The wrong mix

When the match against La Viola was postponed many Milan fans would have sighed with relief, myself included. For despite the team’s up-turn in fortunes as the early season shackles were shaken loose, the team entered the winter break with some clear problems that were exposed by Zurich and more ruthlessly by Palermo in the last two fixtures of the year.

Early in the season our main problem was at full back. The presence of Oddo, Jankulovski and even Zambrotta at that stage of the season represented real liabilities at the back. The Milan board clearly knew this as was shown in their attempts to bring in Aly Cissokho.

But as the season approached the half way stage, it became clear that our main problem was not at either left or right full back. The impressive displays of Antonini along with the improved form of Zambrotta and the slight revelation of Abate as a full back have helped ease this once problem area of ours,

Despite qualification to the round of 16 in the UCL and our rise to second spot on the table, it has become clear in our last few fixtures of the season, especially against Zurich and Palermo, that it is in midfield that we have a major problem. The problem being the mix of players used and also the players themselves.

With our new formation, dubbed 4-2-fantasia by Galliani, essentially we play with just two midfielders as Seedorf plays as more a trequartista than a midfielder. As a result, the midfield duties are left to Pirlo and Ambrosini.

Playing with just two central midfielders, it is obvious that both players be requried to perform both defensive and offensive duties. In Ambrosini we have an able defensive midfielder albeit one on the wrong side of thirty. The captain has shown that he can be highly effective in the middle of the park as he proved against Real Madrid in both ties. Though Ambrosini may not offer much going forward, when our captain is on his game doing all the dirty work in the midfield, the more attacking instincts of Pirlo and Seedorf are allowed to flourish.

However, as shown against Zurich and Palermo, when Ambrosini is beaten in the middle of the park as will happen to a player aged 32, there is little help available to him for Pirlo is by no means an able defensive player whilst Seedorf is discharged with such responsibility. And this is a major problem for if in midfield, where the ball is won and lost more than in any other area of the pitch, we do not have players with the necessary qualities to actually get the ball than there is little hope that we will dominate and control any football match. For without the ball you cannot control a football match.

With Pirlo, who severely lacks defensive qualities required of his role, playing alongside Ambrosini it is our captain who is charged with doing most of the dirty work in midfield. This is a risky strategy in itself let alone that it is left to Ambrosini, a player who has been consistently average over the years and who at 32 is not getting any younger, to solely take control of the ball in midfield in order for the likes of Pirlo and Seedorf to move it forward.

What is needed is a midfield partner for Ambrosini who is, in addition to being a sound passer of the ball, a sound defensive player also. Pirlo performs the former task admirably, but dramatically fails in the latter task. Therefore, Pirlo is not the player we need alongside Ambrosini in our two man midfield.

This is not to say that Pirlo should not be played at all. On the contrary, I believe that Pirlo should be deployed further up the park, perhaps in Seedorf’s position if the Italian can dislodge the Dutchman. From what we have seen in his performances for the Azzurri, Pirlo may just excel in a more advanced position.

But what is certain is that using Pirlo in his current role in our two-main midfield is giving the team more problems than it solves. Against Zurich in both ties, against Marseille at home and against Palermo in what was the last fixture of the year, it was clear that it was in midfield that we were losing the battle. Ambrosini’s form dropped and as a result we were unable to control matches as Pirlo and Seedorf are not players who can consistently win the ball back. With more defensive cover in midfield, this would not have occurred.

Come January, the Milan board will do well to find a player who is more suited to Pirlo’s current role. A certain Hernanes comes to mind and even D’Agostino of Udinese would be a great option. This should be the club’s main priority for the January transfer window.