MN: Origi finally feels liberated after injury woes – Pioli’s words highlight the evidence | OneFootball

There were some eyebrows raised when Stefano Pioli elected to bring on Divock Origi at half-time in Verona last night, but it represented an important moment for the forward.

MilanNews recalls Stefano Pioli’s words about Origi that came after the game, suggesting that a mental obstacle has been overcome as well as physical: “Origi is finally fine, he got rid of the bad injury that was blocking him. He didn’t feel free, loose. He finally made a left-footed shot, it’s an important signal for him. We have two strikers that we can alternate.”

He suffered a bad injury towards the end of his time at Liverpool back in May which meant he missed virtually all of the summer preparation, and then there were a couple of relapses which meant the Belgian’s start to life with the Rossoneri was troubled.

However, in the 45 minutes he got at the Bentegodi last night he looked physically better and he certainly has a great desire to score. We saw this against Juventus when he preferred to shoot from a tight angle rather than assist Ante Rebic, and then last night instead of managing possession he let fly from distance again.

However, according to Pioli, that was the symbol of the liberation from the problem with his left thigh tendon and therefore it might not be as negative as is made out. Being able to count on a player of his calibre – technical and above all physical – gives other solutions given Giroud has been forced to work overtime so far with 14 starts this season.

Origi offers something different to Giroud’s characteristics, which tend to favour games where opponents allow space inside the box, whereas the ex-Liverpool forward can cover more ground and use his size. It is nice for Pioli to finally be able to count on more than one centre-forward.

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