GdS: From training ground plan to derby hero – Estupinan’s big night could alter his future

After a difficult start to life at AC Milan, Pervis Estupinan wrote his name in the history of the biggest game in Italian football.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Estupinan has gone from being the subject of sarcastic jibes (from the fans) and criticism (from insiders) to the ‘new hero’. Whoever can say they decided a derby obviously has a rightful place in the hall of fame.

Even until the day before, most fans were hoping that Davide Bartesaghi would be fit enough to consign the Ecuadorian to the bench, amid a first year with the Rossoneri that has been more down than up. However, Estupinan not only played, but wrote his name in history.

A career high?

His best references come from Roberto De Zerbi, who coached him at Brighton and said about him about a year ago: “If he develops a solid first touch and passing game, I think he can become one of the best left-backs in the world. He’s a player who runs and uses work rate, not dribbling.”

Not bad, considering the assessment of a staunch advocate of playing well. Allegri, who welcomed Pervis to Milanello, initially gave him the starting spot. Bartesaghi, coming off a season in Serie C with the second team, was behind him.

Then Estupinan injured his ankle while playing for the national team, missing three games (Fiorentina, Pisa and Atalanta), and when he returned, the world around him had changed. Bartesaghi was on the rise, increasingly solid and confident, and Pervis was sitting on the bench.

No complaints were reported, or at least nothing that warranted a standard search for explanations. Meanwhile, Allegri – even though he preferred Bartesaghi – continued to work on Estupinan, and the rewards were reaped in the derby, as the player emphasised after the match.

“It’s the most important goal of my career. We worked on it during the week; the coach told me to attack, and I found the right moment,” he said. In short, the timing and methods needed to be refined in the attacking phase, mechanisms that require a lot of work to perfect.

What the future holds

Allegri’s football is also very democratic: with Estupinan’s winner vs. Inter, Milan reached 16 goal scorers for the season out of 20 outfield players. What happens now? Pervis hopes to regain his standing in the coach’s eyes.

The celebration perhaps says a lot: his hands on his temples, stretched forward, seemed to mimic the blinkers of horses. As if to say: I’m going straight down my path, without looking around, without distractions, and without being influenced by criticism.

With Bartesaghi a permanent starter, as has been the case so far, it wasn’t fantasy football to think of an early farewell for the Rossoneri’s No.2 (the number he chose to honor Cafu after the Brazilian’s compliments) in the summer.

Now the outlook is very different, because a goal in the derby can change everything. From Milanello there has been only positive feedback about the former Villarreal man, both personally and professionally. He is much loved by all his team-mates, who flocked to his social media to celebrate the goal.

There’s one photo, in particular, of Leao hugging him so intensely that he almost seems to suffocate him. There’s also a video of his daughter watching her dad’s derby goal over and over again on TV.

Pervis is married with two children and lives in Varese, which is definitely easier to get to Milanello than Milan. This detail clearly illustrates his attention to detail, keeping those blinkers on.