Can AC Milan's Mystery Man Gianluca Lapadula Compete with Carlos Bacca?
Just exactly how good is Gianluca Lapadula?
The above question is one that has been pondered frequently by AC Milan fans since the striker’s arrival from Pescara over the summer. Most were aware of the player given his exceptional 2015-16 season in Serie B, but few could honestly discern his skills and overall ability.
And, after five rounds of Serie A football, the same uncertainty still exists.
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Lapadula has appeared three times in league action, though he has started only once. He received a paltry four minutes from the substitutes' bench against both Napoli and Udinese before his sole start in the away game with Sampdoria, where he made way just after the hour mark having touched the ball just 16 times.
He was, and to an extent remains, Milan’s mystery man.
Just two years ago, Lapadula was playing in Lega Pro, the third tier of Italian football, for Teramo. After finding the net regularly there, he earned a move to Pescara, where he proved an unadulterated success in Serie B last term, scoring 27 league goals in 40 games.
His meteoric rise was completed when Milan swooped to sign him in June, though at the age of 26 and having never played at the top level before, there were understandable doubts surrounding his signature.
Vincenzo Montella seemed to have belief in the striker, however, asserting that he felt Lapadula could fit into his style of play.
Speaking to Milan TV (h/t Football Italia), the coach stated: "On paper he definitely suits my style of play. He’s proven to have great talent and desire, even in a different division. Of course it’ll be a big leap for him. I think he has the personality to stay at this level, though I haven’t seen him with his boots on yet."
But those words soon rang hollow.
In their third fixture of this campaign, Milan trailed 1-0 at home to Udinese, a side who for the past two years have struggled simply to remain in Serie A. Facing a second successive defeat in a game they were expected to win, it truly was a desperate situation. However, despite the circumstances, Montella seemed determined to ignore Lapadula.
At a time when an additional striker appeared the only remaining viable option in an attempt to prise open a dogged defence, Lapadula remained on the substitutes' bench. He would eventually be called upon, but with his arrival on to the field of play coming on 86 minutes, he had very little time to make an impact.
And, unsurprisingly, he didn’t.
That match further called into question the validity of Lapadula’s signing. If he wasn’t going to be used until the dying embers in a match where Milan needed a goal just to draw level at home to Udinese, was he worth having in the squad at all?
All of a sudden, those highlight reels of his time with Pescara seemed selective. The clips of him controlling the ball perfectly, exploiting space with cunning and instinctively arriving in the right place at the right time to score took on an unreal air. Somewhere along the line, a mistake must have been made.
Just when doubt began to swell, hope came in the form of a dressing-room bust-up.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) reported that Montella and Milan’s star striker Carlos Bacca had fallen out. The latter, having called for more service, was purportedly told by the former to improve his positioning.
As a consequence of the disagreement, Bacca was left out for the trip to Sampdoria, opening up space for one of the back-up strikers within the squad. Montella turned to Lapadula.
Milan’s hosts that night had made a positive start to the season, winning two of their three league games and running Roma close. Additionally, their new coach, Marco Giampaolo, was having considerable success implementing his tactics, which included a high defensive line and a compact shape.
The conditions were far from ideal for Lapadula, a Serie A newcomer, to thrive, but he acquitted himself well throughout his time on the pitch.
Milan, with intentions of recovering their integrity after the disastrous home defeat to Udinese, set out to make life difficult for Sampdoria. Defending deeply, there was a need for all individuals within the team to take up sound positions and work hard. As the sole striker, Lapadula didn’t allow himself to become isolated, instead dropping back to help his side win the ball.
Acting individually as the first line of pressure, his was often a lost cause. Nonetheless, he remained committed, pursuing the opposition centre-backs in order to force mistakes. In the process, however, he gave away more fouls than anyone else on the pitch. And, as a result of this, he picked up a yellow card.
Lapadula’s appetite for hard work also proved useful in the attacking phase, as he often fought for—and won—loose and long balls, holding them up before bringing team-mates into play, as illustrated in the image below. And, in addition to his surprising physicality, he caused problems for Sampdoria with his intelligence and technique.
He would often drop into the middle third in order to link up with his team-mates, occasionally bringing a marking centre-back well out of position as a consequence. This helped Milan to progress the ball effectively as they sought to build attacks following concerted periods in a deep defensive setup.
Lapadula’s movement was particularly impressive, as he moved horizontally and vertically not only to break through Sampdoria’s defensive line but to provide support for his team-mates.
In the below image, he can be seen pointing to where he wants the ball to be played by Giacomo Bonaventura. Playing on the shoulder of the last man and on the blind side of the nearest centre-back, he readjusted his position to remain onside before exploiting the space behind to latch on to the direct ball over the top.
Ultimately, at the end of this move, he ballooned his finish over the bar, but everything building up to that point was positive.
And in the image below, his decision-making and movement again come to the fore. As M’Baye Niang looks to bring down an aerial ball, Lapadula could perhaps have looked to run beyond his French attacking colleague. Instead, he moved laterally to receive the chest-down and continue building the attack.
While his all-round performance showed some promising signs, Lapadula was replaced by Bacca on 63 minutes, earning a poor 5.93 rating for his efforts.
But that rating doesn’t tell the whole story.
Lapadula may have missed his one big scoring opportunity and struggled for touches, but he showed good hold-up and link-up play, good movement and a willingness to defend from the front that Bacca doesn’t appear to possess.
The Colombian went on to score the winning goal against Sampdoria, once again evidencing his trademark clinical touch. His strike reconfirmed that, in the final third, he is one of the finest finishers in European football.
In addition, it had the effect of patching up the wounds of his argument with Montella; for the home game against Lazio on Tuesday, he was back in the starting lineup and, inevitably, scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win.
Lapadula’s spell as Milan’s first-choice striker may have been fleeting, but he showed enough in that time to suggest he is more than a mere motivational tool for Bacca. He is arguably the better all-round player and looks set to provide good competition for the striker role.
Statistics provided by WhoScored.com unless otherwise stated.
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