Davide Bartesaghi was kept in the summer, with Massimiliano Allegri believing that he has a role to play at AC Milan.
There is a pretty established team at Milan, and most players know if they are a starter or a rotational option. However, that is not the case in one area. Interestingly, it comes where solidity is pretty much a given around them.
Battle of two
As Gazzetta dello Sport write, the Rossoneri are deciding on their ‘final starter’, and it could be either Bartesaghi or Pervis Estupinan. After a pretty difficult month with injuries, Allegri will now have a new trouble deciding who will start.
Estupinan, who arrived in the summer, has been nursing an ankle injury, so he has been unavailable. In that time, Bartesaghi has impressed a lot, especially given that he is so young. But both offer different qualities.
The Italian is strong with the ball at his feet and helps in all phases of play, especially at the back, where he makes more progressive passes per game. However, the former Brighton defender is a tad strong, his passes are more accurate, and he makes more progressive balls per game.
Bartesaghi, a player who takes fewer risks, still ends up with a better shot-creating action output, though, even if it is only marginal. Defensively, the two are quite even, a story across the board, really.
Both have pros and cons, so Allegri will decide between them based on more than the stats.
Competition is great. Happy have a kid from our own futuro stepping and doing well. Pervis is solid, not spectacular, and Bartesaghi is probably not ready for a week in week out schedule. We need them both.
Bartesaghi is not good enough. Estupinian i better i both phases if you ask me. The only advantage B has is his left foot.
team Estupinian here, but happy with Bartesaghi progressing. We’ll be solid on the left side especially w Rabiot on the field, even if not spectacular.
In the defensive phase, Bartesaghi is way better than Estupinian.
How? He gets beaten in every single 1v1 situation.
I’m a little more comfortable with Estupian right now, especially after that terrible performance from Bart last game, but Bart has a bright future and will surely continue to improve.
Good to have Bart pushing for increased minutes as LB. Having a strong deputy improves the overall performance of the LB position. Bart is gaining valuable experience playing with the first team and should be ready to claim the position for himself in the next few years.
I trust Bartesaghi alot more than estupinan. Estupinan makes huge mistakes. Bartesaghi is feisty and annoys the other team. There is nothing to gain by playing estupinan.
Bartesaghi gets beaten 1v1 all the time.
That’s not exactly accurate, he wins his battles too. Estupiñan isn’t the best at 1v1 either, he is also terrible when pressed. His mentality is also a bit weak, when hes having a bad game he cant pull himself out of it. Bart has proven that he can as we saw against Roma. Hopefully Bart can keep his position in the team.
Happy he’s getting minutes. At that age he’ll obviously make mistakes, as is the risk with youth, but he’s getting valuable lessons. He also is getting better in the offensive phase esp with his crossing. He can also cover as a left side CB in a back three. Let’s hope he continues on his path. It’s good to have proper competition for positions
Competition at Left back, what a novel idea…
Bartesaghi at 18 has done so well. The terrible performance against roma was noticed, but the entire team was poor. Some of us need to learn that he can only improve by getting more minutes, learning from mistakes, and having high levels of consistency. Right now, allegri will start him over estupinan IMO. Reason been that his muscles are in tune with the game, estupinan just recovered n will not have gas in his tank. Play the kid, estupinan has not performed any better than bartesaghi
Its a healthy competition on the wingers.
Bartesaghi, Estupinan, SAD, Athekame all can fit in each others role either side.
Hope could have said the same about Gimenez and Nkunku.
The kid has a good left foot and a nice cross, but he’s a mediocre player unfortunately. I can’t remember the last time a Milan LB got beaten this many times 1v1 by nearly everyone he comes across.
I can recall it. It was Estupinan against Napoli where Politano beat him like a bass drum. Bartesaghi (outside of the first 30 minutes of Roma) has been solid. I trust him more than Estupinan and am in no hurry to see him sit.
Grading Italians on a curve again. He was very incosistent during the Roma game. He gave away the ball several times leading to Roma having some good chances. He was also beaten several times. I am not crazy about Estupinian, but the kid is not ready.
I can’t comprehend how people are saying that Bartesghi is better than Estupiñan in the defensive phase. The latter made defensive mistakes when he first arrived, still adapting to a new country, a new league, a new team, a new coach, new teammates, and a new language. That’s normal; it’s rare to hit the ground running (like Rabiot and Modric; but Rabiot and Modric are world-class players; we can’t expect the same from Estupiñan). But ever since, he looked a lot more solid.
Bartesaghi on the other hand was a disaster last game, getting beaten all the time which resulted in dangerous plays for the opposition.
Both are good at supporting the offense. Bartesaghi crosses well but so does Estupiñan. The latter is more experienced and older.
I think that the pecking order should be Estupiñan as the starter, and Bartesaghi providing relief and minute-management. Bartesaghi is young, will likely improve, and seems to have a bright future, but for now he is too green and shouldn’t be the starter.
I feel that a great part of how fans and the press promote Bartesaghi over Estupiñan has to do with the former being Italian and the latter being a foreigner.
I’m Italian too but I couldn’t care less for a club player’s nationality. All that I want is that the best at each position play as starters, regardless of nationality.
This is club football, not national team football. Of course when it’s the Azzurri, I passionately support our Italian players, even including those who play club for our biggest rivals. But when it’s club football, nationality is way less important than footballing skills and experience.
Regarding our three Italian players, Gabbia > Ricci > Bartesaghi.
Gabbia is consistently good; there’s nothing bad to say about him. He has great position awareness, is calm, rarely makes mistakes, and is becoming a leader who deserves the captain position once Mike leaves (it is very likely that this is Mike’s last season with us; I think the natural successor for the captainship is Gabbia). Ricci can be good but is a bit timid; he needs to be more assertive and more willing to take risks instead of back-passing most of the time. Bartesaghi is still inconsistent; with good games and disastrous games. Being Italian doesn’t hide a player’s shortcomings.
It’s just because he is a young Italian kid. And a lot of people here desperately want to see more Italian players doing well. He’s been ok for being young and inexperienced but if you are playing with the first team you need to be judged the same as everyone else. If Estupian played as bad as Bartesaghi did this past game all of these people would be running him out of town. But he’s Italian so they are making excuses, some even praising him for being slightly less bad in the second half.
These are the same folks that said Calabria should have been our starter, meanwhile not a single Italian club would touch him and he is now playing in the 36th ranked league inn the world.
Bartesaghi is a good player. He is terrible in 1v1…so easy to get past, but good with the ball.
Bart should go and watch maldini style of football simple