Il 2023 AC Milan it didn’t start in the best way except for the 2-1 victory on 4 January at Salernitana. From there on for the Milan they have collected only two draws and three defeats in a row (four if we calculate the final of the Italian Super Cup in Riyadh against Inter). Heavy results for men to digest Stefano Pioli unrecognizable and demotivated even in their prominent elements (see the performance of the various Rafael Leao, Theo Hernandez and Sandro Tonali just to name a few). Furthermore, the poor quality on the offensive frontline seems to be a problem that is not easy to solve, at least for the moment.
With a Yacine Adli not received, a Brahim Diaz who is struggling to find the lucidity and the continuity that we have been able to admire in the year of the nineteenth championship and the new signing Charles De Ketelaere who seems only the bad copy of the player seen in Belgium with the Club Bruges shirt and on whom all the Milanese people placed their future hopes. So here is that the devil is forced to seek alternative in the role for next season as well, barring a change of course (or form) of the men now available to the coach from Parma.
A hand in this sense, however, could come from youth sector Rossoneri – not immediately though – who have done so much good in recent years in the training of young players to be launched among the professionals. In particular, he is making the attacking midfielder and winger talk a lot about himself Mattia Liberali, left-handed born in 2007 in Lissone (MB) and registered by Milan in July 2015. Rhodense, Aquile della Brianza and La Dominante his first experiences on football fields. Then the move to Milan. He’ll be 16 on 6 April, but already several out-of-age experiences both with the AC Milan U17 (topped off with 2 goals and as many assist), and with Bernardo Corradi’s U17 national team. But what kind of player is it Liberal?
His is a style of play devoted to effective attack in both central areas, either starting laterally. Dynamic player, unpredictable and equipped with advanced individual technique, who likes to feel free to vary especially horizontally, looking for new spaces in which to receive and play the ball. And it is precisely with the ball at his feet that the young Mattia gives his best. Dribbling e conducting the ball while running, they are weapons that he often resorts to accompanied by continuous body feints, changes of speed and direction, useful for evading the adversary’s intervention and usable in counter-attack situations.
The high step frequency – now an indispensable quality for playing at medium-high levels – it allows him to coordinate better even in very tight spaces to assist a partner or go shooting with extreme danger, which he also does well on standing kicks. However, the structural deficiency during melee duels is still evident. The age difference can be felt and seen, for this reason the next few years will be fundamental for his physical training, just as it will be important to work on his defensive contribution and on movements without the ball during the non-possession phase.
In a season that has now passed the usual turning point, Milan will have to treasure the many mistakes made in the first months of the year and rediscover that freshness in the last thirty meters which allowed the men of Pioli the tricolor ride of the past season. Restart, today, is the buzzword most in vogue at Milanello. But how nice it would be to do it in the future with a new blood coming from the youth sector. And in this context, the name of Mattia Liberali could prove to be a panacea for the Milanese club.
