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Roman Rule: Faulty Fullbacks
Milan overcame an early Pinzi goal to beat Chievo, but the win came despite its fullbacks, says Zac Lee Rigg.
Oct 26, 2009 3:19:58 AM
By Zac Lee Rigg
The most telling part of AC Milan's dramatic come-from-behind victory over feisty Chievo was that both goals came from set pieces.
After falling behind in the seventh minute when Giampiero Pinzi stroked home thanks to some nonexistent marking (which popped up a couple more times without doing any further damage), Milan poured forward. That suited Chievo just fine, as the Flying Donkeys hit out on counterattacks. Despite piling on pressure for most of the match, carving out a host of chances (Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino made eight top class saves), none of it clicked.
Alessandro Nesta, scoring his first goal since Sept. 15, 2007 and the first ever brace of his career, bundled home two free kicks. That a team boasting the high-caliber attacking talent of Alexandre Pato, Ronaldinho, Pippo Inzaghi, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar resorted to set pieces indicates some problems.
The issue isn't primarily in the attack -- though a lack of movement hurts. It's further back. All forward motion comes through the feet of the exceptionally talented Andrea Pirlo, and teams have figured out that if a midfielder presses high on Pirlo, they can clog the forward flow.
In former years, Milan relied on high-flying fullbacks to provide width and supplement the deeper movements of the attack. Players such as Paolo Maldini, Cafu, and Serginho rampaged up and down the flanks, setting the standard across the globe. The club attempted to replace some of those long-gone players this summer but failed (bizarrely in the case of Aly Cissokho, who was signed before failing his medical due to a dental issue). Instead, Leonardo has flipped through no less than six fullbacks (Gianluca Zambrotta, Ignazio Abate, Massimo Oddo, Marek Jankulovski, Luca Antonini, and Giuseppe Favalli) in an attempt to find one that will stick.
None have.
Against Chievo it became painfully obvious that Oddo lacks the sprightliness in his old age to make it up and down the flank and that Antonini still has much to learn at this level.
To compensate for a lack of forward impetus from his fullbacks, Leonardo switched from Milan's traditional narrow 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3. Pato and Ronaldinho on the wings have gone some way toward compensating for the lack of width in the team, and vice president Adriano Galliani suggested the club would continue to use that setup for some time, even promising new players to further supplement it.
“The 4-3-3 set-up that Leonardo likes to use will be our basis from now on, even against the bigger teams,” Galliani explained to Sky Sports.
“We will find replacements to ease the pressure on Ronaldinho and Pato in the future.”
However, even that adjustment can't compensate for how isolated and integral Pirlo is to the distribution out of the back.
One area Milan needs to address regardless of formation is a series of subpar fullbacks.
Julius Cesar
Consul Of The Week
Rarely will the goalkeeper of a losing team win this award, but Sebastien Frey was just that good. His first telling impact came in the 29th minute when Ezequiel Lavezzi found himself alone on goal. Frey parried the initial shot and then jumped back to his feet to bat away Marek Hamsik's rebound attempt. With 10 minutes left in the game, Frey faced a penalty. Napoli's other attacking force, Fabio Quagliarella, stepped up and slotted it to Frey's right, but the Frenchman showed incredible agility to meet it.
Cruelly, considering the quality of performance Frey put in, Christian Maggio met a near post cross in the 88th minute and lifted it over the advancing Frey, ruining the clean sheet and winning all three points for Napoli.
Cleopatra
Beautiful Moment Of The Week
With apologies to Sampdoria's second goal and Wesley Sneijder's gorgeous free kick, Antonio Cassano's stuttering trap to control Angelo Palombo's cross-field ball wins this week. After using that jolting move to power past Salvatore Lanna on the flank, he darted towards the box and slid a ball in for Giampaolo Pazzini. Wearing a face mask that looked like something out of Phantom Of The Opera to protect his broken nose, Pazzini still managed to sniff out the goal with a cool deflection into the net. The entire sumptuous move got Sampdoria on track for its 4-1 demolition of Bologna.
Cicero
Quote Of The Week
There was a tie this week, as two coaches fail miserably to inspire confidence in their squads.
"I stress that our objective is to stay up, and not to climb up the table," Parma coach Francesco Guidolin said to TMW, before following up with one of the more redundant comments you're read today. "I didn't like the first 10 minutes of the second half, when we conceded the second goal."
Livorno coach Serse Cosmi orchestrated a fantastic 1-0 win over Roma for his newly-promoted club. However, not even he would have believed you if you had told him the outcome before the match.
"I didn't think we would be able to do something so difficult," he said to Datasport. "I didn't have good feelings ahead of the match."
Brutus
Backstabber / Club Hindrance Of The Week
Heading into the 76th minute of the Genoa - Cagliari clash, Genoa had it under control. The team lost the two previous games by a cumulative score of 8-0 and needed to return to the land of three points. However, in the 76th minute, a solid 2-1 lead disappeared.
Giuseppe Biava handled in the area and the referee pointed to the spot. No matter, Genoa would hold on for a point. Wait, what's that? The anchor of the defense, Emiliano Moretti, protested the PK too vehemently, earning himself a second booking and subsequent ejection. Uh-oh.
Genoa conceded the penalty and then let Andrea Lazzari score in the 88th minute as Genoa completed the transformation from three points to zero. An experienced and capable defender, Moretti will be getting cold shoulders in the locker room this week after letting his team down.
Results
Sampdoria 4-1 Bologna, Internazionale 2-1 Catania, Siena 0-1 Juventus, Bari 2-0 Lazio, AS Roma 0-1 Livorno, Atalanta 3-1 Parma, Fiorentina 0-1 Napoli, Cagliari 3-2 Genoa, Palermo 1-0 Udinese, Chievo Verona 1-2 AC Milan.
