Trying to move away from the usual polemics for a moment and actually talk some football again.
I was looking at our squad and wondering: if the season started tomorrow, what would Amorim's starting XI actually look like? I think it would be something close to this:
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And looking at it like this, there are three areas that immediately worry me. The biggest one is the back three.
Gila is obviously a starter and probably the defender who currently fits Amorim's football best. We already saw glimpses of it in the friendly, but we knew this before Amorim even arrived: his CBs need to be much more than defenders. A lot of the build-up starts with them. They need to recognise and play passes between the lines, break the opponent's first pressing line and create advantages from deep. Right now, Gila is the only one I really trust to do that consistently.
The problem is that most of our other CBs were basically built for Allegri-ball. They became accustomed to defending deep, protecting relatively little space behind them and leaving much of the actual build-up to a midfielder dropping alongside them. With three midfielders, that was often Modric. Under Amorim, that responsibility shifts considerably. The CBs themselves have to create.
I've put De Winter in there because I think he's probably the one I trust most after Gila in that regard. If I remember correctly, he even played in midfield during his Juve youth days and you can see some of that in his game.
Pavlovic gets the other spot because he was basically an undisputed starter last season. I actually like his ability to carry the ball forward. He's powerful, has a good burst and can eat up metres quickly. But in a much higher defensive line, that's less important. I don't need him charging 30 metres up the pitch as often. I need him to open the game from the back and consistently find the right pass under pressure. That's a very different job and definitely not his strength.
The second major hole for me is RAM. We simply don't have a natural player for that position right now. I've put Pulisic there because I trust him much more than Nkunku on the right. We've already seen Pulisic play very well starting from the right wing, so the transition shouldn't be completely alien to him.
The irony is that Amorim has already talked about how perfectly suited Pulisic is to the left side of his system – and I completely agree with him. That's exactly where I'd want him too. But unless someone arrives for the right, I almost think we're forced to sacrifice that and play Pulisic there, with Nkunku on the left.
So for me another attacking midfielder, preferably someone naturally comfortable on the right, is an absolute mercato priority. Get that player and suddenly you can have Pulisic, Nkunku and Cissé competing on the left while actually having a proper solution on the right.
Then there are the wingbacks. Saelemaekers is probably the only one I feel completely comfortable with. Left or right, doesn't really matter to me. He's two-footed, can dribble, cross, combine, attack space and even has some goal threat. He just looks like a very natural Amorim wingback. After him, though? Lots of question marks.
We all know Chukwueze has basically one foot, and Serie A defenders figured that out pretty quickly two years ago. I can live with him as an option from the bench, but I really wouldn't want to enter the season relying on him as a starting wingback.
Athekame is interesting. I actually liked quite a lot of what I saw last season – especially his 1v1s, crossing and even his willingness to attack the box. But he's still extremely young and raw. Maybe Amorim turns him into exactly what we need, but that's a lot of faith to put into a kid at this stage. And Estupiñán is... well, Estupiñán. He doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either.
So another proper wingback would be very high on my list.
Interestingly, I'm much less worried about striker and midfield – mainly because I'd really like us to commit to something we've talked about for years: actually giving our young players a path into the first team. Ramos is the obvious starter at CF. Behind him, I'd happily go into the season with Camarda as his deputy rather than buying another player who blocks his path. Give the kid minutes. Give him opportunities. Give him some patience when he inevitably has bad games. If we genuinely want to avoid another Liberali situation, at some point "trusting the youth" has to become more than something we say after losing them.
Same with Comotto. I genuinely see him as Modric's deputy. There's something about his style that reminds me of an incredibly young and obviously much, much rawer Modric. Let him learn behind him. That's exactly the kind of situation we should be creating for these kids. Ricci, meanwhile, I just don't see in this system at all. I'd sell him tomorrow if there was a decent offer. Fofana I can live with keeping if we can't sell him, although I'd still rather see those minutes go towards Comotto. And RLC should absolutely be sold.
On the left, Rabiot obviously starts. But Jashari as his deputy makes perfect sense to me. That's basically the role in which he made his name at Brugge and became one of the most coveted young midfielders in Europe. We even saw what he could do there in the CL against Atalanta. With his strong left foot, he also looks much more natural on that side than on the right.
So if the season started tomorrow, my priorities for a realistic mercato would be pretty clear:
A ball-playing CB to replace either Pavlovic or De Winter, a natural right-sided attacking midfielder and another starting-quality wingback. Do that and suddenly I think the starting 11 starts looking considerably more coherent for Amorim. And rather than filling every remaining gap with another €20m signing, I'd much rather leave some deliberate space for Camarda, Comotto, Jashari, Cissè and Athekame to actually develop.
Otherwise we can talk about "Milan Futuro" and our great youth project until we're blue in the face – and then wonder again why the next Liberali decides his future is somewhere else.
- nothing more is required
