Serie A: How space-changers Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic have reinvigorated AC Milan

Rewind three months if you can, back to the start of June. If you spent any time on social media around then, the hashtag #CardinaleOut would surely have come to your attention.

Gerry Cardinale, the founder of RedBird Capital Partners, the new owners of AC Milan, was under fire with the news that he had fired sporting director Paolo Maldini, a true club icon who had multiple generations of his family play for the club.

There would be more departures and furore as the heartbeat of the team and one of the biggest connection points for fans, central midfielder Sandro Tonali was sold to Newcastle United for a mammoth fee.

The proceeds of the sale were used across the squad with six players coming in who cost between €14-20 million (per Transfermarkt) as Cardinale and the new power structure tried to get the squad back on track after a disappointing season. Think Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 after the sale of Gareth Bale.

To say confidence was wavering would be an understatement, particularly after a season where as defending champions they would scrape a fourth-place finish courtesy of Juventus’ point deduction, and were knocked out by arch rivals Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals.

However, as we enter the first international break Milan are on fire with three wins from three, eight goals scored and just two conceded. Only Inter can match their pace as the sole teams with a 100% record so far this season.

So how has this happened?

Well, there have been plenty of impressive contributors but we want to focus on two of the new boys who were bought using that Tonali money: Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic, both arriving from Chelsea after being deemed surplus to requirements in the west Londoners' bloated squad.

Both players clearly had talent but injuries and the perpetual managerial merry-go-round at Stamford Bridge meant that neither had been able to truly showcase their best. Aged 27 and 24 respectively, both were bets not only for the future but for the here and now as well.

Most Premier League fans would probably roll their eyes to hear this but it’s no exaggeration to say that both are thriving, and they have both been instrumental to how Milan have changed this season.

Let’s start with Loftus-Cheek, as he is arguably the more fascinating. Last season for the majority of the campaign, manager Stefano Pioli used a 4-2-3-1 formation with Tonali acting as a double-pivot alongside - normally - Ismael Bennacer. The formation was designed to use a creative 10, most often Brahim Diaz, who could help link the team to the star player, left-winger Rafael Leao.

It worked in theory but often in practice it suffered because teams could swallow Leao and the No. 10, and effectively shut Milan down as they had no real spark from deeper despite the strengths of the two midfielders, particularly when Bennacer missed time with injury. The team became sluggish and had no way to break down rivals who gave them no space.

This season Pioli has switched things up, moving to a 4-3-3 with Loftus-Cheek coming in as one of two box-to-box No. 8s alongside fellow new boy Tijjani Reijnders, who has also been superb. That leaves Rade Krunic sitting deeper to act as the solo sweeper.

The result has been extraordinary. Milan suddenly look so much more fluid and free. They are able to provide attacking impetus from different angles without losing their defensive balance and are far less predictable.

In terms of Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek, the latter has been given more license to push forward from the right, with the attacking duo of Theo Hernandez and Leao requiring a bit more discipline on the left, and the Englishman has been starring as a result. So much so that in the recent 2-1 win over AS Roma, although he was the player sacrificed when Fikayo Tomori was sent off, it seemed as though team-mate Hernandez was gesturing to the bench to suggest that decision was a mistake, even if Loftus-Cheek was himself on a yellow. That’s how important he has already become.

Loftus-Cheek’s greatest skill has always been the ability to break the lines; he has a rare gift for carrying the ball for a midfielder. His ability to glide past players, shield the ball and find little passes makes him a unique player and you can see why Pioli wanted him.

There is no goal that better shows this attacking juice than Milan’s first home goal of the season in the 4-1 hammering of Torino. It is a great example of what Loftus-Cheek can do with and without the ball.

The ball is won near the halfway line in the Milan half and played to Pulisic who has drifted inside. Loftus-Cheek immediately starts his run to the wide right of the American. That forces a defender to go with him, giving Pulisic a bit of space before he releases the pass into Loftus-Cheek’s path. The first touch is classic Loftus-Cheek, a perfectly weighted touch to allow him to accelerate past the defender as if he’s not there. He then cuts the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box right into the path of the onrushing Pulisic, who has continued his run, for an easy tap-in.

