Season of Doubt (Milan)

FAN ARTICLE by Dr. Stanley Johnson.

No more predictions, fellow Milanisti. We have all tried to lay out a possible scenario for Milan since the beginning of the season and we have miserably failed. For our biased, somewhat thorny, if not rosy, outlook on the season never saw this coming. Near the bottom of the Serie A table, struggling in the Champion’s League and looking every bit as boring as a Twilight novel. People will say that it isn’t a matter of the results but it is how we have played. That’s rubbish. If we had played in a manner befitting San Marino and been near the top of the table, we would have been singing the praises of this team. Both the manner of Milan’s losses and Milan’s losses themselves, have dampened our enthusiasm and it has not yet been ten league games into the season. There is still a long way to go, with 30 games in the league and half the Champion’s League Group stage matches remaining and here are some thoughts on what has transpired so far. Max Allegri has never been the most dynamic or adventurous tactician around. We knew that. So, expecting him to assemble an Über-attacking outfit from the aftermath of the Ibra-departure and the mass exodus of Il Senatore using the ingredients of Bakaye Traore, Kevin Constant and Bojan Krkic was always going to be insane. But the football team that can’t string five passes together that now sports red and black every weekend is more reminiscent of a group of six year olds making their first foray into the beautiful game. Something is definitely wrong, and Max Allegri, though never an Ancelotti, should do better. MUCH better Milan haven’t been terrible in every match. At certain times, they have looked calm and composed on the ball, creating space and chances aplenty. With no one to finish. Giampaolo Pazzini is NOT Inzaghi. Sure, he scored thrice against Bologna and forced an error away at St Petersburg for the third goal, but somehow, this isn’t working out. When Italian football is experiencing a wealth of young striking talent, and the likes of Immobile playing at Genoa this year, we wonder why Milan didn’t just sell FantAntonio outright and settle for one of the youngsters. Riccardo Montolivo is a talented midfielder. Say what you will, but apart from his capability to perform dreadful, card-inducing tackles in the first 20 minutes of the game, he has largely been decent. But decent is not what we expect of him. Despite coming on a Bosman from Florence, Montolivo is supposed to be a creative passer. As his shifts with the Azzurri show, he can fulfill the role of an advanced midfielder quite superbly. And yet, when that is a huge area of concern at Milan, he drops deep and prefers to play as a regista. His own words from a recent interview emphasize that he thinks he is meant to replace Pirlo in the Rossoneri colours. With so many experiments in defence, I wonder why Count Max hasn’t asked Montolivo to play further up. Kevin Price-Boateng. Woeful. In his mind, he is a trequartista of hitherto unseen skills. On the pitch, he is often worse than Daniele Bonera, and that is saying something. A pale shadow of the aggressive, brash sidekick to Ibra last season, Boateng has developed a penchant to shoot at everything …. And miss. The reason for concern is that unlike Nocerino, who has been erratic as well, Boateng doesn’t seem to show the willingness to work it out. Maybe he shouldn’t have retired from the Ghanaian national team. Stints with different team mates and coaches could help him identify his role, like we see Montolivo as a different player with Italy. Nocerino might bounce back; he’s got something in his spirit. But Boateng has missed the plot entirely. Allegri doesn’t seem to trust any of his centre backs. Except Bonera, no one seems to have featured regularly. Acerbi, Zapata, Mexes and Yepes have been shunted around endlessly. Certain errors aside, Zapata and Acerbi have shown potential. I wonder if some trust from Il Mister and a run of games could help them. It probably would. Abate, erratic but decent more often than not, has made the right side of defence his own over the last three years. De Sciglio has been a revelation whether at right back or left. Considering the failed experiments at left back (Luca Antonini, Urby Emanuelson, Taye Taiwo, and Djamel Mesbah), De Sciglio on the left isn’t a bad idea, but another fullback to push him and Abate could benefit the team. Let’s hope Mattia doesn’t pay too much attention to the Maldini comparisons. In my season preview, I predicted Urby Emanuelson to be one of Milan’s players of the season. He hasn’t exactly set the pitch alight with his performances, but he has been quite an interesting player, being used on the left of midfield, as a right winger and a left back to considerable effect. Not the best player as I foretold, but certainly not the worst. Stephane El Shaarawy. You know him. You know what he has done. Is he a forward, a trequartista or a winger? We’ll never know. His work rate throughout the pitch has been huge this season. It cannot be ignored. Give him time, though. The rigours of top flight football and its stardom are not easy on 20 year olds. With M’Baye Niang, De Sciglio, El Shaarawy and select Primavera talents, Milan might have a winning recipe under their noses already. All that is needed is patience and opportunity. Lower your expectations, never mind the taunts of opposing fans and watch the football.

Forza Milan!

sumber: http://www.rossoneriblog.com/2012/10/27/seasons-of-doubt/#more-55813