The Rise of AC Milan

With the sales of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva definitely the two best Milan players last year and with the departure of experience and champions, this Milan side was the epitome of criticism before the start of season along with manager Massimiliano Allegri. Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport predicted Milan will not finish this season in top 3 in Serie A. Galliani had always stated right out in the media that Milan will now focus on a Youth Project but Cassano-Pazzini swap raised every Milanista's eyebrows reguarding Galliani's Youth Project.

Serie A kicked off and Milan faced Sampdoria at home. One of those games which was just an indication of Milan's tough "Zeroth Year". Milan went on to lose against Sampdoria and Atalanta at San Siro and an away defeat to Udinese at Stadio Friuli in first five games grabbing just 6 points out of a possible 15. This was the worst start to Milan's season after so many decades and match after match, Allegri was blamed for poor formations and tactics. Increasing amount of frustation amongst the fans and poor performance by the squad led to a reaction which changed the Milan's fortunes and their season as well. A reaction which probably no one would've thought of at that point of time, a reaction which led to squad's better performances thereby and a reaction which let Allegri earn rave reviews about his strategies and formations. Which Game actually changed Milan's season? It was that Serie A fixture against Napoli in Naples Stadium. Gokhan Inler and Lorenzo Insigne's strikes seemed to have dashed Milan's hope of gaining something out of this fixture but it was Stephan El Shaarawy (Il Faraone) who came to Milan's rescue and scored two goals to earn a vital draw. Logically, Milan seemed to have earned a point out of this fixture but practically, Milan had earned more than just a point. The entire squad's morale went sky high and confidence was oozing out in the form of decent performances on the field later on. This was the formation against Napoli which led to Milan's sudden and unexpected rise in Serie A.

Why is 4-3-3 a suitable formation for Max Allegri's Milan? Clasically, the three midfielders normally play closely together to protect the defence, and move laterally across the field as a co-ordinated unit. This formation spreads the attack across the field and that extra defensive midfielder adds more to defence.  De Jong here is that defensive midfielder which intercepts and halts opposition's attack. This allows Montolivo to freely join in attack with De Sciglio taking a run across the right flank. El Shaarawy is always supported by either Nocerino or Constant while he runs down the left side. Bojan and Boateng constantly switch to add variety to Milan's attack. Defensively, Milan's two Centre Backs namely Mexes and Acerbi are not that fast and their recovery pace is not Good. So, De Jong and Montolivo start pushing back whenever the opposition's attack resumes and their vital interceptions along with defensive pressing. The support of Montolivo and De Jong to the defence is significant. This was breakdown of Milan's defensive strategies against Napoli.

Since Milan have switched to this formation they defeated Juventus at San Siro and from then till now, they have lost just once in Serie A which is an achievement with a normal Milan squad. If the points table was considered from Napoli's fixture, AC Milan would be at the top of Serie A with 41 points and Juventus will be trailing Milan by 7 points being in second place. Roma would've been third with 30 points with Napoli and Catania sharing the fourth spot with 29 points. That's a surprising fact there, isn't it? The consistency with which Milan have been playing after that fixture is absolutely incredible! The credit goes to the manager for change in the tactics when results were not quite turning out in his favour. After this fixture, Milan have brought some changes in this same formation with Pazzini playing instead of Bojan to enhance aerial threat and Zapata replacing Acerbi because of his brilliant performances. Nigel de Jong snapped his Achilles Tendon in his left leg and his responsibility has been passed onto Montolivo with Flamini back to midfield.

With the purchases of Mario Balotelli and M'Baye Niang in attack, the attacking tridente of Niang-Balotelli-El Shaarawy has been used a lot by Allegri since then. The average age of this tridente is 20 years! This is probably the youngest Milan attacking unit ever. This unit can actually be Milan's permanent attack for more than 10 years. El Shaarawy is gifted with maturity, Niang with pace and Balotelli with the presence that a striker needs inside the box. Balotelli has scored 7 Goals in 6 appearances for Milan, arguably one of the best bargain buys this season along with Michu, Robin van Persie and Marco Reus. Balotelli is what Milan needed and certainly Milan can rely on his services. With Balotelli coming in, El Shaarawy has been relieved off his duties to a bit extent which will help him grow more naturally. El Shaarawy has been Milan's savior this season scoring 16 goals, 4 short of Edinson Cavani. Giampaolo Pazzini has been in brilliant form recently and his healthy competition with Super Mario for place in starting XI only means more depth to this Milan side. As much as El Shaarawy is credited, the Milan Youth academy Product De Sciglio should be credited for his performances as well. One of the most consistent Milan player this season, De Sciglio has the versatility to play either as Left Back or Right Back. Milan's CEO stated that De Sciglio needs to develop physical abilities and then he can match Paolo Maldini. That's a huge compliment to be compared to Maldini, isn't it? The formation quite looks like this after January Transfer Window.

With these updates, what's the advantage? The enhanced pace in Counter Attack, assurance of more than one Goal per match in Milan's favour and much better defence. Boateng shifting to midfield means a better backup pace and physical advantage which Milan needs. In this formation, two players play a crucial role namely Riccardo Montolivo and Mario Balotelli. What Montolivo does? Montolivo is gifted as a midfielder. His passing accuracy and long balls are highly accurate. Along with this, his defensive pressing and interceptions are something on which Milan rely a lot. He composes the gameplay, probably as calm as Milan's former and Juventus's current heart-throb Andrea Pirlo. Milanisti refer Montolivo as "Montopirlo" quite a lot these days because of his resemblence with some of Pirlo's qualities. One of the best matches of Montolivo this year was against Barcelona in first leg of UEFA Champions League at San Siro when his interceptions nullified Barcelona's attack. Montolivo and Abate marked Iniesta and Iniesta played very dull that night. Montolivo's involvement in Milan's second goal against Barcelona clearly indicates about his attacking qualities. Why Balotelli is crucial? He is that player who has the heart of taking away possession back from someone who took possession from him. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini always described Balotelli as one of the best players in his squad but unfortunately, Mancini never used him as the Target Man. Allegri uses Balotelli as the Target Man upfront which adds up to his responsibilities and with more responsibilities, Balotelli never fails to disappoint. Infact, he comes back to midfield if his team needs him there. This is what has taken out the best out of Balotelli at Milan which never happened at Manchester City.

AC Milan were probably criticised quite a lot for their mediocre performance against Barcelona in return leg of Champions League but, this is a very young side. Milan will take away quite a lot of positives from this and winning at San Siro against them is a incredible feat with this side. Positives outweigh the negatives and that's what this young side should take from that fixture against Barcelona. With the purchases of Bartosz Salamon and Riccardo Saponara, this Milan squad is on the right path and a growth on this rate would ensure trophies in Milan cabinet pretty soon.