Despite being one of the best in the world in his position, there are a couple of areas where Mike Maignan has uncharacteristically struggled with lately.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Mazzitelli’s goal in Frosinone left a lasting impression on everyone because it was from a narrow angle and it seemed to go through the Frenchman.
Many factors come into play in every single save. In this specific case, the ball bobbled a few centimetres before Mike’s outstretched leg, and went over it. However, there remains the feeling that he is not saving what he was before.
The other problem is that Maignan had conceded a similar one from Joshua Zirkzee seven days earlier. In that case it was a certainly higher difficulty coefficient, but again the ball took a slight deviation that was enough to get through him.
Against Frosinone after about 40 seconds he also missed an easy pass to Yacine Adli which could have cost him very dearly (thankfully Soulé wasted the chance).
When we talk about Maignan the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not the indecisions, but the great saves. Like the ones on Celik (Roma), Mandragora (Fiorentina), Mazzocchi (Salernitana), Cuni (Frosinone in the first leg), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle).
A penalty save could perhaps be useful to him, though. Maignan has often been a nightmare for those who shoot from the spot, but the last save dates back to April 2023 (on Kvara, in the Champions League), which was followed by seven penalties he did not stop.
However, those who observe him every day at Milanello have no doubts: Maignan is the usual Maignan. Focused, professional and a leader.
