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By all accounts, Massimiliano Allegri will have to do without his favourite Alexis Saelemaekers against Fiorentina next week. That begs the question, which player will the manager choose to replace the Belgian?
Saelemaekers sustained a muscle injury a few days ago while on international duty with Belgium. A return to Milanello has already been scheduled and Milan will then carry out some in-depth tests, but there’s already talk of two games on the sidelines.
Seeing as the versatile winger has been a key player for Milan this season, his absence would obviously be a huge blow. On the other hand, a couple of ‘easier’ games await the Rossoneri, which perhaps could be perfect for Allegri to try some alternatives.
Athekame in pole position
The most obvious solution, at least if we look strictly at the player roles, is to field Zachary Athekame on the right flank. The youngster has received mixed reviews so far but on the other hand, coming off the bench for the final minutes can sometimes be very difficult.
Milan clearly believe in him a lot and now could be a good opportunity to give him a chance from start. Again, it’s not like the Rossoneri will be up against any of the top teams either in the next few weeks, so if not now, when will he start?
Furthermore, Allegri has clearly found something that works for the team and changing the foundations now, which could be done through a formation change, doesn’t seem like something he wants to do.
Cheveyo Balentien is another player that the manager is a big fan of, having given him some appearances with the first team already, and he can play on the right-hand side. On the other hand, the feeling is that the manager deems him more attacking-minded, too attacking-minded for that role.
Predicted XI with Athekame (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Athekame, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Estupinan; Gimenez, Pulisic.
Formation change also possible
If not Athekame or Balentien, a formation switch cannot be ruled out even if the 3-5-2 has been so successful. Of course, he could probably keep the formation and lower Christian Pulisic’s position, but that feels counter-productive given we want the American close to the goal.
A 4-3-3 or perhaps a 4-2-3-1, with Fikayo Tomori playing as the right-back on paper, could perhaps be a solution. This would also allow Allegri to field Pulisic, Santiago Gimenez and Rafael Leao in a more natural way up front, while he doesn’t exactly lack players for the three-man midfield.
Predicted XI without Athekame (4-3-3): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Estupinan; Fofana, Modric, Rabiot; Pulisic, Gimenez, Leao.
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