Milan 1-0 Juventus: Milan sit deep, then break quickly through their front three
The starting line-ups
Juventus lost in Serie A for the second time under Antonio Conte.
Max Allegri continued with the 4-3-3 shape he used away at Napoli last week – Mario Yepes replaced Francesco Acerbi at the back, while Marco Amelia started in goal.
Antonio Conte picked Martin Caceres on the left side of defence in place of the injured Giorgio Chiellini – previously, Caceres has played to the right of the back three, with Andrea Barzagli moving across, but Barzagli remained in his usual position. Ahead of him, Mauricio Isla started rather than Stephane Lichtsteiner, who must have been more badly injured than was reported before the game.
Milan were a shade fortunate to win the game – it was universally agreed that the ball didn’t strike Isla’s arm for Robinho’s penalty – but overall they were the better side, as Gigi Buffon agreed. They defended solidly and attacked at great speed.
3 v 3
It’s always interesting when a 4-3-3 meets a 3-5-2. The front three of the first side have to make a decision about how they’re going to play without the ball – do they press three-versus-three, or do the wide players drop into deeper positions, allowing the opposition centre-backs time on the ball, but preventing them from passing into midfield easily?
Milan chose the former. Stephan El Shaaraway stayed high on the left, while there was a little more fluidity between Robinho and Kevin-Prince Boateng in the other two roles – after some early switching, Boateng stayed more permanently in the centre, with Robinho wide-right. Milan pressed Juventus heavily, particularly when Buffon was taking goal-kicks, and this disturbed their passing rhythm throughout the game – when Boateng pushed forward onto Leo Bonucci, Antonio Nocerino supported him by pressing Andrea Pirlo, and Buffon had nowhere to go.
Overall, Juve’s passing was dreadful for the majority of the game, and although sloppy distribution from the likes of Pirlo and Arturo Vidal can’t solely be attributed to Milan’s closing down, it was unquestionably a factor.
Boateng positioning
At the start of the game, with Riccardo Montolivo and Nocerino occupying Claudio Marchisio and Vidal, it seemed that Nigel de Jong and Pirlo would be the game’s two ‘free’ midfielders - and therefore only one winner in terms of creativity.
But after around 15 minutes, Boateng started to drop onto Pirlo and prevent him dictating the play from deep, and now Juve had more of a problem – Pirlo was unable to start attacks. The free man was now Bonucci, and he broke forward out of the back, and hit some excellent long diagonals to the two wing-backs, who pushed high up the pitch but also had freedom to move deep to collect the ball, knowing that Milan’s full-backs wouldn’t want to advance too high up the pitch.
However, both Milan full-backs had good games. On the right, Massimo De Sciglio made a couple of good interceptions and tackled Kwadwo Asamoah when he tried to dribble past. On the left, Kevin Constant didn’t give Isla any time to cross – he blocked more crosses than any other player in a single game in Europe’s major five leagues this season, a rather obscure but nevertheless telling statistic.
Milan breaks
When Milan got the ball, they broke quickly. Their formation was different from that used by Inter in their win over Juventus, but there was a similarity in how they kept three men up the pitch, and were fluid yet never naive in leaving Pirlo free. Boateng spun in behind him when Milan won possession, while El Shaaraway simply had too much speed for the Juve backline.
Pirlo’s defensive play has improved since he moved to Juve last year, but often it seemed like Milan were simply breaking three-against-three, with Pirlo offering little support. The forward running of Montolivo and Nocerino helped Milan play quick transitions, and they really should have managed a goal in open play.
Second half
After the break, Milan defended deeper, which gave the Juventus forwards more space between the lines to work in. Meanwhile, the full-backs tucked in closer to the centre-backs, which gave Juve’s wing-backs more room on the flanks, and gradually Juventus began to dominate, with Pirlo sometimes moving higher up the pitch, out of the reach of Boateng.
