AC Milan’s Corner : From Maldini To Taiwo – The Decline In The Left Back Position

By Amlan Chaudhury
13 years Ago

Italy has been a land of defenders. Ever since its inception, Calcio has produced some of the best tactical defenders ever to grace the Beautiful Game. It goes without saying every team in Italy primarily focuses on a sound defense and then from that foundation, builds the rest of the team. From Facchetti of La Grande Inter to Milan’s very own Paolo Maldini, defenders have ruled the roost for many years. Among the mentioned players, both have been fullbacks and more importantly, they have been left fullbacks.

Maldini was a youth product from Milan and stayed at Milan throughout his entire career. But at that time, Milan youth structure was among the best ones around ai??i?? producing the likes of Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Demetrio Albertini et al. The back-to-back European Cup winning team of Ariggo Sacchi had Maldini and Baresi at the heart of their defense ai??i?? two of the best readers of the game to have come out from Italy.

Whereas Baresi was the captain, Maldini was the silent learner. It was the 12th of September 1978 when Maldini first came for a tryout at Milan and since then has never looked back. Fabio Capello was the Primavera coach at that time and the young Maldini had the perfect environment where he could grow both as a player and as a human being.

Under the leadership of Baresi and Costacurta, Maldini slowly and steadily developed into a fullback, marauding up and down the left flank, even scoring astonishing goals. But his main aim was not to score goals; it was to stop opposition players from scoring. From Hristo Stoichkov to Wayne Rooney, all superstars who have come up against il Capitano, will testify to the fact that no one can pass Maldini even on his worst day.

Such was the aura and invincibility of Maldini that he owned the left-back position for almost two decades. Both in attack and defense, Maldini was omnipotent. Later in his career, he moved to center back position, which prolonged his career and allowed him to play as many as 29 years in the topmost tier of Italian football.

When Maldini finally hung up his boots in 2009, the most obvious question arose as to who his successor will be. Names have come and gone and till date, even after 3 years, there has not been a single player who can fill in those huge shoes left empty by the departure of the legend. Taking a look at his replacements, there are only a handful of players ai??i?? Antonini, Zambrotta and more recently, Taiwo.

Antonini - not setting the bar high enough!

Among these three, Antonini is a Milan youth product but has failed to blossom in the senior team. Zambrotta, a World Cup winner came from Barcelona in the year 2008. Initially he was used as a right back, with Antonini, who had just come in, at left back position. However, the emergence of Abate changed the entire landscape. Abate soon consolidated the right back position as his own and Zambrotta was forced to move to left back or he was shuffled as a cover for either of the center backs or Abate.

Among them, Zambrotta was now seen as more of a utility player, who can be slotted almost anywhere. Antonini has had more chances to consolidate the left back position as his own but down the years, has failed to do so. Antoniniai??i??s best qualities are his speed and stamina, that allow him to play both as a winger and as a full back. But then, if a player is playing as a full back, he needs to both defend and attack with equal zeal. Sadly in case of Antonini, the defending part is missing. He can be thought of as an attacking winger who sometimes does some defensive work. For a long time, Milan have played four at the back with two wingbacks on either side.

The center backs usually spread out and hold their positions whereas the wingbacks move up, creating more of a 5-man midfield. Antonini played that role to perfection, but only when Milan was attacking. In defense he was made to look pedestrian even by Primavera players. Looking beyond Antonini, Zambrotta can be thought of as a temporary solution, but sadly age has caught up with the Italian great. Apart from one or two good performances throughout the season, Zambrotta has played more as a defender than as a fullback.

That brings us to the January transfer window from last year, when Urby Emanuelson came in. Mainly touted as an attacking player capable of playing anywhere on the left side of the pitch, Emanuelson was rarely used by Allegri last season. Apart from a couple of cameo appearances, no one caught a glimpse of his talent. A school of thought suggested playing Emanuelson as a left back to solve the problem plaguing Milan since 2009.

But then, that will mean sacrificing a midfield player to play as a fullback in the absence of a regular fullback. It can be a temporary solution, but by no stretch of imagination, a permanent one.

Along came the latest addition to Milan fullback ai??i?? Taiwo. Already a hit at Marseille, where he was deployed as a left back, Taiwo had a booming shot, superb long distance shooting abilities and is pretty good at dead balls too. Sadly, Milan fans have not seen even a single one of the aforementioned skills till now.

The best thing about the Taiwo deal was that he came for free. But then, he has been used much less due to Allegriai??i??s insistence to play either of Antonini or Zambrotta. It will be incorrect to say that Taiwo will be a flop at Milan, because given a certain number of games to play; he is bound to return to the form, which was on display during his time at Marseille. Playing him only 4 times in the entire first half of the season, Allegri has sent out mixed signals so far.

That brings us to the current transfer window and the imminent rumors of the arrival of Djamel Mesbah from Lecce. Mesbah usually plays as a left midfielder and sometimes also as a wingback. Adding another player akin to Emanuelson is questionable for two reasons. One, how many chances will he get to showcase his talent, knowing Allegriai??i??s reluctance to blood anyone under 30 and two, why is Milan going after a player who can only be looked upon as a makeshift defender-cum-midfielder. If the top brass in Milan is thinking that Mesbah will solve their problems at left back, then they could not be more wrong. The arrival of Mesbah will not only create confusion regarding the left-back position, but also grow more seeds of doubt in the mind of Taiwo, who clearly has his mind set at a long-term with the Rossoneri.

Christian Maldini - continuing the great lineage from Cesar

From Maldini to Taiwo, we have come a long way, but no one so far has been able to stand out like the legend. Maldiniai??i??s claim as one of the all-time greats cannot be denied, and with Christian Maldini coming up the Milan Primavera ranks, one is only hoping with crossed fingers for the day when he will emerge from San Siro locker room wearing the coveted number 3 jersey.

Categories: AC Milan, COVER STORY, Editor's Pick, Italia Serie A
Tags: AC Milan Antonini Djamel Mesbah maldini Taiwo

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