Strahinja Pavlovic has only been at AC Milan since the end of July, and yet his short time at the club has already provoked some question marks.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Pavlovic was in the running for a starting spot against Bayer Leverkusen but in the end Paulo Fonseca chose to field Fikayo Tomori alongside Matteo Gabbia, for the third game in a row.
The reality is that even if he doesn’t play, to still be in a battle with some team-mates right up until the eve of the match is a good sign: it means that he has quickly fought his way into contention and it will keep him sharp, knowing the next start could be very close.
Lately, however, he hasn’t played. Against Leverkusen he started on the bench for the third game in a row and he came on in added time against Inter in place of Tammy Abraham, to reinforce the defensive wall.
What happened? In reality, nothing particularly striking. The Serbian lost his place after a bad performance against Liverpool, one in which the whole team were at fault but he in particular was brutally caught in the middle of the accelerations of Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo.
He also took a good portion of responsibility for both Lazio goals, but scored in that game and denied Boulaye Dia. There is no panic at the moment, because Pavlovic is showing that he has the capabilities and above all the heart, he just needs fine-tuning from a tactical and decision-making standpoint.
The causes of his drop in the hierarchy is also because there are a couple of players in Tomori and Gabbia who have performed well recently. The former tends to alternate good performances with less convincing ones but still remains a leader, while the Italian has had exponential growth.
It is essentially Gabbia who has consigned Pavlovic to the bench with high-level performances but the Serbian’s time will come, potentially on Sunday against Fiorentina. The problem is that coaches, rightly, when they find a balance in the central defenders, tend to go forward with the same pair.
An autumn schedule that is packed will help the former Red Bull Salzburg man to find some playing time, especially with the consideration that Milan paid €18m to sign him, making him the second-most expensive summer signing.
