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Massimiliano Allegri and Gian Piero Gasperini are among the most electric coaches on the sidelines, and they will battle again tonight.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning that both Allegri and Gasperini lead tight defences as Roma have conceded four goals and Milan seven. Their attacking problems are another similarity: better away than at home.
Milan picked up one point at San Siro against two newly promoted teams (Cremonese, Pisa), while Roma’s four defeats this season have all come at the Olimpico. Both sides struggle against deep blocks, and are more comfortable in open spaces.
The two teams also have in common the speed with which they have managed to forge a solid tactical identity in just a few months and conquer the crowd with their charisma. There are many similarities between coaches who, in reality, are apostles of opposing faiths.
Max is known for winning “by a nose”, with the low block and counter-attack. Gasp is more known for winning by overwhelming opponents with attacking play, ferocious pressing and lots of goals. This season though, more unites them than divides them.
Narrow margins
Not only did Allegri’s men score more in the first nine games (14-10), but Gasperini won six out of seven by just one goal, compared to three times for Max, who, for now, has lost the crown of the man who wins by a nose.
Gasperini’s message remains the same as always: defend by running forward, attack relentlessly, even if in Rome he doesn’t have the rich attacking battery he had in Bergamo and which allowed him to surprise with rotations.
The transfer market did not bring him the forwards he wanted, and those who have arrived are struggling (Ferguson and Bailey above all) or have been injured (Bailey first, Ferguson now). Counting Dovbyk, the only one to score, three have scored two goals.
By comparison, in the first nine games of the 2019-20 season, Zapata, Muriel, and Papu amassed 18 goals. Quite a drop from 18 to two. Gasperini is advancing ‘like a marine’, trying to keep Roma afloat and reach the January transfer window for more ammunition.
Meanwhile, he’s training his players; Dovbyk is growing, and he’s shaping Bailey like Lookman. The Nigerian also arrived from the Premier League with the habits of a winger. Gasperini put him close to goal and he exploded.
He’s trying again with Bailey, one of the few players with a crisp, powerful shot. Against Inter, Roma had 11 shots inside the box: blanks. While waiting for improvements and reinforcements, the coach is squeezing goals from his entire squad.
He wants more goals from the resurgent Pellegrini, the empowered Soulé, the false nine Dybala, the midfielder Cristante and the defenders. Wesley scored in round one, Hermoso on the last, and Ndicka and Mancini in the cup.
Similar issues
Even Milan’s first goal of the season came from a defender (Pavlovic). Allegri also got very little from his central attackers: two goals between Gimenez and Nkunku, but both in the Coppa Italia. Zero in the league. In Serie A, Pulisic has been decisive with four goals. Max also resorted to a false nine: Leao.
Gasperini’s tend of winning by one goal and Max’s four extra goals don’t mean a reversal of roles. In reality, everything is as it was before, and the numbers prove it.
One in particular, the index that calibrates the aggressiveness of pressing (PPDA): the closer it is to 0, the higher and more ferocious it is. Roma has 9.2, while Milan, last in Serie A, has 17.1. Gasperini attacks over and over, while Max’s side drop deep.
Despite the change of club, each remains faithful to their style, and other numbers confirm it: centre of of gravity (Milan three meters deeper), possession (Roma 7% higher), and for the Giallorossi even more passes, more shots on goal, more offensive recoveries. Everything is as usual.
Gasperini relies heavily on team play, Allegri on individual play, from Leao backwards. Indeed, without Pulisic and Rabiot – who inspired the first run of wins – Milan seem deflated. They struggled against Pisa and, in the first half in Bergamo, were pelted by La Dea more satisfied with the point than desiring the three.
The excuse of absences holds up to a certain point. The numbers show that there is no team in the league that allows the opponent to keep the ball like the Rossoneri. Is this the attitude of a great team? Can you have lofty ambitions while giving up so much possession?
Against Napoli, Milan demonstrated they can play a different kind of football, more courageous and proactive. That’s what Allegri needs tonight to draw level with Gasperini on 21 points, just one point behind Conte.
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