I thought he played well, too bad he didn't a goal it would have been well earned. The more I see of the guy, the more I want to see,
Let's hope Pioli sees things the same way, as I think he does - certainly he should. Musah played the full game, played relatively well - the Spanish-language commentator complimented Musah's play on and off the ball - and the team won comfortably. In the second half, when Musah played on Pioli's side, Pioli could sometimes be seen 'coaching' Musah (with suggestions/encouragement). I would guess Pioli will rotate the midfield at Monza on Sunday, then start Musah again @ Rennes next Thursday.
Via SempreMilan ... "The paper (seen below) talks about how Milan were always in control against their French opponents because Pioli knows that Rennes’ tactical conformity and their 4-4-2 system could not be broken into with an open battle. Different strategies were needed. He then continually moves his figures on the chessboard, disorientating the eleven French soldiers who were reluctant to offer any variation on what Julien Stephan told them. Pioli moved one key player in particular: Ruben Loftus-Cheek returned to the midfield of the 4-3-3, but had him very wide on the right to open the defensive line of Stephan’s 4-4-2. The second trick: Yunus Musah was high and central, to keep the midfielders low and leave the two attackers alone, Kalimuendo and Terrier, competing with each other to see who does worse.* Finally, but fundamental, the attacking battery: Milan always attacked with five players, unleashing a triangle with Theo, Leao and Musah in continuous variations of roles, one winger, one midfielder, one added attacker. A bit like Manchester City moves their players through the midfield." ++++++++++++ * I feel I would excel in that competition (to see who does worse).
Yunus had a couple of very nice moves today, needs to get his head up get rid of the ball earlier, but he is a line breaker. IF he can develop a final ball there is no telling how good he can be. I would love for him to get more minutes, but he is gaining some very valuable experience and is probably growing exponentially in his tactical understanding of the game. I see no reason why he won't keep getting minutes going forward.
So close to being a monster. Just needs a little more maturity with his decision making. He's still very young I think he gets there.
Yeah, needs to figure out when to dish on those couple of great late-game runs he always seems to get to make. Hopefully it will come, but it would be good if it came sooner rather than later.
Some ratings/reviews for those that observe. Yunus Musah – 6.5 Came on with 10 minutes to go. Drove forward well with the ball and was committed to the cause. https://cultofcalcio.com/milan-player-ratings-vs-monza-piolis-squad-rotation-did-not-work/ Yunus Musah (6/10): Went all 90 minutes against Rennes on Thursday, so no need to worry about him not getting thrown into this one until very, very late. Once on, he didn't get to do too much. Maignan 5, Florenzi 6, Thiaw 4, Gabbia 5, Hernandez 6, Bennacer 6, Adli 5, Chukwueze 5, Loftus-Cheek 6, Okafor 4 Jovic 2, Subs: Reijnders 6, Leao 6, Pulisic 8, Giroud 7, Musah 6. (eruosport)
Near the end of a lengthy piece of analysis, we have ... "With Monza beginning to claim full control of the game from this point, Pioli threw the dice once more in the final ten minutes by bringing on Yunus Musah to play as a hybrid defender and midfielder. The USMNT player provided the physical attributes to perform this role and he frequently ran between the midfield unit and last line to cover spaces and engage unmarked opponents – in essence, covering two positions. Musah’s presence on the pitch also provided Milan with a ball carrier in attack, and this skillset came in useful in the lead-up to Pulisic’s excellent equalizer in the 88th minute." https://sempremilan.com/tactical-analysis-of-monza-4-2-ac-milan
It sure seems to me like Milan play better with Musah in the starting 11 at CM. He just does a ton of dirty work which frees up the other players and his runs through the midfield keep the opponents honest. He isn't the finished product yet... but I think he deserves more playing time.
Ever hopeful … Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Jovic. Points of interest: Musah DM-ing with Bennacer, with Reijnders in front of them in the RLC role. And Jovic - suspended from league play for two games - saving Giroud’s legs for Sunday’s match against Atalanta.
It seems like the right time to try Musah in a more defensive role. The Rennes game he was paired with Reijnders and, even though he didn't do well, he showed promise. Adli is in a bad run of form since the Roma game, and Bennacer is not the same after his injury.
I haven’t seen enough lately to have an opinion on any of those other guys, but 100% agree… yes, time to give Musah more of a role and more minutes! Aside: Musah has something in common with Tilmann.. if they could finish or make that final pass they’d be amazing. They both do generally really well in midfield advancing the ball and pressing.
An additional tidbit from SempreMilan… “{Baptiste} Santamaria’s opponent should be Yunus Musah, who is struggling to get a run of starts at the moment but seems to impress when he does play. His energy in the first leg was crucial and the Rossoneri really need to find some balance.”
Maybe you can explain to Musah that when Pioli tells him to keep his shots on frame, Pioli doesn’t mean that literally. He means inside the frame.
The quote is weird tk me about Musah struggling to get a run if starts. It's legit been a revolving door aside from Reijnders and RLC. Krunic got first crack, got hurt (also a falling out with Pioli), Musah got first chance and was good till he ran into a fatigue problem them Adli was good so they kept up with him starting (Adli was awful vs Monza). Bennecer was also hurt and once fit he's arguably the best CM Milan has. Musah was always going to ultimately be a rotation guy. He's been good when not asked to be a RWB (where he has cost Milan), and he'd have mor starts if RLC wasn't in such good form
I thought Musah's loss of playing time followed a match where he was asked to play right back and didn't look so great. Am I misremembering?
I don't think it went down quite like that. They got healthy and Yunus hadn't really locked down a spot, and was a joker for Pioli. He got overworked, got some rest and Milan went on an unbeaten run. He is still pretty young and has been playing an important role in the side. I agree that Musah was bought to be a rotation guy, but I would speculate Milan have been pleasantly surprised by his performance. I think his constantly changing assignments do inhibit his play a wee bit as well, since each new assignment brings a different set of responsibilities. I am excited for the future for him.
He did not look good at rwb but both those games were coming off bench. He was starting as a CM and was fine to good but he missed some games and RLC/Benny came back and Adli found form
I'm sort of low key happy he's not getting 90 every game because of my pet theory that a lot of our injuries are due to too many minutes for very young players. He should start getting more as he gets older and his body can handle it. We don't need anymore constantly injure players.
Milan have three versions of the same player so it kind of makes sense the minutes will be inconsistent
You are not alone with that theory. The fixture congestion at the top of a top five league is crazy. In a non PL league, it is hard to have enough resources to provide adequate rest for star youth players. One of the things I most pleased with Milan about is making some conscious decisions to manage our lads minutes. Adequate rest and recovery are critical elements that often get neglected.
Musah missed out on the excitement yesterday, his first DNP of the year, after recovering from December’s muscular issues. Big opportunity on Thursday, as Milan return to Europa League action, hosting Slavia Prague in Leg 1. Arguing in Musah’s favor are midfield rotation, with Milan hosting Empoli on Sunday (10th), a relatively short turnaround, and of course Musah’s solid shifts against Rennes in the prior round. Arguing against is that Friday (Lazio) to Thursday (Praha) is plenty of time to give Pioli all of his midfield options, and he might choose a more attacking setup at home.
Musah is on the bench today, as (unfortunately) expected. He played a lot against Rennes in the prior round, but against Slavia Prague, Adli and Reijnders start in support of RLC in midfield, with Bennacer and Musah waiting their turn. Maybe Musah can steal a start on Sunday against Empoli.