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AC Milan are in a much better place than they were 12 months ago, heading into the new year second in the table and in a title fight for now.
The fact that Milan have not lost a league game since the first round against Cremonese shows a new-found solidity, and the Scudetto dream is beginning to grow, especially without any European or cup competitions to worry about.
By contrast, one year ago the club chose to change head coach from Paulo Fonseca to Sergio Conceicao, and they embarked on a chaotic January revolution with five signings and six departures. It didn’t yield the desired results, so more overhaul was forthcoming in the summer.
Looking at the current 2025-26 squad, who have been the architects of the transformation under Massimiliano Allegri and his coaching staff? The data collected below is for Serie A only, and is from FBref.
Minutes played
1. Modric – 1,392
2. Saelemaekers – 1,379
3. Pavlovic – 1,372
Questions have been raised about whether Milan might have an over-reliance on Modric at the age of 40 and whether his performance levels might drop as a result of over-use. The fact he is one of three players to total over 1,300 minutes suggest they are justified.
Goals
1. Pulisic – 8
2. Leao – 5
3. Saelemaekers, Pavlovic, Bartesaghi, Nkunku – 2
Christian Pulisic scored 15 goals across all competitions in his first season and 17 last season. He has 10 this season, and eight of them have come in the league. He has a genuine shot at the Capocannoniere, if he can stay healthy. After Leao, the rest of the goals are spread nicely.
Assists
1. Pulisic, Saelemaekers, Nkunku, Modric, Rabiot, Ricci, Tomori – 2
2. Leao, Pavlovic, Fofana, Loftus-Cheek, Estupinan – 1
The fact that there are so many players with two or one assist shows that there is a spread attacking threat. However, it does also possibly point to the lack of a chief creator, though playing without a playmaker or wingers is a factor behind this.
Yellow cards
1. Tomori, Fofana – 3
2. Modric, Athekame, Gabbia – 2
3. Saelemaekers, Rabiot, Ricci, Leao, Pavlovic, Loftus-Cheek, Estupinan, Bartesaghi, Maignan, Gimenez – 1
Nearing the halfway point in the season, the Rossoneri currently only have two players walking a bit of a disciplinary tightrope, which is not a bad thing. The only red card so far meanwhile went to Pervis Estupinan.
Shots on goal
1. Saelemaekers – 23
2. Fofana – 22
3. Gimenez – 21
For the shots total to be led by a wing-back, a midfielder who is famously inaccurate with his shooting and a striker who hasn’t played in weeks is perhaps a bit of a worry. It is also influenced by the fact Leao and Pulisic have missed large parts of the campaign so far.
Shot on target percentage
1. Pulisic – 73.3%
2. Modric – 55.6%
3. Bartesaghi, Ricci, Athekame – 50%
Simply put, Pulisic is a sniper for Milan. When he gets the ball inside the box there always seems to be danger, and his shot conversion rate highlights this. Modric’s number suggests he should try his luck a bit more too, like against Verona which led to Nkunku’s tap-in.
Tackles
1. Saelemaekers – 40
2. Tomori – 30
3. Modric – 26
Interceptions
1. Modric – 21
2. Tomori – 16
3. Saelemaekers – 12
With the above two stats, we can see just why Allegri loves Saelemaekers so much. He is a real balancer on the right hand side, doing defensive dirty work in addition to trying to create. Modric and Tomori popping up in both categories is indicative of their centrality too.
Clearances
1. Gabbia – 90
2. Pavlovic – 66
3. Tomori – 54
No surprise here to see the three centre-backs, something that also symbolises the bend-don’t-break nature of the three-man defence, inviting a more direct approach but (mostly) dealing with it.
Passes completed
1. Modric – 1033
2. Pavlovic – 792
3. Gabbia – 707
Pass accuracy (minimum 100 completed)
1. Gabbia – 92.8%
2. Ricci – 89.8%
3. Pavlovic – 89.5%
Pavlovic and Gabbia featuring in the passing categories as centre-backs is not too much of a surprise given they are the first line of build-up. Modric is the midfield metronome, but Ricci seems to be tidy in possession – could he be the Croatian’s heir?
Progressive carries
1. Saelemaekers – 46
2. Pavlovic, Loftus-Cheek – 28
3. Rabiot – 23
The most startling statistic of all concerns who drives the ball forward for Milan, and the answer is resounding. Saelemaekers has nearly double the amount of progressive carried compared to everyone else in the team.
A progressive carry in football is when a player dribbles the ball a significant distance forward, typically at least 10 yards (or 5 yards in some definitions), towards the opponent’s goal, moving the team into a more dangerous attacking area, often breaking lines or advancing into the final third or penalty box. It’s a key attacking metric showing a player’s ability to carry the ball and advance play, different from a simple dribble by focusing on significant forward momentum.
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