Assessing AC Milan's Coppa Italia Victory over Perugia

For the first time in 16 years, Milan entered the Coppa Italia in the third round on Monday night, as they faced Serie B side Perugia at San Siro. The Rossoneri secured a comfortable 2-0 victory, courtesy of goals from Keisuke Honda and Luiz Adriano, to seal their progress to the next round, where they will play Crotone.

Although an inauspicious encounter to many outside of the club, this was in fact a good test for Sinisa Mihajlovic and his newly assembled outfit ahead of a tough trip to Fiorentina to begin the Serie A season.

Here we analyse Milan's first competitive match of the 2015/16 season, breaking the team performance down by defence, midfield and attack, individually and collectively, before assessing what lessons can be learned from the game.

Defence

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Goalkeeper: Diego Lopez

Milan’s Spanish No. 1, Diego Lopez, had little to do in his first competitive outing of the season. He enjoyed an excellent debut campaign with the club, but he was rarely tested as Milan held Perugia comfortably at bay for much of the game.

Right-back: Mattia De Sciglio

The Perugia match acted as a confidence booster for Mattia De Sciglio, whose development faltered last season with some wayward performances.

Playing on the right-hand side of a back four, De Sciglio was tasked with patrolling the right flank and this he did to good effect throughout. He could even have had an assist after he set up Carlos Bacca to rifle home, but the strike was ruled out for offside.

Centre-back: Rodrigo Ely

Young Brazilian Rodrigo Ely has had a remarkable rise to prominence in recent months, going from playing on loan for Avellino in Serie B to playing regularly for Milan.

He impressed during his pre-season outings and was given a vote of confidence in the form of his first competitive start for the club against Perugia.

One long, diagonal, aerial ball to Luca Antonelli put the left-back under pressure and led to a counter-attack, though apart from that he seemed unafraid and willing to bring the ball out from the back when necessary.

Centre-back: Alessio Romagnoli

This was a relatively uneventful competitive Milan debut for Alessio Romagnoli, though he will undoubtedly have bigger tests ahead of him.

He marshalled the defence and added an air of authority, winning aerial balls and preventing opposition striker Matteo Ardemagni from wielding any real influence over the game.

Left-back: Luca Antonelli

Flying left-back Luca Antonelli set up Milan’s opener with a lung-bursting run from deep before he played in Keisuke Honda via a Luiz Adriano dummy.

This was just one of many forward raids that the Italian international undertook throughout the game. A constant threat down the left flank, this was a positive start to Antonelli’s first full season in a Milan shirt.

Overall

The Milan defence seemed fairly cohesive for their first competitive match of the season. Both full-backs got forward well to provide attacking width—a necessity in a 4-3-1-2 formation with a diamond midfield—while the centre-backs knew when to go slightly wider to cover the full-backs' forward runs.

It must be said that there was little to do for the back line in this game as Perugia offered little offensive danger, but it will do them no harm to record their first clean sheet of the campaign.

Midfield

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Defensive midfield: Nigel De Jong

Nigel De Jong has earned a reputation as a hardman prone to reckless challenges, so his simplistic display of efficacy against Perugia went down well.

The Dutchman rarely looked flustered, maintained possession and always showed to receive the ball from his defenders. He kept things ticking over with a minimum of fuss and maintained his position well to help nullify counter-attacks.

Central midfield: Andrea Bertolacci

Starting on the right of the central-midfield three, Andrea Bertolacci looked both creative and incisive on his competitive debut for Milan.

Playing on the right enabled him to drive infield with purpose, while he also sprayed passes out to the other side when the opportunity arose.

Central midfield: Giacomo Bonaventura

Naturally more of a playmaker, a central-midfield role is one Giacomo Bonaventura is not best suited to. The 25-year-old Italian international would prefer a role further forward, and on the evidence of the Perugia game it’s clear to see why.

Bonaventura was simply unable to influence the game in any real way. He attempted shots from distance but they came to nothing and he often looked frustrated in his more withdrawn role.

