Should Argentina Learn From AC Milan?
It's a strange proposition, encouraging La Albiceleste coach Sergio Batista to study an Italian team containing zero Argentines. It's even stranger when you consider that AC Milan's biggest rivals, crosstown Internazionale Milano, have been possibly the most Argentine team in Europe for the past several seasons. Perhaps Batista should study how Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini got the best out of his Argentine players too, but I think the best example for Batista to follow is that of AC Milan's Massimiliano Allegri.
AC Milan and Argentina have a very similar team structure: the center backs are superb when fit, the fullbacks are either not world class or over the hill, the goal keeper is decent but not great, there is a clutch host of tough tackling, energetic defensive midfielders, and the most important similarity is an almost ridiculousquantityof world-class forwards.
While most people would point out that AC Milan's fullbacks - Ignazio Abate and Gianluca Zambrotta - are the weak links for the team, I think that the surplus of strikers is the real problem. Massimiliano Allegri's tactics, it seems, have gotten rid of both of these issues, and now AC Milan sits atop Serie A, looking convincingly better than Internazionale.
How did he do this? As this article points out, a good deal of this has to do with not only utilizing his best players, but by eliminating the weaker ones from the equation. By narrowing the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-3-1-2, Allegri forces play through the middle. Even if his decent but not incredible fullbacks do bomb forward too much, and leave a wide channel behind them exposed, the three ball-winning midfielders (Gattuso, Ambrosini, Flamini, or Boateng) behind Clarence Seedorf can! provide cover.
These tactics allow AC Milan to have a sturdier looking team than the back five would suggest on paper, but more importantly, forces Allegri to make a tough choice up front with his forwards. The Rossoneri have Ronaldinho, Pato, Robinho, Ibrahimovic and ageless but now injured super sub Inzaghi to call on. Allegri usually uses Ibrahimovic and a wide forward to work with Seedorf. Two huge egos ride the bench at the start of almost every match, usually Ronaldinho and one other.
Not only does this system seem to be working against the best in the Serie A, it allows Allegri to call on more firepower when needed and still maintain a non-suicidal formation on the pitch. The shift from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3 when losing is far less dangerous move (especially with regards to being caught on the counterattack) than the strategy some coaches are forced to employ: starting in a 4-3-3, conceding, and then having to bring on another forward in a desperate looking 4-2-4.
So what does this have to do with La Albiceleste? If you wanted to substitute the above names from AC Milan with their Argentine counterparts, I think most of those sentences would still ring true.
Sergio Batista has a similar selection headache, especially up front. Messi, Tevez, Milito, Aguero, Higuain are all superb when healthy and on form. So how to best include them all? Just don't. Batista should instead build from the base up, covering for his fullbacks, who, like AC Milan's, aren't the best out there.
Without a Dani Alves or Ashley Cole style back, Batista should use all three of his excellent and energetic center midfielders: Valencia's Ever Banega, Inter's Esteban Cambiasso and Barcelona's Javier Mascherano. If these hardmen aren't available, there's always Fiorentina's Mario Bolatti, or in desperation, Real Madrid bench warmer Fernando Gago.
Three of these players would compensate for the weakness in the fullback position and allow an attacking midfielder like Javier Pastore a lot of freedom to lin! k with M essi and another forward. Batista should recognize that an inability to dominate the midfield cost Argentina a chance to go far in South Africa 2010. Mascherano was mostly left on his own, with Cambiasso and Banega not even making Maradona's final 23. The effect of such a selection was plain for all to see. Teams could attack the suspect fullbacks, boss around the midfield, and effectively negate the hugely talented group of forwards Argentina brought to the tournament by starving them of service.
While international football isn't the same as league play, Batista should look the collection of footballers most similar to his Argentina and study their strengths and weaknesses. Currently, Allegri is delivering a good lesson at AC Milan - a lesson that should be followed. It's time for some Argentine egos to ride the bench, and for the midfield to get grittier.
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