Massimo Ambrosini, Not Gennaro Gattuso, Is Answer for the Azzurri

This season was always going to be Massimo Ambrosini’s biggest in a Milan shirt. This was so purely for the reason that for this season Ambrosini was charged with the duty of being Milan’s new captain at a time when great changes were sweeping through the club.

With Kaka, Ancelotti, and Maldini all leaving in the space of one month, in addition to the financial troubles the club has faced recently, the 2009-10 season was also going to be one of the most challenging for the Rossoneri in some time.

Not only were there major departures and major off-field issues heading into the season, but on the field Milan’s preseason form was the worst ever in the club’s history. Ronaldinho, in particular, showed a distinct lack of fitness, while the team, in general, seemed lost and confused at times as their rookie coach slowly tried to get his message across.

But here we are in March 2010, and Milan is sitting pretty in second place, just four points behind Inter and with a real chance to win the Scudetto for the first time since 2004. In addition, Milan is still in the Champions League hunt, if only just.

The season has been a relative success and has, in fact, already exceeded the somewhat low expectations of many fans heading into the season.

A number of figures can be accredited for the Rossoneris' successes thus far. Ronaldinho is one, and perhaps Leo the other. Pato also deserves much praise, as do Nesta and Thiago Silva. But one unsung hero is the captain, Massimo Ambrosini.

At 32, Ambrosini is not getting any younger, and many at his age really start to show their, well, age. Gennaro Gattuso is a great example. A world beater in his prime, able to match and defeat any of the game’s biggest stars, whether they be Zidane or Ronaldo, Gattuso was a great warrior. But, today, he is half the player he once was, as his star has fallen dramatically in recent times.

But Ambrosini, who is eight months older than Gattuso, seems to have had a second lease on life this season. His performances have been remarkably consistent, especially for a player who was never renowned for his consistency.

It is not just his consistency either. Rather, it is the high standard he has displayed all season long.

Playing as Milan’s No. 1 choice defensive midfielder, ahead of Gattuso, Ambrosini does not create many goals, nor score many either. But, as with any competent player in this position, what he does do is retrieve the ball for his team so that the players that can create and score goals can get the ball.

The importance of this role cannot be understated. Winning the battle for the ball in midfield is half way to a team winning a football match.

When Real Madrid sold Makelele, one of the best defensive midfielders of the last two decades, after their Champions League triumph in 2002, the team started a gradual slide from the pinnacle of European football. A slide that only this season seems to be coming to an end.

They are so often the unsung heroes, but the role of defensive midfielder in a football team is undoubted.

With Pirlo playing alongside him, and with Seedorf being the preferred choice until recently to complete the midfield diamond, Ambrosini has not had much aid in doing the dirty work in midfield for Milan. Both Seedorf and Pirlo are not known for their defensive capabilities, and neither of them care much for it either.

Despite the lack of support for much of the season, Ambrosini has done a fine job in being the one man in midfield for Milan who hurries, hustles, and hassles for the ball.

Indeed, Ambrosini’s performances have been so impressive this season that it's becoming increasingly hard to understand why Marcello Lippi does not recall the former Italian international to the fold.

In a time when Lippi has few choices at his disposal, such is the current lack of talent in the Azzurri these days, it is baffling how after so many fine performances from Ambrosini, Lippi does not give the new Milan captain at least a chance.

Lippi is known for his extreme stubbornness in not calling players whose performances have warranted a recall. Antonio Cassano was one example—a player whose performance certainly warranted another chance at international level, until recently anyway. Miccoli is another one. These two players are supremely talented, and with Totti retired from international duty, along with Del Piero being too old, the Azzurri are in need of a player in the mould of a Cassano or Miccoli.

In midfield, the same argument can be applied. Gattuso, who continues to be picked, is simply past his prime. He is no longer a first team player for Milan, yet Lippi calls him up instead of Ambrosini who is a first team player and an important one too.

Ambrosini would fit seamlessly alongside Pirlo for the Azzurri, much like he does for Milan, and these two in midfield along with De Rossi of Roma would make for a highly competitive and combative Italian midfield.

The essential point is that Ambrosini’s performances have been far and away superior to those of Gattuso and therefore it is Ambrosini who should be called up for national duty and not Gattuso.

It forces one to conclude that Gattuso is being picked for the wrong reasons. That is, he is being picked for the player that he once was and is not any longer.

Ambrosini, on the other hand, is not getting picked because of the player he once was (for many years Ambrosini was a fringe player for Milan) and not for the player that he is today.