Fabio Capello has claimed that there a gap between AC Milan and Inter that has opened up in the past couple of seasons, but admitted that in a derby things can defy logic.
With Inter beating Udinese yesterday and Milan losing away against Napoli, there is now a 20-point gap in the table between the two Milanese clubs. The Nerazzurri are pushing for their 21st league title, while the Rossoneri are languishing down in ninth place.
And yet, Inter have zero wins in three matches against their city rivals this season and in two – including the one in Riyadh that gave Milan their first trophy of the season, the Supercoppa Italiana – Simone Inzaghi tasted defeat.
Speaking in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Capello previewed the upcoming Coppa Italia semi-final, which will give Inter two more chances to finally get one over on their neighbours amid a chaotic season.
Are you expecting a surprise?
“On paper it’s hard to believe, after watching Inter’s first half against Udinese and Milan’s first half in Naples. Well, if the two teams were to repeat the 45 minutes seen yesterday I struggle to believe there will be a match.
“But let’s get back to the usual discussion, derbies are games in themselves. And even in the last three precedents the Rossoneri showed up at particular moments and were largely underdogs.”
It’s easy to believe that he is more important for Milan than for Inter…
“That’s right. The Nerazzurri are competing on three fronts, with the Champions League and the Scudetto as their primary objectives. Milan’s season, on the other hand, is practically over with the defeat in Naples.
“For Conceiçao and his team, we can almost go so far as to say that the Coppa Italia is now the only way to qualify for Europe. And not seeing Milan play an international competition next year would hurt a lot.”
Milan were behind after less than two minutes against Napoli…
“The first half of the Rossoneri was scandalous. I didn’t understand Conceiçao’s choices: Joao Felix as a starter, against an opponent who runs like Napoli, and Leao out. Meh…”
Rafa then came on and did well…
“Undoubtedly. Leao has something more, but of course he always lacks consistency. But if he had it, perhaps he wouldn’t be in this Milan…”
Beyond the formation, Conceiçao is also struggling to give solidity to the defence…
“Between Fonseca before and him now, Milan have improved very little in the defensive phase. And then I ask myself: what happened to Tomori? He disappeared.”
Milan almost equalised in the final minutes of Napoli…
“True. And if maybe they had scored earlier from the penalty… By the way, Pulisic is an excellent penalty taker, so why let Gimenez take it? I understand that you want to help a striker in difficulty, but there are moments.
“For the Rossoneri, the match in Naples was important and you were trying to straighten it out. In certain things I also see a bit of weakness on the part of the coach.”
Let’s close again on the derby: on a tactical level, what will be the key to the challenge?
“Inter’s counter-attacks. If Milan proves to be as fragile as they were in Naples, it will be difficult for them to withstand the shock. The Nerazzurri are back to turning the pitch around with speed and quality, almost with their eyes closed.
“The players know what to do, the coach has his certainties. It seems to me that Conceiçao cannot say the same things about Milan.”
Honestly the coach is messing up. You can’t bench your star player and hope you win against tittle fighting side like Napoli. Nothing stopped him to play leao who would put fears into the heart of Napoli right back defender and both Theo and Leao would have outshined yesterday but instead the coach continued playing old style of football. It’s better to get your result in the first 60 minutes and run out the opponent. Felix is not a winger but a supporting striker who was played in the wrong position. The season is already done for Milan I said this after our 2 games in the beginning of the season.
Milan must play a 4-3-3 against Inter to stand a chance.
Bondo, Fofana and Musah should run the midfield riot, concentrate more on the midfield and limit offensive duties. Gimenez and Pulisic should be more involved in dropping deep to receive the balls from the midfield.
Leao, must remain wide at all times to keep Dumfries busy.
4-2-3-1 isn’t our best formation right now, can someone please tell this to Conceicao.
Gimenez has poor holdup play.
Jovic should start instead.
I think he should play 442/343 ; theo & leao pushing up forward with Jimenez at RM & pulisic at RW.
A 433 with 3 midfielders who aren’t exactly creative and an isolated striker with a poor first touch and holdup play against inter doesn’t seem like a plan to win.
I wouldn’t with Jovic starting either, same goes for Tammy for his agility which will be needed against this Inter side.
But as for the lack of creativity in the midfield, I think will just use our midfield for stability to help the defence rather than task them with creativity tasks and expose our already fragile defence line.
I believe if the midfield is up and doing in the defensive duties, we wouldn’t need to bother for Leao to track back and help the defence out.
It happened at Liverpool who played with a midfield of Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Henderson, sometimes Milner, these was not a creative midfield, their high work rates allowed Mane and Salah concentrate on their attacking duties.
The support creativity was not from the midfield, their wingbacks Trent and Robertson brought the creativity needed. Hernandez and Walker or Jimenez can be that for Milan.
Football is very flexible, we just need a coach who knows what he’s doing.
I wouldn’t *argue* with Jovic starting either…
Honestly, in terms of team adaptability, Leao and Puli being our best players is a blessing and a curse at the same time, they’re too talented to sit out important matches and also not effective in other positions like CF. Their presence means we must always play with a winger.
Otherwise, another solution would to field a 4-4-2 formation.
Two strikers between Abraham and one of Jovic, Gimenez, Leao and Puli.
Midfield, Musah as RM, Sottil or Jimenez as LM, and Fofana & Bondo as CM/DM.