Fofana in Milan-Turin: goal and dedication to Leao

With just one goal, he put three situations right. There are no banal goals in football, but Youssouf Fofana’s was particularly full of meaning. First of all for the team: the 3-1 score, the one that protected Milan from possible thorns in the last part of the match, thorns that in fact tried to sting the Devil when Vlasic brought the grenades back under. Then it served to put the pieces of the internal disagreements back in place: the “surfing” celebration dedicated to Leao was a relaxing and affectionate gesture for his teammate confined to the stands by physical problems and at the end of a week full of controversy and tension. Finally, he served himself: Fofana has a reputation for being wasteful when the goal approaches and, objectively, aiming is not exactly his most assiduous traveling companion. Sometimes he messes up and fights with that ball. Other times, however, he is perfectly capable of addressing him on first terms. To caress it as the most polite feet on the team know how to do.

IMPORTANT WORDS

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Fofana, for better or for worse, is always able to reserve surprises. Like when he lets his teammates score or, as we saw this time, when he manages to be lucid near the goal. A fine goal, a ball managed with wisdom, serenity and technique, adjusting it with the sole and then placing it near the post at a height that cannot be intercepted. Well, yes, this goal also helped him because it was during the week had made the Team discuss his words. Words that contained an uneasiness, a personal alarm: “When they tell you that you will play higher, at the beginning you are also happy. In the end, I understood that it is not necessarily what I want. I obviously do it for the team, but I really liked being at the origin of the actions, controlling the team’s pace of play, recovering balls.” And then again: “I don’t think I’m strong enough. And if I look at the World Cup, I don’t think I’ll be considered for this role. I do it with the club, especially if we’re in contention for a title. But I’m not convinced that this will help me for the future.”

TASKS AND MANAGEMENT

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It wasn’t an indictment of the coach in the strict sense, so much so that the Frenchman had nice words for Allegri in the interview. But they were nevertheless reflections of a certain magnitude. Yet, if Fofana manages to be an excellent assist man and score valuable goals like the one against Torino, it is precisely because Allegri puts him in a position to act a few meters further forward. With Max the midfielders have not only the right, but the obligation to be included. Obviously, Allegri’s 3-5-2 is profoundly different from last season’s 4-2-3-1, when Youssouf was one of the two interior players in front of the defense. With tasks that are decidedly more conservative than this year’s system: with three attacking midfielders and a central striker up front, it becomes complicated to think that a midfield interior has the freedom to be able to disengage and get to the shot. Even inside the opponent’s area. A matter of taste, of course: Fofana, judging from the way he speaks, evidently greatly appreciates the management of the flow of play in the heart of the pitch, the initiation of the action. But do you want to throw it in after a touch with the sole and get on the surf that Leao usually uses?