If the automatic assumption is that these stats are "the more the merrier", then I guess it's amazing.
The way I look at it is that the reason Adli is that high after this few games is partly about his great passing skills, but mostly about his playing style. He is very focused on finding passing options further up the field, and will hug the ball excruciatingly long at times to find them.
The downside of this is that the play gets slowed down massively and a natural casualty to that is off the ball movement drops a lot or stops completely. As the ball moves around it creates movements, both in teammates and opponents.
No one should question that Adli has some exceptional skill on the ball, arguably the best passer in the squad. But I don't think he will be able to establish himself as a starter for us unless he becomes a more balanced player, and generally starts moving the ball faster. The way he plays now is reminiscing of football 20 years ago, and as fondly as I remember those days, football has moved on from that for a reason.
PS! For the record I like Adli just fine, especially the way he came on against Dortmund was impressive. If he can adapt his play he's going to be a great asset for us in the coming years.
I agree with your point, but I'd like to add two things.
First, as far as I know, Adli never played that position until this season. His original CAM role is something Pioli doesn't use, so he had to adapt a lot by moving back and getting a lot more defensive responsibilities. Which is really showing, because he's not that good defensively (yet), and I have a feeling he'll go back to the bench once Krunić gets fit again.
Also, part of the reason he tends to hug the ball for excruciatingly long periods of time is because the rest of the team doesn't move off the ball very well. In recent years, the gameplay has focused more on 1v1 play and individual skill to create chances. A midfielder sitting deep and trying to hit someone with a long ball hasn't been an option for a long time, and now there are two (Adli and Reijnders). So as much as Adli needs to adapt and improve, so does the team as a whole.
He's holding the ball long because that's Pioli's tactics. Taking space, advancing with dribbling etc. Allowing the defenders to draw towards him before moving the ball. Especially necessary in Pioli's system with little off ball movement from the team.
We have issues with our entire tema with slowing the ball down. The lacking off ball movement isn't due to Adli dribbling, but has been a theme for 2+ years.
When he has played 8 and/or 10 previously he frequently played 1-2 touch
You are right with that downside. But its not only his fault for that. Sometimes he waits too long to make a decision, but sometimes all players are covered and no one is making a run or anything. In those situations its hard to play something good. But yeah, if he starts making his decisions faster and if he improves his defensive side he could be great holding midfielder or deep lying playmaker. He could control tempo greatly as Bennacer and his long balls and fast switching sides can make great 1v1 situations on wings. With those long balls we are pretty much lacking since Hakan left us
> but sometimes all players are covered and no one is making a run or anything. In those situations its hard to play something good.
When there's no good options quickly, you're not suppose to wait and look for a good option. Like I wrote, passing the ball creates movement from all players on the field. So when for example Krunic plays a sideways pass to a CB that doesn't progress the play forward, it still creates movement which in turn can create good passing options or some other opportunity.
The days of waiting and looking is long gone. No successful team is going back to a quarterback style player standing there until a player suddenly explodes into a run and he sends an accurate ball. This is why the long ball to the opposite flank has become so popular, because it's success stems from moving the ball around, creating movement in the opposing team (pretty much every team moves as a unit towards the side of the ball to stay compact). Move the ball around to create movements, and space/opportunity will present itself.
If Adli can start making moves quicker, not just the forward progressing passes but every move on the ball, then he can absolutely become a great player. But the way he plays right now will not cut it if the goal is for him to start ahead of Krunic (let alone Bennacer). I'm mildly optimistic that he can evolve, but we'll have to see.
Well, you are absolutely right. Of course, if there is no good pass forward, then he should play it sideways. Anyway, not just Adli is slow when need to play the ball, our CBs are also very slow in that part. Also, speed of our passes is many times too slow. All of that gives time to opposition to settle better and to defend better. All of that needs to be faster and that will leave less time for opponents. Anyway, here is about our overall build up phase, maybe a bit off topic lol
Still here. Salernitana? Sure he'd start probably, but we are the only team in the top 6 starting someone like Adli and Pobega lol, interpret that as you want.
People needs to understand that his performance is really really impressive given the context, the guy was benched for more than year and when he got a chance he played at a new position which tactically is the most important position in our formation.
It was clear that the guy has the potential and can be an elite player and he needs to be played. I can understand not giving time to players when you have many options, like the case of Romero, but giving more time to Krunic and Pobega over him was football terrorism.
With time I hope Pioli will realize that Krunic is an extremely mediocre player, same goes for Calabria and getting decent players will make the team much much better.
He is a very skilled passer, but to me, this indicates he is risk-averse, Which is understandable as he would only get so much time to prove to Pioli he belonged. But it also slowed down the pace of the game. KDB started pretty high percentage but became elite when his percentage dropped to the mid/low 70s. Would have loved to see him take some more risk to create dangerous positions.
Adli has so much potential. If Pioli plays him right I think he can become a real contender for the first 11. I like how he moves the ball around the midfield so well.
Adli started 3 out of our 10 games and is already that high up on the chart. Yea, good thing we kept him.
If the automatic assumption is that these stats are "the more the merrier", then I guess it's amazing. The way I look at it is that the reason Adli is that high after this few games is partly about his great passing skills, but mostly about his playing style. He is very focused on finding passing options further up the field, and will hug the ball excruciatingly long at times to find them. The downside of this is that the play gets slowed down massively and a natural casualty to that is off the ball movement drops a lot or stops completely. As the ball moves around it creates movements, both in teammates and opponents. No one should question that Adli has some exceptional skill on the ball, arguably the best passer in the squad. But I don't think he will be able to establish himself as a starter for us unless he becomes a more balanced player, and generally starts moving the ball faster. The way he plays now is reminiscing of football 20 years ago, and as fondly as I remember those days, football has moved on from that for a reason. PS! For the record I like Adli just fine, especially the way he came on against Dortmund was impressive. If he can adapt his play he's going to be a great asset for us in the coming years.
