Following the arrival of Dusan Vlahovic in January, many expected Álvaro Morata to be relegated to the bench. However, the Spaniard managed to recreate himself in a new role, acting as partner to the club’s new golden boy.
Unfortunately for the Bianconeri, they were unable to sustain this promising partnership beyond the previous campaign, as the 29-year-old finally returned to Atletico Madrid after the expiration of his loan spell in Turin.
Therefore, Federico Cherubini spent the entire summer looking for a replacement; Ideally someone who can act as a stand-in for the Serbian bomber and at the same time play alongside him when deemed necessary.
As we all remember, a plethora of options were proposed for work. Long story short, Arkadiusz Milik turned out to be the one, joining Juventus on an initial loan transfer from Marseille at the end of the summer session.
Even though the Pole wears the number 14 on his back, he’s still a natural number 9… reminiscent of Vlahovic.
As his Serie A goals against Spezia and Roma show, the former Napoli man is more than just a competent centre-forward. He can really replace his Serbian teammate and put his name on the scoreboard, either as a second-half substitute or even as a starter.
But here’s the main question regarding these two greats: Can they play side-by-side in the same formation?
Apparently Max Allegri thinks so, or maybe he was so eager for the answer that he decided to unleash the attacking duo in the Old Lady’s toughest match of the season thus far.
Due to the complex circumstances of the meeting with PSG, it remains difficult to make a final judgement. That said, all of our matches seem to be complex affairs during this period.
But let’s say early signs suggest an uneasy partnership for both forwards. After all, we are talking about two players with a striking resemblance in their styles.
To their credit, both are trying to make it work, rotating through their defensive duties while each occasionally swerving to create space for their partner in the middle.
However, if you want to maximize the potential of Milik and Vlahovic, both need to be present inside the opposition box, and this is where they risk stepping on their toes. After all, an objective man needs to be greedy sometimes, as the old saying goes.
Therefore, these two strikers are unlikely to form the most complementary partnership, and rotating between them remains the most logical choice for the manager.
However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and amid ongoing injury concerns, chiefly Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa, few would criticize Allegri for testing the waters between Belgrade and Tychy.
