Wherever you put him, he stays. Alexis Saelemaekers is one of those players every coach would love to have on their team.
La Gazzetta dello Sport describe Saelemaekers as ‘the footballing embodiment of Darwin’s natural selection: those who adapt, survive’. The Belgian has made an art of adapting, having played as a winger, wing-back, full-back, attacking midfielder and most recently as a second striker.
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Left or right, it doesn’t matter: he’s always there. After the victory against Fiorentina, he even joked about it: “All I need is to be a goalkeeper, but I don’t know if I could do that.”
Anderlecht to Allegri
Saelemaekers took his first steps as a professional at Anderlecht , where his original position was right-back. From then on, however, his versatility began to emerge forcefully, transforming him into a player capable of covering practically any position on that flank.
Throughout his career, he has almost always been used as a right-back, his natural position, but there have been exceptions. In emergency situations, he has been deployed as a left-back – even if only twice, with one being the 2-2 draw against Torino to begin last season.
During his time at Bologna, Thiago Motta tried – and partially succeeded – in transforming him into a pure left winger. The coach wanted to use his ability to cut back onto his right foot and link with his team-mates between the lines.
Now back at Milan, Saelemaekers has become a certain starter on the right, but Allegri didn’t hesitate to move him behind the striker when he needed to. This happened on Sunday against Fiorentina but also against Lecce earlier in the campaign. The end result in both? Wins.
Saelemaekers that left two years ago was not the same player that came back. He had a lot of growth which is what good coaching can do to a player.
I think Bologna and Roma also had room for him to be relied upon more. Coaches here prioritized other players, his teammates didn’t play through him as much either, he saw less time on the ball at Milan. Until a player gets a consistent run of starts and plays with teammates that give him opportunities to express their talents more often, we won’t see their potential.
Exactly what I said after pre-season but one idiot here (can’t remember who it was) said he’s the same player he has always been but he’s now playing on the right position. What an idiot one must be to not see the obvious growth as player.
Even absent a striker, Milan are so much more fun to watch and Salad is a big, big part of that. Opponents are often left to guarding an area on the pitch, rather than marking a player. Salad and Puli, with Rabiot and Fofana crashing the box and Santi distributing is a defensive nightmare.