Stefano Pioli has rarely felt like he has been able to rely upon two quality centre-forwards during his time as AC Milan head coach, but he certainly can now.
La Gazzetta dello Sport have written about the fact that Pioli can now use the Giroud-Jovic relay to great effect as we enter the decisive point of the season, with both forwards bang in form.
Giroud is 11 goals and 8 assists, meaning he has participated in 19 goals in 20 appearances, which has already allowed him to set the record for himself personally in a single with the Rossoneri.
Not only that, but Napoli are his favourite punching bag in Italy – also considering the Champions League – given that he has netted five times against them.
They were often decisive ones too, such as the winner in the Scudetto season and the opener in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Maradona.
If Giroud is showing himself to be the king of assists, Jovic focuses more on putting the ball away with an average that is incredible if you look back at the horrible start to the season.
The data shows that since the beginning of December the Serbian has been the player with the best goal average in the top five European leagues (for those who have scored at least five goals) with one every 41 minutes.
It started on 2 December against Frosinone and out of the seven appearances that followed, there were only two matches in which the Serbian didn’t score. He is trying to earn a new deal, given his current one expires in June.
Against Napoli, Olivier will once again pass the baton to Luka because European commitments loom. The trend so far has been that if Giroud doesn’t score, Jovic will calmly take care of it, and vice versa.
There would also be the option of concomitance, i.e. both on the pitch at the same time, but this is usually the emergency solution if things go badly.
Hope Jovic starts against Rennes on thursday.
These two have to start together to be more effective… I don’t think Pioli can devise a formation with both of them starting.
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