Paraphrasing Dante, it is time to see the stars once again. For the first time this season, Ruben Amorim will field the most dazzling version of his Milan from the start. One featuring all the major signings from the latest transfer window and the biggest stars in the squad.
Leading the attack will be Gonçalo Ramos, the most expensive signing in the history of the Rossoneri. Behind him, a superhero: Captain America, Pulisic. Then, racing down the flanks, Chukwueze on one side and Diego Moreira on the other. The latter received some significant praise from Gerry Cardinale yesterday: "I paid €50 million for him, and I’m happy I did," the RedBird chief said nonchalantly on the sidelines of the coach’s press conference ahead of the away match against Sassuolo.
And in defence, there is Mario Gila, the €30 million signing, despite the Spaniard having had a contract set to expire at the end of the season. Finally, in goal, Magic Mike Maignan, the captain, as relayed via Gazzetta dello Sport.
Pushing Forward
Partly because of Saelemaekers’ injury, and partly because of the desire, explicitly expressed by Amorim himself, to pick up the pace after three long weeks without matches ("That isn’t necessarily a bad thing; we’ll see on the pitch").
The fact remains that the Portuguese coach wants his team to make a flying restart.
That means bringing in Moreira, who has so far started only away against Juventus, and even then in a deeper role. The Belgian has scored in three consecutive league matches, all after coming off the bench.
This time, he will be tasked with pushing forward from the start on the left flank, as he recently did for his national team.
"On the left, he is more direct; on the right, he looks more for combinations and one-on-one situations," Amorim explains.
For the first time, Moreira will occupy one wing, with Chukwueze on the opposite side.
It is a solution the Portuguese coach had effectively ruled out at the beginning of the season, when his Milan were still searching for the right balance and seemed unable to move beyond the 3-4-2-1 formation.
Against Lecce, the switch to 4-4-1-1 immediately produced positive results (“There is much more movement in the initial build-up phase," was Amorim’s assessment) and opened up new options for the future.
Behind the centre-forward, Amorim can deploy another quick, elusive attacking player capable of hurting opponents like few others: Christian Pulisic, who returned to scoring for Milan after 266 days, just before the break.
Captain America
There is no point beating around the bush: Milan are one team with Chris and another without him. The American’s return to the starting line-up coincided with what was probably the best performance of this early period of the Amorim era. The reason is simple: Captain America is unique in the Rossoneri squad in terms of his characteristics and qualities. He can attack space (as demonstrated by his goal against Lecce), move between the lines or drop deeper to link up with teammates, drift to either the right or left, attempt through balls, or shoot from distance with either foot.
Pulisic is unpredictable and, when fully fit, almost impossible to stop. And in the role Amorim has designed for him, he has complete freedom to operate.
Come On, Gonçalo
The American could be the key to helping Gonçalo Ramos, who has not scored for Milan since the end of August. The Portuguese centre-forward has scored in three consecutive matches for his national team, demonstrating that when he gets the opportunity, he certainly knows how to find the net.
“I have to think about what is best for the team, not what is best for this or that individual player,” Amorim explains. "Of course, we need to create more goalscoring opportunities and deliver more balls into the penalty area, but not just for Ramos."
Indeed, rather than benefiting from a different style of play, the former PSG striker made the most of the greater creativity of his Portugal teammates, who provided him with more support in attacking moves.
That is where Pulisic, with his dynamism, can certainly lend him a hand.
And on the flanks, such an attack-minded pairing as Chukwueze and Moreira can undoubtedly ensure that more balls are delivered into the penalty area. All this without forgetting the attacking support from Rabiot or Musah (preferred over Modric, who returned tired from international duty), two further options that could help Gonçalo end his goalscoring drought.
The rest is up to Ramos himself. But for someone who has lifted the Champions League trophy twice in Paris, it hardly seems an impossible task.
