"One of the plausible reasons for his absence was to give Ricci more playing time, to get the former Torino captain fully into rhythm ahead of the decisive part of the 2025-26 campaign. After his 90 minutes against Fiorentina, the Italian midfielder played 21 minutes against Como, 73 against Lecce and 79 against Roma. In the last two matches, Ruben Loftus-Cheek replaced Ricci, not Fofana."
"Fatigue is another factor to consider: in his last few appearances before the games against Lecce and Roma, Fofana appeared tired. Allegri may have preferred someone fresher, also because this exhaustion can lead to mistakes at both ends. There is also the unavoidable fact that Fofana has made some errors more generally in his performances this season. Allegri prefers low-event games where his side do not inflict any harm on themselves, and so he may have preferred to move in a different direction."
Youssouf Fofana started the season as a regular in AC Milan's midfield but was omitted from the squad for consecutive games after starting against Como. Samuele Ricci has started the right mezzala role in the last two matches and accumulated increasing minutes to build rhythm ahead of the decisive part of the 2025-26 campaign. Coaches rotated Ricci and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with Loftus-Cheek replacing Ricci rather than Fofana in recent games. Possible explanations include a tactical choice to offer Ricci more playing time, observed fatigue in Fofana, and some errors in Fofana's performances prompting a low-risk approach.
Read at SempreMilan
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