His minutes may well take a hit, but this may be why he has not fared well at other places. He needs to get his WTF moments sorted, because you cannot do stuff like that very many times in a season and still get minutes. I don't think he needs to play as many minutes as he has been playing. When he gets tired his game falls off a cliff. It looks as if he gets mentally fatigued as well as physically tired, and he does really stooopid stuff. I think if he plays a bit less and develops his stamina he will be fine, but playing this much is going to increase the frequency of those WTF moments, IMO he has about sixty pretty good minutes in him and after that his becomes sketchy.
None of that is related to today tho. He hasn't had any serious WTF moments as a mid at Milan. He's become a player who can string together start after start and be steady in big games. This game was all about his being thrown out there for a 2nd half at RB. Not his position.
I don't know that ~18 million is a "ton of money" in footballing terms, but it is significant. He has however had a number of unpunished WTF moments. At his age it can be both understandable and concerning. I know I am grading him harshly, it just helps me understand maybe a part of why he had those rather curious issues at a couple of his previous stops. If I gave the impression I think he is doing poorly, I did not mean to do that. I only meant to being up what I see as a troubling issue that shows up around minute 65 almost every time he plays. He is having a good to great shift, and then he does some play that makes me think, WOW, moments like that can get you beat. I can accept maybe I am being overly critical of such a young prospect, but it happens often enough in my opinion to warrant concern. If I was coach I would use him almost every game he is available, but when I started him I would be thinking he is coming off +/- minute 65. I am well aware he is very young to be playing at such storied club, and injuries are at least a part of why he has gotten so many minute these last few weeks, I am concerned it is a bit too much for him, at this particular point in time.
I assume you’re talking about Pioli. How do you say, “As manager, it’s my job to put my players in the best position to succeed, and today I failed to do that,” in Italian?
You'd hope the coach and veteran players are pointing this out to him and blasting him at him when he starts drifting. He needs to push through and may need a nudge from others.
Pioli is arrogant and stubborn. I do enjoy his post match interviews even though it's just soccer sport cliche, but sounds legit in Italian Musah must do better. Another setback after huge win against psg
He'll be fine. Fans were mad at him but don't hate him yet, they understand he was played in the wrong spot. He just has to look good in the middle for a month or so and all will be forgotten. But if he has a couple of bad games in the middle, or a terrible one, it's over.
Two things can be true: Musah played poorly at RB and should have done better Pioli putting him at RB, with a 2-0 lead and Alessandro Florenzi healthy and available, was a crap decision, and yes, I did say so before the first goal against.
Musah starts today for Milan against Fiorentina. https://www.acmilan.com/en/news/art...5/ac-milan-v-fiorentina-the-official-line-ups
This guy has just about made himself undroppable in Piloi's eyes, even with the howler of a shift at RB. If he can ever find a pair of shooting boots for his occasional chance, the ceiling is very high for him. His game does not lend itself to filling up a stat line, but he shows up at critical times to get a foot in, or a body on a guy, or just disrupt the oppositions move enough to allow everybody to get back and in place. This dude is for real and this move to Milan looks to be just what the career counselor ordered. Very excited to watch his development between now and the end of the season.
I'll agree. He really struggled to find much semblance of attack in the first half vs. Fiorentina, but he got into the game in the second. It is hard to find a place for him on the stat line, but he's a hell of a worker and does have nice ideas on offense, if not the technical skill to pull them off a lot of the time. I'll add that he's played a hell of a lot of minutes on both sides of the Atlantic the last couple of weeks, so his durability, for a US player anyway, is off the charts. I'm a fan. Unfortunately, while everyone seemed delighted when he joined the USNT, he's not getting the attention he deserves. I mean, CP is the poster boy and deservedly so, but YM is doing quite well overall.
Just checked his stats. 105 matches in La Liga/Serie A, 33 caps for a Top 10-20 range (normally) national team. 20 years old . We've got a great kid here.
Hmmm ... not sure about undroppable. His versatility has been a big asset, but the health of the most similar players in the squad has been below average, and a player who can fill some of the same holes may be a priority for Milan in the January window.
In my mind, Milan’s hiring a new manager is more worrisome than Milan acquiring a new midfielder. Pioli likes Musah, who listens and learns (and tries to follow instructions). Many/most of Milan’s other players lack that youthful student quality, and I think Pioli enjoys the professorial part of managing. Unfortunately (from my perspective), Pioli will be judged based on Milan’s overall performance, not Musah’s individual development.
I don't disagree with you at all. However, I also think Yunus is not their biggest problem in midfield. It has been a minute since everybody was healthy, but I think if all are healthy, he still gets a starters share of minutes. I am not sure that anybody this season has shown enough to force him to sit more than just normal rotational resting minutes. I fell that as long as Pioli is around then Musah has a place to lose.
Yunus will miss tonight's match due to yellow card accumulation. Not that there aren't other YAs that are likely to be on the field for this (by YA standards, at least) five-star match, but it's still a bummer.
Ironically in the last few days there have been rumors that Milan is looking at potential Pioli replacements with the current favorite being Thiago Motta. As for Musah? He has done what many thought was impossible and got Pioli to drop Rade Krunic and also gotten him to greenlight the sale of Krunic (something he was against this summer). There are still things Musah needs to work on (awareness of whose around him) but he is working on his attacking contributions
Tunis getting no Milan win love thread bump. Was that the first time he and RLC were starting together?
Yes, he doesn't get much attention on here compared to other top YAs. Admittedly, he doesn't do a lot of stuff to make highlight reels. And people are frustrated that he's not really an "end product" kind of guy most of the time. But he was solid on both ends last night. And, as I pointed out recently, YM is (by American standards) an iron man. I guess all he does is go out there every game and (usually) play well, and that's not particularly exciting to people.
Musah has legit done the unthinkable for Milan fans. He got Pioli to drop Krunic and also has caused Pioli to give the go ahead to sell Krunic this winter. Musah has been good if unspectacular which isn't an insult. He has about 1 to 2 great runs a game and you can see the high end skill, and he's someone Pioli trusts to play move ad a CM and as a wing (and RB which didn't go well). Still has some awareness issues that need to be worked on, but he's also starting to develop some in the final third
Tough love from SempreMilan: “Yunus Musah initially impressed in the midfield but is now experiencing a challenging phase. While he hasn’t been outright ineffective, his impact, particularly in attacking plays, has diminished. Yesterday, although it was offside, he missed a big chance and arguably made the wrong play in that moment. With the return of Ismael Bennacer, the American will face stiff competition for his position, especially since Tijjani Reijnders has found some consistency too. It’s a critical time for him to step up and reaffirm his value in the Milan midfield. The hard work has always been there, and hasn’t gone unnoticed, but he can add more contribution in attack.”