It is an indisputable fact that Italian football has fallen into a trough, which makes Serie A teams rely more on foreign players to play the world. Milan are a prime example of this, and captain Calabria, the only homegrown player in the starting line-up, is now in question for the future of the team.
This season marks Carra's second season as Milan captain and his 10th year with Milan's first team. Carra, who has been part of Milan's youth system since 2007, was promoted to the Milan first team in the 2014-15 season at the age of 17 and gradually became a regular in the team. After Roma Jr.'s move to Lazio, it was no surprise that Kara became Milan's new captain. He's 27 years old, and it's not the time to talk about potential.
When he was in great form, he was an elite defender in Serie A: when it came to reading the game and understanding tactics, he was very smart and had a good choice of timing for attacking and defending;And when it comes to one-on-one situations, Kara still gives the top level of the league: he can contribute 3. per 90 minutes33 steals, 15 interceptions, which are all excellent standards in the top 10% of Serie A and even the whole of Europe;In terms of steals alone, he is also currently 11th in the league. That's definitely not a bad statistic. During last season's 180 minutes against Napoli in the Champions League, Kara also put in a textbook defensive performance against the passing freak KvaratskheliaIn the second leg against Paris this season, Mbappe did not bargain on his side.
However, there has always been a lot of criticism against Calabria, and the root cause of this is that he has limited physical talents, lacks speed and explosiveness, and is very mediocre in physical condition. Against players like KK and Mr. M, Kara did have a good performance, but that doesn't equate to him being able to defend against these top Demomen. As mentioned above, Kara is a smart player and tactical literacy is not an issue. Against games like Napoli and Grand Paris, Milan's defense of top demopers like K77 and Mbappe actually relied more on team defense. What Kara needs to do is stay in a defensive position, always protected by teammates on the inside, and not afraid of the inside cut of the backfoot winger. Carla was definitely a great performer on an individual level, but it was the right team defence that was the key to Milan's silence of these top wingers.
However, when Milan faced opponents who were equal or weaker than themselves, and the team could not put so many resources on the defensive end, Kara's ability to defend alone was not very good. In this case, Kara often put on a disastrous performance: against Atalanta, Kara's side became the opponent's main point of attack, and he was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in anger;Against Dortmund's 19-year-old demon star Gittens, Kara was again struck by the spurt and finally sent a point. These scenes are just a microcosm of Kara's two seasons, and there are many more like them. At the end of the day, Kara's individual ability is the upper limit, and it will be difficult for him to handle it himself when facing those capable wide killers. In fact, in the first leg against Paris, Pioli's first choice to target Mbappe was also Kalulu, not the Milan captain.
As the only Italian player in Milan's starting line-up, is Cara a modern full-back?For most analysts and fans, the answer is yes and no. So far this season, Kara has contributed three assists, which is not an ugly statistic. Since Kara's debut, the outside world has expected him to be a traditional full-back: that is, to ensure that he has a certain ability to run on the wing, can use the wing strategy to deliver high-quality crosses to the middle, and his job is to do a good job in defense. The quintessential modern full-back, or a striker like Milan's left-wing sports car Te'o who can carry the ball on his own, or a player like Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold who can play the role of a midfielder. Kara couldn't do that, so not many people expected that from him.
In the current situation, Carla is quite embarrassed. Two seasons ago, Carra was the most valued right-back in Serie A, with a German turnover of 25 million. But in both seasons, his value has remained at 20 million euros: he can't take care of both offensive and defensive ends, and he has to pick one in the game;Even on the defensive end, Kara's athleticism has also made him often unable to defend alone, and the team must put more defensive resources on his sideAs for Pioli's strategy of transforming him into an adduction full-back as a central exit point this season, it has largely failed.
Kara's dilemma has a lot to do with the coach's tactical arrangement: asking Kara to do the work he is not good at ends up being a four-way street, so that Kara often can't play to his strengths on the field and is often the target of ridicule. Stefano Pioli said in interviews that he often Xi learns the wing-back induction tactics of those big coaches, but in practice he often loses sight of one or the other: teams that use similar tactics are either one-sided adduction, but the back line always maintains a back three position;Or the team has a top midfielder (if the adduction wingback has the ability to play a wide back), to avoid the opponent directly impacting the opponent's central defender line. But Milan didn't want to sacrifice Te'o's forward suddenness, and they didn't have a big man who could protect the middle. At this time, both wingbacks are adducted, and it is very easy to form a large vacuum in the rear. Similar scenes have happened many times this season, and the Milan captain, who is unable to play the ball consistently, has a small body that is difficult to cover the middle, and can chase the speed and mediocre will naturally play games with a strange appearance. It should be said that Kara has played quite awkwardly this season, and there have been several minor frictions with Pioli.
Should Milan strengthen this position?The team should have thought about it. Fresneda and Singh were both linked with Milan in the summer, and now rising Spanish star Arnau Martinez seems to be involved with Milan again. For the de facto controller of Milan's transfer operation at the moment, Moncada needs to have this in mind. There is no need to purge Kara: there is no doubt about his loyalty to Milan, and with the right tactical bonuses, Kara is worthy of his salary (2 million after tax). But strengthening the depth of the position so that the main players can't lie flat too much is something that needs to be done. A lot of times Calabria's talent is there: there are many moments when he really doesn't have enough and the ability to provide tactical changes to the team is not enough.
Milan do need a new starting right-back. At least in the near future, Milan's scouts should need to work on that position.
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