Ranking and Grading AC Milan's Defenders on Form so Far in 2015-16 Season
Defense has been the weakness of AC Milan for several years. Throughout the team's decline since winning the Scudetto in the 2010-11 season, a leaky defense has been their Achilles' heel.
After trying to use a clutch of stop-gap players to shore up the back line, Milan finally started to build their defense for the long term. Following a long saga, 21-year-old Alessio Romagnoli was signed from Roma to be the team's long-term anchor in the center. Academy product Davide Calabria, 19, has impressed when pressed into service, and Luca Antonelli returned to his boyhood club last January and has been impressive on the left flank.
Success is built from the back. Just look at Juventus, whose dominance of Serie A has been built on a stifling back line that has been one of, if not the best in Europe for years. As Milan's project moves forward, the progress of the defense will be key.
How have the team's current defenders developed this season? Today, we'll look at each player along the line and rate them based on their performance to see which of them have been the best and which need work.
9. Rodrigo Ely
1 of 9
Position: Center Back
League Appearances: 3 (2 starts)
Remember when everyone assumed Rodrigo Ely was going to be Romagnoli's long-term partner at center back this year?
Ely's first year back at Milan after three years on loan has been forgettable, to say the least. He made his Serie A debut in the opener against Fiorentina and looked totally overmatched. Within 36 minutes he had received a pair of yellow cards and watched the rest of the match from the locker room tunnel.
His only other start of the year came on October 4. Playing in the stead of Romagnoli, who had been sent off the game prior, Ely was the lowest point of the biggest disaster of the year, a 4-0 Napoli win at the San Siro. The capper on a miserable night was Ely turning the ball into his own net.
Now out for the foreseeable future with a fractured foot, Ely needs a lot of work to be a viable top-flight defender. This season has been a harsh reminder of just how much quality a defender needs at this level, especially in Serie A. Ely just doesn't have it yet.
Grade: F
8. Cristian Zapata
2 of 9
Position: Center Back
League Appearances: 10 (8 starts).
Cristian Zapata is a strange case. He seems to play very well when called up to the Colombian national team, but when he takes the field for Milan, he never patches that level.
Zapata simply hasn't played well when called upon. He's a mistake waiting to happen. Game after game he has committed critical errors that have cost Milan dearly.
It was his errant back pass against Genoa at the end of September that forced Romagnoli into his second yellow card. The next week he was part of the collective awfulness that was Milan's performance against Napoli.
It doesn't stop there. During Milan's Coppa Italia clash with second-tier Crotone, Zapata continually allowed opposing strikers swaths of space between himself and the full-backs to make runs. He was also directly responsible for Roma's early goal in their clash at the Stadio Olimpico.
Zapata just simply isn't cutting it in the back. His contract is up this summer, and the sooner Milan gets rid of him the better.
Grade: F
7. Philippe Mexes
3 of 9
Position: Center Back
League Appearances: 3 (2 starts).
Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic didn't even want Philippe Mexes on the team this year. According to Italian transfer guru Gianluca Di Marzio (h/t Football Italia), team owner Silvio Berlusconi personally insisted that Mexes' expiring contract be renewed and went over his manager's head to do it.
Mexes is always a booking—or two—waiting to happen. He's been far down on Mihajlovic's depth chart, even when he was cycling through his center backs to find the right match with Romagnoli. He only made his season debut on the first of November against Lazio, after Alex was inadvertently knocked out by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
He did end up scoring with almost his first touch of the game off a free kick and played decently the next game, but he was one of the defenders on the field when Bologna pulled a smash-and-grab upset in the first game out of the winter break.
His indiscipline is also still on full display. He's been booked in both of his Serie A starts and one of his Coppa Italia games.
His contract is again up this year, and this time he shouldn't be retained. Until then, he's emergency depth, nothing more.
Grade: D
6. Mattia De Sciglio
4 of 9
Position: Full-back
League Appearances: 15 (14 starts).
Mattia De Sciglio is a sad case. Once considered the heir to Paolo Maldini, the 23-year-old has been crushed under the weight of expectations and has seriously regressed since his breakout 2012-13 season.
De Sciglio gives away possession cheaply and is out of position far too often. While he does manage to get in his opponents' way on a fairly regular basis—according to WhoScored.com he averages 2.4 interceptions per game this season—he's still simply too shaky to be counted on on a week-in, week-out basis.
He's had a few good games sprinkled amongst the year, which bring his grade up to a semi-respectable level. But he'll need to put himself into gear quickly if he wants to break into Milan's starting XI for good.
Grade: C-
5. Davide Calabria
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Position: Full-back
League Appearances: 4 (2 starts)
Like his youth program compatriot Donnarumma, 19-year-old Davide Calabria was a surprise inclusion in Milan's first team this year after he excelled during the preseason. He's seen limited time on the field, but when he has been out there, he has impressed.
