Napoli 1-2 Milan: Oddo off the bench to provide overlaps for both Milan goals
The line-ups after Maggio and Antonini were forced to go off injured in the first half. Both sides played a fluid front three
A wet and windy night in Naples produced an entertaining game, and a victory for Milan over ten man Napoli.
The home side set out in their usual 3-4-3 system, keeping the same attack and midfield as against Liverpool, only changing the defence where Paolo Cannavaro was suspended, so Gianluca Grava came in and the defence was shuffled.
Milan chose a 4-3-3 or possibly a 4-3-1-2 – the forward trio seemed to be given a license to play as they liked, with Robinho moving between a left-sided position and a trequartista role. There were few surprises in the rest of the side – Sokratis Papastathopoulos partnered Alessandro Nesta at the back.
The awful conditions made a big impact on the game – long passes were frequently misdirected, both because of the wind taking the ball off-course, and pitch making it skim along the surface quickly.
Napoli defensive shape?
The main question was how Napoli would cope with Milan’s attack, as a 3 v 3 situation at the back can often lead to disastrous results on the counter-attack. This was not too much of a problem for two reasons – chiefly because Napoli were often defending with a five-man defence rather than a three (especially because the lack of pace in Milan moves allowed Andrea Dossena and Christian Maggio (and his replacement, Hassan Yebda) to get level with the defence) but also because Milan’s attack didn’t offer enough width to try and stretch the three, with all three forwards spending most of their time in the centre.
Napoli’s front three were fluid, switching positions at will, and narrowing when the wing-backs got forward to provide crosses. Playing the ball in from wide areas is a very good way to get at this Milan side, as Cesena showed, and Napoli threatened a few times in the first half from dangerous crosses – but Christian Abbiati was having a fine game.
Early substitutions key
The first key moment was a nasty clash of heads between Luca Antonini and Christian Maggio after ten minutes. The Milan left-back Antonini was replaced immediately by Massimo Oddo, a right-back, meaning Daniele Bonera went across to the left. Maggio lasted ten minutes before feeling too uncomfortable to continue, and it was while he was off the pitch (with no substitute yet on in his place) that Milan took the lead. Oddo scampered down the right and Robinho used him to play a one-two, before the Brazilian sidefooted the ball into the far corner.
Napoli reshaped well after Pazienza's dismissal, with both Yebda (moved into the centre) and Hamsik helping cover the right flank
Maggio was replaced by Yebda, but Napoli were forced to get used to playing with ten men – Michele Pazienza was dismissed for two needless handballs in the opposition half just before half-time, and Milan went into the break with a one goal and one man advantage.
Red card
It’s never a good time to have a man sent off, but Walter Mazzari was fortunate that the dismissal came in the 45th minute, because he had half-time with his team to reshape, and make sure each player understood his new role.
His solution was to ask Yebda to come inside into a rightish central midfield position, and he and Napoli’s right-sided player, usually Marek Hamsik, covered the right side between them. This worked rather well, and for much of the second half, Napoli pushed Milan back into their own third. It was difficult to believe that Napoli had one fewer player on the pitch – Milan were not stretching the play enough to make the active playing area bigger, and Napoli’s superior energy was clear.
Oddo again
The one player who did match the work rate of the home side was Oddo, who again got forward to deliver a ball into the box, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic powerfully headed home, seemingly making the game safe.
This forced Napoli to push forward even more, sometimes leaving just two defenders at the back and making them vulnerable to Milan counter-attacks. They really should have been punished on the break, but the lack of understanding and the pure selfishness of Milan’s attackers constantly let them off the hook.
Max Allegri removed Ibrahimovic after his goal, bringing on Clarence Seedorf to try and keep possession, but the Dutchman was too keen to look for the killer pass, whilst Andrea Pirlo’s distribution was alarmingly wayward.
All this combined to give Napoli plenty of chances to score a goal, and they eventually managed it thanks to Ezequiel Lavezzi’s incredible scooped shot over Abbiati. He had been giving Papastathopoulos constant problems in the inside-right position with his sheer pace, and Napoli’s pressure fully merited the goal – but Milan held on for the final ten minutes.
