Andrea Bertolacci May Never Live Up to Price Tag but Has Role to Play for Milan

After a tense and tactical affair, AC Milan lost 1-0 away to AS Roma on Monday night in what could prove to be a crucial blow in the race for second place in Serie A. The game didn’t live up to expectations and ended in disappointment for Milanisti, but there was a small, surprising consolation for one individual.

Andrea Bertolacci ended last season with a burgeoning reputation as an expensive flop and began this one with a hamstring injury.

However, Monday’s trip to the Stadio Olimpico saw him make his first start of the campaign. And after a harrowing year, he put in a perfectly reasonable performance to suggest he still has a part to play for the Rossoneri.

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Gianluigi Donnarumma was called into action early on, denying a powerful effort from in-form Roma striker Edin Dzeko inside the opening two minutes of the match. However, with Milan clearly set up by head coach Vincenzo Montella to soak up pressure and counter-attack at speed, they would soon create some serious scoring opportunities of their own.

Leading the line atop a rough 4-3-3 shape that morphed into a 4-4-1-1 out of possession, Gianluca Lapadula came close to putting the visitors ahead after racing on to a Suso through ball, but he was unable to make contact.

He was played in once again on 27 minutes, and after touching the ball beyond Wojciech Szczesny, he was brought down by the hosts’ goalkeeper to win a penalty. Unfortunately, M’Baye Niang stepped up to miss his second spot-kick in as many games as the score remained at 0-0.

The two teams exchanged warning shots throughout the rest of the first half and the early stages of the second before the deadlock was finally broken on 63 minutes. Radja Nainggolan, who has been pivotal for Roma throughout this season, received the ball in the right channel before driving inwards and unleashing a curling left-footed strike beyond Donnarumma.

While the match became more end to end as it wore on and Milan searched for an equaliser, there were to be no further goals. The home side secured a huge victory to move three points clear of their opponents, though the outcome could have been different on another day.

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Afterwards, Montella spoke of his satisfaction at the overall performance. "It’s a pity that we lost, because we did not deserve this result. We’re on the right track and competitive. It’s a shame for the lads … Roma were luckier this evening," he told Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia). "I replaced Gianluca Lapadula because he looked exhausted … The same goes for Andrea Bertolacci."

Indeed, Bertolacci was substituted after 65 minutes, though his display was a good one, especially considering the turbulent past few months he has suffered.

The sight of him falling to the ground in the first half was worrying as, momentarily, it looked as if he had received another injury. He later went off the pitch with a blood-spattered shirt following a coming together with Kevin Strootman, but he remained on the field and offered enough to warrant being considered again in future.

It was his pass for Lapadula that led to the penalty Niang missed. And the 25-year-old played other valuable passes and showed some nice touches, particularly when manoeuvring beyond Kostas Manolas in the Roma penalty area in an attempt to create space for a shot.

Bertolacci also showed his versatility by operating in a new role, pushing up to play just behind Lapadula. In the offensive phase, he looked to go beyond Roma’s midfield and offer a pass between the lines; in the defensive phase, he shuttled forward to apply pressure to Daniele De Rossi, the home side’s primary orchestrator of possession.

Yet, while the advanced role was relatively alien to him, Bertolacci performed his tasks adequately, utilising the ball intelligently and working hard without it to ensure Milan’s defensive structure was intact and to force Roma to play wider.

It wasn’t an inspirational individual outing, but considering the last time he played against Roma he left the pitch to jeers from his own fans, it was a relatively positive return to action. There were no show-stopping tricks or flicks, stunning long-range shots or exhilarating forward surges, but there was plenty of graft and tactical awareness.

Those traits—along with a sophisticated touch, vision and a good range of passing—could bring the midfielder back into the Rossoneri fold.

If Bertolacci is in need of a confidence boost, he need look no further than those around him within the Milan squad and remind himself of just how quickly they have progressed over the past six months.

Gabriel Paletta spent last season on loan at Atalanta. At 30 years of age and with a method of defending that could at best be described as uncouth, he was seen as having no real prospects following the installation of Montella—a man with a preference for patient buildup and intricate passing patterns—as Milan coach. But the former Parma man has been consistently present and reliable thus far this term.

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At left-back, Mattia De Sciglio is finally beginning to live up to the promise he showed during his early years at the club. Now 24, he is no longer a prospect but a mature and competent full-back with a clearly defined role.

Perhaps the most emphatic example of the improvements Montella has brought about in certain individual players lies on the right wing of his 4-3-3 shape. Suso barely featured last term before spending six productive months on loan with Genoa. However, the 23-year-old has been in scintillating form this season, having a direct hand in 11 of the team’s 27 league goals.

A large part of the general discontent from the stands with Bertolacci’s debut season was the price Milan paid to sign him. The £17 million fee agreed with Roma for his signature last summer was undoubtedly an overestimation even considering the player’s good form for Genoa in 2014-15, but there is no reason he can’t be revived in the same manner as Paletta, De Sciglio and Suso.

On Monday, he pressed well and supported Lapadula in his more offensive role, winning two tackles. But his flexibility has already been on show this season; in a pre-season friendly with Bordeaux he played diligently in the deep-lying playmaker role, taking up good positions and providing sound distribution in the buildup.

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As a central midfielder of assured technical ability with the capacity to play in deeper or more advanced areas, Bertolacci offers a lot to Montella both in terms of fitting into the formation and from a more stylistic standpoint. He has also worked with the coach before, as he discussed in his post-match interview after the defeat to Roma.

"It has been a difficult year with many injuries … I’ve never had this many problems in my career. Now we have to look forward," he told Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia).

"I thank the coach, because he understands better than anyone else how to make the most of my characteristics. He trained my in the Roma youth academy when I was a kid, so he knows me well."

Bertolacci has a solid working relationship with Montella, who has rejuvenated several careers in recent months. He also suits the coach’s style of play and, against Roma, confirmed that he can play almost anywhere in midfield.

He may never live up to the price tag, but he still has a future at Milan.

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