But the major story in the second half was the substitutions made by Conte and co. At half-time, Isla was removed with Simone Padoin replacing him. He’s a versatile player and can happily play wing-back – but generally on the left side, and he’s a much more defensive player than Isla. He didn’t take advantage of the freedom he was being afforded down the flank, and Juventus surely could have done with a more attack-minded player there – Simone Pepe, for example.
The second change – bringing on Sebastian Giovinco for Quagliarella – was a straight swap, but the final move was Paul Pogba on for Asamoah. Pogba went into the centre of midfield, while Caceres half-heartedly advanced further up on the left side – but it didn’t help Juventus stretch the play or create chances, and it was difficult to see the logic in the switch.
Allegri, however, made one very clever change – taking off Robinho and bringing on Giampaolo Pazzini, who generally stayed to the right of the pitch. As a natural centre-forward, his hold-up play enabled Milan to get up the pitch at a time when Juventus were pinning them back, and when Milan’s attackers seemed to have run out of energy. Juve still dominated possession, but Pazzini was a useful out-ball, and Milan looked more composed.
Cristian Zapata for Mexes was a straight swap, apparently for injury reasons, while late on Mathieu Flamini replaced Boateng and sat deeper – giving energy and an extra midfielder after Juve had introduced Pogba.
Conclusion
Is the main story that Juve lost again, or that Milan actually played well? Either way, the latter’s 4-3-3 formation seems to suit the players, and certainly suited the challenge against Juventus, with Boateng playing an interesting role as a part-false nine, part-forward destroyer. Milan had to be brave, leaving three forwards high up the pitch, but after Boateng dropped onto Pirlo (rather than Bonucci), it seemed a logical strategy for countering.
However, it must be emphasised that Milan needed good games from individuals. The full-backs had to be clever with their positioning – not giving the Juve wing-backs time on the ball, but not leaving the centre-backs exposed two-versus-two, while in the centre of the pitch Milan simply won the individual bettle – and against this Juve midfield, it’s not often you can say that. Montolivo, in particular, was superb.
It’s unfortunate that exactly what makes Boateng suited to that role has also been his biggest hindrance during pretty much all of his career. His body just can’t cope with his physical playstyle and he’s been having trouble staying fit since his youth days at Hertha BSC.
Playing it a little smarter would probably serve him better in the long term, he has the vision and skills on the ball to play as an intelligent midfielder rather than the enforcer he usually is now.
First of all, I’m a big fan, and this article is another example why – good stuff!
Two buts though:
) and Robinho; former, in my opinion, wasn’t so offensive as you stated – Milan starlet was constantly involved in defending against Isla and Vidal, thus for the most of the time operated deeper than his Brazilian colleague, not the other way around.
1) little one – Mattia De Sciglio, not Massimo;
2) positioning of El Shaarawy (not Shaaraway
In fact, thanks to Robson’s high positioning Asamoah was slightly pushed back for the majority of the first half in which Juve were surprisingly unaggressive – they didn’t press as hard as usual (maybe through Conte’s squad rotation policy).
That changed straight after the break but Milan, also very surprisingly, managed to thrive under this, also thanks to introdution of Pazzini as you mentioned.
Another thing is De Jong’s role in preventing usual bianconeri’s forwards movement (which you emphasise so hard in almost every other post about them). He simply occupied space between lines, where Vucinic or Quagliarella would drop in order to pull one central defender from his zone, creating space to explore for a partner. Dutchman also orchestrated positioning of Montolivo and Nocerino to keep Vidal and Marchisio far from their forwards which resulted in lack of small play between them (another standard Juve’s move).
Sorry for my english (obviously I’m not native) and respects!
pb,
I must disagree. Since his arrival in Milan Boateng has never shown good vision (I could rather call him short sighted). Hence he won’t be good playmaker, either in deeper or advanced position.
And because his lack of stamina and defensive approach, neither be effective as box-to-box nor pivot, thus there is no place for him in rossoneri’s midfield.
