Back in November, before Montella was sacked, I wrote about
the problems
he had in attack. Not just his ridiculous formation and tactics, but
especially his personnel choices. And while Gattuso seems to be restoring some
emotion to the squad, the struggle for goals is very real. And while he’s
wisely changed tactics and is working hard to repair the fragile mentality of
the team, he’s also clueless about how to find more goals. Specifically, he
continues to trust only in Kalinic, leaving his younger, more talented strikers
on the bench game after game. Most specifically, one very expensive Portuguese
striker whom Cristiano Ronaldo himself dubbed as his heir. And so all of us are
left in search of André Silva.
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| A picture is worth a thousand bench appearances |
Silva shined in the Europa League, bursting onto the scene
with six goals in six games. He was nothing short of amazing… against the
smaller European clubs. But in Serie A, with the very limited chances he’s been
given, he seems more like a mouse against men, getting swallowed up by the
opposition defenses. There are two pieces to this puzzle, though. First is the
limited chances he’s been given. In 21 games, he has 12 appearances – but only
four of those are starts. Most of the other eight appearances are five minute
consolation substitutions. €40m is a lot to pay for a five minute consolation
sub.
The second piece of the puzzle is trickier to define. We saw
him dazzle against weak defenses, but it was different in Serie A. It’s true
that Serie A defenses are considered one of the toughest in the world for a
striker to beat, and Silva would not be the first foreign player to struggle
against them. But isn’t it also possible that in the few appearances that he’s
been granted, he was also subverted by the lineups and formations? We’ve seen
time and time again that he and Cutrone struggle to play together, for example,
because they are too similar and haven’t yet learned to play with one another.
We know that our midfield hasn’t done any favors for any of our strikers in
creating chances, and also that the other strikers Kalinic has struggled
to deliver goals, too. Had either manager had as much faith in Silva and given
him as many opportunities, would he have more than four goals in 15 starts? One
has to ask this question, it’s simply too obvious.
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| His work ethic and skills are undeniable |
Montella consistently and annoyingly said that Silva wasn’t
ready for Serie A yet. In the beginning, I trusted that, seeing as he was
training the squad every day. But as Kalinic’s starts began to swallow up his
actual goals, a lot of fans began to question his judgment. Certainly, it would
be hard to do any worse. On Saturday, ahead of the Cagliari match, Gattuso said
something that was like a balm for our hearts: "Andre Silva is in good
shape, he has this incredible desire to work hard and I should be more
courageous in throwing him into the mix. He is young and needs to improve on a
few ideas, but it’s no coincidence so many clubs want him. Milan moved well to
sign this player and want to keep him. " (via football-italia.net)
I know that I am not alone in believing that I would see André Silva’s name in
the starting eleven the following day. And when I didn’t, I hoped at least he
would get a decent sub appearance. But it didn’t happen. Once again, he was
left on the bench, and many fans had a hard time swallowing Kalinic’s excellent
appearance.
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| He plays well with others |
What is it exactly that Silva has to do to be given a decent
chance? As the team starts to be more cohesive, it feels like he is being
pushed further out into the cold. Why can’t he be trusted with at least some 20
minute appearances? And was Gattuso just being gratuitous with his words?
Everyone has spoken of Silva’s professionalism. And all of us have seen his
strength and his brilliance. What will it take for him to be given a few starts
in the league? Or at least even one? As a fan, I cannot help but see that he is
a star in the making. Whether that translates to a goalfest in a breakout game
this season, or maybe a stellar future season with a little patience, it seems
obvious that it is meant to be. Only no one with any say in the matter is
willing to let it happen. It seems that they’d rather beat a €30m dead horse*
(sorry, Kalinic) than train a €40m young stallion. Meanwhile, the rest of us
continue in search of André Silva.
*No actual horses were
harmed in the writing of this post
This post was inspired by the music of
The Sundays’ “Wild Horses”
Our next match is
Serie A Week 22
Milan vs. Lazio
Sunday, January 28
• 18:00 CET (12noon EDT)