"AC Milan with a false 10 who is actually a false 9", this is what La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote on their website this morning.
The trequartista is the key because in that position three very different players can play.
The forward is Alvaro Morata and the technical midfielder is Tijjani Reijnders. The physical midfielder, though is Ruben Loftus-Cheek. This is a concept that many are not accustomed to. In fact, the fans are used to seeing teams that vary in formation (like Napoli going from 3-4-2-1 to a 4-3-3). or in the characteristics of a player (Darmian for Dumfries), but it is very rare to have a forward and a pure midfielder alternating in the same position.
Head coach Paulo Fonseca's Milan formally plays with a 4-2-3-1 and then, of course, adapts to situations and opponents.
The idea is to press and keep possession of the ball, even for defensive purposes. The derby last Sunday, however, was going in the opposite direction, settling for 44% possesion and denying depth to Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thural.
The derby is an example: the primary task of the forwards was likely to limit the internal plays of Inter towards Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Milan without the ball remained compact but above all narrow. The trequartista, in this system, connects with the two midfielders in possession, drops back when needed to gain superiority, and is free to create in the final third.
Close to him often is a forward, a winger who this year plays in a very central position (Christian Pulisic), and a midfielder who moves up, with movements similar to those of a mezzala.
Milan without the ball?
When the team does not have the ball, coach Fonseca has been defending with four players almost in line since summer: the two wingers, the forward, and the trequartista. As seen in the images below, Morata defended in a similar position to that of Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek against Venezia and Lazio. It’s up to them to give a great hand to the other six players because it’s clear that with such a structure it’s essential for everyone to work when the ball is with the opponents.
Fonseca chooses the player he feels is most suited to play as a 10 from match to match. Against Torino, Pulisic played in the trequartista role, a solution that now seems… on a shelf, waiting to be retrieved.
Against Parma and Lazio, however, it was Loftus-Cheek in that position. Against Venezia, it was Tijjani Reijnders. Against Inter, it was Alvaro Morata. Some differences are intuitive. Reijnders brings ball control and creativity, while Loftus-Cheek is much less skilled with the ball but provides physicality and bursts. Morata has been very good at playing with the team but obviously makes a difference with solutions in the box: with him, it effectively becomes a two-striker Milan.
Look at the difference between the areas occupied on Sunday and those where he played last season at Atletico: they seem like two different players. The differences don’t end there. Morata naturally has a central position: he drops back, roams, but by position, he is paradoxically the most classic trequartista. More central.
Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek are different. When one of them plays as a 10, Milan tends to get closer to a 4-3-3, with one of the two midfielders staying back and the other moving up like a mezzala. Tijjani tends to move to the left and seek the ball there, while Loftus-Cheek operates more on the center-right, but neither is a pure trequartista.
Of course, at many moments, they end up managing similar situations, playing the same balls 30 meters from goal, with a central reference in front and at least 3-4 teammates making runs, often the attacking wingers, a full-back (Theo… but in the second half of the derby, Emerson Royal was seen a lot), and a midfielder. The images below demonstrate this.
So, who is the best possible 10 for Milan? It will depend on the matches, but a prediction can be made: Morata and Reijnders, as trequartista or in another role, will almost always play; Loftus-Cheek will not, writes Luca Bianchin for La Gazzetta dello Sport's website.
