Andrea Conti was one of the Mirabelli purchases of the
infamous Yonghong Li Era. It didn’t take a scout to see the speed and talent he
displayed at Atalanta, and certainly fans were excited to see what the young
right back could bring to Milan. But in over two years since he signed, he has
only made a handful of appearances in the red and black because of long-term
injuries. He is not the only one with bad luck, though as Milan have had some
very tough times, too. Times would certainly improve for both club and player
if he is able to stay healthy and get plenty of playing time. It’s all about
finding Conti.
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| Just what we needed? |
Milan have struggled at right back for some time. Abate, who
grew up in Milan’s youth sector, was incredibly fast when he was younger, but
as he matured he slowed down and also struggled with his crossing. His
experience was always vital, and he was important as a leader. But none of
those things were viewed as important enough to justify keeping him on the wage
bill this year, so his contract was allowed to expire.
De Sciglio was also very promising, and also a product of
the youth sector. But after one good season that was spent largely on the left,
his performances became very inconsistent, and he admittedly had some
psychological issues. So much so, he lost his mind completely and signed for
Juventus. Such a tragic story.
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| One of these things is not like the other |
Calabria was promoted into the first team from the youth
sector at the age of 19. He actually has made 75 appearances for Milan, many of
those thanks to Conti’s injuries. He has a lot of talent and is relatively fast,
but has poor judgment and makes big errors sometimes. He also has discipline
lapses, most notably receiving two red cards within the first six matches this
season. He and Conti, when healthy, compete for the starting spot now that
Abate is gone. But if Conti continues to play like he did on Sunday, Calabria
will always be the backup.
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| The competition is... a little rash and hot-headed |
Despite having a couple of rough matches this season,
including vs. Genoa and also in the Derby, Sunday against Juve, Conti was every
bit the player we played Atalanta €24m + Pessina for. He was lightning fast, he was
fantastic defensively, but also got forward, and had some exquisite tackles. He
also took the ball from a confused-looking Cristiano Ronaldo, who was so
embarrassed, he left the stadium early. (Okay, he left the stadium early. The
other part might be made up.) As for Conti’s performance, he recently
announced that he will become a father, so if this is because of that, I hope
he plans to have a lot of kids.
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| That's three-quarters of a young, talented four-man defense |
With Theo Hernandez the only player anyone with a pulse
would dream to start on the left, thinking of Conti being his counterpart on
the right is very tantalizing. Between the two of them, service to our
attackers exponentially increases the sad, sad numbers of chances per game that we’ve seen for way too
long. And our defense improves as well, even if perhaps that might be the
weaker part of both players’ game. But with Suso one of our best and most
consistent players, having Conti control that right side just elevates our game
in ways we haven’t seen in a very long time.
After surviving an ACL injury that left Conti out of the
squad for 182 days, then a subsequent training injury that required surgery almost
back to back with his previous injury, which caused him to miss 206 days, the
risk of more long-term injury is the biggest fear for Conti. If he can stay
healthy, it seems that he is destined to make his mark on the right side. He
could easily eclipse all of the right backs in recent memory and elevate Milan's performances as well. It’s all about finding
Conti.
This post inspired by the music of Thomas
Newman’s “Finding Nemo” Soundtrack