Ranking AC Milan's Top 5 Players for October
October was a rough month for AC Milan. They played four competitive fixtures and looked impressive in none of them.
The month began with what has to be considered the nadir of Milan's season so far—a 4-0 evisceration at the hands of Napoli, a result even more galling because it came at home.
After coming out of the international break with a limp 1-1 draw against Torino, the Rossoneri have notched two straight wins but didn't convince in either. They barely edged out a 10-man Sassuolo side on Oct. 25 and a game Chievo on Wednesday.
It's certainly been a fallow month—not the one you go looking for success stories in.
There were, however, a few players who stood out as gems in the rough in a tough October slate. We'll take a look at those players and what they did to earn recognition.
5. Andrea Bertolacci
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Don't look now, but Andrea Bertolacci might actually be starting to turn things around.
Bertolacci has been under a lot of pressure to produce huge results after Milan overpaid for his services in the summer. But in the last three games—two starts and one appearance off the bench—he's suddenly looked much more valuable.
It was his ball Bacca turned into the Torino net to open the scoring at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino—a capper to a performance that earned him WhoScored.com's Man of the Match award. The next week, against Sassuolo, he notched three key passes in only 21 minutes of work as a sub.
As a starter against Chievo on Wednesday, he completed 80 percent of his passes and five of eight long passes while contributing four tackles and an interception at the other end.
If the former Genoa man continues to play like this, his early-season struggles may soon be forgotten. He'll never be a €20 million player, and he may always be maligned for that, but if he continues to play effectively, he can go a long way toward solidifying Milan's shaky midfield.
4. Juraj Kucka
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Juraj Kucka has been a pleasant surprise to Milan fans that thought of him simply a garbage-time buy at the end of the transfer window.
The Slovenian has solidified a starting spot in Sinisa Mihajlovic's midfield. He's been a bulldog in defense and showed a surprising amount of offensive skill, dribbling past a man here and there and making some incisive passes.
His best game came in Wednesday's contest against Chievo. He was a defensive force, making seven tackles, four interceptions and adding two key passes. It was a performance good enough to earn WhoScored.com's Man of the Match award.
Kucka has been something of a stabilizing force in the Rossoneri midfield, and he has earned his playing time. His defensive efforts have given valuable support to a defense that is still developing, and while his offensive play is based more on strength than finesse, he's started some valuable moves and could influence the attacking third even more as he truly settles.
3. Luca Antonelli
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When Luca Antonelli arrived from Genoa in the January transfer window, he instantly became the most productive member of a dysfunctional back line.
Sidelined by injury for much of the early phases of the season, he played in all four of Milan's game in October and has started hitting his stride in the last two.
His performances against both Sassuolo and Chievo were top-notch. Against Sassuolo, he made five tackles and three interceptions, and while his performance against Chievo didn't light up the stat book, it certainly lit up the scoresheet.
Seven minutes into the second half, Antonelli advanced to support the attack and cut in from the left wing. He was found there by Carlos Bacca, who swept the ball into the bottom corner of the net for what turned out to be the game's only goal.
Antonelli has scored in big spots before for Milan, such as when he headed in a temporary equalizer on the Rossoneri's trip to Juventus Stadium last season. His influence on a back line that will have to rely upon young players such as Alessio Romagnoli and Mattia De Sciglio will be vital as Milan try to build on their first clean sheet of the season.
2. Giacomo Bonaventura
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Milan's strongest outfield player in September continued his strong form in October.
Bonaventura has been forced into an unnatural wing position in recent weeks because injuries have forced Mihajlovic to shift from a his favored 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3 in order to maintain in-game flexibility. That's seen him drop off a tiny bit, but the 26-year-old is still by far team's main creative outlet.
According to Squawka, Bonaventura made 12 key passes over October's four games. Against Chievo alone, he had five. WhoScored.com clocked him with four against Sassuolo while naming him Man of the Match.
Even against Napoli, Bonaventura kept playing hard, piling up four key passes and hitting the target with a vicious free kick that was saved well by Pepe Reina.
Bonaventura is still at his best as a trequartista, and some of his best play since Milan's formation shift has come when he has drifted back inside. Whether on the wing or in the middle, Milan continues to rely on him as their main conduit linking the strikers to the rest of the team.
Overall, October was another successful month for Bonaventura.
1. Carlos Bacca
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It sometimes takes strikers a while to settle in Serie A. It's the most tactically sophisticated league in the world. Last season, Juventus' Alvaro Morata, a newcomer to the league, told La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) it was a "university for strikers."
It takes a truly talented player to parachute in and start scoring, but that's just what Carlos Bacca has done. He's scored five times in 10 games this season, including twice in October.
What's remarkable about Bacca's season is how efficient he's been. According to Squawka, he hit the target with more shots than he missed in October.
He's had to be that efficient. WhoScored.com clocked him at only 1.7 shots per game on average—a minuscule number for a team's primary striker. It certainly makes one wonder what his numbers would be were he given quality service on a consistent basis.
Bacca's arrival to the field 55 minutes in against Torino totally changed the game, and he managed to find enough space to break through an organized Torino back line just eight minutes after his introduction. Less than 60 seconds later, he would have had a second, but after being put through, he stopped playing because he thought he was offside.
That hesitation allowed goalkeeper Daniele Padelli to snuff out a chance that could have ended the game as a contest.
His play against Sassuolo was similarly effective. It was Bacca's burst into the box that led to Neroverdi 'keeper Andrea Consigli's sending off for a professional foul, and he converted the ensuing penalty with aplomb.
But he only managed to get the service for one more shot in that game, and it was blocked.
There are a lot what-ifs regarding Bacca, but those what-ifs are less to do with him and more to do with his teammates' ability to get him the ball. If that improves, Milan's strike force will be a dangerous unit on Bacca's play alone.
All statistics taken from WhoScored.com unless otherwise noted.
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