A catalogue of saves and a ‘complex’ future – the latest on Maignan

Those who saw AC Milan’s win over Fiorentina on Saturday night cannot help but admit that Mike Maignan was a big reason that they emerged with three points.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport rightly state, the saves that Maignan made to deny Andrea Belotti and Rolando Mandragora were among the best that he has made in recent weeks.

Maignan is ‘obliged to be special’ meaning that if he saves normal shots and has normal performances, as happened this season, he is criticised.

However, the Frenchman was huge in the Scudetto season and in 2022-23, with a more stormy Milan, he confirmed himself at the level of the best in the role. This season he has not struggled as much with injuries – which is always important for him – but he has had some difficult moments.

The catalogue of saves

Despite these more challenging moments, when we talk about a goalkeeper to improve a great European team, Maignan’s name is never far away and that is because in the last eight months he has lined up several phenomenal saves.

During the win against Fiorentina back at San Siro earlier in the season, he made a decisive stop to deny Mandragora at the end, even if he knew little about it.

In Newcastle-Milan he produced a great save on Bruno Guimaraes to keep Europa League qualification alive. In Milan-Roma he stopped Celik, in Milan-Frosinone he denied Cuni, then gave an assist to Pulisic.

During Atalanta-Milan he made two saves: one on Scalvini, one on Lookman. For what is being spoken about as a possible down year or a ‘transition season’, he has still provided some big moments.

Speaking of transition, Maignan changed coach in the summer. In the summer, Tony Roberts – formerly of Arsenal, Swansea, Wolverhampton – joined the staff.

He has different methods from Flavio Roma, but it should not be a seismic change. Maignan at Milan is famous for taking maximum care of his routine, for his desire to erase every defect with obsessive work.

In the dressing room he is a recognised leader and his vocal leadership on the pitch is easy to spot. When he is missing, he is felt. It is no coincidence that Milan changed the way they defend in some situations for him – set pieces mainly – and the Frenchman followed suit.