For those who have followed Milan for more than six or eight years, you may remember a promising young player from our youth system called Patrick Cutrone. After promoting to the first team, he made 90 appearances and scored 27 goals for Milan. In 2019, he was sold to Wolverhampton because he was not in the plans of one Marco Giampaolo. But he was one of those Milan nel cuore players that just hurt to see go, and it was clearly hard for him, too. His career also suffered, and after relatively unsuccessful loan spells in Serie A, in 2022, he came home... to Como, his hometown. On Saturday evening, he will return to the San Siro as their captain, with probably only one familiar face, Matteo Gabbia, in the Milan squad. Milan are just one point from eighth and two points from seventh, so need every single point they can get. Even if that means they have to spoil Cutrone's homecoming.
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| Cutrone is more than welcome to come home, but Milan may spoil his homecoming. |
Cutrone stood out in our youth sector even before he was promoted to the first team. He strong and powerful, but also worked hard and was lethal in the box. He was a fan favorite, not just for being a homegrown player, but also for his grinta and passion that he played every match with. I had the pleasure of seeing him when the team came to the U.S. to play a friendly in 2018, and he impressed me more than all the other players in person, because he was a beast who played just as hard defensively as he did on offense. His departure the following summer broke my heart, so I am happy that he is back home and doing well.
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| Cutrone always played for the crest and gave everything he had. |
Milan faced Cutrone and Como just two months ago in their house, as they were our final opponent of the first half of the season. While that was a tough 2-1 away win for us against a then-relegation threatened side, Como are climbing the table thanks to their January reinforcements. They even beat Napoli a couple of weeks ago, but their most recent match was a 1-1 draw with Venezia last week. For that match, Fabregas lined up a 4-3-3 with: Butez; Smolčić, Goldaniga, Fellipe Jack, Valle; Caqueret, Perrone, Da Cunha, Strefezza, Nico Paz, and Assane Diao. He should have most of his squad available, with the exception of Azon, who is injured.
After Florenzi's triumphant return to the bench last week, Loftus-Cheek returned to full training this week and should make the bench for this match as well. After inheriting a bit of an injury crisis, and with such a tough run of matches, Conceição finally has all of his players available except for Emerson Royal, who is still out with a longterm injury. This gives him plenty of options, both for his starting 11 and for his substitutions. Despite media looking for controversy, Conceição pointed out when asked that Leão is available whether "from the start, in the 40th minute, and in the 90th minute."
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| Despite what the media tells you, Leão is a team player. |
For the first time since he has arrived, Conceição has had a full week to train for two consecutive weeks now. That, along with the comeback win vs. Lecce last week, seems to have helped everyone relax a bit more, and the hope is that it will translate into a better performance on the pitch. Of course, our fairweather Curva Sud are protesting the first 15 minutes yet again, so the players will not have their support. And even when they return, they will be protesting management. Which I understand, our management is a train wreck right now, but fans by definition should support their team.
With the disrespectful rumors surrounding the future of Conceição, a win will go a long way to quiet the toxic media ahead of the international break. Winning would also demonstrate that the Supercoppa trophy was not just a fluke, and that not playing every three days actually can give the manager a chance to actually instill his ideas, and for the team to gel.
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| This would be a great time for the team to come together and remind people what Conceição can do. |
Three points will also do wonders for our position on the table should Roma or Fiorentina drop points this weekend. With that said, I will be really happy to see Cutrone at the San Siro again, and I hope the fans and the sold out crowd do not forget to honor him. But I also hope that Milan welcome him back with honor by humbling his team and taking all three points. I am sure that a part of him will be happy for Milan, after all, it is Cutrone's homecoming.
This post inspired by the music of The Smiths' "Back to the Old House"
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Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:15 AM
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