Over the course of a full season, his positioning and defensive nous will be put to the test, particularly if this is the role Mihajlovic envisages him playing in long-term.

Substitute: Andrea Poli

Bonaventura was replaced by Andrea Poli with 15 minutes remaining, but the oncoming central midfielder was unable to make much of an impact.

Trequartista: Keisuke Honda

While Bonaventura struggled further back, Keisuke Honda thrived in his role as Milan’s trequartista. The Japanese creator drifted between midfield and attack, flitting about and offering plenty of passing options for his teammates with his movement.

His link-up play with the strikers, Bacca and Adriano, was a wonderful sight to behold at times, while he was directly involved for both of Milan’s goals.

Honda scored the opener, taking an Antonelli pass into his stride after an Adriano dummy to calmly slot beyond the Perugia goalkeeper Antonio Rosati, before setting up the second with a well-paced pass for Adriano to run onto and finish.

Substitute: Jeremy Menez

Against a tired Perugia defence, mercurial Frenchman Jeremy Menez was unable to pick the lock. Apart from one wayward through ball, Menez did little of note after replacing Honda.

Overall

Honda staked his claim for a regular place in the side as a trequartista, but question marks will remain over Bonaventura’s ability to handle a central-midfield role and the team’s balance if he is consistently selected there.

At times Milan looked vulnerable to counter-attacks with three of their four midfielders’ preference being to create rather than stifle leaving only De Jong behind the ball. In games where they expect to see less of the ball, a more pragmatic approach to the midfield selection may be advisable.

Attack

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Striker: Luiz Adriano

Although the less renowned of Milan’s attacking signings, Luiz Adriano was the most influential striker on the pitch for the Rossoneri against Perugia.

The Brazilian showed his class with a nonchalant stepover to allow Honda in for the opening goal. Adriano’s movement dragged the Perugia defence out of position, giving Honda space to run into.

Adriano then opened his Milan account by netting his new team’s second, running onto a Honda pass to finish with his left foot.

Substitute: Alessio Cerci

After accidentally injuring the opposition goalkeeper, Adriano was replaced by Alessio Cerci, who had little time to influence proceedings.

Striker: Carlos Bacca

Colombian finisher Carlos Bacca offered plenty of running and movement whilst bringing others into play, but his Milan debut lacked a goal to crown a positive performance.

He did have a strike ruled out for offside, but more importantly, Bacca was involved for Milan’s second, backheeling for Honda to play in Adriano.

Overall

The signs for Milan’s forward line are promising judging on what was on evidence against Perugia. Adriano and Bacca showed intelligent awareness, with one always dropping deep while the other played further forward.

Furthermore, Adriano and Bacca’s interplay with Honda was stunningly effective at times. The pair ran into the channels when appropriate and always looked to link up with their teammates. Already, Milan’s investment in strikers appears to be paying dividends.

Lessons Learned

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All things considered, Milan put in an encouraging performance against Perugia. The team looked cohesive, pressed well and played with aggression. Nonetheless, there are still areas to work on, something Mihajlovic stated told reporters after the match, per Football Italia:

"

I didn't like the attitude...We did keep possession, but it was a kind of possession I didn't like...You could see our organisation, you could see our character... there were a lot of good things. But there are many things that still need to improve."

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Milan still looked vulnerable to counter-attacks, with their midfield looking open at times. This may require a slight change in playing personnel, perhaps with Bonaventura being replaced by a more conservative midfielder.

Other doubts were dispelled, however. The young central-defensive pairing of Ely and Romagnoli looked assured, while Honda connected extremely well with the two strikers, Adriano and Bacca.

Before the game, Mihajlovic said he wanted his team to win well. That they did, with the 2-0 scoreline flattering Perugia somewhat. While Milan could have done a better job of killing the game off, Mihajlovic will secretly be happy with the level of organisation and creativity as well as the clean sheet.