Mazzara claims 4-3-3 is ‘the key’ to Milan ‘making the most of their technical potential’

Pietro Mazzara has suggested that Massimiliano Allegri could and should turn to the 4-3-3 more in order to unlock difficult games.

Milan made things more difficult than they perhaps should have been on Friday night in Pisa, especially after taking a first-half lead through Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Niclas Füllkrug’s penalty miss seemed to inspire belief in the home side, who drew level through Loyola.

The introduction of Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic to flank Füllkrug seemed to mark a formal switch to a three-man attack, something we have seen from Allegri this season but mostly in in-game situations when a goal is needed.

4-3-3 the future?

Mazzara published his weekly column for MilanNews and in addition to addressing the officiating debacle in Inter-Juventus, he commented on what we learned from the Pisa victory.

“Milan, unbeaten in twenty-three consecutive matches, are forced, for themselves and for the Italian football product, to win their next three games to get to the derby within striking distance of trying to pump oxygen into the lungs of a competition marked, almost indelibly, by Saturday’s events at San Siro,” he said.

Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images and Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images

“They will have to do so by overcoming Como first, but they will have to do so by trying to evolve their attitude and approach to matches. Even though Milan won, Pisa left me – personally – with a bitter taste in my mouth about what the Rossoneri could have done to take the game earlier.

“And I’m not talking about Füllkrug’s penalty. But rather a dull first half, where Loftus-Cheek’s goal came on the first move, executed with rapid, incisive, and precise timing. Furthermore, in this crucial phase of the season, Allegri will have to figure out how to calibrate his attack.

“Loftus-Cheek isn’t a centre-forward; he struggles to do so and often plays with his back to the goal, 50 meters away. True, he scored in Pisa, but it wasn’t his goal. This team opens up, technically, when it switches to a 4-3-3, and that’s the key to making the most of their technical potential.”