With injuries, inconsistency and question marks over those alongside him, Malick Thiaw is establishing himself as a fixture in the AC Milan defence this season.
The 22-year-old is set to have a new defensive partner beside him against Inter on Saturday, with Fikayo Tomori absent due to suspension.
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While there have been concerns over Tomori’s form in recent times, particularly given his habit of making anxious-looking mistakes, Simon Kjaer isn’t getting any younger at 34 years of age.
Pierre Kalulu has found himself out of the starting XI through the first three games of the season, while Milan allowed Mattia Gabbia to leave on loan before drafting in youngster Marco Pellegrino, who will be seen as a long-term project while hoping to add an immediate boost where possible.
In turn, Thiaw has now established himself as a fundamental figure in the heart of our defence, as the German international has started the new campaign in strong form.
Thiaw stats, development see him established as pillar of Milan defence
In his three Serie A appearances thus far, he has a 91 percent pass accuracy on 175 passes completed, 13 duels won, 16 balls recovered, five tackles, eight clearances and one block.
That’s the most duels won of any Milan defender, third in balls recovered, second in tackles, joint-second in blocks and top in clearances.
As he continues to gain experience, mature, improve and develop his game, he is rapidly becoming a prominent and influential presence in our backline, and now much will begin to revolve around him as he steps up into that leadership role.
That maturity and calmness that he displays on the pitch will hopefully make it a seamless ongoing transition having now cemented his place in the Milan XI, but there is of course plenty of room for improvement as well.
The Rossoneri face a difficult assignment against Inter next weekend, and in Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, they boast one of, if not the most, dangerous attacking partnership in the league right now.
With Kjaer expected to deputise for Tomori amid doubts over Kalulu’s fitness, Thiaw will be our defensive lynchpin to help deal with the pace, technical ability and goal threat posed by that Inter pairing, and it’s vital that we keep them as quiet as possible to have the best chance of securing all three points.
Stefano Pioli and the Milan coaching staff have done an excellent job of developing our younger talents into key figures, as we’ve seen the likes of Kalulu, Tomori, Ismael Bennacer and Rafael Leao emerge as stalwarts in the side over time.
Thiaw is very much now in that category too just over a year after joining us from Schalke and having featured 27 times last season, and with the backing and faith of Pioli to now step up and step into a bigger role, we’ll hopefully see him flourish as the pillar of our defence moving forward.