"He is one of the most complete midfielders in the European landscape. He can be a key player for Milan next season: we need to manage the injury situation better." Igli Tare, in the press conference held yesterday at Casa Milan, made it clear that he is strongly counting on Ruben Loftus-Cheek, along with Max Allegri.
The English midfielder, after a surprising breakthrough in the season of his arrival in Italy under Stefano Pioli—when he scored an impressive 10 goals—has just concluded a very difficult year marked by injuries, a lack of scoring form, dull performances, and frequent time on the bench, both under Paulo Fonseca and Sergio Conceição.
When Tare speaks about injuries, he touches on a significant topic: last season, Loftus-Cheek was out for 120 days due to muscular injuries and an unfortunate case of appendicitis, missing 27 matches across all competitions. He was practically unavailable for half the season, with his physical condition never truly optimal, in a situation that seemed like a vicious cycle: injury, recovery, search for the right form, new injury, and so on.
After Tijjani Reijnders’ departure, the director has placed responsibility on the former Chelsea player, who is, at the moment, the only midfielder in the squad—awaiting the transfer window—who has previously shown the ability to provide adequate contribution in the attacking phase, just as the Dutchman did in an incredible way last season.
Allegri will return to a three-man midfield, and thus Loftus—who in recent years has played as an attacking midfielder or as one of two central midfielders—will return to his original role, the one that at the beginning of his career made Chelsea believe they had an extraordinary talent on their hands. The coach from Livorno will need to be skillful in restoring him not only physically, but above all mentally: the mind plays a huge role when it comes to recurring injuries. Unlocking him will be important to help him express himself at his best. For now, he is not part of the starting trio made up of Fofana, Modric, and the defensive midfielder who will arrive, but Ruben has all it takes to carve out an important role for himself, especially with just one competition to play per week: with fewer commitments and less physical stress, he’ll have more time to recover and train properly on a physical level.
Source: Milannews.it
