Why the three-man defence worked and the issue: Tactical analysis of Udinese 0-4 AC Milan | OneFootball

AC Milan pulled out one of their better performances of the season on Friday night as they hammered Udinese 4-0 at the Stadio Friuli.

Milan put themselves in a commanding position inside the five minutes before the break, with Rafael Leao sweeping a stunning shot into the top corner and Strahinja Pavlovic rising highest to nod a corner inside the far post.

The game was put to bed with 16 minutes left as Theo Hernandez scored a trademark rocket after a surging run, then some gloss was added to the scoreline with a finish from close range to make it 4-0.

While there is a feeling of too little too late about such a dominant win, the fact that the three-man defence worked so well is something that could provide a platform to build on. Rohit Rajeev has a tactical analysis from the game.

Change in structure

Before the match took place, Conceicao was faced with a dilemma. He had no regular right-backs, he didn’t have a player capable of playing in the No.10 role and his team were getting outscored in defensive transition.

That is without mentioning that Milan have often struggled against teams that play a three-man defence. His natural answer was to shift to a 3-4-3 (3-4-2-1) and the signs were instantly very positive.

What Conceicao has done in a simplistic sense is removed the attacking midfielder and added an extra central defender, giving Milan more solidity. Off the ball, it was a 5-2-3 mid-block.

The press benefits.

So when Milan pressed high they were able to go man for man and stifle Udinese’s central progressions by having Leao and Pulisic tuck inside while allowing pushing Theo up. This meant that even if the No.10 of Udinese dropped in to help with transition Lucca would be overpowered 3 vs. 1.

Even if Udinese tried to stretch Milan with wide runs from the wing backs assisted by a box-to-box midfielder, Milan were able to match those runs man to man thanks to their structure.

Most importantly, when the Rossoneri lost the ball and Udinese counter-attacked with five men, Milan were able to match man for man and not get overwhelmed with the opposition numbers.

The problem that emerged

The problem however existed when Milan had the ball. A 3-4-2-1 meant that Milan only had two in midfield and Udinese played a 3-5-1-1, meaning they had 3+1 in the centre. Udinese therefore would pack the middle of the pitch making it extremely difficult to build through the thirds.

Milan therefore were faced with a problem: Udinese would have a spare man in midfield who was free to press or create a 2v1 on any player that had the ball.

The Diavolo countered this partially via two methods. One was to have Jovic and Pulisic drop deep and create a passing rectangle in the centre of the pitch.

The second method was to have Leao and Pulisic cut inside and keep Theo wide. The wing-backs would pin Udinese’s defence from being compact hence creating space between midfield and defensive lines of Udinese.

The goals

The first goal that Milan scored was down to individual brilliance of Fofana and Leao, plus a little help from Jovic. Fofana’s relentless pressing of Lucca starts things, and then while passing the ball Jovic makes a run into the box clearing space for Fofana to pass to Leao to shoot.

Pavlovic’s goal came thanks to a good corner routine from Milan where Fofana acted as a blocker standing in front of the goalkeeper. Gabbia made a forward run to the near post clearing space for Pavlovic in the middle to meet the in-swinging ball and score.

Theo’s goal was born from a neat third-man combination created by him, Leao and Tammy. As soon as Leao ran into combine with Theo, space was created behind him for Theo to run into. Tammy noticed this and touched the ball for Theo to combine and make the runs.

The last goal came from a counter-attack where Reijnders joined the on-rushing Milan players who created a 4v2 vs the Udinese defenders.

While there were many positive signs from a game at a ground where Milan usually struggle, it almost feels like a shame for such a performance to come so late in the table, with the top four race over and Conceicao’s fate seemingly sealed.