For AC Milan, the 2011/2012
Season began with high hopes. The most successful club in the world were defending champions and the year’s objective was to win another league title so as to
move inch closer to that second league star. To win titles in football, you
need a combination of factors, quality players to start and quality players to
back them up. You need a mixture of experience and the strength of youth as
well as a dynamic manager who has workable tactics and more importantly is able
to motivate his charges always. What’s more, you need luck and absence of injuries in
key moments.
For Milan, there was no shortage
of quality players. Zlatan Ibrahimovic would lead the attack while the
Brazilian duo of Pato and Robinho would alternate around him. Seasoned
campaigner Antonio Cassano was to provide guile and creativity behind them. In
midfield though, Milan was short of combativeness. Marc Van Bommel who joined
mid last season is already 34. Massimo Ambrosini, Genaro Gattuso and Clarence
Seedorf great players of another year can conjure up some great moments but you
do not expect all season brilliance from the old guard. It was time to question
the thinking behind letting a certain Andrea Pirlo leave. The playmaker was
injured for the bulk of the previous season but certainly did contribute when
he featured.
In defence, Milan had pure
blood defender Allesandro Nesta still available but his persistent back
problems meant he won’t feature often. There was also Thiago Silva and Mario
Yepes. Yepes at 35 is far too past his prime and his failure to show class vs.
Lennon was still fresh in memory. Bonera, Antonini are not the ideal defenders
to list as complementing Nesta and Thiago Silva. Besides, there was a
deficiency at left back since Maldini and Jankulovski retired and left
respectively. Zambrotta remained but at 34 has little left in an era where you
must give all every game. In goal was veteran Abbiati and backed up by
disappointing Amelia despite promising so much.
Galliani went shopping talking
of a certain Mr. X. In the end, he signed Antonio Nocerino, got Aquilani on
loan from Liverpool and signed a Nigerian Taiwo to fill the vacuum at left
back. Add the promising El Shaarawy, Galliani thought Allegri was equipped to
start the season. He was incredibly wrong. Nocerino proved to be a worthwhile signing,
getting a good 10 goals in all competitions including a good one at the Camp
Nou. Aquilani on the other hand, the so called Pirlo replacement at Azzuri
level failed not only to leave up to the billing but was always injured to make
sustained contributions. El Shaarawy might have gotten a much needed equalizer
or gotten an assist somewhere, he was generally lacking confidence or the
bravery one expected. Taiwo failed to learn to play off the ball; he was
promptly loaned off to QPR while his replacement Djamal Mesbah failed to fit
in.
There are good reasons for bad
excuses. Injuries, poor run of form, and rigidity. Cassano’s injury hit the
Rosoneri hard prompting a huge bid for Carlos Tevez which failed. Injuries to
Kevin Prince Boateng and Pato were unhelpful leaving the team to rely or place
the burden of delivery on Ibrahimovic who is at times too flamboyant to keep
things simple. His quality shows often but is also often lacking when you need
it. Robinho did not help matters missing sitters a drunk would tap in. There
were defensive errors as is common with football teams, but Milan had an
unpardonable number this term. But worse is Max Allegri’s lack of flexibility,
he stuck to his 4:3:1:2 formation come what weather. He was very unwilling to
adjust even where situations required so. True, it is a proven method for him
and encouraged attacking football, but there were times, Milan needed width or
sustained pressure which this method failed to provide. On one occasion though,
Mr. Allegri changed and it cost Milan as they lost the first Derby Della
Madonina. At some point, the Rossoneri lacked creativity. Long balls were then
the way to play. Milan looked like an English team practicing kick-and-follow.
So insipid and lackluster they were though managing to win.
Champions Juventus had nearly
all the essentials of a title winning side. They had young strikers to pick
from, a stingy defence marshaled by Chiellini and Bonucci. They had veteran
Gianluigi Buffon who had an excellent season. Where it mattered, they could
call up from the bench, another veteran in Del Piero and he faithfully
delivered. Football is not a one man game, truth be told though, Andrea Pirlo’s
influence and contribution to Juventus cannot be dismissed by even the most
ungenerous critics. What’s more, Conte was flexible when he had to alternating
from 4:3:3 to 3:4:3 and 3:5:2, there was no one way to the Scudetti for him.
Season highlights: Allegri’s
men got two draws against Barcelona, the first at Camp Nou, a 2:2 draw and then
a goalless draw at the SanSiro. Both performances have been hailed as defensive
feats that inspired other teams tactically. The convincing 4 nil victory over
English side Arsenal was by far Milan’s best performance all season, but the
abysmal display at the Emirates is inexplicable. The 3:1 loss to Barcelona may
be dismissed to defensive errors and refereeing decisions, but why had Milan
failed to score at home? Exit in the Champions League meant concentration in
the league, but that was not to be. Milan fail to win a title this year, but
worse is, they also lost twice to Inter Milan who have had a terrible season. Milan
had the season much in hand a good deal of the time despite Juve’s unbeaten run
but somehow managed to let the Bianconeri claw back into the race and
ultimately surrendered it when they lost to Fiorentina and Internazionale.
Should the Milan hierarchy
keep faith with Allegri, a lot of cleaning up has to be done. Old campaigners in Gattuso, Ambrosini and
Seedorf must either leave or agree to major pay cuts and less playing time.
More flair players have to be brought in while the coach must learn to have at
least two other ways to play. Pato must be left to recondition fully. Robinho
can be reinvented; he can be used from the flanks (a system Juve used to good
effect with Pepe) while another keeper must be signed to complement Abbiati.
There is an urgent need for a playmaker that can come deep, play further up and
do generally what Milan lacked this season, flair, whether Montolivo will do
that is topic for another day but for now congratulations Juventus.
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