Okafor and Chukwueze, two “arrows” for Milan! Fonseca sees them as headliners
A gap beneath the Milan ultras’ stand stood out more than the others right after the Milan-Brugge 3-1 game, when the tears of emotion over Camarda’s (disallowed) debut goal were still fresh.
Rafael Leao left him, opting to head straight to the changing room rather than join his buddies in celebrating the three points. Is the Portuguese player a problem for Milan? Maybe, but there are many ways to look at the same circumstance. Regardless of whether they are starters or substitutes, Fonseca is raising the standard with his choices, and more importantly, his rivals are showing consistency in their play for the first time since Leao joined Milan. In actuality, Okafor and Chukwueze calmly supported the coach’s decisions and were just as decisive as Pulisic and Reijnders against Udinese.
THE NEW PAIR: This is precisely where the Rossoneri season may take a drastic turn, and who knows what the Lusitanian coach’s journey on the “Devil’s” bench may hold. Putting aside Leao, who is obviously having a (long) hard time on the field, as shown by the only goal in the last 21st official Milan vs. Portugal games, let us concentrate on those who have so far made the Portuguese work maybe too hard and burdened him with too much responsibility. After a trial season under Pioli, in which they scored a few goals as substitutes for the Swiss and little to nothing for the Nigerian, Noah Okafor and Samuel Çhukwueze joined Milan in the summer of 2023. This season, they were expected to deliver quality firework to the Red and Blacks, ensuring quality in rotation.
THE CONFIRMATION MOMENTS Naturally, the two games between Udinese and Bruges cannot be regarded as a norm, and Bologna becomes a crucial test for both to verify their progress. However, the level of intensity and quality of the games that were determined by both teams were uncommon in the preceding months.
After the game, Fonseca stated, “We needed Okafor and Chukwueze,” separating himself from Leao’s reasoning and claiming that the facts provided him the advantage against Udinese: “We improved with the introduction of Chukwueze and Okafor, also thanks to the move of Pulisic as a fantasist.”
And there is yet another element there that is not to be overlooked. Since joining Milan, Christian Pulisic has undoubtedly taken on the position as the team’s genuine technical leader, outperforming most of his teammates both technically and in terms of leadership. However, the American has nearly always played wide on the right for the Red and Blacks, creating the feeling that he is stuck in a place that was never his own and that restricts his physicality and game vision.
There is no doubt that, as Okafor did against Udinese and Bruges, at least one of the attacking wingers must give up their position during the defensive phase in order to put Pulisic behind the striker. However, Fonseka seems to want to start again from here. Will he be right in this aspect as well?
