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Tomori, Tonali establishing themselves as rocks in Pioli’s Milan

Sumeet Paul

After a difficult week for AC Milan, the influence of Fikayo Tomori and Sandro Tonali continues to grow for Stefano Pioli.

The Rossoneri suffered a defeat at Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday night, before travelling to Turin to take on Juventus on Sunday.

READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan secure share of spoils at Juventus in 1-1 draw

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Fortunately, as it looked as though we’d be returning empty-handed from both trips, Ante Rebic’s equaliser in the second half gave us something to boost confidence as we remain unbeaten and joint-top in Serie A after four games.

While he was on the bench at Liverpool, Tonali’s importance to the side was emphasised before he came on such has been the impressive nature of his start to this season, while Tomori has been a rock in the Milan defence for some time now.

Tomori, Tonali set standard for Milan this season

With Tomori, his physical, aggressive and front-foot style of defending has become so important to this team, while he has the pace to recover if needed too.

Still only 23, he has quickly established himself as a fundamental piece of the Milan defence, and it’s no surprise that Pioli leans so heavily on him now to keep things tight at the back.

Liverpool and Juventus in the space of five days is as tough as it gets, but he was one of the few who came through both games looking like he absolutely belonged at that level and has the quality to be a leading figure for us.

As for Tonali, his start to the season has been one of the more impressive developments for us.

It’s clear that the 21-year-old has worked hard on his game over the summer, both in terms of his physical ability and mentality.

He is imposing himself on games much better, making his presence felt in the defensive phase and giving us a foothold and control in midfield.

Further, his technical quality is being shown more as he is important in the progression of our build-up play and is excelling with his accurate distribution to move us up the pitch.

He’s not yet having a decisive impact in the final third and while that isn’t necessarily his job, that will potentially come in time too. In turn, there is a lot to be pleased about already with both Tomori and Tonali, and there is certainly room for further growth and improvement as the season goes on to ensure that they become two pillars of the side moving forward.

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