GdS: How Allegri re-programmed Maignan to generate improved numbers

Mike Maignan was persuaded to stay during the summer transfer window, and now appears to be back to his best.

La Gazzetta dello Sport begin an analysis on Maignan with of the most impressive stats of the season: the French goalkeeper went from first to last in Serie A for defensive interventions outside the box. In 2024-25, he made 71, and for context Sommer at Inter made 17.

This season, a reversal: Maignan and Pietro Terracciano are still on zero. They haven’t made a single defensive intervention outside the 16-yard box. Butez and Suzuki – at Como and Parma respectively – live in another world: they’re already on 11.

What has changed?

This is where Massimiliano Allegri comes into play: he immediately decided to lower the risk coefficient. It’s necessary to ‘perceive the danger’ and to prevent the opponents from having any chances, defending in a narrow 5-3-2.

The protection of Tomori-Gabbia-Pavlovic ahead helps and it all means that Maignan is no longer called upon to play as an additional libero to prevent open-field danger, but remains in goal and controls the penalty area. The graphics explain this very well.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Another number shows the re-programming under Allegri: this season, Maignan has claimed 1.6 crosses per game, triple his total this year under Fonseca and Conceiçao (0.57). Milan now defend more tightly, so more crosses come in from wide areas and he commands his area.

The impression is that the change is doing him good. Maignan is conceding fewer goals and at times he has shown glimpses of the old version of himself. His saves are down from 2.7 to 2.4 per game, because Milan are facing fewer shots.

How has this change the ‘attacking’ side of his game? Maignan’s long passes per game are more or less the same as last season. His touches per game, however, are down from 46 to 40.

The feeling is that this is due to two things: being more risk-averse, and having Luka Modric to distribute from deep. Like Luka, Maignan’s deal is expiring and there are doubts about what the future holds beyond the current season.