The former Rossoneri midfielder: “Ricci did well as a midfielder but the Frenchman is special due to his leg and experience”
On November 14, 2010, Massimiliano Allegri’s first Milanese derby, he was on the pitch. Starter in Milan’s midfield, which beat Inter 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, sending – exactly on the 12th matchday, as in the derby match on 23 November – a first, real signal to the championship. Massimo Ambrosini remembers that match and that championship well, but quickly returning to the present day he calls for calm. “It will be an important derby, which can also influence, but not be decisive. And, beyond the next match, Milan have already shown signs of being able to compete.”
Precisely in what was his role, from inside to the left in Allegri’s midfield, there will be Adrien Rabiot, absent for over a month due to injury: how much was he missed?
“Premise: for me Ricci did well as a midfielder. But Rabiot is Rabiot and in some ways he is irreplaceable in this Milan team. His absence was inevitably felt.”
What’s special about French?
“The international depth, the experience, the ability to read the moments of the match. And obviously the leg: Rabiot is able to cover the pitch like few midfielders in Italy.”
Perhaps it would have also been useful to Allegri in managing the lead against Pisa and Parma.
“Certainly, even if then, analyzing the goals conceded, they arise more from individual errors or carelessness. Rabiot is the classic player who helps you stay on track, not to be superficial.”
Allegri has so far lost points with the small teams, but has never betrayed in the big matches: how can you explain this?
“Milan were a bit wavering, especially in the second half against lower-ranked teams. Why? It’s difficult to say. The other side of the coin is that, instead, between Roma, Naples, Juventus, Bologna and Atalanta they scored 11 points without ever losing. The strength of the Rossoneri team – especially in big matches – seems to me to be that of creating a lot with little. Let’s take the match against Roma: Milan suffered for long stretches, but in the half hour in which they were superior they had a multitude of scoring opportunities, while behind it he kept his attention high in a championship in which – for now – there have been no perfect teams, it can be an important characteristic.”
Put like this, can the fans look forward to the derby with confidence?
“The derby was always an unpredictable match. Let’s look at what happened last year, when Milan always appeared as underdogs and never lost, winning three out of five matches. Inter, however, remains the strongest team in the championship, it will be a good test.”
What game do you imagine?
“From what we have seen in the first months of the championship, Inter will not give up the aggressiveness requested by Chivu: they have never done it so far, not even in Naples. Allegri’s Milan, however, likes to have spaces in front of them in which to restart…”.
Maybe with Leao and Pulisic, who have not yet played together since the 1st minute of the championship, due to physical problems of both.
“I think it’s an ideal match for the two, although there is a question mark on their compatibility as a couple, especially when facing closed defenses. This shouldn’t be the case with Inter-Milan, however.”
There are those who claim that the Rossoneri have started to concede more goals with Rafa’s return to full capacity.
“I don’t really agree. There is a lot of focus on Leao’s gaps in the defensive phase, but the way Allegri plays, you can isolate an attacker without being affected too much. Rather, I have more doubts about the offensive phase.”
“As I said before, the Pulisic-Leao pairing, without a real center forward, is an unknown in closer matches. Who is the “nine” of the two?”.
The center forward would be Rafa, right?
“In my opinion he is not a first striker and I don’t know how comfortable he can be in certain matches. He is perhaps less so than Nkunku, who in fact played there together with Leao.”
Speaking of the Frenchman: like Gimenez, Nkunku still has zero goals in the league. Did you expect more?
“If I have to be honest, I can only answer yes, especially because I am a great admirer of Nkunku. He has his mitigating factors: he played little anyway and as a centre-forward which is not really his role, he arrived not in top form. However, after the goal against France in the last international break and with the injuries in attack against Milan, I was expecting an acceleration. Instead, he still seems a bit lost.”
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