GdS: How the Emerson-Pulisic pairing has ‘shifted the balance’ for Fonseca’s Milan | OneFootball

In the past few years, AC Milan’s left side has dominated the headlines. Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez have been pivotal to the Rossoneri, often being decisive in key periods, but the story has not been the same so far.

This season headlines have been written about Theao, but not for the right reasons – most notably the cooling break incident, and general concerns about their performances so far this season, with Leao failing to prove himself so far.

On the other hand, or other side shall we say, there is Christian Pulisic and Emerson Royal, who took the headlines in the derby for the right reasons – ignoring Emerson’s first-half mistake which led to Inter’s goal.

Emerson played five crosses into the box on Sunday, and rather than losing confidence after his error, he used it to power forwards, which the Gazzetta dello Sport article (seen below) commends him for. As a whole, the Brazilian attacked more than his counterpart and had a larger impact as a result.

Then we have Pulisic, the scorer of the opening goal and the joint-highest contributing player since his arrival. Everyone already knows of his impact, but his involvement and emerging partnership with the Brazilian is shifting a balance for Milan.

Previously, there has been a weight of expectation on the left-hand side, and they have regularly delivered, but with the right-hand side adding balance, it makes the Diavolo a much stronger side.