The road to AC Milan's revival relied on wise high-level decision-making, keen reinforcement vision, and the manager's successful platooning.
When Te O and Leo form the left double, this aspect is the success of the reinforcements, but also thanks to Pioli's tactical arrangement. Let the two magic beasts that originally "grab food" on the left side become the golden partners who "feed" each other.
Leo's progress has been tremendous
The small lineup and the partner center are in tune
Milan's current talent is the first man: combining power speed and skill. At the beginning of the season, Leo was positioned as a winger in the team, more often in the small squad.
Considering that Leo has speed and also has a certain physique, he can also transform into a sudden forward running counterattack when necessary, and can retreat to take the ball and advance at his own speed.
I believe that countless AC Milan fans will remember Leo's barb shot when he faced Atletico at home, when it was the best opportunity for AC Milan to extend the score when the 10-man battle.
Although the referee misjudged the offside at the first time, VAR quickly returned his innocence. If you're a little luckier, it's Leo and The Rossoneri who are now in the Champions League knockout stages.
Leo's statistics in Serie A and the Champions League this season are 6 goals and 4 assists, which doesn't seem so dazzling, but this is also related to his bad luck.
In terms of the offensive creativity leo he has shown this season, he deserves the reputation of the first talented person in Red and Black. It's a shame that this kick hit the upright, but I believe there will still be countless fans who won't forget.
At the end of the first stage of the league, Leo was even the super king of Serie A at that time. Subsequently, because the manager's positioning of Leo in terms of employment is between the surprise and the first starter, it does not take a full 90 minutes, resulting in a slight loss in his data. However, he averaged 2.5 passes per game, still the second highest in Serie A this season.
A very typical example is the goal against Lazio this time. Leo moved forward with the ball from the back, from Rebic on the flank of the ball to scoring a shot in the middle.
Although this goal has the problem of Lazio's back Lucas being old and overwhelmed, Leo did play more and more clearly in the game.
Leo, who has improved in passing: he also learned to play as a second striker
Leo's biggest improvement this season has been passing the ball and the awareness of storming the penalty area when switching between attack and defense. After learning to switch from the wing to the second striker, his partnership with the centre-forward also became more in tune.
As can also be seen from the statistics, Leo can provide good passes, good confrontation and threatening shots in the game. He is a more versatile attacker, and he used to give people a feeling of four differentities. Now all-round improvement of a piece, it seems that everything can be done.
A typical example is the last round of the match against Roma, when substitute Leo received the ball from Ibrahimovic's chest, accelerated into the opponent's hinterland and calmly shot to score.
The progress of the pass is reflected in the details of the game, not only can send some good balls to the back of the Special O in the offensive and defensive transitions, but Leo also has this kind of magic pass in front of the penalty area Ibrahimovic directly facing the goalkeeper. One young man's progress in passing shows that Leo has worked the technical details of these past days.
Including Maldini Jr.'s Milan debut ball, most of the credit should be counted on Leo. He shifted from strong confrontation to large-scale transfer, playing a good personal ability and sense of teamwork.
Although in some games, Leo still has cases of untimely or wrong ball and lateral transfer, he has been very different from his past self.
Comparing Leo to Henry is certainly suspected of overbagging. But this young man is indeed making progress every day.
Special Olympics is more than just a left-back!
He was the key to Milan's formation changes
Change from 4231 to 3421: You need to keep an eye on Special Olympics
As can be seen from the team's data list, Theo and Leo not only scored and assisted a lot, the former is also the highest number of key passes in the team, and the latter is the first to dribble people.
Both of them are giants in AC Milan's offensive system, and Special Olympics is also the key to the change of AC Milan's conventional formation.
Echoing the right winger with the Special Olympics forward, the attacker on the left will converge into the forward or two forward. AC Milan's 4231 formation, through the positional change of Special Olympics to 3421.
It is clear from the GIF that this is a linkage between ac Milan's classic two-wing attacker.
Through the cover of his teammates in the middle, he created an opportunity for Saler Marquez to have the ball inside, and also let Theo run out of the back of the single knife. A blast broke through the goal, and Theo's offensive style was so clean and neat.
I have to say that Venice is really Theo's favorite. Two goals were scored in this round, and 1 goal and 1 assist were scored in the first meeting.
This time it was still a catch from Sal Marquez that was adducted, and then Benasser moved to the back post. Te O's outside followed up with a cross that assisted Díaz's goal.