Right front spot is unoccupied though (Emanuelson is simply not the man and Robinho and Pato prefer central positions), and it might suit him just fine.
I disagree about Boateng dropping to pick up Pirlo. He did drop to Pirlo’s position, but then Pirlo would move 2-3 metres to left/right and Boateng would never follow, so it’s not really marking per se. What stifled Juve is that Pirlo had no one to pass to, since every option was really well covered by Milan. Many times they just left Pirlo alone to make pass attempts in vain.
What happened to Flamini, how come he’s been such a flop? I can’t understand it.
I really liked Flamini when he had THAT season for Arsenal (07/08), but you’re right, he’s sunk out of view. A bit of a shame, I always admired his attitude and energy.
lasko,
Boateng didn’t man mark Pirlo, he was simply marking his zone. There’s a difference between marking and pressing though, and I agree that Prince didn’t press Pirlo as hard, as he should, but well enought to disconnect him from Vidal and Marchisio. It had sense, because it seems that the point was not to steal from Pirlo, but from slightly advanced zones. Otherwise Boanteg would face three Juve’s defenders alone with the ball and he’s not that good in dribbling or in hold-up play.
Graeat Article ZM. Im a Juve supporter but Milan deserved to win. Even though the penalty was “phanton”.
The lead up play to the penalty was fantastic by Milan, Montolivo’s one two with De Sciglio was sensational, as he shuttled past Marchisio (who was very very quiet). Nocerino then completely lost Vidal and had a free header from Robinho’s cross. So ZM, you are right in asserting that Milan deserved a goal in open play. (Vidal looked extremely nervous playing horizontal passes as opposed to his normal bustling vertical game.)
Milan’s approach was fantastic and Chelsea should take note. It will be very interesting to see next week if Toro play Cerci-Santana- and two strikers (Scrigna, Bianchi, Sansone or Meggiorini). Ventura’s 4-2-4 caused havoc for Firentina and their wing backs and if Toro take this aggressive approach against Juve then we will have to adjust like we should have adjusted for this game.
Fiorentina’s Olivera ended up staying very deep in that game to pick up Meggiorini, there’s no way we could trust Pirlo with that pure defensive midfield come central defender role. Sort of the spanish pure stopping role, that barca use with busquets or makelele etc.
Do we see the return of the back 4. I hope so! The Juve of the mid-late nineties was so strong because they could switch between a back three/four at the click of Lippi’s fingers.
Would be a good game for you to cover ZM!
In terms of this game I thought there were a few other interesting points to raise.
As explained earlier Nocerino and Montolivo were fantastic, it was great to see Nocerino playing the midfield role that we are accustomed to, as with Montolivo who is fast becoming one of the best shuttlers in the world. His link up play with Balotelli in the nazionale from a trequartista position has been fantastic. In this game he destroyed one of the most mobile midfielders in the world, Vidal, and gave him taste of his own medicine. This role seems to suit him more than playing alongside De Jong in a 4-2-3-1.
De Jong’s role here was also much better, this season he has played two roles either 1) alongside Montolivo (effectively similar to the Pirlo-Gattuso relationship at the 2006 wc – or his own with Van Bommel, or 2) alone in front of the defence and expected to play a regista role. De Jong can play role (1) but not role (2). Here, as ZM noted he was the free man, but he used his freedom in a defensive sense as noted by MN. Milan’s central defenders do not like following their opponents up the field, so every time Juve tried their typical up-back move that ZM has spoken about previously, De Jong would pick up (usually Vucinic) in the trequarti zone. Also when Juve had the ball higher up the pitch Boateng would still sit high and De Jong would push up directly on Pirlo which really suits De Jong’s charactoristics. De Jong’s vertical movement defending is very good, much better than his horizontal defensive movements (Something that always hinders the Dutch National team because he leaves space in front of his central defenders – http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/06/14/germany-2-1-holland-tactics/)Note how Ozil and other clever number 10’s can get away from him.
