QS: Getting the max from little – how Allegri has utilised super subs the best in Serie A

Massimiliano Allegri might use less substitutions than every other manager in Serie A, but he uses them the most effectively.

As Quotidiano Sportivo write, Milan are second in the table, and their unbeaten streak (22 games: 14 wins, eight draws) is unmatched in Europe. All this is with an extra-small squad, built with the understanding that they won’t be competing in European competitions.

All this, despite significant absences along the way. Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic were each left out of the squad due to injury six times, Adrien Rabiot had to miss five games (and two more before he signed from Marseille).

Ardon Jashari was out for eight games, Christopher Nkunku for three, and Santiago Gimenez is on 14 currently). On the pitch, as a result, Massimiliano Allegri makes very few changes during matches: in 23 games, 87 substitutions.

Few changes, but maximum efficiency: six goals came from players who entered during the game. Only Inter and Cagliari have more (seven) in this ranking, but with Chivu and Pisacane making 112 and 110 substitutions, respectively.

Photos by AC Milan, Marco Luzzani/Getty Images and Alessandro Sabatini/Getty Images

Making the most of chances

Three goals came from the bench from the atypical reserve, Pulisic (eight goals in total, 10 in all competitions, despite injuries). Füllkrug, Nkunku and Athekame also scored. A trio of assists also came from the bench, courtesy of Gimenez, Fofana and Ricci respectively.

The winter transfer window had somewhat deceived: after the immediate arrival of Füllkrug from West Ham (loan with an option to buy for €5m), Jean-Philippe Mateta had been on the verge of joining the Rossoneri before his knee condition saw the medical failed and the deal collapsed.

Defensively, until the final day, a deal for Axel Disasi was a possibility. Allegri, however, has consistently hammered the same point: “I’m happy with the entire squad I have at my disposal. Players like Athekame and Odogu are also improving. The club is working on the present and the future.”

While big names like Dusan Vlahovic, Leon Goretzka and Mario Gila continue to circulate for the summer, as well as ‘starlets’ like Andrej Kostic of Partizan Belgrade (who has the same agent as Vlahovic), the present sees the squad still stretched.

In the last five games, eight of the Rossoneri’s nine goals were scored by players who arrived since the summer: one by De Winter, followed by three goals from Rabiot and three from Nkunku. The ‘Max formula’ is working for now, in more ways than one.