Francesco Camarda came off the bench during AC Milan’s 2-0 win over Monza on Saturday night, and he has drawn praise for his performance.
Sergio Conceicao – or rather his assistant Joao Costa, given the head coach was suspended – made a couple of changes at the break, with Samuel Chukwueze and Francesco Camarda coming on for Yunus Musah and Luka Jovic.
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Those who remained inside San Siro after the mass walk-out were nearly treated to an incredible memory when Camarda – having brought the ball under control – flicked it over his and the defender’s head before seeing a volley saved. It seemed play had been blown dead anyway.
Not long after that, Camarda was inches away from getting his first goal for the first team. He took possession inside the box, opened up onto his right foot and rolled a shot wide of the far post with his instep.
It wasn’t just the fact that he came close to scoring, though. As MilanPress write, the teenager showed some good plays and nice movements, also managing to win several tackles (something that is not a given at his age).
The newspapers dished out praise: La Gazzetta dello Sport gave him a 6.5 out of 10 and wrote: ‘He came close to scoring. He has the numbers and we need to trust him’. Corriere dello Sport went with a 6, while Tuttosport gave a 6.5.
MilanNews (6.5) wrote: “Just for the attitude with which he entered the field he deserves praise and compliments: engaging spirit. He still shows glimpses of great talent: only the goal is missing. He will arrive, with the hope that the club’s management next year will value him more than it did this year.”
Our player ratings were also positive about Camarda (6.5): “The youngster was incredibly lively after coming on, nearly scoring a great goal after lifting it over the defender and then forcing the keeper to a good save on the volley. It was slight handball anyway so it wouldn’t have counted, but he showed his ability there.
“He combined well with his teammates (especially a nice chest-down for Joao Felix), but also missed a couple of good chances. One of them he definitely should have got on target, after a good pass by Chukwueze. Towards the end, he lost a bit of energy too.”
Not to be a downer. But let’s remember it was against Monza who are basically a Serie B team. Maybe he should be placed in that context for a while. Or maybe we shouldn’t and just play him more here at home against the weaker sides and see if he can accomplish anything next seoson. He still needs to grow both as a player and gain some more muscle. Given that he is only 17 it’s not very surprising that he isn’t a muscle mountain yet :p