AC Milan's Improved Defensive Resolve Helps Them to a Draw with Napoli

AC Milan may not be turning heads with their performances, but their results are undoubtedly improving.

The Rossoneri’s latest point of note came away to Napoli on Monday evening. It was a match many expected Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men to lose, but they confounded pre-match predictions to pick up a valuable draw in a hostile atmosphere. It was the latest in a lengthy streak of impressive results.

Milan are now undefeated for 10 matches in all competitions. That run has also included strong wins over Fiorentina and Inter at home as the club has climbed up the Serie A table, where they now lie in a stable sixth-place position.

The primary factor behind this progression has been the team’s defensive organisation.

Last October, Napoli tore Milan apart in a 4-0 defeat at the San Siro. The defining image of that match was the sight of team captain Riccardo Montolivo helping a beleaguered Rodrigo Ely to his feet after the centre-back had put a cross into his own net for Napoli’s fourth goal.

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Monday night’s draw in the San Paolo was conclusive evidence that Milan have moved beyond that harrowing October defeat, shedding many of their defensive vulnerabilities along the way.

Perhaps the most important decision in this transformation came towards the end of November, when Mihajlovic implemented a 4-4-2 formation. While the system is no more than a rough framework, comparing Milan’s defensive record before and after that change is revealing.

Prior to the switch to 4-4-2, Milan had conceded 17 goals in 13 league games while operating in 4-3-1-2 and 4-3-3 systems. Since the switch, they have conceded just 11 goals in the same number of fixtures. They have also kept twice as many clean sheets (four) in this period.

The 4-4-2 is used successfully by a number of teams throughout the upper echelons of Europe’s major leagues. For some sides, such as Leicester City and Atletico Madrid, the formation is a staple, an integral part of their identity.

Both Leicester and Atletico offer good examples of the benefits of using the shape in a defensive context. They are able to create two banks of four when defending, congesting the space between the lines and reducing the fluidity of the opposition’s attacking play before counter-attacking.

Other teams, such as reigning Italian champions Juventus, use the formation sparingly. Indeed, the Bianconeri utilised the 4-4-2 in their recent 1-0 home win over Napoli, perhaps providing a blueprint for Mihajlovic to follow in guiding Milan to their point on Monday.

Since changing to a 4-4-2, Milan have become more compact. The wide midfielders in the system—Keisuke Honda and Giacomo Bonaventura—both work hard to ensure gaps do not appear between them and the central midfielders, while M’Baye Niang drops into a deep-lying striker role to add pressure to the opposition midfield.

All of this was on show in the draw with Napoli, though more impressive than the work rate of the midfield in this game was the performance of Milan’s makeshift centre-back pairing of Alex and Cristian Zapata.

Zapata was drafted in, as Alessio Romagnoli had been suffering from flu, and the Colombian put in an assured performance to handle Gonzalo Higuain, Serie A’s leading scorer. However, to focus on his individual display would be missing the point.

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Milan’s defence is a collective effort. It starts from the front, with the persistence of Carlos Bacca and Niang, and works its way through midfield before reaching the defensive line. Without the ball, no one player is the star; the team is organised and pulls together.

Ignazio Abate referenced this spirit and team cohesion after the Napoli match, telling Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia): “There is a very strong bond with the coach, very strong. We went through a terrible time and all came together around him to prove we’re a team with a soul.”

Mihajlovic’s concoction of a 4-4-2 system, compact defensive play and an ethos of hard work may not be exciting, but it is proving to be increasingly effective.