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AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri will rely on Christian Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez, hoping they can unlock Udinese.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, on Instagram Gimenez celebrated Pulisic’s 27th birthday with a message and a photo of the two embracing. The hope is that they can repeat the same hug at the Bluenergy Stadium, the home of Udinese.
Allegri his chosen to play his ‘little devils’ in a game he described as among the four most important of the season. Pulisic is a top-notch attacking all-rounder, much more technical than physical. Gimenez is an atypical centre-forward.
The Mexican doesn’t have the size of Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Santi is 1.83m tall) or the finishing of Pippo Inzaghi, to name his predecessors. Gimenez prefers to seek out the ball and the spaces even outside the box, to participate in the build-up play.
To give them confidence, Max will remove the height of Ruben Loftus-Cheek – whom he used against Bologna in support of the striker (Gimenez) – a muscular attacking midfielder who is expected to sit on the bench for the first time since the start of the season.
Ready to go
Pulisic came on during the match against the Rossoblu, but now he is raring to go. He had returned from his commitments with the United States tired and bruised.
However, he is a heavyweight in terms of being decisive: in 104 appearances for the Rossoneri, he’s scored 34 goals, essentially scoring in one out of three games. With 23 assists in total for Milan, he’s also a very selfless player: Gimenez hopes to benefit from the next one.
The pair will face ‘giants’: the nearly two-meter-tall Kristensen, the 1.92-meter-tall Solet and the Milan fan Bertola. Allegri is banking on the ability to outflank them with pace and dribbling. This is a skill he hopes to find soon in Rafael Leao, currently out and with a recovery date yet to be determined.
Taking aim
Gimenez is stuck with six goals in 23 games for Milan, the last two coming at home to Bologna last season. With Feyenoord he had 65 goals in 105 games. He also had a good average in the Champions League, with eight goals (one for Milan, seven in the Netherlands) in 11 appearances.
Santi hasn’t got one this season yet. He’s hit the post several times, been caught offside, or had poor aim. It is nothing that can’t be corrected, perhaps with the help of an alert team-mate like Pulisic. Scoring is also a matter of self-confidence, as seen on international duty.
While at San Siro he hit the post and crossbar, and wasted his chances in Lecce, in Tennessee he scored a beautiful goal for his country. It happened in Mexico vs. South Korea ten days ago, a curling shot from 18 yards at Geodis Park in Nashville, USA.
Change in progress
The plan for Allegri is to have Christopher Nkunku as a weapon from the bench. The strategy is the same: a speedy player with refined technique who will move all over to confuse the opposing defence.
This principle also inspired the last Milan transfer window: a physically imposing No.9 was expected, but a talented, lighter playmaker arrived. He made an impact on the pitch: against Bologna, he took less than a minute to earn a penalty that was controversially revoked.
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