Milan, so Pobega makes Kessie forget. And he is the only Rossoneri … blue

The month of God ended with a quarter of an hour of battle in the last game of the Nations League round. First place. Tommaso Pobega did not start, he did not score, but he added another fifteen minutes of quality in a blue CV still to be updated. Mancio beat Marco Rossi and reached the semifinal. Pobega, between England and Hungary, played for an hour convincing everyone and sending out a message: “Yes, I’m here too”. And Pioli laughs.

Confidence

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Pobega – the only blue AC Milan player between the senior national team and the Under 21, thanks to Tonali’s injury – opened his month as a protagonist playing from 1 ‘the first match for the Rossoneri at the end of August, Sassuolo-Milan 0-0. An hour in the middle of the field to take on the goal of a lifetime, to play a starter in midfield after several loans around Italy. Three goals in Terni, five in Pordenone and ten between La Spezia and Turin, this time in Serie A. Maldini and Massara have renewed their contract showing him their confidence. “We hold it tight.” Pioli did the same: Tommaso, born in ’99, is not a starter, but so far he has represented an excellent alternative to one between Tonali and Bennacer. Against Dinamo Zagreb he also found his first goal for the Rossoneri. The first in the Champions League. The last goal of an Italian AC Milan player in the big cup was in 2013, Balotelli against Celtic.

Ductility

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Against Napoli he remained on the bench, but Mancini called him anyway. In Budapest he was also expected to be the owner. So far Pobega has played 232 minutes between league and cups, for a total of seven appearances (two in the Champions League, five in Serie A). Last year he scored four goals in 33 appearances for Torino, after the six flashes of La Spezia with the Italian coach, good at giving him confidence: “he has an important future – he said -, the qualities are all there”. Pioli is giving him more and more space. And in a midfield where the first two are untouchable, Tonali and Bennacer, the third is just Tommaso. Behind him is Vranckx, a 20-year-old of quality and quantity who came on loan from Wolfsburg with the right to redeem. So far he has only played ten minutes against Genoa.

Like Kessie?

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Pioli’s goal is to be able to shape Pobega as a kind of Kessie bis. Difficult, you know, also because the coach has always said that a “new Franck does not exist and should not even be looked for”, but Tommy – the “Wizard” with Harry Potter-style round glasses – is the only one with more or less characteristics. similar. Quality, dribble, quantity, a good insertion. Of the four in midfield he is the only one with a strong offensive nature, as the 23 goals scored in his career between Under 21 and club teams say so. Time to time, then. Meanwhile, in the middle, there is a son of Milanello with the eyes of the tiger who has cut his teeth with the mess tin.