AC Milan Club Focus: Three things we learned from the weekend

Date: 22nd October 2013 at 3:09pm
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AC Milan secured their 3rd win of the season with a scrappy win over Udinese thanks to a first half goal from Valter Birsa. The result is a positive considering the injury situation at Milan this season, but the performance from Massimiliano Allegri’s side was not worthy of any other praise than the fact that it was sufficient enough to secure victory. Rather than enjoyable, the weekend’s game was educational. Here are three things we learned:

1. Andrea Poli is AC Milan’s best midfielder

Combining work ethic with above-average technique, Andrea Poli showed why Cesare Prandelli re-called the 23-year-old to the Italy set up with a confident performance against Udinese.

The Italian is strong in the tackle, keen to move forward and immeasurably more creative, inventive and efficient in possession than Antonio Nocerino or Sulley Muntari.

There was moment where Poli broke into the Udinese box before cutting the ball into open space, performing what would’ve been a textbook assist had Alessandro Matri and Robinho not both been making the same forward run. If one of the two forwards had the presence of mind to hang back, he would have found himself in open space. It seemed for large periods that Poli was the only one who seemed willing to win the match, a slamming indictment of Sulley Muntari and the anonymous Riccardo Montolivo.

2. Don’t be deceived by the goal, Valter Birsa is not very good at football

Another game-winning strike that was the highlight of a match where Birsa seemed to come out of half-time deciding he’d already performed well enough and deserved 30 minutes of strolling aimlessly around the pitch. The former Genoa player’s 34 touches in 68 minutes come at a one touch per two minutes average, not ideal considering the Slovenian’s role as creative midfielder is to retain and recycle possession.

His paltry 69% pass accuracy is also a cause for concern. In contrast, Kaka’ had 19 touches and a 92% pass accuracy in eight minutes after making his re-entrance to the San Siro. Simple maths tells us that if the Brazilian had been on the pitch for 18 minutes, he would have surpassed Valter Birsa’s involvement in the game by four touches of the football, despite playing 50 minutes less.

3. Putting the injuries to one side, Milan are a fundamentally bad team

Valter Birsa AC MilanDespite boasting more possession (53%), more shots (12 to Udinese’s seven) watching the Rossoneri play felt like a scene from a Greek tragedy.  Sulley Muntari played 86 minutes and couldn’t make more than 60% of his passes, finishing with a final figure of 58%.

There were times when the Ghanaian seemed not to care where he put the ball, and every time Francesco Guidolin managed to persuade his Udinese side to press, Muntari and his teammates fell apart like a house of cards in a breeze.

Forgetting that Milan are still without Mattia De Sciglio and Stephan El Shaarawy, while Mario Balotelli and Nigel De Jong also weren’t present, no midfielder should only just about make more than half of his passes. Andrea Poli’s 80% was the highest passing percentage ahead of Montolivo(78%), Birsa(69%) and Muntari.

Milan defended sufficiently, keeping a clean sheet more thanks to Udinese’s impotence than any real fortitude. Goalkeeper Gabriel was rarely tested, but a clean sheet on his debut will do his confidence no harm. Matias Silvestre was another defensive player making his first appearance, and didn’t make a catastrophic error, which should place him above Christian Zapata by default. Time and better players running at him will test whether his poor period at Inter was just a fluke.

Kaka’s return should improve matters, the former Real Mardrid player’s ability to create chances and pass the ball accurately should make Milan a better team even if he isn’t the world-beater he was before he left Italy in 2009.

Just like Francesco Totti is able to link together Rudi Garcia’s high octane attack without having to actually run because of his awareness and vision, Kaka can be the playmaker in chief for Balotelli, Niang, Poli and eventually El Shaarawy.

All statistics provided by WhoScored.com 

 

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