The Swiss midfielder stopped by an injury at the end of August and is ready to return. Tomorrow the test against Entella will be the first step towards returning to Serie A
Finally on the pitch. Ardon Jashari strongly wanted Milan in the summer, spending himself personally to convince his old club, Bruges, to give in at the end of a very tight negotiation. In Milan, however, after his debut as a substitute against Cremonese on the first matchday, fate immediately played a cruel joke on him: he broke his fibula in a training clash with Gimenez on the eve of the match against Lecce. It was the end of August. Today, over two months later, the Swiss midfielder is ready to put the red and black shirt back on. Tomorrow’s match against Entella (11.30 am in Solbiate Arno, doors closed but live on Milan TV and the club’s official YouTube channel) will only be a friendly match, but Massimiliano Allegri has pushed hard to organize it with Jashari’s return in mind. Not just an extra man in the midfield rotations, but a player with different characteristics who would have been very useful in certain situations experienced by Milan recently.
tactics
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Pro forma, Ardon had already returned to the bench against Roma and Parma, but more to test the sensations of the pitch again than to actually help his teammates during the match in progress. The injury was a trauma and rushing his return would have been counterproductive. The recovery, between work at Milanello and with a trusted specialist in Switzerland, went well, but it takes time to see the player paid 34 million euros plus bonuses again. We need to proceed step by step and the test with Entella is a further step forward. The question that arises spontaneously is what can Jashari give to Milan once he returns to the top? Allegri trained him for just a month before the injury, but on the very day the Swiss got hurt he clarified his thoughts in the press conference: “I see him as a midfielder in front of the defense or in a two-man midfield”, the words of the Livorno coach who as a midfielder (a role in which Ardon was often used in Belgium) loves more capable players like Rabiot. Vice Modric therefore or, probably, together with Modric in a different tactical solution, with a double play.
management
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Precisely this second option would have probably helped Milan to manage advantageous situations better recently. Against Pisa, Atalanta and Parma the Rossoneri moved ahead in terms of scoring, but then struggled terribly to control the pace of the match and thus left 6 points behind due to the comebacks suffered. Jashari, despite his age (he was born in 2002), has physicality, temperament and technical-tactical skills that are ideal for managing the ball under pressure and reading opposing attacks. Of course, it will take him some time to understand Serie A, but his experience in the Champions League with Bruges has already tested him at a high level, giving more than positive responses. In short, Allegri will not find a simple deputy Modric, but rather an additional tactical option to be played depending on the moments of the match. And moving the horizon a little further, Milan expects exponential growth from the Swiss thanks to the “private lessons” at Milanello of a master like the Croatian.
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