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
The most telling part of AC Milan's dramatic come-from-behind victory over feisty Chievo was that both goals came from set pieces.
After falling behind in the seventh minute when Giampiero Pinzi stroked home thanks to some nonexistent marking (which popped up a couple more times without doing any further damage), Milan poured forward. That suited Chievo just fine, as the Flying Donkeys hit out on counterattacks. Despite piling on pressure for most of the match, carving out a host of chances (Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino made eight top class saves), none of it clicked.
Alessandro Nesta, scoring his first goal since Sept. 15, 2007 and the first ever brace of his career, bundled home two free kicks. That a team boasting the high-caliber attacking talent of Alexandre Pato, Ronaldinho, Pippo Inzaghi, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar resorted to set pieces indicates some problems.
The issue isn't primarily in the attack -- though a lack of movement hurts. It's further back. All forward motion comes through the feet of the exceptionally talented Andrea Pirlo, and teams have figured out that if a midfielder presses high on Pirlo, they can clog the forward flow.
In former years, Milan relied on high-flying fullbacks to provide width and supplement the deeper movements of the attack. Players such as Paolo Maldini, Cafu, and Serginho rampaged up and down the flanks, setting the standard across the globe. The club attempted to replace some of those long-gone players this summer but failed (bizarrely in the case of Aly Cissokho, who was signed before failing his medical due to a dental issue). Instead, Leonardo has flipped through no less than six fullbacks (Gianluca Zambrotta, Ignazio Abate, Massimo Oddo, Marek Jankulovski, Luca Antonini, and Giuseppe Favalli) in an attempt to find one that will stick.
None have.
Against Chievo it became painfully obvious that Oddo lacks the sprightliness in his old age to make it up and down the flank and that Antonini still has much to learn at this level.
To compensate for a lack of forward impetus from his fullbacks, Leonardo switched from Milan's traditional narrow 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3. Pato and Ronaldinho on the wings have gone some way toward compensating for the lack of width in the team, and vice president Adriano Galliani suggested the club would continue to use that setup for some time, even promising new players to further supplement it.
“The 4-3-3 set-up that Leonardo likes to use will be our basis from now on, even against the bigger teams,” Galliani explained to Sky Sports.
“We will find replacements to ease the pressure on Ronaldinho and Pato in the future.”
However, even that adjustment can't compensate for how isolated and integral Pirlo is to the distribution out of the back.
One area Milan needs to address regardless of formation is a series of subpar fullbacks.
 |
Consul Of The Week
Rarely will the goalkeeper of a losing team win this award, but Sebastien Frey was just that good. His first telling impact came in the 29th minute when Ezequiel Lavezzi found himself alone on goal. Frey parried the initial shot and then jumped back to his feet to bat away Marek Hamsik's rebound attempt. With 10 minutes left in the game, Frey faced a penalty. Napoli's other attacking force, Fabio Quagliarella, stepped up and slotted it to Frey's right, but the Frenchman showed incredible agility to meet it.
Cruelly, considering the quality of performance Frey put in, Christian Maggio met a near post cross in the 88th minute and lifted it over the advancing Frey, ruining the clean sheet and winning all three points for Napoli.
Cleopatra
Beautiful Moment Of The Week
With apologies to Sampdoria's second goal and Wesley Sneijder's gorgeous free kick, Antonio Cassano's stuttering trap to control Angelo Palombo's cross-field ball wins this week. After using that jolting move to power past Salvatore Lanna on the flank, he darted towards the box and slid a ball in for Giampaolo Pazzini. Wearing a face mask that looked like something out of Phantom Of The Opera to protect his broken nose, Pazzini still managed to sniff out the goal with a cool deflection into the net. The entire sumptuous move got Sampdoria on track for its 4-1 demolition of Bologna.
 |
Quote Of The Week
There was a tie this week, as two coaches fail miserably to inspire confidence in their squads.
"I stress that our objective is to stay up, and not to climb up the table," Parma coach Francesco Guidolin said to TMW, before following up with one of the more redundant comments you're read today. "I didn't like the first 10 minutes of the second half, when we conceded the second goal."
Livorno coach Serse Cosmi orchestrated a fantastic 1-0 win over Roma for his newly-promoted club. However, not even he would have believed you if you had told him the outcome before the match.
"I didn't think we would be able to do something so difficult," he said to Datasport. "I didn't have good feelings ahead of the match."
 |
Backstabber / Club Hindrance Of The Week
Heading into the 76th minute of the Genoa - Cagliari clash, Genoa had it under control. The team lost the two previous games by a cumulative score of 8-0 and needed to return to the land of three points. However, in the 76th minute, a solid 2-1 lead disappeared.
Giuseppe Biava handled in the area and the referee pointed to the spot. No matter, Genoa would hold on for a point. Wait, what's that? The anchor of the defense, Emiliano Moretti, protested the PK too vehemently, earning himself a second booking and subsequent ejection. Uh-oh.
Genoa conceded the penalty and then let Andrea Lazzari score in the 88th minute as Genoa completed the transformation from three points to zero. An experienced and capable defender, Moretti will be getting cold shoulders in the locker room this week after letting his team down.
Results
Sampdoria 4-1 Bologna, Internazionale 2-1 Catania, Siena 0-1 Juventus, Bari 2-0 Lazio, AS Roma 0-1 Livorno, Atalanta 3-1 Parma, Fiorentina 0-1 Napoli, Cagliari 3-2 Genoa, Palermo 1-0 Udinese, Chievo Verona 1-2 AC Milan.
Zac Lee Rigg is an associate editor of Goal.com
Keep up to date with Serie A and Italy news with Goal.com's Italy page
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