Scouting AC Milan's Next Potential Superstar Signing: Josip Posavec
The importance of the goalkeeper is increasing. Over the summer Joe Hart arrived in Serie A with Torino, having been declared unfit for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City revolution on account of his ability on the ball, or relative lack thereof.
Goalkeepers have historically been isolated figures, tactical afterthoughts. To an extent this remains the case today.
Regardless of the system a team utilises—whether it be 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 3-5-2—the goalkeeper is left out of the nominal formation. Their role has often been taken for granted, though this attitude is changing as coaches seek out players specifically suited to their philosophies.
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AC Milan would appear to have their goalkeeping future sorted thanks to the emergence of 17-year-old phenomenon Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose consistency and maturity of performance since taking on the mantle of Rossoneri No. 1 have belied his youth.
However, while the teenager has an exciting career ahead of him, Milan may want to give him competition at some point down the line. And if they do explore this possibility, Josip Posavec would be worth considering.
Palermo's Next Star
Croatia has a reputation as the home of some of European football’s most creative talents. Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic are the two highest-profile examples of the country’s great technical traditions, and a quick look through Serie A squads offers more evidence of this.
Fiorentina’s Milan Badelj is a respected midfield pivot, while his compatriot Nikola Kalinic leads the Viola line. Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Perisic are important progressive options for Inter Milan, while Juventus’ Mario Mandzukic is perhaps one of the most underrated strikers around.
Yet, for all the elegant offensive qualities embodied by the aforementioned individuals, Croatia does not have the same knack for producing great goalkeepers. If Posavec’s recent performances since joining Palermo are anything to go by, this could be about to change.
Born in Varazdin, a city in north-western Croatia known as "little Vienna," Posavec began his football career as a youth with several local teams before joining Inter Zapresic in 2010. There, after several years as a squad player while the club languished in the Croatian second tier, he established himself upon their promotion as first-choice goalkeeper in 2015-16 while still only 19 years old.
By the time he broke into Inter Zapresic’s starting lineup, he had already alerted the attention of foreign suitors.
Indeed, he agreed terms to join Palermo in August 2015, with the original plan being that he would join the Italian outfit at the conclusion of the 2015-16 campaign. However, with the Rosanero allowing backup goalkeeper Simone Colombi to leave, Posavec arrived in January, six months earlier than initially envisioned.
For many outsiders, Palermo does not seem like the ideal footballing environment for a youngster to develop, primarily because of the decision-making of club president Maurizio Zamparini, who made seven managerial appointments over the course of the 2015-16 season.
Such frequent chopping and changing gave the impression of a club without strategy, a hotbed of instability. In spite of Zamparini’s willingness to hire and fire, though, Palermo are respected for their player recruitment and development. Indeed, some of the finest players in the world made their breakthrough with the Sicilian side.
Paris Saint-Germain duo Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore had their first taste of European football at the Stadio Renzo Barbera, as did Juventus’ Paulo Dybala and Sevilla’s Franco Vazquez. Along with South American prospects, Palermo have brought in and nurtured eastern European talent, including the likes of Fiorentina’s Josip Ilicic.
Posavec gave the first hints that he could be the next rough diamond to flourish with the club on his debut, which came against Bologna in Serie A on February 28.
In that game he made two exceptional saves—one in each half—to deny opposing striker Mattia Destro. The first gave fans a glimpse of the Croat’s reflexes, as he got down to touch wide an accurate effort from outside the box with his fingertips, while the second showed his ability to win in one-on-one situations, as he stuck out a foot to deny the finisher.
As a result of those two stops, Posavec’s first competitive appearance in Italy yielded a clean sheet. It was an auspicious beginning, and his chances of progress only increased over the summer as former No. 1 Stefano Sorrentino left for Chievo.
Suddenly, Palermo’s goalkeeper jersey was free, and Posavec wasted no time in asserting his claim to it.
He was unable to keep another clean sheet on the opening day of this season as his side lost 1-0 to Sassuolo at home. Despite conceding, however, he made Football Italia writer Dave Taylor’s team of the week.
“He was one of the few inspirational men amongst the hosts,” wrote Taylor. “[He] made two excellent blocks, one on Alessandro Gazzola’s volley and then Matteo Politano’s follow-up. Reactive.”
In his last three appearances, Posavec has earned performance ratings of above seven per WhoScored.com, ensuring Palermo conceded just two goals in the process. This sequence of strong individual displays included some outstanding saves.
In the second half of the 1-0 away win over Atalanta, he showed incredible reflexes to shift his feet following a deflected Alejandro Gomez strike, angling his body to somehow tip the Argentinian’s effort over the crossbar.
In the 1-0 home defeat to Juventus, his reactions were once again on show as he denied a close-range volley from his compatriot Mandzukic.
Donnarumma's Need for Competition
Milan have often been able to call upon two solid shot-stoppers in the past. Between 2000 and 2010, Dida established himself as one of the club’s finest of all time in his position, but he first had to face off a tough challenge from Christian Abbiati. And in the 1990s, Sebastiano Rossi was kept on his toes by talented youngsters in Francesco Antonioli and Carlo Cudicini.
At present, however, the same level of competition simply does not exist.
Following Abbiati’s retirement and the departure of Diego Lopez on loan to Espanyol in the summer, Donnarumma was left with Gabriel, a 24-year-old without concerted experience of Serie A football, and 16-year-old youth-team graduate Alessandro Plizzari, as backup.
With the goalkeeper becoming more important in today's game, consistently depending on one teenager simply isn't viable. Posavec, who is still only 20, would provide a good long-term solution to this problem.
Alert, quick on his feet and a good decision-maker, the youngster has made an immediate impact in his short time with Palermo thus far.
Stylistically, he may not yet have the composure on the ball required to assimilate perfectly into Vincenzo Montella’s style of possession with Milan, though in this sense he is not unlike Donnarumma, whose buildup play remains relatively basic.
Both are reactive goalkeepers with a preference for penalty-box dominance. In this sense, it is unsurprising that the two are statistically comparable.
Donnarumma has kept three clean sheets to Posavec’s one so far this season, though he has made slightly less saves. The Italian has, however, just shaded his Croatian counterpart when it comes to distribution accuracy and catches made.
Donnarumma is arguably the best young goalkeeper in the world and has what it takes to be a future star. Like all of Milan’s great shot-stoppers from the past, though, he would benefit from a bit of healthy competition; the burgeoning Posavec would prove a more-than-capable rival.
All statistics provided by Squawka.com unless otherwise stated.
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