GdS: One goal in 168 minutes – the reason Milan’s ‘Fantastic Four’ haven’t clicked yet | OneFootball

A lot was written about AC Milan’s attacking options after the winter transfer window, and yet instead the attack seems to have somewhat jammed.

La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Luca Bianchin has published a piece with the title: ‘Four stars, only one goal in 168 minutes: why Milan’s Fab Four does not work’. Of course, he is referring to Christian Pulisic, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez.

Sergio Conceiçao went all in in the Champions League: he sent them onto the field from the start against Feyenoord in both the first and second legs, only managing to get a goal from Gimenez at the start of the second leg.

It was not exactly from a combination of the four either. Instead, the goal came from a corner kick and more specifically a knock-down from Malick Thiaw. The calculator, adding the first half of Torino-Milan, says that the four stars, together, scored one goal in 168 minutes.

Conceiçao cancelled the experiment at half-time in Turin, then proposed a version B of the four-man attack with Gimenez-Abraham as the striker pairing, with Pulisic on the right and Joao Felix on the left.

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In the Champions League he replaced Pulisic twice around the hour mark, once for his physical problem, the other for the expulsion of Theo Hernandez. Milan had a few scoring opportunities (Leao’s counter in Rotterdam, Gimenez’s header against the Granata) but were never devastating.

What are the reasons? The four forwards are struggling due to individual and departmental issues. Pulisic is not at his best physically, Leao switches on and off with Conceiçao limiting his minutes, Joao Felix is ​​not very clinical and Gimenez needs service.

Milan, on the other hand, historically struggles against low blocks and those four have been together for 20 days, moreover with a coach like Conceiçao who does not have the attacking phase as a priority. Therefore, time is needed.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

For the great paradox, however, you have to look at the Serie A standings. Not the points column but a little further on, the goals scored. Milan have the seventh-best attack in the league with 37 goals. Inter and Atalanta are on another planet, at 59.

Above them are also Lazio, Fiorentina, Bologna, and a team much more attentive to balance like Napoli. Among the many oddities of Milan 2024-25, this is among the first.

Pulisic, Joao Felix, Leao, Gimenez, Chukwueze, Abraham, Sottil and Jovic earn a figure not far from €30m in net salary. How they can score so little remains a mystery to be solved.