CM: Three stand-outs and three flops from Milan’s 2-2 draw with Juventus

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in their second Soccer Champions Tour match against Juventus despite twice leading.

Malick Thiaw and Olivier Giroud got their names on the scoresheet in the first half but Milan were pegged back by goals from Danilo and Daniele Rugani. All four goals in the match came from set pieces.

Calciomercato.com have picked out the best performers for the Rossoneri from the game, starting with Tijjani Reijnders. The Dutchman catches the attention when he has the ball at his feet as he keeps his head up always travels fast. He could have had two assists for Olivier Giroud, but the passes were a bit in front of the Frenchman who was not ready.

Malick Thiaw showed with his height that he is a problem when it comes to set pieces in the opposing box. He scored a great header and then got the assist for Giroud’s goal, but Federico Chiesa did cause him some problems.

Luka Romero also continues to impress. This time he came on in the second half with the right attitude and the Argentine showed that he is already getting to grips with the workings of the team, and he came close to scoring again.

In terms of who struggled, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was not seen as much despite often pushing forward to support the attack. It is possible he is suffering a bit from the heavy workload in preseason, but he did lose his man Federico Gatti before the 1-1 goal.

Fikayo Tomori did not make any big errors like the one in the Real Madrid game, but he committed a few too many fouls and was not very precise in his distribution in the build-up phase.

Charles De Ketelaere came off the bench and should have taken advantage of these first summer friendlies to convince Stefano Pioli to keep him. He played as a mezzala, tasked with getting on the ball and driving forward with it, but his name was barely mentioned by the commentators.

Tags AC Milan Juventus-Milan

8 Comments

  1. De Ketelaere is big investment so there should be carefull with him. Use him from bench specially in games we have leads.

    Sooner or later he could be sold for fine capital gain.

  2. RLC was used on CdK’s position this game (if you didn’t notice, then watch the game) and he was basically not in the game…simply clueless.

    So at this point I am a convinced that it has something to do with Pioli’s instructions and game plan for the AM role where both RLC and CdK are invisible

    Or

    RLC is actually at the same level or even worse than CdK who is younger and has still a future.

    If anyone watched the game then it is actually clear why Adli isn’t playing. He is trying and had some good moments but his decision making is so slow. Everytime he got the ball, the game Milan game slowed down. I think with players like Leao, Okafor, Pulisić and Chukwueze that is the very thing you don’t wanna do.

    1. I have to agree with you, I see the same with RLC but also for Pulisic that cames on and off during his play time.
      As we play principally on the sides and not on the center, the amc position is useless that’s why perhaps we don’t see anything from rlc rather than good defensive tackles time to time.
      About cdk I was a big fan of it but now I see that he didn’t put what it’s needed, his selfless attitude to defend or idk, Luka Romero was like a rabid dog chasing for his prey when defending time comes and I never see that from cdk, so imo we need to get rid of him, at this point is a huge charge

    2. I thought I was the only one that noticed it and our game play was next to nothing, this game brought back memories of last season. We may be having a coach problem. I encourage management to keep CDK and Adli for the next manager to unlock.

  3. Defence is not complete. Instead of 20 M for Musah, let’s use it to bring Laporte. 4-3-3 is not in our DNA. Reinjders and RLC are enough. 4-2-3-1.

    1. No formation is in any clubs DNA, adaptation is what separates the elite clubs from small clubs(can you pinpoint the particular formation Guardiola plays? He adapts his play according to his opponent ) the midfielders we have are suited for 4 3 3 but Pioli has no idea how to tactically guide the players.

      1. Well said. It’s annoying when people insist on playing with certain formation as it’s “the best”. Yeah, best for some, worst for some. It all depends on the players available.

  4. Hate to say, buy with the kind of squad that’s being built, I think sooner or later Pioli’s limitations might come to bare.

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