A.C. Milan During the Week

8/8/2019 A.C. Milan During the Week.

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By MAURIZIO VISCIDI - MASSIMO LUCCHESI

Di rec t l y f rom i t s t ra in ing cam p, tec hn ica l and tac t i c a l

c ombinat ions proposed by A.C. Mi lan dur ing t he w eek.

Carlo Ancelotti, coach of A.C.Milan, European and World Champion, is the coach who hosted us with exquisite

courtesy, giving us the opportunity to produce this article, which we hope will enlighten and stimulate our numerous

readers/coaches.

In addition to Ancelotti, other very valuable contributors have been Mauro Tassotti, Dr.Bruno Demichelis andProf.Daniele Tognaccini.

Milanello: the key for the successes of the

rossoneri

As everybody knows, A.C. Milans training site

is at located at Milanellos sport center, a modern

structure used by Ancelottis team and also by the

Primavera team trained by Filippo Galli. The

latter is essentially the U20 A.C. Milan team,

useful for the development of young talents and

for testing innovative solutions proposed inside of

the MilanLab laboratories. The coaches of A.C.

Milan can count on facilities and equipment

which are in the vanguard in the field. The

Milanello center includes 6 regulation size fields,

one field with synthetic turf, an indoor field also

with synthetic turf, a caged area, and a circuit in

the woods which is used for athletic training and

for the recovery of injured players. The central

part of the facility includes a two-floor building,

which houses offices, the athletes rooms, the

medical center, a TV room, a billiard room, a bar,the kitchen, two dining rooms, the press room, a

meeting room, and other rooms that contribute to

the efficient functionality of the complex.

The locker rooms (for the first team and for the

Primavera team) and the modern equipment

room are in a separate building, located close to

the training fields. The rooms that host MilanLab

have been built recently under the locker rooms.

A.C. Milan Technical Staff

A.C. Milans technical staff is headed by Carlo

Ancelotti and includes Mauro Tassotti and

Alessandro Costacurta as assistants. Tassotti has

been the first assistant for several years;

Costacurta, who stopped playing at the end of lastseason, in addition to his duties as assistant on the

field, handles also evaluation and analysis of

game videos. Prof. Daniele Tognaccini is

responsible for the athletic preparation with the

support of Prof. Giovanni Mauri and 6 young

assistants. Dr. Bruno Demichelis is the team

psychologist; William Vecchi and Beniamino

Abate handle goalkeepers training.

Daily Diary: Sept. 19, 2007. Wednesday

We meet with Ancelotti the morning of

Wednesday, September 19 at the Milanello


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complex. A.C. Milan has just defeated Benfica in

the first Champions League game and has to get

ready for the Serie A game against Parma on

Saturday, Sept. 22nd.

Ancelotti talks to us about his team: The

decision to go with the 4-3-2-1 system is based not

only on the characteristics of the available

players, but also on the advantages guaranteed in

the build-up and pre- finishing touch phases.

Pirlo is a player with great ability in organizing

the attacking maneuvers, and the skill of our

trequartisti (attacking midfielders, called also

mezzepunte) is of fundamental value for the

pre-finishing phase and the conclusion of the

attacks. The alignment of two attacking

midfielders behind one deep forward forces the

opponent to difficult adjustments. Who is going to

mark our two trequartisti? Will the task be

handled by the wing fullback by shifting toward

the middle and moving in front of the natural

defensive line? Or will the marking be handled by

the two central midfielders (more used to

alternate role in marking only one attacking

midfielder), who would have to push back closer

to their defensive line? My wing fullbacks have to

accompany the maneuver of our midfielders, bymoving forward (even simultaneously), in order to

expand the attacking front. This creates problems

for our opponents, who are left with the

responsibility of covering the whole width of the

field and trying to block the filtering passes to our

two attacking midfielders. Obviously, our

opponents, knowing our approach, often try to

block Pirlo with a withdrawn forward or with a

midfielder dedicated to man to man marking.

Clearly, this makes things more difficult for us. If

Pirlo has difficulty playing under this type of

pressure, we are ready to a dynamic exchange of position between him and Gattuso or Ambrosini,

making sure that there is always a central

midfielder as main reference point. Once the ball

gets to Pirlo from our backfield, our playmaker

follows with a filtering pass toward our two

attacking midfielders or a pass to the outside for

the advancing fullbacks, in case the middle of the

field is too congested. The ability of our attacking

midfielders to receive from the back and turn with

the ball does not oblige us to have as advanced

forward a player excelling in check back

movements. It suffices for our advanced forwardto have propensity and ability in finishing.

The development of attacking moves follows the

principles of the game. We do not use the

classical 11 vs 0 drills, but rather train on game

situations (numerical superiority, or inferiority, oreven numbers). The group must be able to tackle

various situations and attack guided by principles

rather than through prepared schemes.

In defense, the 4-3-2-1 system creates difficulties

in covering the width of the field, in particular

when the play switches rapidly from one side to

the other and there is no adequate pressure on the

opposing ball carrier. When the ball carrier on

the flanks is the opposing wing back, the attacking

midfielder on that side moves wide to put

pressure (at the least in the opposing half of the

field). However, if the opposing fullback receives

the ball in an advanced position, it is

responsibility of the outside midfielder to move

wide to put pressure, with the whole midfield

shifting toward the side where the ball is. In these

situations, the attacking midfielders try to block

any dumping pass to support players in the

middle. The outside midfielder on the weak side

slides toward the middle, leaving the weak side

unprotected at midfield, whereas the defensive

lines shifts minimally toward the strong side,

accepting a 2 vs 2 match up in the middle, if theopposing team has two forwards. If the team finds

it particularly difficult in controlling opposing

attacks, I shift to a 4-4-2 alignment, which is a

system of play with better safeguards in defense.

