Zlatan behind Olivier. Pioli thinks of “Ibroud” and Milan doubles goals and experience

Stefano Pioli has announced his plan of action for the next battles. «Against Juventus and Inter it will not be enough to do what we usually do, we will have to go further and we can do it because we are capable, we have already shown it against opponents like this. An extraordinary Milan will be needed, ”the coach said yesterday to the team, gathered in a group before starting training. For a truly extraordinary Devil, then, one can also think of some variation on the theme. For example, how and when to drop the Ibra and Giroud cards from the deck at the same time: two champions together to double goals, experience, leadership and presence in the opponent’s area. A weapon to be exploited even in crucial games, such as those waiting for the devils between Sunday and early February. Of course, the suggestion will be given shape and substance with more conviction and above all with more minutes than has been done up to now. Not necessarily from the first minute, because the balance must be preserved especially in such delicate matches, but not even “only” when things go wrong: the middle way exists and the coach can try to follow it.

All for all

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From August to today, Ibrahimovic and Giroud have more or less divided the penalty area and the goal. Zlatan commands (more goals, more appearances, more minutes on the pitch), Olivier adapts to the rules of turnover without losing the feeling with the goal, especially when playing at San Siro. Together, however, the two shared only fragments: five Serie A matches between the 3-2 at Verona in October and the 1-2 with Spezia in the last round, for a total of 116 minutes played side by side. ‘other. Little, even if from that portion of the season spent as a couple Milan have earned three goals, all scored by Ibrahimovic, and an own goal (that of Gunter of Hellas) decisive for the success. When Pioli tried the joint, the results were mixed: Ibra and Giroud are looking for each other, phrasing, trying to make room for each other but the understanding has not taken off completely. Alibi number one: unlikely to happen with a few minutes available to test the affinities in the game, and even more so if the context in which the duo gets to work is that of “emergency”. Sometimes the Ibroud works even just for the effect it has, frightening those who have to face them in the final game, on other occasions the chemistry produces little explosive reactions. Alibi number two: when Pioli relies on the double striker, he remodels Milan by moving to a different game system from the one sewn on his men: the 4-2-3-1 sent by memory by the Rossoneri in these two years gives way to a 4-4-2, which in the most unscrupulous version becomes 4-2-4. The formula to change everything without changing anything, however, is there and the usual Ibra suggests it. A few steps back and that’s it: Zlatan finisher, Olivier number 9 on his back and on the pitch.

Trend

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Be careful to say that we would have to recalibrate the weights and counterweights of the Devil, because the set-up with Ibrahimovic from ’10’ behind the Frenchman has already been seen in Florence: the Rossoneri ended up on the mat but the Swede signed his only (so far) brace in this league. By proving that coexistence is possible, and also that by acting as an offensive playmaker, Ibra knows how to do wrong and open the right gaps in the opponent’s defenses. After all, the attitude of the Malmoe champion to withdraw his range of action by favoring the insertions of his teammates in the goal area is becoming a constant in his fifth season at Milan. At forty, Ibra knows how to manage energies and movements: the sense of goal has remained the same as ten years ago, but the taste for helping others to break through has grown.

Inventions and … penalties

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Given also the difficulties in recent times of Brahim Diaz, a designated attacking midfielder but less inspired and brilliant than in the first months, the Ibra-Giroud option can also solve this problem: Zlatan will not be a splinter, but guarantees a physicality that for the Spaniard, light by constitution and still weakened by the after-effects of Covid, today it is the greatest limit. ‘Recovering’ Giroud full time, then, would allow Pioli to have an impeccable penalty taker: if Ibra keeps away from the spot and whoever goes to the shot is not always accurate (see Theo), the Frenchman’s aim can be useful. The preparation that in three days will lead to the match against Juve opened with Giroud on the pitch in the match and Ibrahimovic in the gym, but do not be fooled: yesterday Pioli fielded those who had played less or who were missing with Spezia (at Milanello there is they were also Romagnoli and Tonali). The extraordinary Milan will take shape only in the next working sessions, when the hierarchies will return to the usual ones. Or maybe they will rearrange themselves: two center-forwards instead of one.