In the first week of Forza Italian Football’s AC Milan Club Focus, Rodrigo Ely was sent packing after two yellow cards away to Fiorentina. Just over a month later, Alessio Romagnoli received his own marching orders at Genoa.
The problem remains clear. The Rossoneri fail to have that level-headed defender and it could prove too costly in the race for the Scudetto.
For Sinisa Mihajlovic’s heartbeat at the centre of the defence, the now ticking-time bomb, feature no-one who can be considered both ‘a leader’ as well as the aforementioned term ‘level-headed’.
The centre halves split into two categories – young and inexperienced, and old and careless. It may seem harsh, but it is unfortunately true. Ely and Romagnoli sit at just 21 and 20 respectively, bearing in mind they are at the age where they’d be sitting down and preparing their dissertation in their final year of university.
Alongside them, comes the hot-headed Philippe ‘ can score a worldie and choke you half to death’ Mexes and Cristian ‘one step away from a mistake’ Zapata. Only Alex, the 32-year-old Brazilian resembles anything close – and that’s stretching that notion – to what Milan need to master that centre-half position.
There was a time that one standout Italian was head and shoulders above the crowd. The ever-present figure that all Milanisti bowed down to from the moment he stepped on the pitch in 1985, until the moment he exited in 2009.
Of course, Paolo Maldini is exactly what Milan need, but how can you get a ‘Maldini’. Do you have to wait around for this ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ player, or attempt to mould a current squad figure into this artist of a defender.
Realistically, Mihajlovic has to attempt the latter. You can’t ‘buy’ a Maldini, you have to just ‘have’ one – unless you can nab yourself Alessandro Nesta. Alessio Romagnoli could end up being that man. Even if the 20-year-old remains just an 1/8th of what Paolo brought to the San Siro, then there’s celebrations to be had.
Of course, he’s already off the yellow brick road to success having received the same amount of red cards that Maldini managed in 25 Serie A seasons. Despite this, it doesn’t need to be a cause for concern.
At his young and obviously inexperienced age, there is ample time for improvement and experience. Time is the best servant for Milan in this sense. Scudetti don’t need to arrive at the very feet of the Honorary President Silvio Berlusconi and Mr Bee just yet, however much they both crave it.
Yes, I do hear all you Milanisti cry that Maldini was a left-back, not a centre-half, and when he was implemented in the centre of defence back in 1997 he appeared, as FIFA.com put it, a: “fading force” until coach Alberto Zaccheroni popped him back into his usual position.
It doesn’t mean though, that the ‘new’ Maldini, if it could ever be a thing or just a pipe dream, has to be Mattia de Sciglio – being as he is a young full-back – but the emergence of Davide Calabria.
There isn’t a brick wall blocking either Romagnoli or Calabria becoming something of a ‘Maldini’. It is just imperative for the future of the Rossoneri that they need that type of player in their back-line. Of course, Maldini is just being used as the sole example as he embodies everything that is right about Milan.
We can’t forget Nesta, the actual centre-half who spent 10 years at Milan. The goals conceded since Nesta’s exit in 2012 speaks volumes – in his last two seasons, whilst partnering another experienced and world class defender Thiago Silva, they shipped 24 and 33 goals respectively.
Since then, they’ve let in 39, 49 and 50 goals. Currently, nine have flown past Diego Lopez in just six games and no clean sheets have appeared. If the law of averages continues up until game 38, they’d have let in a total of around 57 – a scary thought. From that season onward (2012-13) the defence was made up of Ignazio Abate, Zapata, Mexes and De Sciglio. All four still remain at Milan.
You don’t need to be a genius to see exactly no progress has been made in terms of the defence. That is exactly why, as mentioned earlier, the new faces of Romagnoli from Roma and Calabria from the Primavera can be the saviour.
Time is the golden ticket. Use it wisely, Sinisa.