I thought Juve’s tactics overall were bad and in the second half we were mediocre tactically even though our players played better. Clearly, the problem was that we were getting caught out 3-3 at the back the whole game, even when we were chasing the goal we should have still had a free man at the back. I would have started the game with a 4-1-4-1, allow Matri to play his bomber role, give Juve a free man at the back, but most importantly, if El Sharrawy and Robinho insisted on sitting on the full backs then pirlo and two centre backs could have worked around Boateng, allowing Juve to build from the back. This would have put the creative pressure back on De Jong who would have struggled as he has done all season in that role, particularly against smaller teams. Even in the second half we had a chance to change the game by using a 4-3-3. I would have removed Marchiso for Pogba (straight swap), Isla for De Ceglie (De Ceglie to lb and caceres to rb), and Vidal for Giovinco (Asamoah alongside, Pirlo and Pogba in mid and giovinco, vucinic and quagliarealla up front).
Milan will get results if they continue playing this way which is a far cry from the early 2000’s as ZM has previously written about.
I agree on De jong, he is however not a regista or playmaker more of an enforcer that’s why he is so bad in this position when expected to play as a playmaker. In Allegri’s formation where he puts montolivo alongside him is because Montolivo is a playmaker, in fact i think he possess a deep lying playamaker with attacking midfielder playmaker characteristics. The playmaking comes from montolivo not de jong. I think in this game the midfielders marchisio and vidal and pirlo did not play a good game, on the other hand the milan 3 of nocerino, montolivo and dejong did and montolivo is a classy midfielder with very good passing capability on his day. i guess the midfield trio in juventus that day didn’t work and the pogba substitution didn’t make any sense.
i think it again showed the problem juve has when there are players pressing pirlo and bonucci. allegri was smart in having boateng press his zone thus both pirlo and bonucci was affected and juve had no playmaking. with both milan fullbacks staying deep the wingers needed good games but the milan fullbacks were better on this day. anyway, boateng isn’t really a playmaker, he makes runs and can be effective as box-to-box player but not constantly- he isn’t exceptionally good at a particular thing just he can do well generally when put in the right position. Just goes to show the conte needed marrone to fill in one of the centerback positions so he can make play from deep.
http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/06/14/germany-2-1-holland-tactics/
Michael,
Juventus transformation into 4 – 3 – 3 would be definitly an interesting move, but I don’t think it would change the game the way you’re suggesting.
Out of possession, particularly in the second half, Milan defended in two banks of four, with “Pharaoh” on the left, Nocerino and De Jong in the center (Dutch slightly deeper, staying a spare man), and Montolivo/Flamini on the right flank (much narrower than Stephan though). Boateng (after his departure – Montolivo) played in front of them with Robinho/Pazzini higher on the right.
Thus Pirlo had two backs to help him pass Boateng all that time (one was occupied by Robson/Giampaolo, which would be De Ceglie’s role after your changes). Asamoah and Pogba would be covered by Riccardo/Matthieu nad Antonio exactly the same as Marchisio – Vidal, with support from De Jong, who in the same time would squeeze one of Juve’s forward trio in space between him and center backs (finally having spare man too). Wide players would be covered by Milan’s full backs (most probably pushed to the lines through narrow positioning, as wing backs were) and Caceres tracked by El Shaarawy.
Since an “Old Lady” would still lack classic no. 9 to fight in the air with Yepes-Mexes/Zapata a picture of play shouldn’t move much.
4 – 1 – 4 – 1 might be much more troubling, but not in the center of the pitch, only on the flanks, where finally would be equally 2 vs 2 (though Pepe, arguably best Juve’s winger, is still not fully fit), thus most interesting thing should be the way Milan’s wide players would pick up their antagonists (particularly on the right flank with Robinho not very keen to work hard in defence and De Sciglio making silly mistakes in positioning higher up from his zone next to right center back: Giaccherini – Asamoah might be prefect solution).
