A lot of the build-up to the game against Feyenoord was dominated by the talk of AC Milan’s four forwards, but it could well be a quick experiment.
As Calciomercato.com report, it was supposed to be the night of Christian Pulisic, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez – who have been dubbed the ‘Fantastic Four’ – but instead Igor Paixao was the match-winner for Feyenoord.
After the wins against Roma and Empoli to build the excitement following a busy winter window, there was the need to follow it up with a good performance to keep momentum building. Mike Maignan’s error didn’t help, but the performance in the remaining 87 minutes is the real worry.
Leao was most involved out of the front four but squandered big chances and instantly became the villain after demanding a penalty. Joao Felix showed flashes but nothing more, Pulisic suffered from the intensity of Feyenoord and a precarious physical condition and Gimenez didn’t even have a shot on goal.
The feeling after the loss at De Kuip is that Milan were a victim of its usual lapses in confrontation, a ‘fragile’ team that does not yet have the personality and the right mechanisms to sustain an attack with all four of the aforementioned players.
Will Conceiçao persist with this formation? It appears a ‘very difficult’ idea, and what is more likely is a return to the 4-3-3 with Yunus Musah acting as balancer in midfield. One of either Leao and Joao Felix will miss out as a result, with Rafa the main candidate at present.