He made his Serie A debut on September 19 against Palermo. Coming on for an injured Ignazio Abate after only 18 minutes, he made an impact three minutes later when his ball into the box found Giacomo Bonaventura, who slipped the ball to Carlos Bacca for the opening goal.
WhoScored clocked Calabria with two key passes, six tackles, two interceptions and three clearances in that 3-2 win. Talk about a debut.
He has played with a maturity far beyond his years in his appearances since. The older full-backs on the roster have kept him on the bench since his last appearance in early November, but Calabria has a bright future and could surpass De Sciglio on the depth chart if he continues to struggle.
His grade is out of proportion with his ranking because he's had so little playing time, but make no mistake, he has played some of the best football of any of Milan's defenders and has certainly defied expectations.
Grade: A-
4. Ignazio Abate
6 of 9
Position: Right Back
Appearances: Serie A: 17 (all starts) Coppa Italia: 1 (all starts)
Ignazio Abate almost seems like a ghost sometimes. He'll play a good string of games in a row, then pick up a minor knock and be out for a few weeks. His subsequent comebacks are almost surprising in how little fanfare they tend to receive.
Abate was never a natural defender. He started his career as a winger and only began defending in the 2009-10 season, when Leonardo installed him there after using him as a reserve midfielder for the first few months of the season.
That rawness tends to sometimes show, especially in his crossing ability. But when he's been on the field this year, he's actually played quite well indeed. WhoScored clocks him at 2.9 tackles, 2.9 interceptions and 2.4 clearances per game this year, great numbers for any full-back.
That tackle stat is tied with Luca Antonelli for first on the team, and the interception mark is tops for any defender with more than 10 starts. What drags Abate down the list a bit are the injuries he suffered early in the season, which caused him to miss seven games.
When he's been on the field, however, he's played well, and he has earned his spot at the top of the depth chart on the right flank.
Grade: B
3. Alessio Romagnoli
7 of 9
Position: Center Back
League Appearances: 22 (all starts)
The crown jewel of Milan's new defense, it took €25 million to pry Romagnoli—20 years old at the time and with only one top-flight season under his belt—from Roma to join Mihajlovic, his coach last season when he was on loan at Sampdoria.
Romagnoli is not a finished product. There's still a lot he can do to improve—which is a tantalizing prospect considering how well he's played so far this season. He's generally lived up to that massive transfer fee.
Not a volume tackler, he instead relies more on his positional sense to disrupt the opponent's attack. This is clear by his numbers—WhoScored has him averaging only 1.4 tackles per match but 2.5 interceptions.
His grade is dragged down a bit by a few individual errors scattered throughout the year. His first game in a Milan shirt he made a needless challenge in the box to award Fiorentina a penalty. His second yellow card against Genoa wasn't necessarily his fault—an error by Zapata had put him in an untenable situation—but his first was an avoidable foul.
But those lapses are the price of growth—and Romagnoli has already done a lot of that even this season. As the years go by, who knows where he'll be?
Grade: B+
2. Alex
8 of 9
Position: Center Back
League Appearances: 15 (14 starts)
The beginning of the season Mihajlovic shuffled every center back at his disposal to try to find the right partner for Romagnoli this season. Despite a solid season a year ago, Alex was one of the last people to get a crack.
That was a real surprise, especially considering the fact that he's proven to be the best fit. He didn't get his first start until the middle of October, but he's been in the XI for every game since save for a two-week period in November after he was knocked unconscious during a penalty-area scrum against Lazio.
A good passer out of the back and a calm presence, Alex has helped Romagnoli grow and has been a rock in his own right. While his age (he'll turn 34 just after the season) can be a hamper against players with a ton of pace, if the play is in front of him he's unlikely to let it get through.
Always steady, Alex has once again exceeded expectations and proven to be a useful component to Milan's defense.
Grade: B+
1. Luca Antonelli
9 of 9
Position: Left Back
League Appearances: 16 (15 starts)
A year ago, with the team in desperate need of defensive reinforcements, vice president Adriano Galliani brought in three defenders in the January transfer window. Luca Antonelli is the only one left out of that clutch of three.
He has since been one of the best players on the team. His defense has been impeccable, and he has developed an excellent relationship with Giacomo Bonaventura when he joins the attack. He's made the left flank an island of stability on what has been a shaky line.
His numbers bear that out. By WhoScored's reckoning he has averaged 2.9 tackles and 2 interceptions per match—big numbers especially for a full-back.
He's become one of the leaders of the team. His mistakes are few and far between, and he's gone a long way toward bringing Milan's defense to a respectable level. He's one that Milan should keep around for a long time.
Grade: A-
