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A Focus on Fofana’s Golden Moment Represented Through Numbers Before and During His Time at Milan. Also, Words and Statements

When Fofana arrived at Milan, he introduced himself to the microphones saying that he could become the strongest player in its history. Despite this desire of Fofana appearing extravagant and ambitious, there are certain numbers that would make it possible.

Fofana Before Milan

In addition to the famous phrase, the Fofana who came to Milan is an extremely complete player. In the last season before he arrived at Milan, with Monaco, he was ranked 26th in the Wallabies ranking among the top 30 midfielders in Europe.

To give a better idea of why Fofana was acquired by Furlani in the summer, there are these data. In fact, in Ligue 1 last year, he was one of the best passers in the league, accumulating outstanding numbers in all related statistics: he was second for progressive passes, meaning those passes that, when completed, move the ball towards the opposing goal by at least 9 meters, fourth for through balls and for passes in the final third of the field.

In addition to the numbers, it is also important to mention the percentages that further emphasize the perception of Fofana as a playmaker rather than just a physical midfielder and ball-winner. So far, he has achieved numbers above the 89.0 percentile in all the following statistics: progressive carries (89.1), forward passes (96.0), key passes (92.4). He is also the top dribbler in Monaco (Fofana is at 2.13, none of the other Milan midfielders reached 1.8 last season) in passes, chances created, tackles, and duels.

Impact at Milan So Far

Responses regarding the tasks assigned by Fonseca to Fofana have been often banal and far from clear. Perhaps the reason lies in the extreme versatility of a player who, like few others, is truly capable of doing anything on a football field.

“Basically, he asks me to be aggressive, to provide aggressiveness, to win the ball and make my teammates play”

These are the statements of the French midfielder regarding the question about the specific requests from his coach. Although concise, these words encapsulate the entirety of the role that the player performs in developing Milan’s style of play, both in attack and defense.

The winning pass in Verona-Milan that rewarded the run of his teammate Reijnders, helped Fofana achieve his fifth assist so far in the league (currently also the top assist provider with Pulisic in Milan).

Aside from the splendid pass, those 5 assists in relation to the eight games it took Fofana to achieve them help us understand once again the season Yossouf Fofana is putting together.

Paulo Fonseca (photo KEYPRESS)

Fofana’s Assists

There are three assists that can be considered as the three gifts that Yossouf has given to his teammates and fans for this Christmas:

Starting with the gift for Leao in Milan – Cagliari, where Fofana draws a radar-like ball with his left foot that reaches Leao 25 meters ahead. The France-Portugal connection repeats itself during the Champions match against Bratislava, where Fofana again sets up Leao 10 meters ahead, putting him one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Once again on the European stage, this time at home against Red Star Belgrade, Fofana bypasses the Serbian defense with a 30-meter pass directed to Leao, who is once again tasked with putting the ball in the net (the only assist where he lifted the ball).

Unfortunately, Fofana’s moment does not reflect the performance of his team. However, when you can rely on a player of this caliber, finding the right path can certainly be easier.