Guidolin had udinese playing 4-1-4-1 on rare occassions and Asamoah and Isla could be used in either central or wide midfield roles. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/08/16/arsenal-1-0-udinese-tactics/
Udinese controlled this game and similar tactics from Conte to start off with would have helped. We should be taking advantage of our players versatility a lot more. That’s why buyng players from Udinese is always a good move. His players are fit and tactically intelligent.
Guidolin made sure he had the spare man at the back to start off with.
Also, I think Matri is a classic no 9 and so is Bendtner. I would have used Matri in the role that he played perfectly against i think Milan and definitely Inter in last years 1st round games. With two centre backs on him as the sole striker. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uwYZLObmc4
Note if Asamoah is used in a central role then either Vucinic or Giovinco can play the inside left role and either drag de sciglio to centre of pitch or find unoccupied space in the middle of the park.
My reference to Juve’s lack of classic no 9 was strictly limited to your suggestion in both tactical and personal changes for the second half in which neither Matri, nor Bendtner were included.
I totaly agree that Juvetus was too static, actually against their own players dynamism and versatility. They practically didn’t play in most fragile (due to lack of personal stabilization and tactics familiarity) rossoneri’s zones: on the crossroads of half-wingers, center- and full backs, mainly through lack of horizontal movement and position swaps in order to shred those defensive triangles, by draging players out of position. How vulnerable to fluidity Diavolo’s defense is showed Malaga, particularly in the first leg.
Excellent analysis as always. Montolivo’s rise and De Jong’s increasing understanding of the Italian game have been absolutely key to Milan climbing back up the table.
One question – I read you (either here or in twitter) expressing your disapproval about Milan’s fullback pair over the last couple of seasons – Abate and Antonini. I totally agree with that, as both are extremely mediocre. Defensively pointless in Antonini’s case and offensively useless in Abate’s case. But what do you feel about Di Sciglio and Constant?
Personally, I’m quite excited about both. Di Sciglio has the excellent ability to cross accurately from distance (but only with his right foot) and is deceptively aggressive, while Constant is quite intelligent and his positioning is miles better than Antonini’s.
Curious about your opinion (and anyone else’s).
Antonini has improved his defensive play greatly in past year, so games like CL’s quarter finals against Barcelona, when he was simply the best part of his formation are not just, as someone said, like chicken’s fart (which apparently happens once a year)
Thus I disagree about Constant’s superiority on that matter, but he’s learning fast (in his first two matches as full back his positioning was so bad, combined with clumsy tackling, that he provoked one penalty each), also thanks to Yepes’ expirience.
I’m far more impressed by his inncreassing respossiblility, because in the biggining I thought he would be another lonely rider (like Drenthe for instance), but against an “Old Lady” he made only one attempt to dribble on his own side of the pitch.
If he’ll also find the way to cooperate with Nocerino and El Shaarawy up front, which hasn’t happened yet, he might be real alternative for Antonini.
Abate is a mistery to me. In Squadra Azzura he defends brilliantly, but with rossoneri makes many simple mistakes. Up front, most of his this season’s performances were quiet, maybe because he wasn’t fully fit due to constant muscle injuries, but yet he managed to contribute two assists (second best in a team).
De Sciglio’s deliveries and overall technique seem better and he’s usually more involved when Milan has the ball, but at the back he’s still not a part of a unit and lets opponents pass him too easily (against Anderlecht he didn’t block a single cross from his zone).
He’s only 20 though, so has whole future in front of him to make a progress.
I have no problems with Abate’s defense (except when he goes to pieces against Milito), but he simply cannot cross. Di Sciglio is a clear upgrade in that department and should always start over Abate for me.
Constant is not all that yet, I agree. But I think he links up well with El Shaarawy. Antonini, for all his heart and passion, is simply not good beyond a level.
