Why Ignazio Abate Is Ready for the Season of His Life at AC Milan

To win the Scudetto, Ignazio Abate first had to prove himself. 

He was made in Milan. He played with the youth team, but he was taught elsewhere. Abate spent five years playing with five different clubs across Italy at different levels, in different positions. 

AC Milan kept sending him out on loan, agreeing to co-ownership deals with Empoli and Torino but always keeping Abate close enough.

All the while, Abate played for almost every iteration of the Italian national team, from the under-18s to the Olympics and the World Cup.

There were problems: He could not cross the ball without launching it into the stratosphere, and he did not score or create many assists.

These were frustrating years for Abate, a speed demon who could track down almost anyone in Europe. He even gave Cristiano Ronaldo a hard time in the Champions League. Still, he was an incomplete player.

Now Abate is 27 years old, about to turn 28 in November, and Milan are starting to see exactly what he can do.

Abate has made huge strides—quite literally, too. He has managed four assists in six games with Milan to start the season—more than he had put up in any previous Serie A campaign.

A goal could even come next. He has only scored once for Milan in many years. But the club’s faith is starting to pay off.

When AC Milan finally called him back in 2009, they kept him for good. Abate was used primarily as a wide right midfielder, sometimes attacking.

But Leonardo was coach of the Rossoneri, and he decided to play Abate as a right-back, to cover as much ground as possible in the offensive and defensive phases on the right flank. Abate had the speed. It was his best position. 

So that’s why it was odd to see him chanting with ultras of Milan in the Olympic Stadium in Rome in May 2011. They were saying mean things about Leonardo, the man who effectively gave Abate a springboard for future success on this Milan squad and on the national team.

But he had just won the Scudetto, and his voice quivered as he gave interviews after the 0-0 draw against AS Roma that clinched the title. 

And he ran around the track in his underwear. It’s an Italian thing. He was one of the protagonists of that championship team, and he was entitled to do whatever he pleased.

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press

The next couple of seasons were not so enjoyable. Familiar habits propped up. Abate again could hardly find his target, and he was embarrassed in the derby of 2012 when an ageing Javier Zanetti beat Abate (supposedly the fastest player in Italy) in a foot race.

The pro-Inter crowd roared that day. Milan lost that game 4-2 and lost the Scudetto that same day.

Massimiliano Allegri was fired as coach the next year, and Clarence Seedorf could not maintain any harmony within the team. 

But Pippo Inzaghi is different. He has clearly brought out the best in Abate—and the rest of his team-mates.

“Our team reflects the coach and Inzaghi has brought enthusiasm and rules,” Abate told Il Giorno (h/t Forza Italian Football).

“Last season some players had some bad habits, they arrived at Milanello just to punch in and then go home. Now it’s different. Pippo is a tough and demanding technician who asks for mutual respect. In the past this was not so obvious.”

Maybe Abate needed some structure, maybe he needed a boost in confidence. It’s working, whatever it is. 

Abate was once considered expendable. Milan could have sold him to Zenit St. Petersburg to raise funds for someone named Mario Balotelli, who they have bought and sold since.

But they held on to Abate, like they always have. A contract extension is imminent. “My agent is talking with the club,” he said.

Abate has proven himself after all.