AC Milan must stick with Charles De Ketelaere and he will begin to show his qualities, according to a former Anderlecht director.
With just one assist to his name since making the move to Milan from Club Brugge for over €30m, it has not been a great first season for De Ketelaere. However, the second season might bring better results. Luckily, sports fans can watch football on TV today and stay on top of all the goings-on within the sport’s industry.
Regarding the performance of De Ketelaere in the first season, MilanNews spoke to Massimo Sarci. He was the manager of the Anderlecht development project until 2018, which welcomed the likes of Jordan Lukaku, Dennis Praet and Youri Tielemans.
What do you think are the reasons for the considerable difficulties De Ketelaere has encountered with Milan, as a connoisseur of Belgian football?
“You have to be patient. I don’t see any significant differences from the path Leao has taken, or rather what Tonali has taken. In Italy we want everything immediately and we don’t know how to wait.
“The value of the player cannot be discussed. I have many colleagues in Belgium who have always confirmed his talent, which I personally don’t doubt either.”
Another dilemma related to CDK concerns his role. What is the best position for him?
“In my opinion he is a second striker, skilled in playing behind a centre-forward. He is a number ten but dynamic, with runs and attacking the goal. He can also act as a winger. It depends on the system. He is very tactically flexible, as well as willing.”
Does he deserve a second chance with the Rossoneri? Some rumours suggest a loan is possible…
“I don’t know, you have to ask the Milan managers. I think that a year of acclimatisation is physiological. The Belgian league is different from the Italian one.
“Here on a tactical level you are much more disciplined. In Belgium he was much more free to act, with more room for manoeuvre.
“A second chance could be used to understand if his problems are solely and exclusively of a technical nature or if there are also personal acclimatisation problems.
“I would start taking the loan into consideration only if he hasn’t gotten into gear yet in December. But I believe that, right now, he can and must stay with the Rossoneri.”
We talked about tactical discipline. In your opinion, did Pioli affect his negative performances?
“No, not at all! After Juventus, I heard him say something very interesting. Purchases must always be contextualised with respect to the historical era you are living in at that given moment.
“Milan are no longer what they were last year, some changes have been made and it is right to pursue the path that is being undertaken with conviction. The projects are always medium-long term: you cannot expect to obtain results continuously from one day to the next.”
