Don't think we can put too much blame on him. Only been with the squad a few days and won't fully integrate with the "system" as we would want. That, and he played in AM. It was the whole approach of a more defensive game after our strong first 5-10 minutes that let Atalanta just run at us and lose control that was the issue. In turn, Meite then looked poor as he was unable to do much about it.
Tracking back is not rocket science, he doesn't have a good defensive work rate and even if you don't move perfectly in defense at least trying does something. I mean Hakan is also not a stellar defender but he always tries his best.
Even in his first game when played as a CDM he was shite in that respect, jogging back while a Kessie (who started the game) was doing a sprint to help out in defense.
From a DM, even when new to the team, you should be able to expect more. So far he suffers from the same lack of defensive cohesiveness that Krunic shows and which makes him undesirable for the double pivot.
That he is not an AM is not his fault, just don't repeat this experiment.
Maldini
