Week 20: Milan - Roma January 14 2024 20:45CET

[honsano]

 No player since Kaka has really made it in the CAM position. I cant remember them all, but a lot of players has tried without making it.

Exactly. Especially the way Pioli wants the CAM to be both physical in the counter and finnesse to break down the low block. That really is a two person role.

[Codazzi]

I love how Theo celebrated. Full of passion that guy!

[1994.acmilan]

True CAM's like Kaka don't really exist anymore I can't think of a good one out there right now? It takes some real well rounded understanding of the game and talent to be a top tier CAM. Wingers are more a natural progression, you're fast and can dribble you can hug the sidelines make runs cut inside. It's a lot more difficult to dribble, open space, not get caught in possession playing through the middle. Kaka was a very special player in his prime.

[Beppe]

Hopefully Algeria is out of the africa cup soon and bennacer can come back! He’ll do better than rlc

[1994.acmilan]

Hopefully Algeria is out of the africa cup soon and bennacer can come back! He’ll do better than rlc

TBH I think RLC has been great. In yesterday's game for me our weakest link in midfield was Reijnders. He's got bags of potential but I find his shooting/effectiveness to be lesser than RLC/Adli. He is a very hard worker though.
Adli is a guy who I have become seriously impressed with.. Renew the guy on bigger wages ASAP.

[Bennacer]

TBH I think RLC has been great. In yesterday's game for me our weakest link in midfield was Reijnders. He's got bags of potential but I find his shooting/effectiveness to be lesser than RLC/Adli. He is a very hard worker though.
Adli is a guy who I have become seriously impressed with.. Renew the guy on bigger wages ASAP.

Im sorry, but disagree strongly. Reijnders was way better than RLC. Yes he needs to more calm in front of goal, but his passing ability, his tremendous close teqnique, his work rate is so important for our team. He is our clock ticking, and everything goes through him. RLC lost a lot of balls, many very easy mistakes, and the decision making is not good. 

I see Reijnders as a lot more complete player, with more attributes that RLC. He is a potential WC player if he improves goals and assists.

[Santino]

RLC was shit.

Bennacer like numbers for Adli.
➤ 1 goal
➤ 80 touches
➤ 56/61 completed passes (92%)
➤ 10 passes into final third
➤ 2 chances created
➤ 4/4 completed long balls
➤ 3/3 tackles won
➤ 7/9 ground duels won
➤ 2/3 aerial duels won
➤ 5 recoveries
➤ 2 clearances
➤ 2 interceptions

[Kris forever]

This asks me the question, why the fck did Pioli ignore Adli for such a long time!
Anyway he’s getting into the game now and looks better and better and more confident, we’ve got ourselves a real player there! Grazie Maldini! We signed him up for 8m

Because Pioli saw him as a playmaker and Pioli likes quick players that run with the ball in that position. I am sure Kaka would be his dream player and indeed with Kaka as #10 we would cruise to the scudetto. As you can see he even like to use RLC there over him.

[nefremo]

It's really a weird setup that we have in the midfield. I like that Adli and Reijnders roam around and flip flop roles. But ai feel like we need an anchor. For me, this is THE biggest reason of why we are so fragile defensively. We don't have a player to protect the defense and just SIT between the midfield and the defensive line. Yes, there are other issues like the mindless man-marking at times, but I think an anchor would solve some of that and fill that void in front of the CBs.

The reason we "can't" have an anchor, is because Pioli wants someone between the lines in the attacking 3rd. And that someone happens to be RLC for us. He's had some decent displays there, but overall, he's been too inconsistent. And the fact that he goes centrally inches whole unbalanced us even more because as soon as we lose possession, we no longer have 3 CMs set to defend. Instead, we have 2 that have to scramble to cover the huge space left begind them.

Funny enough, I think RLC's best performance came against PSG where he played predominantly as a RCM. He still could drive the ball vertically, but when we lost the ball, he was already at a RCM position and getting back into shape was easier for everyone involved.
I still think about that game and wonder....was it by design??? Or were we forced into that by PSG's attack and possession. Either way, it worked. And it's weird that Pioli hasn't used that again. Or at least, not as much. Instead, he reverted back to what (for the most part) hasn't quite worked this year.