That relationship with Pulisic was something Pioli talked about when the players arrived and it is already obvious just how well they work together.

You can see in the heatmaps provided below by Opta how Pulisic is coming inside, but particularly the way Loftus-Cheek is going out wide.

In the Friday night game away at Roma, Loftus-Cheek picked up the ball in a slightly wide position on the right but he had a bit of space to drive into because Pulisic was already hugging the touchline further up the pitch.

Loftus-Cheek skipped past one player, played a one-two with Olivier Giroud and was then felled in the box for a penalty, which the Frenchman converted. This kind of run is so different to what someone like Brahim Diaz would have done as a 10 because he is driving at defences, catching them on their heels, rather than Diaz having to operate in tight spaces that can quickly become flooded.

Although Pulisic wasn’t directly involved by staying wide and high up rather than coming deep and inside, this time it was he who turned space creator for his team-mate.

Time for the chat about the American. Pulisic is such a fascinating player because it has always felt like he was banking credits on promise rather than actual results. Goal and assist totals of nine, nine and eight are decent tallies for his years at Dortmund as a teenager but they were hardly Jadon Sancho numbers. In his first season at Chelsea he managed 13 but couldn’t get back into double figures after that.

Part of the problem is that people, including it seems Pulisic, haven’t really known what his best position is. He has often wanted to play as a left winger (at Dortmund that position was occupied by Sancho) but for the US national team he plays as a 10 and often at Chelsea he was pushed into service as a striker.

But it really does feel as if this hybrid mix of a raumdeuter/classical winger on the right is the best role for him. He’s never isolated, which is where he really suffers, because although Davide Calabria isn’t the most attacking full-back, he gets help from Loftus-Cheek, and the presence of Leao on the other wing means he will never be double-teamed. Furthermore in Giroud he has a striker who is always willing to come deep or wide to link-up. Plus his ability to either come inside and shoot with his right or go down the line to provide crosses means he will stay unpredictable for opposing full-backs.

His partnership with another former team-mate from his Chelsea days, Giroud, was present in his debut goal away at Bologna in the first match of the season. Pulisic received the ball on the right and immediately came inside, skipping past a player before playing the ball into Giroud, who had dropped a little bit. Giroud played it immediately back into his path and Pulisic took a couple of touches before firing a rocket past the goalkeeper.

It’s the kind of goal that Pulisic could never have scored at Chelsea because he wasn’t given that kind of support. Did you notice who that was playing as the “right-winger” when Pulisic came inside? You better believe that’s Loftus-Cheek doing his mate a favour by occupying the full-back who can’t come across and fully cover.

Last season Milan had a myriad of issues, but as we have mentioned above, they - breaking it down to a more simple issue - really did just become far too predictable in attack, particularly on that right-hand side where the likes of Alexis Saelemaekers and Junior Messias didn’t offer enough. Hernandez and Leao are world-class, but they need support. Now they have it as well as having a better midfield balance.

Pulisic is something Milan have been searching for for years as a goalscoring winger, and in Loftus-Cheek they have someone to make those late runs that can unsettle the deeper defences they will face. Of course getting in another striker to back up Giroud would have been nice but it’s a great chance for the 23-year-old Swiss Noah Okafor.

And although he didn’t get much of a mention here, it’s worth showing some love to Reijnders, who like Loftus-Cheek and Pulisic, has settled very quickly and has already struck up a good understanding with the Englishman. Reijnders isn’t afraid to get forward but there already seems to be a great intelligence between the pair as to who goes forward at what times and when that happens the other needs to sit.

Loftus-Cheek even said as much after the Roma win commenting “It feels like we’ve been playing together for a while now.

“We’ve developed a close friendship, and since his arrival, we’ve had numerous conversations. We believe we can improve even further.”

That improvement is a key factor here. Whilst both Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek have been good, and it’s still early, it is also imperative that they both chip in with goals. Last season between them Tonali, Bennacer, Krunic and Diaz tallied thirteen goals, with the eternal squad player Tommaso Pobega adding three of his own.

If the new pair can take that step and Pulisic can get into double figures alongside Giroud and Leao, Milan are going to be a true force to be reckoned with.

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