I agree with your point, but I'd like to add two things. First, as far as I know, Adli never played that position until this season. His original CAM role is something Pioli doesn't use, so he had to adapt a lot by moving back and getting a lot more defensive responsibilities. Which is really showing, because he's not that good defensively (yet), and I have a feeling he'll go back to the bench once Krunić gets fit again. Also, part of the reason he tends to hug the ball for excruciatingly long periods of time is because the rest of the team doesn't move off the ball very well. In recent years, the gameplay has focused more on 1v1 play and individual skill to create chances. A midfielder sitting deep and trying to hit someone with a long ball hasn't been an option for a long time, and now there are two (Adli and Reijnders). So as much as Adli needs to adapt and improve, so does the team as a whole.
He played as a CDM a fair bit in his last season with Bordeaux
He mainly played as a center mid on the left hand side in 2 and 3 manidfields.
He's holding the ball long because that's Pioli's tactics. Taking space, advancing with dribbling etc. Allowing the defenders to draw towards him before moving the ball. Especially necessary in Pioli's system with little off ball movement from the team. We have issues with our entire tema with slowing the ball down. The lacking off ball movement isn't due to Adli dribbling, but has been a theme for 2+ years. When he has played 8 and/or 10 previously he frequently played 1-2 touch
You are right with that downside. But its not only his fault for that. Sometimes he waits too long to make a decision, but sometimes all players are covered and no one is making a run or anything. In those situations its hard to play something good. But yeah, if he starts making his decisions faster and if he improves his defensive side he could be great holding midfielder or deep lying playmaker. He could control tempo greatly as Bennacer and his long balls and fast switching sides can make great 1v1 situations on wings. With those long balls we are pretty much lacking since Hakan left us
> but sometimes all players are covered and no one is making a run or anything. In those situations its hard to play something good. When there's no good options quickly, you're not suppose to wait and look for a good option. Like I wrote, passing the ball creates movement from all players on the field. So when for example Krunic plays a sideways pass to a CB that doesn't progress the play forward, it still creates movement which in turn can create good passing options or some other opportunity. The days of waiting and looking is long gone. No successful team is going back to a quarterback style player standing there until a player suddenly explodes into a run and he sends an accurate ball. This is why the long ball to the opposite flank has become so popular, because it's success stems from moving the ball around, creating movement in the opposing team (pretty much every team moves as a unit towards the side of the ball to stay compact). Move the ball around to create movements, and space/opportunity will present itself. If Adli can start making moves quicker, not just the forward progressing passes but every move on the ball, then he can absolutely become a great player. But the way he plays right now will not cut it if the goal is for him to start ahead of Krunic (let alone Bennacer). I'm mildly optimistic that he can evolve, but we'll have to see.
Well, you are absolutely right. Of course, if there is no good pass forward, then he should play it sideways. Anyway, not just Adli is slow when need to play the ball, our CBs are also very slow in that part. Also, speed of our passes is many times too slow. All of that gives time to opposition to settle better and to defend better. All of that needs to be faster and that will leave less time for opponents. Anyway, here is about our overall build up phase, maybe a bit off topic lol
With Reijnders and Adli we need to move more without the ball. If you are free most likely they will find you.
What decided what got heads and who didn’t.
The guy who made it Scout7Calcio
midfielders got heads
Yoo this post looks very promising for some entertaining comments 🍿
Let the game begin then, let's talk about Giroud's replacement when he comes back😉 
Midfielders and defenders pass more than strikers?! Surprised Pikachu face
Lmaoooo you just reminded me of… 
Wow! Never knew Pobega was just as great as Krunic!!
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Still here. Salernitana? Sure he'd start probably, but we are the only team in the top 6 starting someone like Adli and Pobega lol, interpret that as you want.
He’s not Modric, and never will be, but he’s absolutely more useful to us than Pobega I’m sure you agree.
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Thanks for sharing your valuable insights. Of all the Milan players to stan, Adli... lol. And I'm the dumb one... lol!
People needs to understand that his performance is really really impressive given the context, the guy was benched for more than year and when he got a chance he played at a new position which tactically is the most important position in our formation. It was clear that the guy has the potential and can be an elite player and he needs to be played. I can understand not giving time to players when you have many options, like the case of Romero, but giving more time to Krunic and Pobega over him was football terrorism. With time I hope Pioli will realize that Krunic is an extremely mediocre player, same goes for Calabria and getting decent players will make the team much much better.
Useless stat without total pass or pass completion %. For every successful pass forward, Adli probably misses 1 🙃
Are you talking about adli or pobega? Because adli has some of the best passing % of the midfielders right now
Just midfielders pass % |Player|Pass %| |:-|:-| |Krunic|92.9| |Reijnders|91.4| |Adli|89.1| |Musah|88.1| |Pobega|84.1| |Loftus Cheek|82.3|
Top 3 while playing more progressive than anyone else looks good to me
He is a very skilled passer, but to me, this indicates he is risk-averse, Which is understandable as he would only get so much time to prove to Pioli he belonged. But it also slowed down the pace of the game. KDB started pretty high percentage but became elite when his percentage dropped to the mid/low 70s. Would have loved to see him take some more risk to create dangerous positions.
Adli has so much potential. If Pioli plays him right I think he can become a real contender for the first 11. I like how he moves the ball around the midfield so well.