The Yunus Musah sub saga took another turn this week after former USMNT star Tim Howard hit out at Milan coach Sergio Conceicao.
Musah was hooked after just 23 minutes during the 2-2 draw with Fiorentina at the San Siro on Saturday. The midfielder’s mistake allowed I Viola to take an early lead.
Malick Thiaw was the unlucky culprit after he bundled the ball into his own net after Musah’s error presented Albert Gudmundsson with the chance to score.
Shortly after, Musah’s game went from bad to worse when his poor defending eventually led to Moise Kean firing home a second goal for the visitors.
It was at this moment that the Rossoneri coach decided he would pull Musah from the game. With barely a quarter off the match gone, the USMNT midfielder was replaced by Luka Jovic.
Musah was visibly distraught and headed straight down the tunnel. Ignoring Conceicao on the way and any potential handshake with the Portuguese coach.
Teammates Strahinja Pavlovic and Alessandro Florenzi went to the changing rooms to console the ‘humilated’ Musah. Whatever was said worked as the American star returned to the bench and hugged Conceicao.
Early Yunus Musah Sub Blasted By USMNT Icon Tim Howard
Former USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard explained that the decision to replace Yunus Musah was incredibly harsh. He also feels that Sergio Conceicao should have been more lenient.
“I feel a bit for Yunus Musah,” Howard explained on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast. “I’d give a manager a pass if a guy is just a bad egg. Crap in training, doing the same things – and then he trusts him to start the game. I’d give him a pass. That’s not Yunus Musah. That’s not who he is.”
“So I hate when coaches have this like, soccer’s not a game where your starting pitcher gives up a home run and next pitch you’re getting hooked – that’s normal. That’s not soccer. You can make mistakes in soccer and then be allowed to continue and go.”
Howard went on to acknowledge that a poor performance should warrant a swap, but not that early in a game: “If you’re just rolling one bad play after another, then of course – 60th minute or halftime – you’re going to get hooked. But like, it’s just messy and causes a problem where there just doesn’t need to be one, right?”
He went on to say, “If you know Yunus Musah, he’s not trying to make a mistake and probably isn’t going to make another one. So let him ride that out and let him work through it. It just seems like you sub a guy right after a mistake and you’re looking for a problem that you don’t need to have.”
