Massimiliano Allegri ventured down the route of playing with wide-men this season to facilitate the maximization of Giampaolo Pazzini’s prowess in the box, a player highly prolific when on the receiving end of crosses.
The redundant and ever-predictable 4-3-1-2 was discarded in favour of 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 with seemingly positive consequences. Allegri’s 3-5-2 experiment was deemed a failure because the back-line became more penetrable. The 4-3-3 remained as it secured better results.
Adriano Galliani claimed the system will not change, that AC Milan will play the same way irrespective of whether Mario Balotelli or Giampaolo Pazzini lead the front line. I sincerely hope Allegri thinks otherwise.
Pazzini and Balotelli are strikers with very different characteristics, different strengths and weaknesses. Balotelli fits the system better, primarily because the players around him are more involved in the game when he pivots the attack.
Last week, Milan defeated Parma, with Balotelli leading the line. Immediately, he struck me as a more mobile player than his predecessor. He drops deep, he moves up, and drifts to the flanks creating a rotating front three. One more than one occasion, Balotelli was seen servicing M’Baye Niang and Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had taken turns to be the threat in the box. The two wingers also constantly swapped flanks, a tactic rarely noticed with Pazzini as the central striker.
Balotelli can out-muscle opponents, dribble and find his team-mates with alarming accuracy causing auxiliary players, including drivers to make runs into the box. He has been likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, largely because of the attention he draws to himself and the space he creates for others.
While playing against Parma, Balotelli was repeatedly hacked down by Gabriel Paletta and Andrea Coda, winning 
free-kicks in dangerous positions. In fact, it was Balotelli who won the free-kick in the seventy sixth minute, which he gloriously converted to assure Milan three points against Roberto Donadoni’s men. Balotelli’s strength and frame permits him to be the target man, the one who receives the ball and helps transition the midfield into attack.
Additionally, with Balotelli’s mobility, the opposition would remain perplexed on whether Milan’s full-backs would cross, or deviate attention with their movement, causing increased space for Milan’s wingers to dribble into.
Allegri tried a similar approach with Pazzini before Balotelli arrived. Pazzini dropped very deep, played with his back to goal, and won fouls aplenty, but not remotely close to the propensity with which Balotelli attracts fouls. Balotelli has been fouled on fourteen occasions, having played in just three games. Pazzini’s tally comprises of thirty five fouls in twenty appearances.
Allegri uses inverted wingers, players inclined to cut into the centre from the wings. Stephan El Shaarawy, Urby Emanuelson and M’Baye Niang are ball-playing wingers, who love to take on a player before unleashing a shot on goal. Pazzini is likely to be prolific, even involved for that matter, if he is flanked by traditional wingers; wingers more inclined to cross rather than dribble into the box.
In Allegri’s system, the responsibility of crossing is given to the full-backs. However, apart from Mattia De Sciglio, none of the full-backs are able enough to cross adequately. And when they do, Pazzini is inches away from the ball, because he is busy playing target man outside the box, and has to cover several metres before he positions himself to apply the finishing touch.
Balotelli and Pazzini are centre-forwards who require service. But, while the former prefers the ball served to his feet, Pazzini like them being directed at his head.
Balotelli is also capable of the spectacular, unlike Pazzini who conjures magical moments with lesser frequency than the sighting of a shooting star. (You are probably thinking of his technically superb goal against Bologna on the 20th January, 2013. Could you think of another?)
Pazzini is a limited striker. He is far from a complete forward, and if he is fielded, Milan automatically become one-dimensional. Balotelli versatility compliments the dexterity of the first team. After all, Milan’s first-team comprises of players who are being played out of their preferred positions, in turn offering skills beyond what is required in the roles they are asked to perform.
Balotelli’s involvement has shown a visible change in Milan’s footballing philosophy, he precipitates the freedom for the team to play according to their strengths. With Pazzini, Milan must be more dogmatic. It could work, eventually, but the team would have to knock on the door repeatedly for it to be opened.
Follow Rajath Kumar on Twitter @rajathkumar. You can read his work on his AC Milan blog titled Milan and Me; The Love Affair.
