Milan, Amorim have a problem in the attacking midfield area: from the inconsistency of Saelemakers to the ghost of Pulisic, they lack a first-choice pair

1,156 kilometres separate Catanzaro from Milan, a huge distance. In football terms, they are two different worlds for almost everyone, but not for Cisse, who has taken the step up to a big club in his stride. Alpha ( as his team-mates call him, ed.) has the talent and the mentality to write important pages in AC Milan's history. And not as a bit-part player. At 19 years and 319 days old, he became the youngest player to score in his first two away matches for AC Milan since the introduction of three points for a win in 1994-95. Turin has already given him two moments of joy at the start of this campaign, one against Torino and one against Juventus. Amorim, meanwhile, has given him a starting spot: despite being only 19, he is ahead of his team-mates in understanding the manager's ideas and is clearly the best fit to play behind the striker.

In the first two competitive games of the season, against Torino and Venezia, Amorim used Cisse and Loftus-Cheek in the attacking midfield roles, with mixed results. The Englishman still delivers incomplete performances and lacks the decisiveness needed to make the difference in the final third. Against Juventus, Amorim then tried the Saelemaekers-Rabiot pairing, but it fell well short: the Belgian was almost never involved, while Rabiot clearly struggled both physically and in his reading of the game. The sense is that both are better in their natural roles, as a wing-back and a mezzala/holding midfielder.

Zero minutes in three matches, despite being fully available to Pulisic once again. Amorim still hasn't used the American in the league, and the 'case' is starting to look like a real issue: Pulisic is the only player in the squad truly capable of making the difference in the attacking midfield area and of producing the goals and assists needed for an important league campaign. If he is 100% fit against Lazio, he would play there alongside Cisse.

Hutchinson is a different discussion: very much an Amorim-style player, and one who can have his say from next week. Omari now only needs to find his timing and his moves before becoming an extra resource in the attacking midfield area. The draw in Turin confirms that the team must rediscover an established pairing in the attacking midfield area.