Image via @juventusfcen on Twitter
In what always looked like a straightforward evening for Juventus against Frosinone in the Coppa Italia, it was a night that belonged to Arkadiusz Milik as he netted his first goals since October. With a hat-trick and a disallowed fourth, Milik put on a clinical display as he led the line for Juve.
Realistically, a penalty, a close-range finish and an open goal are hardly difficult chances on paper, although it’s worth mentioning the second goal as it was a fantastic move which also displayed Milik’s worth when it comes to general play with the team, not just finishes. Picking up the ball near the halfway line as Juventus were trying to counter, Milik played a wonderful 40-yard cross-field pass to teammate Weston McKennie. Milik then caught up with play, running unmarked to the far post where McKennie floated a wonderful ball over, where Milik caught it on his chest and pushed it in with his left foot at the near post.
Arguably’s Milik most technical finish of the night was his disallowed fourth, when he flicked the ball with the outside of his boot, although it ended up being a narrow offside call. Indeed the actual most impressive goal of the evening ended up being the one Milik didn’t score, a fantastic volley from youngster Kenan Yildiz.
There’s been a little bit of speculation and discussion that Milik should look to move on either temporarily or permanently this January in an attempt to make a possible Euro 2024 squad for Poland, assuming we get there. Personally this topic surprises me, given how often Max Allegri and the Juventus hierarchy espouse how happy they are with Milik, especially considering he only became a permanent fixture six months or so ago.
This being said, it is undeniable that Milik has somewhat fallen down the pecking order when it comes to Juve’s options at striker. Dusan Vlahovic is the obvious first choice, and given that Allegri tends to stick with two up front it has been the very impressive Yildiz in recent weeks. Federico Chiesa is another, very different option albeit struggling with minor injuries and Moise Kean also provides a more direct style which is sometimes called for. You’d have to say of these five options Milik slots in around the fourth spot, which isn’t great but he still gets plenty of playing time at one of Europe’s most prestigious clubs.
I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that in my opinion Milik suffers from something I find very curious about the age of football in a world dominated by social media, namely how he is still regularly made fun of for a supposed propensity to miss easy chances. No doubt there are easy chances he has missed, but in a similar way to players like Timo Werner or Darwin Nunez, a few high-profile chances squandered and you’re tarnished forever no matter how often you go on and score or help your team. Interesting that players like Christian Vieri who were also known to blow big chances don’t have that sort of reputation hanging over them, largely because they existed in an era where their misses weren’t clipped up and shared thousands of times.
As I said, no doubt there have been times where Milik has been culpable for missing straightforward chances, especially for the national team. However, given this is a player who had both knees give way in the space of 12 months in his early 20s, you have to say the general performances he has given for Napoli, Marseille and now Juventus have been really good. Yet it feels there is still always a keenness to criticise Milik if he misses a chance, just on reputation alone.
For what it’s worth, I would not think twice about having Milik in the next Poland squad, or a squad for Euro 2024. He has undeniable quality and I actually think one of the things which might have helped at the last World Cup would’ve been seeing Milik and Lewandowski up front together in a similar way to how Milik and Vlahovic or Milik and Kean often operated last season. Here’s hoping that last night reminds us all that even if he blows the odd chance, there is still a striker of real talent in Milik as he approaches his 30s.
For more, follow @ekstraklasaexp on Twitter and @ekstraklasaexports on Instagram to know when new posts go live.
Comments