After last season, everyone associated with Milan, wanted to forget it ever happened. Players, supporters and management. With a little bright spots to look at, no player will be hoping for a fresh start with new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic more than former club captain Riccardo Montolivo. Monto, as he is affectionately called by Milan's fanbase, was restricted to just 9 starts last season and only made 1 more appearance off the bench. After a gruesome leg break in the warm up to last years FIFA World Cup, it can come as little surprise. Nonetheless, it is a season Montolivo will want to forget.
Under former boss, Filippo Inzaghi, Montolivo was marginalized in an ever changing formation. When he did play, Milan was so poor he could hardly influence the match. He averaged just an 80.4% pass completion on just over 42 attempted passes per match. To put that into perspective, in his first year with Milan in 2012-2013 Montolivo averaged an 86.4% completion on 66.5 pass attempts per match. In that same year, Monto had an average match rating of 7.46 compared to the 6.76 he averaged this season.
In the new formation Miha plans to play, 4-3-1-2, Monto has the ability to play anywhere in the midfield diamond. His best position may be as a RCM or LCM flanking Nigel de Jong. With de Jong taking up the defensive responsibilities, Montolivo can express himself in more of a shuttling role alongside the destroyer. In his first season with Milan, Monto averaged a whopping 12.1 long balls a game. He was always on the lookout for the imposing Mario Balotelli or the speedster Stephen El Shaarawy who frequently looked to get in behind. Although that year Max Allegri mostly opted for a 4-3-3, Monto has the chance to showcase his passing rage with both Luiz Adriano and Carlos Bacca.
Montolivo should be able to play with Milan's €20 million man, Andrea Bertolacci. Where Montolivo is better sitting deeper and playing from a less advanced position, Bertolacci can get forward much better. With 6 goals and 8 assists for Genoa last season as well as 1.4 key passes per game (a pass that leads to a shot) Bertolacci can influence the attack. Defensively, Monto is a better player than Bertolacci. Where Bertolacci averages 2 tackles and 1 interception a game in his career, Monto averages 3 tackles and 2.6 interceptions. Adding this steel to the midfield will be a huge boost to an incredibly shaky defense.
With the rumor mills circling, we could get the chance to see Monto playing alongside Ibrahimovic who could easily slot in to the #10 spot in the formation. If this does indeed happen, Monto will be all the more necessary in order to make up for the lack of defensive work the team would be bound to get from Ibra. For all his brilliance offensively, Ibrahimovic will leave us with 1 less defensive player on a team who severely struggled defensively last season.
Riccardo Montolivo has the chance to be a key player for Milan next season. If he can get back to his best, Milan could be Juventus's biggest Scudetto threat next season. If he has another poor year, Milan will struggle to find a midfield inspiration that can do all he can. I loved Bonaventura last season, but he is better replacement, or competition to Bertolacci. A lot could ride on Monto, but he should be up for the test. He is Milan's forgotten man, and keeping the spotlight off him will help.
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