Does A.C. Milan have what it takes to bounce back?

Allegri banks his hope on Kaka

Reform is often painful, particularly when revolutionary changes are to be made to a historically successful empire. 18 times Serie A winner AC Milan decided to withdraw their veterans policy a couple of years ago and started to rebuild. It did not appear to be a tough transition when they finished 2nd and 3rd last two seasons. But parted away with the very last piece of Golden Age puzzle --- Massimo Ambrosini, Milan seems to have lost identity and is already 19 points behind league leader Roma only 12 games into the season. Frustration is surfacing in San Siro. Although coach Massimiliano Allegri is not the one being targeted, his job security still remains in doubt.

The art of managing a football team could be as complicated as rocket science. The problem with Milan, though, is fundamental  --- they don't score enough. Unavoidably, the blame will be on Mario Balotelli. "Super Mario" has single-handedly rescued Milan's season last year but has yet to hit his top form. Despite Allegri's reluctance to admit, Balotelli is indispensable to Milan, being their main source of goals, something that Alessandro Matri and Giampaolo Pazzini will not be able to replicate individually.

It is not as if Milan is completely a one-man team. Before the arrival of Balotelli, Stephan El Shaarawy quickly emerged as the star striker, but then followed by a rapid drop in form, suggesting he is yet to be physically ready for the full season of Serie A football. Robinho is another talented attacker who would form a good partnership with Balotelli, but the Brazilian has been hit by injuries, while rumours about his return to Santos do not help either.

Having not possessed adequate assets, Adriano Galliani decided against paying an insignificant transfer fees to get Keisuke Honda five months earlier than planned. Selling Kevin-Prince Boateng, who had been featured regularly in Allegri's team, is also questionable, although it could be a decision based on discipline problems. Missing out on two younger guns, Galliani has instead brought back a familiar face from Real Madrid --- Kaka. 

He knows San Siro well enough; he has the motivation to break into Scolari's squad for next year World Cup; and he is only 31, having only played about 20 games each season with Real Madrid. He certainly still has something left in the tank. This might be the fair justification of Galliani's refusal to bring in Honda earlier.

Nevertheless, it is quite a different team to the one Kaka played with in his first spell with Rossoneri. Carlo Anchelotti, a midfielder himself in his career, believes in possession football and utilised a balanced 5-man midfield to support lone striker Andrei Shevchenko. With the like of Gattuso and Ambrosini offering defensive support, the transformed Andrea Pirlo to link up plays as an anchorman, also the skills of Clarence Seedorf and Rui Costa to dictate the tempo, Kaka was able to shine in the no.10 position at the age of 21.

Those were the days

With Allegri taking charge, the Rossoneri is playing at much quicker pace than Anchelotti's era. Players of high efficiency, like Muntari, Emanuelson, Nocerino and De Jong are at the front of pecking order. Although it remains as a 5-man midfield formation, Kaka finds himself having to chase around the ball much more than he likes to, as Allegri expects his midfield to roam forward when possible and cover for each other in defence. Clearly, Kaka does not quite fit into his system. No wonder, Boateng, who is not a typical creative playmaker but more a trequartista, had been Milan's no. 10 in the past two years.  

When you cannot score, gradually the pressure on the defence grows. Philippe Mexes, their most capable leader,  is far from composed and has a long history of temperament issues. Long term servant Ignazio Abate and Christian Abbiati coincidently are suffering from a dip in form. Ultimately the defence buckles, but Allegri has little options on the bench to restore the order. French centreback Adil Rami may be the saviour, if he does not trouble the club like what he did to Valencia.

Amidst the misery, there are still some positives to take. Allegri has a lot of exciting youngsters awaiting for opportunities to break into first-team. Left back Kevin Constant is already a regular in the absence of Mattia De Sciglio. Although still error-prone in defence, his energy and potential are highly rated. Midfielders Bryan Cristante and Riccardo Saponara have both impressed in the limited playing time.

There are high hopes on Honda even before his arrival

Help is on the way, as De Sciglio and El Shaarawy is close to full recovery, though the latter is likely to be on the way out, also with Rami and Honda joining, together with the experience and quality of the squad, if Allegri can keep the team motivated, formulate the formation that best executes his preferred style of play and get all cylinders firing, it remains optimistic that Milan could be back in the race.