AC Milan secured all three points at San Siro on Saturday night after a convincing 4-1 victory over Torino, as we made it two wins in two to start the new season.
Goals from Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez saw off the visitors in an impressive display, as we built on the win over Bologna last time out and continued our positive start.
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Focus will shift to Roma on Friday now as we face what is expected to be a tougher test at the Stadio Olimpico, but confidence should be high as we continue to show improvement while picking up important early victories to start building some momentum.
Stefano Pioli will have been pleased with the display as we delighted the home crowd with four goals, and it’s crucial we continue to improve as there are still gears and levels for us to go through to reach our best form.
Milan attack now more dynamic, unpredictable
There’s no denying that Milan were over-reliant on Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud last season, and that in turn made us predictable for opposition sides to prepare for our threat.
While the attacking pair still managed to make a decisive impact on a consistent basis, it wasn’t a sustainable way to play, and so it was important that we added new dynamics and threats to the side in the final third.
Milan certainly did that this summer, and we’re seeing the early dividends. From Pulisic impressing on the right wing to Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek breaking forward from midfield, we’re already a more balanced and versatile attacking unit.
Better balance to Rossoneri performance
While our 2-0 win over Bologna was still an impressive result, there was a lack of balance to the performance as we looked disjointed and vulnerable defensively at times.
In turn, that was an area in which we were looking to see improvement this weekend, and we certainly got it as our midfield in particular was better positioned and tactically aware to ensure we weren’t caught out as often.
Milan are showing real quality from an attacking perspective, but if we can get the other side of our game right, we’ll be a handful for any side we face this season.
Pulisic continues to impress
That’s two goals in two games for the 24-year-old USA international, as he’s undoubtedly made a positive impression following his summer move.
Some would perhaps have been sceptical given his injury issues and lack of form at Chelsea, but a fresh start in a league that arguably suits his characteristics better, and he looks like a player relishing this new opportunity.
Beyond the goals, he has added movement, technical quality and an ability to be consistent in front of goal. If he can keep that going, Milan will hopefully have finally found a long-term solution on that right wing.
Ever-reliable Giroud
The Frenchman may well be 36 years of age, but he continues to show how crucial and ideal he is for our system and style of play with his influence up top.
Whether it’s his ability to link things together with his back to goal and deft touch here or there to bring others into the attack or his physical presence and movement in the box to his superb penalties, he is a fundamental part of this side.
We’ll need Noah Okafor to step up and deliver too in order to have a dependable back-up option this season, but Giroud is showing that he is far from done himself.
Loftus-Cheek influence grows
It was natural that he and our other new signings would need time to settle and integrate fully, and that usually results in safe performances where they try to build confidence and positivity without trying too much.
While he was good against Bologna, we started to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek express himself a little more on Saturday and that was clear in his excellent play to provide the assist for Pulisic’s goal.
The 27-year-old played a vital role defensively too with his positioning to help us maintain our shape and balance, but he showed quality in possession and he’ll hopefully build on this and continue to have a bigger influence.
