There is a clear idea behind the new Milan, but it is more visible in the principles than in the names.
Ruben Amorim has brought to Milanello a style of play centred around a back three, wing-backs running up and down the flanks and, above all, two players positioned narrowly behind the striker, tasked with linking the play between the lines. On paper, it is a system that creates multiple attacking options. In practice, however, Milan are running into a problem that has been developing for weeks: they still do not have the right players to occupy that space.
The role of the attacking midfielder in a 3-4-2-1, or, if preferred, in that 3-4-3 which narrows and widens depending on the phase of possession, is not a tactical luxury but a necessary component. It requires a player capable of receiving the ball with his back to goal, turning in just a few touches, opening up the pitch with a through ball or accelerating the move with the ball at his feet. It is a role based on timing, reading the game and quality in tight spaces, rather than simply pace or physicality, writes Milan Press.
The lack of genuine attacking midfielders
And this is precisely where Milan remain short. Rafael Leao is at his best when he receives the ball in open space and takes on his man, rather than when he has to control the ball among three opponents while also having to link up with the team.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek can provide runs into the box and physicality, but by his characteristics he has never been a top-quality creator: he is a midfielder with a good engine who has been adapted to a position that only partly suits him.
Amorim knows this, which is why he is still trying him in that area during this phase, more out of squad necessity than technical conviction. The two players who come closest to the required profile are Christopher Nkunku and Christian Pulisic. The Frenchman has excellent technique, knows how to receive the ball in tight spaces and protect it, while the American offers quality in the final ball and in his timing when choosing a pass.
The problem is that a team with ambitions of finishing near the top of the table cannot base an entire department on just two reliable options, particularly when the schedule becomes congested with league and cup matches and injuries inevitably arrive.
The search for the right player
Hence the search, which has been ongoing for several weeks now, for an additional attacking midfielder. The Rossoneri have already invested in their attack with the arrival of a powerful centre-forward, but the management know that without a natural creator, Amorim's system risks remaining incomplete, forcing the coach to rely on makeshift solutions even in the matches that really matter.
Not a winger converted into the role, not a hard-running midfielder, but a player who can read tight spaces and provide the final pass: that is the missing piece, and it is the player Milan continue to search for.