Conclusion
The early clash of heads turned out to be of great help to Milan – not only did it mean Oddo came on to provide both assists, the aftermath also meant they had an extra player on the pitch for the first goal.
Napoli adjusted far better to the red card than Milan – the home side were weakened on their right side (with Yebda moving inside) but Milan’s lack of an attacking left-back (with Bonera moved out there) meant they were unable to take advantage of Napoli’s weakness there.
Oddo’s return to fitness and form could prove to be a very big factor in Milan’s season. For a side so clearly lacking in work rate upfront – and mobility in midfield and defence – it was good to see that Oddo still has the legs to motor up and down the flank for 90 minutes. As well as pure energy, he also had composure in the final third and was the game’s key player – despite starting on the bench.
Napoli 1-2 Milan: Oddo off the bench to provide overlaps for both Milan goals
Oddo was superb but it kind of exposed the flaws of the Milan system in recent years.
Because of the lack of width in midfield they always relied on full-backs getting forward. As the standard of full-backs has declined so have results.
The successful teams under Ancelotti had players like Cafu and Zambrotta at his best. Serginho was absolutely immense for a few seasons and even Favalli was a total assist machine one year. Further back you had Maldini (before he moved into the centre) and Helveg but they always seemed to have big-name full-backs.
Zambrotta is past it and guys like Bonera, Antonini and Abate just aren’t the same standard of the guys they had in the past. I’m not sure whether Oddo is still able to produce that kind of form consistently at 34.
Instead of spending so much money on forward players during the summer, they should really have looked to improve the full-back areas.
Totally agree with this. I always wonder why Oddo isn’t rated much even in his homeland Italy. I watched every Milan game live on route to their 2006-07 Champions League Success, and thought he was a solid player.
His crosses too often went wayward by miles since 2008. Trying Abate at RB was not a bad idea IMO. He played right winger before and his pace is good. One would expect him to provide the overlap, but he turns out to be less reliable than expected.
Every time I’ve seen him in the seasons since they’ve won the CL he’s looked out of shape, which was sad because I liked how he played the season they won. I was delighted to see these highlights of him being productive.
Milan are looking like the exemplars of the ´broken team´ approach to tactics.
Seven men who obey tactical instruction and who look to get behind the ball, whereas the front three are virtually metastasised – to the point where it almost doesn’t matter what shape this trio will take up – it doesn’t effect the structure nor the movement of the other seven.
In some ways it reminds me of Lippi´s Juventus between about 1994 and 96 (just before Zidane joined); a front three of Del Piero, Ravanelli and Vialli were pretty much free to intecrhange whilst the back four was screened by a functional midfield trio of Deschamps, DiLivio and Conte (or Tacchincardi and Jugovic) – of course, this Milan do have a considerable creative advantage in being able to field a regista like Pirlo amongst the midfield trio.
I would say that it also reminds me of this seasons Man City. Although the front three have a bit more clearly defined roles, they play in front of a back four screened by three more defensive minded central midfielders. Though there are examples of their front three being all over the place like the first goal against liverpool. Milner (who was playing at left wing) popped up on the right to supply barry.
that’s basic billardo in 86 also, but to a more extreme vein
We’ve discussed this before in this space, of course, but I was actually surprised at how much the front three were involved in defending compared to the Cesena game. Robinho obviously is no tackler, but at least jogs into position and had a couple of interceptions, whereas Ronaldinho has been rather prone to stand at the halfway line or touchline in a disinterested fashion of late.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is how a “broken” front three may effectively break the opposition, particularly when playing against a three man defense. On more than one occasion, Milan’s front players, though they may not have heavily pressured the ball out of defense, all took up positions denying the easy ball back to the defenders. This meant that Napoli had to play positive passes to maintain possession. Especially in Serie A, where possession in one’s own half is so often “free”, this is a tactic that seems like it might take getting used to. Aside from the terrible conditions, Napoli’s possessions were often dreadful compared to Milan’s, lasting only a couple of passes.On the other hand, the long ball switching flanks that has been so effective against this Milan went largely unused by Napoli, likely due to being undermanned.
