He didn't change the formation searching for answers to a midfield problem. He changed it because Calabria and Hernandez were injured.
I was fortunate to catch the Newcastle game there at San Siro (constantly trying to peek through the unfortunately located railing in the second deck, second row) and it was similar to what you are saying. When he came on for Chuk there was a definite spark for the team which came with it. Milan as a team were so wasteful on offense that game and should have won it easily. But, that is soccer. Pulisic was not just plugging up the middle on D as some here said. He definitely was helping a lot on D but he was then getting out wide right often when Milan had possession. It's pretty obvious this is not Pulisic just doing whatever he feels like but rather he is following the coaches tactics. It reminded me of a clip of Klinsmann I saw once where he closes his fist and opens and spreads out his fingers while explaining defense is "tight closed fist" and offense is "spread out fingers wide" to create space.
I think Milan missed Theo. What a player he is. Takes so much of the pressure off the front line and makes the midfielders' jobs much easier.
I have no idea what his instructions are to Pulisic or the rest of the team. There have been some comments in the press about him wanting the attack to be more balanced and less reliant on hero ball from Leao, but I haven't seen that turn into a reality this season. It may be that what the manager wants from his players and what the manager gets from his players is not the same thing. As I mentioned before, I think the biggest thing holding back the attack is the midfield. It's pretty unremarkable for a team like AC Milan. With the midfield doing very little to create opportunities for the attacking trio, the team's best bet to score is Leao playing hero ball. You sometimes get a spectacular goal from that. However, it's really inefficient. Leao would be so much more effective if he didn't have to rely upon his athleticism to get looks all on his own.
they were holding onto a 1-0 lead. Pioli must line Okafor’s pressing/defense more and for set pieces than chuk.
Dude. Please keep this conversation in the FIFA 23 level. New Hallmark mini series: Touched in the box, a Christian Pulisic story.
That's good enough for me to imagine how nice it would be for someone with the ability to pass to a forward in a dangerous area playing in the Milan midfield.
"In attack, Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao should rest, thus meaning a trio of Christian Pulisic, Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze from left to right." Probable Milan XI (4-3-3): Sportiello; Florenzi, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo; Loftus-Cheek, Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Okafor, Chukwueze. https://sempremilan.com/gds-probable-xis-cagliari-ac-milan-2023
If that happens, I will be curious to see two things. First, what the absence of Leao means for opportunity creation. Second, whether a CP who is closely marked off the ball out on the wing can be more dynamic than he was last time that happened.
With so many matches coming up, rotation is necessary. If you're going to take out two of your 3 starting forwards, I guess now is as good a time as any. I hope CP plays well with this lineup. The past couple of games, he's moved inside more when nothing is happening on the wing. But now that he's on the left (I think), who knows?
Can someone please post his touches in the box stats post match. I’m away from a TV and the suspense is killing me
I turned the match on in the 30th. Pulisic had 1 late in the first half, after which he disgracefully crossed to set up a goal, rather than adding to the count. Pulisic made the same disastrous error in the middle of the 2nd half after another 4 touches. He wrecked the day for Milan by getting an assist, rather than concentrating on the stat that counts.
The second one was particularly egregious. He had so much room to penetrate the box and get lots of dribbles, and selfishly passed it to Loftus-Cheek instead. Also, can I say that?
Haven't watched yet but 🚨 USMNT international Christian Pulisic for AC Milan today☑️ 72 min🅰️ 1 assist 🔑 2 chance created 👀 3 dribbles completed (match highest)🔀 4 recoveries 🔥 84% passing ⚔️ 2 accurate long balls🚀 8 duels won (match highest)✅ 8.1 fotmob rating (MOTM) Solid… pic.twitter.com/48ngE2ZQCs— Takes 🇺🇸 (@USMNTTAKES) September 27, 2023
Honestly, his non-assist was better than his assist... For the official assist, he gave ball to top of the box to RLC who hit a really great strike. Fine, fair enough, and all production is production... but that's really more about the strike. But his non-assist, he beat someone to the endline, pinged a cutback which the keeper fumbled, and the loose ball got buried. Real good move there, even if he doesn't get the full credit for "production". Pretty good match from him, this is the way we want him trending.