Ronaldinho & Pato: The Rossoneri's One-Two Combination

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AC Milan is once again bringing a smile to their fans' faces. We have seen an AC Milan side that has not only won games, but that has been playing entertaining football which to Serie A fans is almost as important as winning a match.

Leonardo seems to have found the right combination. Utilizing a setup much like Ronaldinho’s last club, Barcelona, he is playing Ronaldinho on the left, Pato on the right and a striker in the middle. This position has been up for grabs with Boriello and Pippo fighting it out.

This setup leaves Pirlo in the center of midfield, Seedorf on the left, and the right is just waiting for Becks to return to claim his midfield position.

This combination has worked. Ronaldinho seems much more like himself. His passing has been exquisite. True he is not the same player that we were used to seeing in Barcelona, but he has introduced a one-two punch that is hard to defend against when he links up with Pato and Boriello.

This has been just what this team needed to claw their way to a third position in the Serie A table only seven points behind Inter.

With this new setup we have also seen a different Pato, Seedorf and Pirlo. Pato’s speed and dribbling ability are so much more evident now.

Seedorf’s ability to see the field and to work off of Ronaldinho has really improved the midfield. Pirlo’s ability to open up play and his vision of the game, not to mention his long-distance shooting ability, has given AC Milan another powerful weapon for their arsenal.

Now this is not to say that playing with three strikers doesn’t have its drawbacks, because it does. It leaves the midfield exposed, which in turn can quickly turn into a counter attack which we saw against Lazio this past weekend. Thankfully they were able to hold on.

Nesta and Tiago Silva have been doing a great job in the back; just some minor kinks need to be ironed out. Tiago has been in such good form that he was called up for the Brazilian national team friendlies that are coming up, one against England and one against Oman. A well deserved nod.

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