I posted this video before, but honestly,
check it out.
It is a tactical breakdown of how Milan does what it does. Pioli doesn't create new tactics, but what he does
exceptionally well is
mixing different tactics. He's using the players we have to press in a way that few teams do, but it also shows why I think we actually probably moved on from Botman rather than "lost him.
This isn't even about sour grapes, it explains why Tanganga would be our first choice transfer target--and why we want to stick with Kalulu Tomori as our pairing. The part about "rest defense" in particular explains this: our defensive style needs
speed. Tremendous, insane speed.
Basically, we push up so high, and commit such ridiculous numbers in attack, that we need CBs who can have the pace to maintain our near-suicidal high line.
The other element is how we press: our hybrid between ball and man focused presses mean that the CB comes out to press the free man left in the midfield from our press, and we need pace to pull this off.