There was a time when it was Sandro Tonali who was drawing Andrea Pirlo comparisons, and now it is Yacine Adli’s turn to be put into that bracket.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport write that it is ‘not since Pirlo’s time’ that Milan have seen a regista capable of alternating so elegantly the ability to dribble with the propensity to pass it 50 metres accurately, which is so useful for avoiding the press.
Adli has something retro about his style. He has a lean and slightly hunched physique but also a nonchalance on the field that combines refinement with practicality.
The likes of Marco Van Bommel, Riccardo Montolivo, Lucas Biglia most recently Rade Krunic are among the others who have occupied the deeper-lying midfield role in recent years, and almost all had something more than Adli in terms of defensive ability.
In the hour that saw him as protagonist the other evening in Cagliari, Adli got on the ball a lot. He lost one which paved the way for Luvumbo’s goal, but he completed 71 out of 73 passes and some of them were long.
The best grade on the French-Algerian’s report card was given by his team-mates who were constantly looking for him, because they understood that handing the ball over to him was like putting it in the bank, they would receive it back with interest.
Paulo Sousa, who watched him closely when he coached Bordeaux, recalled that Adli is the player who is closest to Zidane in terms of creativity and technical quality.
Sousa was one of the greatest playmakers in world football at the end of the last century so he understands what he is talking about. Perhaps Pioli held on to Adli a little too much while he waited for him to adapt to the defensive tactics of Italian football.
Unai Emery, the manager who gave Adli his debut at 17 years old while he was at PSG, wanted the midfielder at Arsenal. There must be a reason. The same reasons that pushed Tuchel – who took over from Emery – to also use him.
Of course you can get lost on the road, many things change, but Milan ended up relying on Krunic to play in the middle of the three. He is a versatile and experienced player, but he is more of a balancer than a game-changer.
Pirlo was also 23 years old when Carlo Ancelotti decided to move him back from a box-to-box midfield role to playing in front of the defence to replace Fernando Redondo, who was always injured.
Adli is the same age Pirlo was then and can follow in those footsteps. It will be a long journey, but perhaps the time has come to seize the moment.
