pisa closed to defend and the anxiety of lost points rising rapidly. “We would have been more exposed to the counterattack,” Allegri explained at the end.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW
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Milan now needs something more. Allegri certainly won’t change the team structure and God forbid: the strikers will remain two. With Pulisic out until the November break, three players remain for two shirts. Milan will go to Bergamo on Tuesday and Rafa Leao, barring any developments in the next few days, will play. The other place remains to be assigned. Nkunku shyly raises a hand: what does that mean?
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