With AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli being tipped to return to a 4-2-3-1 formation, Charles De Ketelaere will be among those hoping to benefit and finally make an important impact.
It’s been a bitterly disappointing and underwhelming debut campaign for the 22-year-old so far, as in 31 appearances across all competitions, he has no goals and just one assist, which came back in August in his third outing for the Rossoneri.
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Changes in his role and position haven’t unlocked the talent that the decision to sign him was ultimately based on last summer, and there were certainly high hopes over what he could add to this squad with his creativity, technical quality and eye for goal.
The transition and adaptation to life in Italy and Serie A has clearly been tricky and difficult for him, but there are still 11 league games and a potential European run for him to showcase his quality and make a decisive impact when we need it most.
Milan come back from the international duty off the back of a horrendous run of form that has put our Champions League qualification hopes in danger, and so we need to find some form immediately and ensure it’s sustained to have a decisive influence on how the season plays out from this point onwards.
As per La Gazzetta dello Sport, a return to a 4-2-3-1 system is being touted next weekend, and that could ‘relaunch’ the Belgian international in a favourable role for him to try and finally deliver in a Milan shirt.
At a time when pressure is building on all concerned, it would be a risk to show faith in an out-of-form De Ketelaere and rest our hopes on his ability to be more influential, as this season would have been incredibly challenging for him from a mental perspective too having struggled to have the impact he is desperate to have.
However, as we see the same old issues and concerns resurface in terms of a lack of quality and creativity in the final third with the same old players – which has seen us score just three goals in our last four games across all competitions – we simply have to freshen things up long term and find a solution for De Ketelaere to break out of his rut and be the player we signed him to be.
While Stefano Pioli has continued to involve him in games with no tangible results, albeit he’s started just once in our last seven league games, it’s on him to put De Ketelaere in the best possible position to flourish now in a 4-2-3-1 system and show renewed faith, and if he does, then that responsibility of delivering falls firmly on the Belgian’s shoulders.
If he can rediscover some form and show what he can produce, it’s going to be a critically-timed boost for all concerned as we need something to inspire us in a fundamental stretch of the campaign.