Additional speculation, courtesy of La Gazzetta dello Sport … “Pioli will be without the suspended Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and it is possible that he will rest Ismael Bennacer too. Yacine Adli and Yunus Musah would enter in their place, with Tijjani Reijnders.” Tomorrow v Lecce (w/ rotated lineup) Thursday v Roma (w/ first-choice lineup)
We’ll know soon, but the speculation is that Pioli will rotate the midfield today and that Musah will start at Sassuolo. “In midfield Yunus Musah and Yacine Adli are tipped to get the start in the double pivot, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek playing in the more advanced role.” Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Sportiello; Florenzi, Kjaer, Thiaw, Theo; Musah, Adli; Chukwueze, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Jovic.
If you mean me, I had to do yard work this morning. Nice weather for it, finally - I’d give myself an 8/10. If you mean Musah, there were some comments about his play in the pbp thread. He had an assist - he passed the ball to Leao, who did the rest - but otherwise his performance was mixed, and he was subbed off at 55’, part of a three-player substitution. The whole team was heavily rotated, trailed 2-0 early and 3-1 in the second half, before some of the regular starters rode to the rescue. Finished 3-3.
Well he was pulled early, and there has been commentary about him being poor today, but I thought he did okay to good, but not many others saw it that way. Enough so that I want to watch the first half over and see if I just was watching with RWB filters on.
SempreMilan gave Musah a 5.5, Puli a 5. Nobody was particularly good on Milan today - Leao had a few moments of brilliance and Chuk had a good game with 2 called back goals, but overall the team is sleep-walking to summer. (Note: I only watched the 2nd half, only half-watched as Milan was only half-playing.)
When you are a YA you will always be over-scrutinized. I thought he played pretty well... but the commentators were critical of the "risks" he was taking in the midfield. There may have been a couple of loose moments but nothing terrible. Meanwhile, Adli loses the ball in the midfield and it leads directly to a goal and the commentators do not even mention it.
Surprise, surprise … “Yunus Musah is the man that Stefano Pioli has chosen to potentially provide a tactical surprise for the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against Roma tonight, a report claims. La Gazzetta dello Sport writes how Pioli started Musah in all the Champions League away games and in the two Europa League away games against Rennes and Slavia Praha, and he will repeat the move this evening. Musah will play in the middle of the field alongside Tijjani Reijnders or Ismael Bennacer, with the Dutchman currently the favourite to partner himin the midfield double pivot at present. The third man in midfield will be Ruben Loftus-Cheek, an atypical attacking midfielder throughout 2024 so far and a player who needs to respond after a couple of less successful outings.”
🚨 The team news is in! 🚨#ASRACM #UEL #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/34WbkWiiNb— AC Milan (@acmilan) April 18, 2024 Confirmed starting with RLC and Bennacer
A strange player. Can dribble past 2 or 3 players but never scores or assists. He at least showed some effort unlike bennacer or loftus " butt " cheek.
The guy looks like he can dribble past his defender literally anytime he wants to. It's baffling that he can't translate that skill into something more effective.
He has no end product, but in a game where no one else was doing much of anything, at least he was working hard and trying to do something. Sempre Milan has him as the worst ACM outfield, Football Italia has him as the best (of an admittedly yerrible bunch). Say what you want about his skills, but contrary to some opinions on here, he's a highly motivated and competitive workhorse. If he can start doing halfway decent things in the final third, watch out.
It's getting to be a little concerning. He'll be 22 in 6 months and no one is going to consider him a young player anymore next season. Next season is going to be huge for him. If he starts contributing goals and assists, he could be really special. But if he doesn't, people are going to start debating if he is just one of those players who plateaued early. How much better will Musah at 22 be than Musah at 18? He's got a ton of natural talent with the ball. He's so smooth with his dribbles. But he also always tries to problem solve through dribbling, and that's a really hard thing to do at the highest levels.
Seeing Wes' growth curve it's not hard to imagine Musah still adding better decision making and tactical awareness to his game, but it's also not a given. Some players get smarter. Some don't.
Sure seems some get to being smart later than others and dribbling ability seems almost a bit of a curse. A player learns to rely on it so much and then gets to a level it doesn't help as much and needs to do other things they should have been doing already.
What’s funny (to me) is that I only got to watch a few minutes of yesterday’s match, but those few minutes (towards the end of the first half) were a veritable Musah highlight reel, showcasing his oft-discussed strengths and weaknesses. I feel I could work/talk with him for ten minutes and make monumental improvements in his game - the talent is certainly there.
I think it's easier to get better at passing and reading the game than dribbling, so I'll have a bit more patience with how his game develops. I really think playing more will help a lot too. But I also think a coach who is invested in developing and, well, 'coaching' him, could really help.
It would also help if a manager gave him a roll/position and stuck to it for a while. He has been asked to play a lot of different positions at Milan. I think he has played best in their double pivot but Pioli must think differently because he seems to be higher up the pitch down the stretch. I think he will likely be playing somewhere else next season... I agree that wherever he is... it will be a huge season for him.
22 for a guy who has just beaten his opponents on the dribble for fun all his life seems still pretty young overall. He's up against the brick wall of soccer at the highest levels and he'll have to adapt. I think Musah at 28 could be an absolute terror, but also agree that the Musah of 18/20 isn't that different than the 22 year old version. He's such a good, humble, likable kid though and it's a wonder to me that guys like him don't make it, with all the talent and perspective that they have. If he can just get a range of passing everything would start to click for him
The guy is an enigma, but I sure like his game. I think he could play deeper and be more of deeper midfielder with the task of getting the ball to the guys who score. The assist before the asssist or set up guy. When he makes those dribbles and beat the first guy or two there ought to be a lane for a forward looking pass. That first touch after beating them needs to be that pass, don't take two or three touches and dribble into more traffic, Rafa and Puli both know how to run into space. I enjoy watching the guy. I hope he gets it sorted and earns a spot. It doesn't look good for Pioli, but I do get the criticisms about his tactics. I think injuries and the subsequent return of those players has nidered him greatly, but if the expectation is some kins of hardware top flight organizations don't remain top flight by tolerating not living up to expectations without excuses. Clearly their supporters were pissed. I do think his tactical approach to both the Roma ties was fatally flawed. The best option would have been to start Giroud or Jovic, and then Rafa Puli Chuk with two of Benacer Adli Reindeer, Cheek, and Musah. Theo being the only fullback getting way up the field as we haven't seen particularly stellar right back play, and getting beat for pace is becoming a mantra.