The only way forward for Milan

Never has it been more appropriate to invest our time and money in the young. In the last decade, we witnessed yet another Milan generation win and take their seat next to fellow Club Legends. But just as it was apparent during Fabio Capello’s second spell with the club: these legends were reaching the end of their terms. Though the Ancelotti era may not be seen as prolific as either Capello’s or Sacchi’s, it still involved a Scudetto, Coppa Italia and obviously, two Champions League trophies. While attempts were made by Carlo and Leonardo to prolong the dynasty of these players, all chapters of history must conclude sooner or later.

For Milan fans, this particular chapter can be seen to have officially ended at the end of last season. Though Massimo Ambrosini continues to play for the club, the likes of Nesta, Inzaghi, Gattuso and Seedorf have departed, leaving the club to rekindle a fire that seems to have burned so effortlessly for the San Siro club over the years. What seemed to have been such an alien concept for Milan now becomes a club imperative: making the most of its youth. Where once emerged defensive stalwarts of the game, now occasionally sparks of talent tiptoe forth, with the likes of Astori and Matri as examples. But now in this time of financial difficulty on both a club and national level, the importance of youth is realised.

This article will focus primarily on the young full-back, Mattia De Sciglio, who recently broke into the Milan first team. Born in Milan like many great players before him, the player conducts himself with an air of maturity uncharacteristic for someone of his age. Outside of football, he is friendly and sociable, but at the same time demonstrates traits or mannerisms similar to that of Alessandro Nesta: quiet, stoic, focused, confident and seems to carry an enormous sense of pride and responsibility. To Milan fans, these characteristics alone were enough to make fans shiver with anticipation, as they waved goodbye to Nesta and longed for defensive brilliance once again from their youth academy.

Though Mattia’s debut came last season, there is no questioning that this season has been his break-through, as he supplanted Antonini at the unfamiliar left-back position and earned rave reviews from former Milan legends. When playing, De Sciglio is quietly independent and spends a majority of his time doing the important things. By this I mean he creates a mental image of the area on the pitch he never wants to see the ball in i.e. the crossing position. He will then commit himself to this task and will more often than not achieve it in style; sometimes without needing to make a tackle. As the game goes on and he becomes comfortable on the pitch, with his teammates and with his main opponent, he’ll become more adventurous; but only so long as it is in keeping with the pattern of play (if Milan are winning or if they need a goal). In this sense he is comparable to Maldini, as he plays in this similar way.

De Sciglio therefore represents the most successful transition from Primavera to First Team since Demetrio Albertini. The process seems so quick that it is difficult to pinpoint where it all clicked, but for me, his rushed entrance into the disastrous Milan derby last season should be marked as his display was certainly admirable. I personally see a lot of the great defenders in Mattia, and while it may not be so obvious now, he has the same ‘no-nonsense’ approach that has worked so well at Milan in recent years as Thiago Silva will justify. He is, in essence, an ‘old fashioned’ defender. Though he isn’t built like one, and certainly doesn’t have the same tenacity that made players like Nesta so terrifying, he does conduct himself in the same way. He distances himself from social media, flashy cars and other modern adaptations to the game and this can earn him a great amount of respect as it did with Gattuso, Inzaghi and Nesta.

Mattia De Sciglio is truly an example to young defenders trying to push into the Milan team. In a season that has thus far been a nightmare for Milan’s defenders, an even better defender to De Sciglio will need to come forth and challenge the likes of Mexes and Zapata for the terrifying role of centre back. Pre-season we saw names like Albertazzi and Iotti trying to scrape together a few precious minutes on the pitch, minutes that the likes of Albertazzi knows are few and far between at a club so deep-rooted in its traditions. In fairness to Milan youngsters, what De Sciglio has done is truly uncommon and perhaps lucky, as the likes of Abate and Antonini required extensive experience before they could make the jump to Milan’s first team. Even now, the likes of Paloschi, Verdi, Oduamadi, Calvano, Ely, Fossati and even Comi, who was so prolific last season at Primavera level, require loan moves to pick up varying amounts of match experience. For someone like Alberto Paloschi, a feeling of being at Milan at the wrong time must be the predominant one, as the youth movement appears to be in its opening phases at the club; effectively leaving a 22-year-old Paloschi out of such proceedings. This has been the case for a long time now as players such as Davide Astori, and more prominently Alessandro Matri, have escaped Milanello where access into the first team was restricted to those worth their weight in gold. While neither has become a world class player, they still draw attention from fans eager to see the youth movement resurrected at Milan.

As already seen with Ignacio Abate, the process of back-to-back loan moves can raise the game of Milan’s youngsters; providing it is done in a smart manner. Take Alexander Merkel for instance, who took just half a season at Genoa to influence the Rossoneri into resigning him. Though the reunion was short lived, it would be foolish to renounce the idea of the German returning to Milan. Upon close inspection, the move is flawless. Merkel gets regular minutes having already played in Serie A, coupled with a healthy working environment with familiar faces in Borriello, Donnarumma and of course more plus close proximity to Milan and positive fan support. Genoa, like Torino, has proven to be an excellent club to send the young players to. This has lead to a multitude of deals involving such youngsters that have more often than not benefited Milan. Even now, Merkel is free to play at Genoa without being shackled to Milan, through the principles of loaning and Milan get to keep El Shaarawy.

Some clubs just suit the player in question. Newly promoted outfits such as Torino and Pescara provide the young players with an adequate challenge (providing they are played of course) as they face top class opposition every week. Both Verdi and Romagnoli, at Torino and Pescara respectfully, should seek to make the most of this challenge and warrant a return to Milan. Anything higher or lower than this can be ineffective, as at a big club the young players won’t be played, and at smaller clubs the player progression may not be as sharp as it would be in the top flight of Italian football.

Currently, there are new names for the defence in Milan’s youth that invite interest. The brother of Rolf Feltscher, (Swiss-Venezuelan defender on loan from Parma) Mattia Desole, is showing promise, having joined Milan from Inter’s youth academy. Krisztian Tamas is the Hungarian left-back who has shown similar progression to that seen from Gareth Bale when he was at Southampton. Then if you go even deeper you’ll find Christian Maldini and Cristian Galliani, not much more needed to be said!

The days of enormous spending are numbered as any major investment in a player could end up bankrupting the club. Therefore a more sophisticated and cost effective approach will be needed and Milan are in a position to do so. With super young prodigies in Hachim Mastour and (potentially) Gabriele Capanni tipped for greatness in the future, Milan will definitely have youngsters to rival those at Barcelona. And finally on the subject of Barcelona: The Catalan’s are now looking to replace the great Carlos Puyol, and will inevitably look to their youth department. Let’s see if Milan can’t produce a defender worthy of replacing Puyol before Barcelona manages to!