Milan, Bennacer and Adli together are not convincing. The devil can’t do without Reijnders

The solution had been seen a few times up until now, mostly in flashes. And until Sunday evening he had left glimmers of hope, enough to convince Pioli to further reasoning (“Bennacer and Adli together in the director’s room? Why not…”) and to the decision to keep out Reijnders, the outfield player with the longest playing time among the Rossoneri, against Monza. The 4-2 defeat crossed the question off the list: in the current Milan, the path of the double director is difficult to practice. Question of balance.

Together

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A few numbers for context. Adli and Bennacer have played little together and since last year they have found themselves sharing the midfield only 8 times, with all the necessary clarifications. In 2022-23, Bennacer had been one of Pioli’s irreplaceable players until the injury, while Adli had played little or nothing due to tactical issues and abundance in the attacking midfield. Then, a different matter: the former Bordeaux player moved back his range of action by moving to the director’s office and occupying territories often presided over by Bennacer, absent until the beginning of December and then again from January for the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria. This year, they shared the court for 161 minutes.

double director

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Before the match against Monza, Adli and Bennacer had only played together from the start against Napoli. Match won 1-0 by the Rossoneri, all in all with two good performances from the direction of play (Adli was better, but certainly both above par). However, the collapse of the U-Power Stadium highlighted some limitations and above all the tactical needs of the team, which appeared slow in the setup phase, predictable and lacking liveliness. The motifs intersect. A player like Adli is very useful in the setting phase, to circulate the ball. Less so when the pace needs to be increased. Yacine focuses on verticality, but his most obvious problem is in the non-possession phase, with markings and positioning to be reviewed in some phases of the match. Bennacer, still not at the top, has shown over the years with Pioli a good mix of qualities, with vision of the game and excellent covering skills. Ismael travels above all along horizontal lines, he makes an excellent contribution when he breaks free and with this tactical weapon Pioli has resolved several situations in the past. Like Adli, he is at his best alongside a faster midfielder.

reijnders factor

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Hence, one of Pioli’s substitutions at the end of the first half at the U-Power Stadium. Adli out, Reijnders in. After Maignan, the Rossoneri’s most present man this season (1974 minutes, out only in the match against Napoli due to disqualification). Entering at 2-0 for the red and whites, Reijnders had the merit of changing the pace in the middle of the pitch, helping to speed up the move. Just before the match against Napoli, debut from the 1st minute for the Adli-Bennacer duo as director, Pioli addressed the question like this: “What do I expect from them? That they play together with the team”. For now, experiment failed and future tests postponed. In the next matches, it is more likely that Milan will return to their origins for the pair in midfield.