On September 27, World Tourism Day, it's recommended to go and see Milan: a museum of offensive football. This is how Luca Bianchin started his article for La Gazzetta dello Sport's website.
Paulo Fonseca's team is already with the best attack before the Lecce fixture, but now they're pulling ahead: 14 goals scored, with Inter and Atalanta at 10.
The headline players are scoring: Alvaro Morata, the number 9 acquired in the summer; Theo Hernandez, the best on the pitch, redeemed after the early-season controversies; and Christian Pulisic, who has become the league's top scorer alongside Marcus Thuram and Mateo Retegui.
-
So, the question is: Does Milan have the strongest attack in Italy, considering the quality and quantity of their stars?
Here are some impressive stats. The first: Milan, in the last 20 years, had only once scored 14 goals in the first six rounds. And the schedule included Torino, Inter, and Lazio, which are among the best defensively in Serie A. The second: Pulisic has become the player with the highest combined total of goals and assists over the last two seasons, from August 2023 to today: 31, like Lautaro, with Leao at 30. The third: Theo, in the last 20 years of Serie A, is one of only two defenders to have contributed to 50 goals (the other being Maicon). The simple takeaway: Milan's attack is a threat to everyone.
Okay, Milan has the best attack, the top scorer, and the leading player in assists (Leao), but why are they so dangerous? The first half hour against Lecce wasn't thrilling, in fact: slow ball circulation, few ideas, struggling to attack a team defending with ten men. "We can improve in positional play", said Fonseca. He's right. Then something happened: two moments of brilliance. A header from Morata, not an easy one, on a cross from Theo and a great pass from Leao to Hernandez. The first explanation is the most obvious: Milan has strong players up front. The second involves Fonseca, who has changed this Milan.
In fact, Morata as an atypical playmaker needs to be evaluated over the long term, but a team with Pulisic on the right, Leao on the left, a pure center-forward, and another player behind him is quite the puzzle.
They have physical strength and spontaneity; they are certainly more dangerous on the counterattack, but even against a set defense, they have solutions. And then there's Theo coming from behind, Reijnders who raises the quality...
Here's the second explanation: the new structure seems to be working.
The third explanation is in the details. Set pieces, for example. Milan scored from a free-kick against Lecce, just like they did against Inter… and at the start of the season, they also scored from corners. It's important.
-
The 'Theao' factor
On the museum brochure cover, there are Theo and Leao. The most loved and the most debated.
After Milan-Lecce, Theo Hernandez said something noteworthy: "The Theao (Theo-Leao partnership is finally back. In the first matches, we weren't 100% mentally and physically."
And about his contract renewal: "I'm very happy here; the people love me, the team loves me, and that's the most important thing." The most important point is the acknowledgment of early-season mistakes: Theo and Leao's attitude in Parma was unacceptable. It's possible that Fonseca, by punishing them, lost in the short term but gained in the medium term.
Giorgio Furlani, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Geoffrey Moncada will be pleased with the comment about the renewal. In the summer, there was no room for negotiations, but now things are different. There are no handshakes yet, but optimism is growing… not just since yesterday.
