GdS: ‘Starry night’ – why Feyenoord game is a ‘perfect test’ for Milan’s ‘Fantastic 4’

SempreMilan

·12 febbraio 2025

GdS: ‘Starry night’ – why Feyenoord game is a ‘perfect test’ for Milan’s ‘Fantastic 4’

AC Milan take on Feyenoord tonight at De Kuip, and Sergio Conceicao seems to have chosen to field the ‘Fantastic Four’ from minute one.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, Feyenoord have had better days. Head coach Brian Priske was fired two days before the match against Milan, while they lost their best striker in the winter mercato to Milan and they sit fifth in the league.

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Pascal Bosschaart, the former Feyenoord defender and former Under 21 coach, was appointed to be first team head coach on an interim basis and it is ‘a race against time’ to prepare the team after all of the recent turbulence.

Remembering Bayern

Feyenoord are also in an injury emergency. The Japanese striker Ueda should be flanked in a 4-3-3 with the Brazilian Paixao and the Algerian Hadj Moussa either side, both of whom scored on Saturday in the derby against Sparta Rotterdam at the weekend (a 3-0 win).

The victory came after three defeats, before which came the tennis score suffered against Lille (6-1) in the last round of the Champions League. To avoid the risk of excessive optimism, Conceiçao must remember that the Rotterdam club beat Bayern Munich 3-0.

It is better for Milan to consider facing a team capable of such feats. Although, to tell the truth, two of the goals were scored by Gimenez. However, on the same night Milan were beaten by Dinamo Zagreb, so it is better err on the side of caution.

Milan, though, are superior and, with the second leg available at a San Siro that has once again become friendly and passionate, they are widely favoured to progress to the round of 16, where they could face a derby against Inter or Arsenal.

The ‘Fantastic Four’

The ‘Battle of Rotterdam’ goes beyond just progressing: it is a sort of crash test, a trial by fire for Milan who emerged from the January transfer window transfigured and full of optimism.

The Coppa Italia victory over Roma and the league win over Empoli have already hinted at how much quality Kyle Walker, Joao Felix and Gimenez have brought and how much they can raise the level of the team.

The English defender has a certain security that was/is unknown to Emerson Royal; he transmits confidence to the department and has already established himself as a leader in the dressing room. In the red-hot atmosphere at De Kuip, Walker’s experience will be invaluable.

Joao Felix scored on his debut against Roma, Gimenez in his first league game in Empoli. They were two goals with a high aesthetic coefficient, too. They didn’t waste time because they know that Milan – having fallen behind in the league standings – must make a comeback.

The night in Rotterdam also serves this purpose, to test whether Pulisic, Joao Felix, Leao and Gimenez can co-exist in a 4-2-3-1. In yesterday’s final training session, Conceiçao used ‘the Fantastic 4’ and that means they are likely to start again.

A test for Rafa

Rafael Leao should therefore be there from the first minute, despite not being in top condition. If Rotterdam is a test for everyone, for Leao it is a little more so, because the first condition for using all four forwards is that they must do work in the defensive phase without the ball.

For Leao this is less instinctive than for his team-mates. Conceiçao has often repeated it: “Rafa must play more with the team and for the team.” Yesterday the coach kept him on edge, stating: “I’m not saying if he’ll play. He started on the bench in Empoli due to a technical choice.”

Leao must respond tonight with a complete, rounded performance, as a team man, as his talent dictates. Without the sacrifice of the forwards it is much more difficult to contain, also because in midfield there is a creator like Tijjani Reijnders, more forward-thinking than defensive.

Without everyone’s willingness, Conceiçao would be forced to shore up with Filippo Terracciano and then with Yunus Musah (suspended) in the return leg or Alex Jimenez (not in the Champions League squad list) in the league.

Leao must deserve a starting spot. But if the ‘Milan 4×4’ demonstrates balance, compactness, solidarity and deserves a result with a good performance, Rotterdam will become the best springboard.