Link up play between “Pharaoh” and Constant is, in my opinion, acceptable only because former is right footed and usually cuts inside, otherwise they would constantly run in each other’s way. Especially in the final third they need to upgrade their small play (some one twos would be perfect, at least after throw ins) in order to effectively overload that zone, not simply overcrowded it.
How poor they cooperate showed clash against Viola, when Cuadrado outplayed them both in offense and defence (http://www.zonalmarking.net/2012/11/13/milan-1-3-fiorentina-tactics/).
I also noticed my mistake, as instead of “half” I wrote “side” in sentence: “(…) but against an “Old Lady” he made only one attempt to dribble on his own side of the pitch” – I don’t appreciate dribbling close to own goal, not in general.
About Abate, I find his defensive play in Italy’s national team simply impressive, particularly in cross changes in marking (I don’t know if this is an exact english term) with center back and his back up play for whole formation (when the ball is played from the other flank). And this is where he fails in Milan (this, and half of last season), not only against Milito.
His crossing and technical abilities in general are limited, and I can’t imagine how that could change, thus yes, De Sciglio should be the first choice against most of the sides in Serie A.
Hey ZM,
It would be great if you could make it easier to find your articles you publish for other sites (espn, guardian, etc). I would definitely read more of them if the list of articles you publish elsewhere was updated more often.
Thanks!
i dont know what these guys are writing and i dont understand it . i will give my take on this one .
juventus offense is in a certain way .
1)their forwards make those runs behind the defense in a diagonal where on they hold the ball and bring others into play . now if you play deeper then you dont leave too much space for them to run behind a thing which milan did . they did try to play a high as like other juves opponents like roma or even inter who would had lost had juve finished better inside first 15 min.
2) when the forwards hold the ball they try to pass to on rushing midfielders in this case vidal and marchisio . now since milan played deep and compact there wasnt space for these midfielders to exploit . now another thing is milan defended very well they didnt let too much space between the lines and covered it very well so another of juve’s offensive tactics goes in vain .
3) now most effective of the juve’s offensive play had been there full backs with their deep runs in the heart of the defense had been on of the main feature of the juve’s attack . now milan fullbacks did an excellent job so much so that juve had to substitute one of the fullbacks at halftime . they effectively neutralized them one milan fullbacks even made record no. of blocks ( this i didnt know).
now about juve’s defense is all about stopping opposition in tracks they try to close you down and if not possible they will foul you . the trouble with this is with teams playing quick counter and good inter play they can get space on the wings they can punish juve .
now i am bored of writing but let me tell you tactics of inter and milan were completely different inter played a high while milan always played deep .i wont explain further you are good enough to make out the difference but all and all milan played better and held juve at bay and for the first time i would say allegeri got it right . although there are many a fines points in juve’s play which i will explain later .
How good is El Shaarawy?
Genuine, non-rhetorical question. Have watched him a few times this season. His goal record this season is excellent and he’s clearly very quick and skillful, but I’m unsure whether his raw ability is exaggerated by the slower pace of Serie A. I can’t help but feel that Sanchez stood out more because of that.
Not that this explains his excellent goals from distance or his finishing ability, obviously.
Classic Allegri – very narrow formation but compact and solid at the back. I think a draw may have been more fair, but a fun game to see the 3-5-2 vs. a counterattacking 4-3-3
Thanks for the clean-up, ZM.
ZM you need to sort out the spam, its ruining the comments section. Perhaps set up a membership system or forum? I know you’re a busy guy but it would really help keep the chatter focused on tactics. Those members who constantly spam could then easily be blocked. The site has so much potential, perhaps its got too big for one man alone to run.
sorry – have cleaned up a bit. Keen not to do membership, but yes it might be an option soon.
Well I think that Milan outclassed Juve in some specific areas. Starting with the defence, the young lads blocked well Juves attackers and thats the main point I think.
In the end, i’m really pleased with this analyse. Keep it going.
http://www.veqsport.com/
But can she play false 9?
i completely agree with you coach del neri