Adrien, who lives near the sports center, works hard to get back into top shape
To return both winningly and continuously, Milan needs to recover its best men. With Rabiot (and Pulisic) on the pitch the team plays with more harmony, knows how to manage the moments of the match better, finds the goal more easily and concedes it much less frequently. These are not impressions, the numbers say it: with the two on the pitch the performance is absolutely championship-worthy with an average points of 2.6. And then the nine goals scored, including the hat-trick in the Italian Cup against Lecce and just one conceded, by Napoli, and moreover from a penalty. Like all mathematical theorems, there is also a counter-proof: without them the average points per game drops to 1.8, the scores decrease (eight), and the figure for those collected rises exponentially, six.
Home and field
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So, while Pulisic met again with Parma (not at the top, but he will have time to improve his form and readjust his aim), Allegri and his staff are working to fully recover Rabiot too. Adrien’s professionalism is unquestionable: he has been spending many hours at Milanello for days, two days ago even in the absence of the team and yesterday he showed up early in the morning and stayed at work until the afternoon. Not bad for a Rossoneri who chose to live near Varese, therefore a stone’s throw from the sports centre. A precise choice, not that central Milan didn’t offer high-quality housing solutions: Rabiot prefers the quiet and proximity to Milanello. Already upon his arrival, still without a pre-established home, he had made his base in a hotel in the area. The center remains a welcome destination for dinner with family or friends. Above all the family: Adrien is very reserved, he keeps the private sphere at a distance from the public one, and with the same determination he protects the privacy of his mother-agent Veronique and his two older brothers who very often make him companions even in Italy.
Work program
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In recent weeks they have supported the work of Adrien, who is recovering from the left calf injury suffered in mid-October on the national team. Also to avoid misunderstandings with France, Rabiot was excluded from the last round of the championship. Unavailable for Allegri and therefore also for coach Deschamps. The player thus remained in Milan to work towards his full reinstatement: he will spend the whole week on his own personalized schedule, without therefore taking part in Friday’s friendly match against Entella, and will then return to the group on Tuesday when training resumes. For Max he is one of the derby starters when the championship resumes: before the muscular injury Adrien had been on the pitch for 450 minutes, five games from start to finish. Four in the championship, with three wins and a draw, and in the success of the second round of the Italian Cup. A key element on a technical-tactical level: Rabiot is a shoulder for Modric, an assistant director, a skilled setter, but also a midfielder of substance and insertion. Then there is the contribution in leadership and personality and obviously experience: he has 227 games behind him with PSG, 56 with the French national team, 212 games overall with Juventus and the first five with Milan.
Always present
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Here I was amazed by the ability to promptly fit into the schemes, facilitated by the presence of the old master Max, and by the surprising athleticism. Before finding a starting shirt in Milan, Adrien had in fact ended up out of the squad at Marseille following the now famous brawl with Rowe (found again in Serie A, at Bologna). After a month without the pitch, Rabiot had started his first match with Milan. Replying in the second, third and fourth. Always for ninety minutes of effort, including the Italian Cup. The knockout had arrived in the national team, an annoyance that seemed manageable and which in fact had kept him in France, but it turned out to be a much more serious problem than expected. For Adrien and all of Milan, who without him have lost a reference point in the midfield and a guide for the whole group.
The precedents
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The 13 matches spent against Inter, the most Italian opponent faced in his career, are also included in the match count. The precedents all date back to Juventus’ history and are not favourable: four wins, three draws and six defeats. A goal, an assist (between the first and second legs of the 2022-23 championship) and two yellow cards: the first Rossoneri derby offers the opportunity to start rebalancing the accounts.
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