MN: How the ‘double playmaker’ has become the key component of Allegri’s 3-5-2

Going into preseason there was a lot of speculation about what formation Massimiliano Allegri would use. A few games into the new season, it is one of the certainties.

As MilanNews writes, one of the key players in the system is Luka Modric, as was to be expected. The Croatian, who arrived at Milan with the enthusiasm and energy of someone just starting his career, has immediately become the Rossoneri’s focal point.

He drops deep, moves wide, controls the ball, passes it, receives under pressure, shoots and takes corners. One shouldn’t be surprised by a player of his class, yet here we are: at 40 years old, he’s currently performing at a level that’s breathtaking.

A point of contention in these first six games has been his position on the pitch. At the start of the summer, it was easier to imagine him as a mezzala or an attacking midfielder rather than as a regista (deep-lying playmaker), but it seems he asked to be the latter.

The question arose: wouldn’t it be better to use Luka in a more advanced position, to allow Samuele Ricci to be the regista, rather than placing him between two more attacking midfielders like Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Youssouf Fofana?

Photos: Marco Luzzani + Giuseppe Cottini/Getty Images

Allegri’s answer

Max didn’t take long to give his interpretation of the situation: there’s a second ‘playmaker’, another midfielder capable of handling the ball and providing rhythm and security to his teammates, but right now it’s not Ricci.

Instead, it is Adrien Rabiot, who returned to Italy after a year with Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille. He was a dominant and impactful player in midfield, but in his career he’s never been so decisive in dribbling and holding the ball. To the surprise of some, how now seems to be complete.

Modric remains the designated playmaker, the man used to begin the build-up, but now he has a team-mate who is on his wavelength. With Saelemaekers, Estupinan, Pulisic and Nkunku, there is a fine unit that can pass the ball with ease and even run vertically much more often than in the past.

It’s no coincidence, in fact, that with Rabiot and the constant work at Milanello, the 3-5-2 is being actually being interpreted as a 3-5-2 and no longer as an asymmetrical alternative to the 4-2-3-1 the team has been accustomed to for years.

On Tuesday night against Lecce, three goals came from crosses, two of them in a classic situation developed by exploiting the strengths of the 3-5-2. And here too, it ‘s no coincidence that for Santi Gimenez’s goal, it was Rabiot – the team’s second playmaker – who teed up Bartesaghi to cross.

When the transfer market brings strong, experienced players, these can be the results. However, more difficult tests are to come, starting with Antonio Conte’s Napoli.