CorSport: Musah excels in ‘hybrid position’ – Fonseca may have found tactical key | OneFootball

Not many would have predicted it at the start of the season, but Paulo Fonseca seems to have discovered a new tactical key in Yunus Musah.

This morning’s edition of Corriere dello Sport (via PianetaMilan) writes how Milan look ‘decidedly more balanced’ when Musah plays on the right, in the role of winger in a 4-2-3-1 system. Or at least on paper.

This season, Milan have been looking for a fundamental component to avoid conceding too many goals. Fonseca never wanted to give up any of his creators and scorers – namely Tijjani Reijnders, Christian Pulisic , Rafael Leão and Álvaro Morata – so he had to try a new solution.

The first time he tried Musah out wide was a daunting occasion: at the Santiago Bernabéu against Real Madrid, and the American seemed to excel in a ‘hybrid position’. He gave a big hand to Youssouf Fofana and Emerson Royal, neutralising Vinicius Jr.

The tactic was not repeated in Cagliari in Serie A nor against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League and the result was striking: another five goals conceded in just 180 minutes of play. He was used on the right against Juventus and Empoli, and the Rossoneri did not concede once.

Ahead of Friday’s game against Empoli, the approach seems obvious: it will be 4-2-3-1 with Musah on the field ahead of what is a real crash test to see how far the team have come. Tomorrow against Sassuolo, it should be Samuel Chukwueze on the right.