AC Milan Club Focus: The Seedorf Era begins

Date: 20th January 2014 at 10:19pm
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Mario Balotelli stood on the edge of the Verona box, eyes fixed on the ball in front of him. He stepped forward, stuttered and struck a penalty to the bottom right corner. Milan players surrounded him as the 23-year-old stood, who barely showed a flicker of joy.

Then, turning to the sideline, the striker pointed at his new coach. Clarence Seedorf, applauding at the first goal scored in his coaching tenure raised his hand and pointed back at Balotelli, a proud smile fixed on his face. Understated, but not underestimated.

It proved to be the winning goal in Milan’s tie against Verona, and came as a release of tension in a match the Rossoneri had dominated but until then hadn’t impacted on the scoreboard.

The match against Hellas was a winning start for the Dutchman, who despite emanating nothing but serenity for the entire game must have let an internal sigh of relief as the final whistle blew.

Seedorf implemented a new system for his first match in charge, a progressive 4-2-3-1 system aiming to make the most of Milan’s dearth of creative players and began the match with Riccardo Kaka, Robinho and new signing Keisuke Honda in attacking midfield behind Balotelli. For the first 30 minutes it seemed to work wonderfully; Milan players pressing without the ball and dominating possession, Honda and Kaka showing glimpses of a brewing partnership including a Barcelona style one-two-one-two sequence that Kaka perhaps should have finished.

However, as time wore on, the Rossoneri’s pressing style and short passes shrunk with fatigue while Verona’s defence held firm and Seedorf’s substitutions of Valter Birsa and returning loanee Andrea Petagna seemed confirm that he too felt Milan lacked a cutting edge.

Balotelli - SeedorfIronically, considering all the changes that had been anticipated with the Dutchman’s arrival at Milan the Rossoneri won in a very Massimiliano Allegri-like manner.

Dominant in possession but without a way to break down a tough, newly promoted side and squeaking through by virtue of Mario Balotelli’s skill from 12 yards. That is to be expected, the idea that Seedorf could completely alter Milan’s identity and style in four days days despite his predecessor holding the head coaching for nearly four years was always going to be a naive assumption.

That said, there were positives from the opening act in what will, as usual, be another gripping drama enveloping a city that has seen more thick plots than William Shakespeare.

Milan’s comfort in possession in attacking areas, a willingness to chase the ball in the rare event they lost it was a big plus, as the suffocating strategy also took the pressure away from a defence that has not dealt well with any consistent pressure from any team.

The clean sheet and the three points are the big takeaways, the victory being just Milan’s sixth so far in Serie A and emphasising that work that is yet needed to be done by the rookie coach in charge of this once feared footballing giant.

Before the match, Seedorf told press that he wants Milan to “rediscover their enthusiasm, to fall in love with the ball again.”

Perhaps then, the biggest plus in what has been a frantic week at Via Turati is as simple as Mario Balotelli’s gesture to his new coach after scoring. If the players are on board with Seedorf in charge, then the long process of creating a winning, attractive identity at AC Milan again will feel much shorter.

 

One response to “AC Milan Club Focus: The Seedorf Era begins”

  1. michael says:

    Thank God 4 he his allways good and 4 seedorf God will be with u and help us, keep it up.