Despite Gattuso’s mini-renaissance, I still fail to see why Flamini is not getting more playing time. Gattuso’s two scuffed shots merely emphasize his one-dimensional play, and if Boateng has been deemed technically and tactically gifted enough to play in a three-man midfield (and I believe that with his energy and aggression he MUST play in the current setup), how on earth can Flamini be held out of the team? He was good enough to hold for Cesc at Arsenal, and I don’t think it was accidental that he popped up with a decent touch and scoring chance in his <10 min appearance…
Sam,
I reckon the ‘broken team’ approach can pay dividends in certain circumstances.
Especially in teams who look to play on the counter-attack. This is because the attacking unit stays relatively close to the defensive unit, therefore the midfield has less difficulty in feeding said attackers and are less likely to loose possession in trying to do so (since by definition their passing is going to be less expansive).
But Milan at the Bernabeu did the opposite of this after conceeding those two early flukes; the distance between their lines increased.
I am by no means an advocate of broken teams, though in some cases they seem inevitable to accomodate the available personnel. What struck me, though, was the incidental benefit in this particular game. Regrettably (not from a Milan fan’s point of view, though), I missed the Real Madrid game and was surprised that it was so close, esp. given the nature of the goals and the team speed of Madrid. Obviously, becoming less compact is undesirable defensively.
BTW, I enjoyed your recent Arsenal post. Good read about a team that dominated during a period I wasn’t watching much football.
ZM, what do you think of this Milan team? I watch a lot of their games and they look look very weak and vulnerable in defence, but they seem to have found a way of winning the league matches like these that they were losing or drawing in previous seasons.
I dont think they are in a postion to go far in the CL, but do you think they are capable of winning the Scudetto?
Compared to the game against Liverpool, Napoli at least got their wide men forward more often.
I have serious problems with their front three, who operate on their own terms. Nothing changed from the game against Liverpool in their desire to defend. However, in this game, Milan wanted to bring their fullbacks forward and it constantly pinned Napoli back. I was happy to at least see them change from 3-4-1-2 to 3-4-2-1, but it made little difference because Hamsik and Lavezzi did nothing to help win the midfield. I felt the two of them should have at least nullified Pirlo, who had complete freedom to switch the ball. What did Cavani do, either? He was too quiet.
In the central midfield, it was essentially 3v2 for Milan, and when Robinho or Ibrahimovic dropped back, then it was 4v2. I thought Milan did well to drop a striker into the midfield. It allowed them to keep the ball for long periods of time, at least in the first half.
Milan was able to keep the ball as long as they wanted early in the game because it was essentially 8v7 when they had the ball.
I think Napoli were fortunate to only concede two goals. Had their back three not bailed the team out, they looked like a sinking ship. Napoli’s formation requires their two supporting strikers to actually want to defend, which I have yet to see when the numbers are 11v11. I don’t think they’ll stick around at the top of the table much longer.
Would a Milan player get sent off for that 2nd handball ??? Yeah right. Refs favor the big teams.
Yaaaaaaawn
It was nice to see Oddo turn black the clock to when he first arrived at Lazio.
Agree that Milan’s trademark narrow midfield means the fullbacks are the key to the attack, and Milan just hasn’t had the cattle in the past couple of seasons (and I’m sad to say I’d have to include Zambrotta in that remark, he has not performed anywhere near his peak since coming to Milan.)
With this squad, I feel they really should be looking to go back to the diamond midfield and investing in some quality fullbacks.
ZM makes a good remark about the selfishness of the forwards: Ibra and Pato did not work for each other at all and Robinho is rapidly reaching the stage of his career where he is unable to beat his man on his own anymore (a la Ronaldinho when he arrived at Milan!). Perhaps the weather was to blame, but Robinho made a number of appalling dribble attempts.
Im sorry but after watching that magic goal from lavezzi nothing else matters
good job oddo.