AC Milan's Preseason Derby Win Shows Promise but Also Warts
AC Milan started up their International Champions Cup campaign on Saturday in a special way.
Whether it's in Serie A, the Coppa Italia, a European competition or a preseason tournament, the Derby della Madonnina is always a special occasion. Any time Milan locks horns with their crosstown rivals, you tend to get something to write home about.
The Rossoneri put a strong squad afield for the clash, but they were matched against a largely experimental Inter side with no fewer than five Primavera players and several more on the fringes. It was thus difficult to really gauge how well the team truly played.
There were, however, some good signs in Saturday's match—but also a few issues and unanswered questions.
For once, the ticks were more on the good side than the bad. The first one of these was the continued fantastic form of Davide Calabria.
The teenager turned in a fantastic shift last week against Lyon and was impressive again on Saturday. He pushed up the field incisively to join the attack, and he defended well against Inter's scrubs. Milan has been reluctant to promote from the youth ranks in recent years, but new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has the opposite reputation, and Calabria might end up forcing their hand.
The defense as a whole played its best game of the summer so far. After conceding twice in France and allowing a pair of amateur sides, they kept a clean sheet.
Rodrigo Ely and Alex paired well with each other in the center of the park. The elder Brazilian was again a rock, though he had his typical issues with pace on the rare occasion that Inter got behind him.
Ely, on the other hand, didn't do anything incredibly noteworthy but didn't make any huge mistakes either. He also did well as a target on set pieces, barely heading over in the dying moments of the first half.
The two were switched for Cristian Zapata and Philippe Mexes at halftime, but even when the likes of Mauro Icardi and Rodrigo Palacio were introduced midway through the second half, Milan's defense held firm.
The back line also fired in the game's only goal. Mexes may have given us a window into why Silvio Berlusconi decided to renew his contract earlier this month with his goal. It was truly incredible—a volleyed shot across the face of goal that required him to contort his body to make contact.
It was a goal that would have been eye-popping if the likes of Lionel Messi scored it—and it's not the first time he's done it in a Milan shirt. Berlusconi has always enjoyed the flashy party of the game, and it may be that Mexes' penchant for it was the reason he decided to extend the much-maligned defender.
Also encouraging was Mattia De Sciglio, who played on both flanks and put up a solid performance free of the mental mistakes that fans came to expect last year.
Farther forward, M'Baye Niang again looked dangerous. He attacked the empty space he could see and also delivered several well-placed free kicks into the box for Alex and Ely. He's making more of a case for playing time by the day.
In spite of the encouraging signs in the back, there were some things that the team is going to have to address.
The first and most prominent example is Andrea Bertolacci. His recent performances with the national team have left a lot to be desired, and his performances in preseason haven't given fans confidence. Today he nearly let Inter score in the 21st minute, when his attempt to play the ball out of the box went straight to Pedro Delgado, who let him off easy when he fired a shot off-target.
Bertolacci's €20 million price tag raised some eyebrows when the move went down, and he's going to have to do a lot to justify it. It is very early in the preseason process, but so far Bertolacci needs to show improvement if he's not going to be looked at as an expensive mistake.
While not an out-and-out negative, the fact that new forwards Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano only played 30 minutes left an important question no closer to an answer. Bacca and Adriano made their team debuts on Saturday, but their playing styles are so similar that it may be impossible for them to play together.
The preseason will be the proving ground for whether or not that's possible or whether or not someone like Niang or Alessio Cerci will need to partner one or the other. Today saw little evidence either way, though Bacca certainly looked lively and tested Pablo Carrizo several times. He also set up a few more chances.
He indeed could be a fantastic acquisition.
The most distressing thing, though, was the mental breakdown Milan saw at the end.
With three minutes to go, Antonio Nocerino was muscled off the ball by Geoffrey Kondogbia. The challenge was quite forceful and wasn't punished by referee Hai Tan. What did catch the official's attention was Nocerino's retaliatory act—a punishing two-footed challenged that left Kondogbia rolling on the ground and Nocerino staring up at a red card.
It was the kind of meltdown between the ears that was a hallmark of the horror season Milan has just gone through, and if they can't correct this fault, they're not going to come close to the top five anytime soon.
Looking forward, Mihajlovic is going to have several things to do. He needs to continue the defensive improvement this game saw—preferably along with at least one reinforcement—and keep giving young players like Calabria and Niang a chance to really break into the team.
But his two biggest challenges will be figuring out his forward line and getting his entire team on track mentally. Going forward, Adriano and Bacca need to play with each other for at least an hour until it becomes clear one way or the other whether they can coexist.
As for the mental issue, that's a matter of instilling a new mentality—something Mihajlovic has only just begun to do. It will take time, and there may be more issues before things get better. But if he gets his message through to the players and reduces the reds—they garnered 13 last season—the team will have a much better chance at success.
Saturday's game had several ups and downs, and provided Mihajlovic with a clear road map about how to approach the remainder of the preseason in order to put the team in the best possible position before the season starts.
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