Tomori, De Winter and Pavlovic: these are the Rossoneri who can be recruited. In case of emergencies Max can launch Odogu, who has only been on the pitch for 4 minutes so far, or adapt Bartesaghi. The others, however, have alternatives…
Sooner or later, it would have to happen. Milan lost a defender for a month – Matteo Gabbia, obviously – and the math adds up: Allegri currently has three players for three shirts. Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter, Strahinja Pavlovic. They will be the ones to play the derby, always the ones to go straight: inseparable, until a disqualification or a contracture separates them.
the two solutions
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What alternatives would Allegri have? Two, basically. Promote David Odogu – minutes played throughout the Serie A season: 4 – or move Davide Bartesaghi back, with Pervis Estupinan starting left winger. If there was an emergency, tick B: Bartesaghi would play, a solution that Milan has already tested this season. Clearly more than one thing would change. Milan would still have a left-footed arm, with quality under construction, but they would lose Bartesaghi’s crosses and expose themselves to the risk of some errors from Estupinan.
the key man
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The key, in this discussion, is the performance of Koni De Winter, the only one of Milan’s central defenders who can play in three positions. Center-right, the most natural. Centre-left, the most atypical. Central, the one chosen by Allegri recently, destined to become the main one in the next matches. KDW has completely changed its status in two months. A week before Christmas he played badly – but really badly – in the Super Cup against Napoli: suffering greatly against Hojlund. At the beginning of March, however, he was a guarantee, and not since yesterday: when Allegri put his trust in him, he received convincing answers in return.
the difference with Inter and Napoli
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The comparison with the other large ones is striking. For the central role, Inter can alternate Akanji, Acerbi and De Vrij and as an alternative they also have an atypical player like Carlos Augusto. Napoli, for two shirts, has Buongiorno, Rrahmani, Beukema, Juan Jesus, with several other players (Di Lorenzo, Olivera…) usable in the case of a three-man line. Roma, net of injuries, can choose between Mancini, Ghilardi, N’Dicka, Ziolkowski, Hermoso. In numbers, there’s not a huge difference. In fact, elsewhere there is certainly more possibility for variation.
the market
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However, one question remains in the air: will Milan regret not having signed a central defender in January? Allegri is always very politically correct publicly, so he won’t complain, but between New Year’s Eve and the beginning of February he would have gladly taken an alternative to Gabbia. The choice to reserve a substantially zero budget for the market, however, led to remaining with the autumn squad. A calculated risk or a gamble that will cause problems in the race for the Champions League title? Ask the next three months.
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