Andrea Bertolacci Will Be AC Milan's Player to Watch in Pre-Season

With pre-season under way, several AC Milan players will be desperate to move on from a disappointing 2015-16 campaign and impress their new coach, Vincenzo Montella. One such player is Andrea Bertolacci.

Joining the club for a fee of £17 million last summer, the central midfielder was part of an extensive spending programme that the Rossoneri undertook during the summer transfer window in a bid to return to the top of Serie A.

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With such a large price tag on his shoulders, there were expectations that Bertolacci could inject quality into Milan’s midfield. But his debut season at the San Siro was to prove underwhelming, lending validation to doubts regarding the amount paid to secure his signature.

He had set high standards in the 2014-15 term with Genoa, where he flourished under Gian Piero Gasperini’s auspices. In a unique 3-4-3 system, he acted as a central fulcrum with an important role in building possession and progressing the ball into the final third.

He contributed eight assists and scored six goals of his own to earn an impressive 7.22 average performance rating from WhoScored.com.

But the crisp, assured passing, dictation of play and attacking penetration wasn’t on show from Bertolacci during his maiden year with Milan.

After a slow start, he showed signs of finding his feet in October and November of last year, putting in an accomplished performance in the 1-1 draw with Torino and scoring his first goal for the club in the 3-1 away win over Lazio. However a series of muscle injuries stunted his progress, leading to several spells on the treatment table.

Along with those periods out of the team, he wasn’t helped by the tactics of then-coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, whose functional style of play didn’t suit the refined playmaker. And, towards the end of the season, Bertolacci cut a frustrated figure; in the final-day defeat to Roma in the San Siro, he was substituted to the harrowing sound of jeers from the home crowd, with a slight smile of bemusement adorning his face.

But, with a nightmarish first term out of the way, he will now be aiming to reprove his worth to Milan. And, with Montella in charge, there is every reason for the player to be optimistic about his future with the club. He now has a chance at a fresh start, beginning with a friendly against Bordeaux on Saturday evening.

Following their first training sessions under the new regime, several Rossoneri players have commented on their new coach’s methods.

Riccardo Montolivo told Milan TV (h/t Football Italia):

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The first impressions of Montella are very positive. The team is eager to receive his concepts of football.

Montella always made his teams play well and gets the best out of quality players. I think his approach to the game is clear: occupy spaces regardless of the player’s individual role, possession and making the opposition chase the ball.

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Speaking to Premium Sport (h/t Football Italia), Ignazio Abate added that: “He’s definitely a well-prepared coach who bases his football on possession of the ball. Not since Leonardo was here have we done so much training with the ball.”

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These words tie into evidence of Montella’s work as a coach with other teams. In the year prior to his taking the reins at Catania, the club averaged between 46 and 47 per cent possession. But, in his one season with the Sicilian outfit, they averaged 48.3 per cent.

Then, in each of his three seasons as Fiorentina head coach, the Viola averaged between 55 and 57 per cent possession. These figures were consistently some of the highest in Serie A and even more noteworthy considering that in the campaign before he arrived they averaged just 48.9 per cent.

These statistics offer a glimpse into Montella’s preferred style of football. He looks for his teams to exert control of the ball, bringing it out from the back and building moves through short passes, movement and combinations.

This more possession-oriented method should suit Bertolacci, who struggled within Mihajlovic’s tactical framework. He prefers having the ball at feet to chasing it or attempting to win it back; he is more of a creator than a destroyer.

Stylistically it would appear that he could fit the new coach’s footballing philosophy well. The only uncertainty would regard which exact position he could fill within the system, something that is difficult to clarify given Montella’s proclivity for flexibility in terms of the basic shape.

Speaking to the press, Milan’s coach said that:

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I don't like to talk about formations, as far as I'm concerned they're all variable. What matters most are the principles of play.

The club knows what my ideas are, and now even the players have understood them. We'll certainly start again from the four-man defence with three midfielders. We'll see about the rest.

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While far from a guarantee of his system of choice, it appears from this statement that Montella may opt for either a 4-3-3, a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree shape or a 4-3-1-2 with a midfield diamond. If this is the case, there will be three places in the starting lineup that Bertolacci can compete for.

Last season, he tended to take on one of the outside midfield berths in a three. In this position, he would face competition from the dynamic Juraj Kucka, energetic ball-winner Jose Mauri and Andrea Poli. However, it is not out of the realms of possibility that he could play in the deeper regista role, competing with Montolivo and Manuel Locatelli.

This is something that Luigi Delneri, Bertolacci’s coach during his first season at Genoa, discussed with La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia):

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Bertolacci can play in the (Andrea) Pirlo role. In the diamond formation I'd place him in front of the defence, because he can break up the game and has a skilled foot.

He can throw long balls and intercept, he's good at getting rid of marking.

I can't see him just as easily behind the strikers because he's good at seeing the game in front of him but not as skilled when starting with the goal behind his back.

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There is undoubtedly space for Bertolacci should Montella go for a three-man midfield, and his distribution, passing range and creative edge mean he could fit the new coach’s playing style. Ultimately, however, this is theoretical; he will have to prove it in practice during pre-season.

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While the takeover talks between Milan president Silvio Berlusconi and a Chinese consortium have been delayed yet again, there is confidence that the deal will go through at some point in the near future. This could lead to further investment in the transfer market.

The centre of midfield has been a problem for the Rossoneri, and Montella will no doubt have a list of players to bolster his team in this area over the summer should the change in ownership be completed.

With new signings potentially on the horizon, Bertolacci cannot afford to have a poor pre-season. Fortunately, at 25 years of age, time is on his side, and with a new coach and a new style of football that should suit him down to the ground, he can soon forget his turbulent first season with Milan.

All possession statistics via WhoScored.com unless otherwise stated.