Il Corriere dello Sport newspaper in this morning's print edition discussed the attacking department of AC Milan, and specifically the strikers.
In fact, Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham have scored eleven goals combined this season and professionally play as central strikers.
As for Tijjani Reijnders, a midfielder, he has 10 goals registered to his name.
It’s true that neither the Spaniard nor the Englishman are having months up to expectations, and it’s also true that the Dutchman is an offensive midfielder, one who makes runs and is good with ball placement, but the numbers speak for themselves: Reijnders is performing excellently both overall and in terms of goal-scoring.
The Dutch midfielder has scored six goals in the league, five of which led to victories, and one earned a draw against Roma at the end of the year.
No 'pure' midfielder has done better than the number 14 in Serie A: McTominay and Anguissa, the top midfielders of Napoli, have five, while Calhanoglu, the star of Inter under Simone Inzaghi, has four, with three of them being penalties.
Three goals have come in the Champions League, including one that capped off an excellent performance at the “Santiago Bernabeu” against Real Madrid and a brace that defeated Club Brugge.
In short, when Reijnders scores, Milan generally wins. It’s clear that the direction Reijnders gives to the Rossoneri is impactful. And it’s been evident even during a challenging period like the current one, where the team (still) isn’t shining, and he has never had a chance to rest.
Since the first game in November (Monza-Milan on November 2), the Dutchman has always and only played as a starter, without the chance to take a break, partly due to the lack of alternatives. Fonseca had already noted him as a unique player in the Rossoneri squad, and Conceição is on the same page.
Even on Sunday at lunchtime, in the match against Parma without Theo Hernandez and Rafa Leao, who were substituted at halftime, he carried the weight of the team on his shoulders alongside Pulisic.
The goal that made it 2-2 came from a great play by number 14: he received the ball on the left, dribbled toward the center, passed to Musah, and made a very intelligent run into the penalty area, catching the entire defense by surprise. Reijnders is this: pace, technique, intelligence. This year, he’s also scoring a lot of goals. As if he were a central striker. In fact, in Milan’s case, even better.