Not just a left-back: the adduction line depends on the situation
As a left-back, the scary thing about Theo is that he's not only able to juggle left wingers, but even has plenty of shots of attacking the inside.
He has a very high number of touches per game (the right to concede the ball is also high, requiring tactical protection from teammates), and whether Special Olympics collects in the mid-circle or into the 30-meter area depends on the opponent's situation.
One thing is for sure anyway, Special Olympics isn't meant to go down the line.
As you can see from the GIF below, this time Special Olympics even came directly to the back of the position to receive the ball. He has good physical strength and has the advantage of guarding the ball and confrontation.
Although Special Olympics is not known for its in-place technique, it is still enough to control the ball in midfield, and even take the ball directly after taking the ball. This time, after creating a foul, he directly sent a free kick and a long pass to Find Rebić. Despite the latter's mistake in cutting inside with the ball, Theo embodied its tactical value.
Although Special Olympics has been complained that the defense is not good, his strength and speed are good, so the point-to-point chase is not bad. Once the ball is broken, Theo can even launch a counterattack on the spot.
This time, after hitting the wall, he took the middle of the road and pushed back, directly winning a good position in the penalty area frontal free kick opportunity.
One of the things that Special Olympics really likes is that he's the kind of player who has the ability to start and move forward on his own. Especially as a winger, it is even more rare to be able to come to the middle of the road and continue to pick up.
Although There were actually a lot of passing mistakes in Special Olympics, and even some of the balls were handled in a stumbling manner (which would be an obstacle for him to go to the top giants), this time with Leo, the former did the ball Teoc's speed, and finally in front of the penalty area, Te O passed back to Leo to score a shot, and the cooperation was smooth.
A good coach
He will make the players at least 1+1 no less than 2
Piolimiao uses the left-hand double giant: both have the ability to plug straight
Both Theo and Leo are impact-strong types, and neither is really pulling the strings at all. Therefore, in the game, they have a certain area conflict of receiving the ball, which requires a clear division of labor in the coach's tactics.
After Pioli owned Messias, he could also make the use of the left-sided duo more in tune. When one man is incoherent, Leo pulls away to the outside line, or Theo stays in the backfield.
Because both have good straight plugging ability, one of them controls the ball, protects the ball and passes the ball, and the other one inserts without the ball.
Last night's first goal came from Theo's long-range straight plug to find Leo on the flank cover. The latter beautifully crossed to help Ibrahimovic push in front of the goal to score the empty goal.
Last night's second goal, It was Leo who held the ball to find Theo who was inserted in front of the wing without the ball, and penetrated the opposing wing and broke into the penalty area to score.
Because both have a strong no-ball impact and good passing, the opponent wants to defend milan's left double giant, and it is a bit of a loss.
When the coach arranges the overall tactics, there will always be someone to sacrifice and someone to benefit, but excellent
The coach will definitely make the gains outweigh the losses, so that the team combination will always be 1+1 at least not less than 2, or even greater than 2.
Theo adduction is a double-edged sword: Pioli tactically does a good job of wiping his ass. The reason why the football field is in the normal state of the forward to play the forward position, the full-back sideback is in the area of the full-back, because once the frequent changes of positions, it may not necessarily bring opportunities, but also may be mistakes and their own collapse.
Any transposition and reverse insertion requires the coach to make a B plan to fill in the gaps and deal with mistakes at the tactical end.
As you can see from the GIF, this time Leo attracted multiple defenders and crossed to Te'o in the middle of the midfield, who suddenly sped forward and accelerated, but then encountered a tackle that was broken.
The key is the Milan double back behind Theo, Tonali first interfered with the ball in front of the first time, so that the opponent's attack was somewhat slowed down. Casey then managed to block a threatening blast in front of the penalty area, preventing Atalanta from seizing the chance of Theo's loss of the ball.
As the value of Theo and Leo skyrockets, renewing their contracts will become an less easy task. AC Milan plans to give them an annual salary of close to 10 million, but whether they can keep it is still difficult to judge.
Will Special Olympics then enter the transfer market as a source of funding for AC Milan's next team building? Whether it is a contract extension or a high sale, I believe AC Milan will continue to move forward under the leadership of Maldini and Pioli.
Conclusion
There are always a variety of reasons for a team's failure, but success always has the same logic and reason. With excellent management, a smart manager and a talented group of players, AC Milan are rushing to the throne of the Serie A title step by step. Regardless of whether this event can realize the dream this year, I believe that the climax of this wave will definitely be rewarded.