In general, my Milan finds it easier to play in

European competitions than in the Italian Serie A.

In European matches we find more spaces;

besides, the competition against the best teams

from other countries adds enthusiasm and gives

us the opportunity to implement in the best

possible way the type of soccer that we propose.

The team is divided in two groups: the players

who did not play in the Benfica match the night


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before are involved in technical/tactical exercises,

the others do light work-out.

Sept. 19, 11:00 am - TRAINING SESSION

WARM-UP (10 minutes) : 11 players move freely

in one half of the field, exchange various balls

among themselves. The technical exercise is

alternated with stretching/walks/accelerations.

EXERCISE No.1 ( 5 minutes): 1 vs 1. The

defender, positioned on the side of the playing

area, kicks the ball toward the forward in the

central zone. The latter controls the ball and enters

into the playing area, dribbles around the defender

and shoots on goal (Fig.1).

Fig.1Fig.1

30 mt

EXERCISE No.2 (5 minutes): 1 vs 1. Control

the pass and turn with the ball.

The defender, positioned on the side of the

playing area, executes a 40-yard pass toward a

player situated inside of the midfield circle. This

player rebounds it first-time to the forward in the

middle, who controls the pass, enters into the

playing area, dribbles around the defender and

shoots on goal (Fig. 2).

Fig.2Fig.2

30 mt

EXERCISE No.3 (5 minutes): 1 vs 1. Getting

free from marking.

Coach Tassotti, positioned on the side of theplaying area, passes the ball to a midfielder inside

of the center circle. The receiver passes the ball to

the forward inside of the playing area, who can

receive the pass to his feet or in free space. The

forwards objective is a shot on goal, after

avoiding the defender (Fig.3).

Fig.3Fig.3

30 mt

EXERCISE No.4 (5 minutes): 1 vs 1. Wall pass

and go.

The coach, positioned on the side of the playing

area, passes the ball to a midfielder inside of the

center circle. The receiver executes a wall pass

with the forward inside of the playing area, then

proceedes to beat the defender and shoots on goal

(Fig. 3bis).

Fig.Fig.3 bis3 bis

30 mt

EXERCISE No.5 (5 minutes): 2 vs 2.

Coach Tassotti, positioned on the side of the

playing area, passes the ball to a midfielder inside

of the center circle. The latter then feeds the two

forward who try to beat the opposition of two

defenders and go to goal (Fig.4)


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Fig.4Fig.4

30 mt

EXERCISE No.6 (5 minutes):3 vs 2.

The coach, positioned on the side of the playing

area, passes the ball to a midfielder inside of the

center circle. The latter then feeds two forwards

and makes an overlapping run, with the objective

of cooperating with the two forwards in beating

two defenders and going to goal (Fig.5).

Fig.5Fig.5

30 mt

MINIGAME (15 MINUTES): 6 VS 6 + 2 GKs.

Two teams of 7 players each (including the GK)

face each other on a 40x30 field. In the first halfthe players cannot touch the ball more than 3

consecutive times; in the second half there are no

restrictions.

Daily Diary: Sept. 20, 2007. Thursday

On Thursday, Sept. 20, the team gets together in

the afternoon for the training session. We are

impressed by the intensity, the concentration and

the application of all players (Pato surprises us

with some great accelerations).

September 20, 4:15 pm - TRAINING SESSION

WARM-UP (5 minutes): the players warm up on a

full field, by moving around freely, alternatingstretching/runs/walks (see photo below).

EXERCISE No.1 (10 minutes). Minigame. 10 vs

10 with minigoals.

Two teams of 10 players each face each other on a

45x45 field and try to score in the minigoal (see

photo).

In the first part the players are only allowed two

consecutive touches and cannot tackle each other

(cannot take the ball away from the ball carrier,

can only intercept it). In the second part, the

players are restricted to only one touch. The third

part has no restrictions.

EXERCISE No.2 (15 minutes). End zonescoring. 10 vs 10.

Two teams of 10 players each face each other on a

60x45 field (no goals), trying to connect a pass

with a player freed in the end zone (see photo).


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The players have only two consecutive touches in

the defensive half of the field, whereas there are

no restrictions in the attacking half. The exercise

should stimulate through runs and connectingdeep passes beyond the defenders (see Fig.6)

Fig.6Fig.6

60 mt60 mt

45 mt45 mt

EXERCISE No.3 (15 minutes): Team in

numerical inferiority (9 + GK) defends vs team

with 10 field players.

On a full field, a team with numerical inferiority,

lined up first with a 4-3-2 system, then with a 4-4-

1, contrasts a team aligned with a 4-4-2 system.

The team with numbers down tries to intercept the

ball and break down the maneuvers of the

opposing team, which tries to go to goal. When

the defending team steals the ball, the exercise is

interrupted, then restarted with the ball in

possession of the team with numbers up. The

attacking team has no restrictions. At half time,

roles are inverted.

MINIGAME (10 MINUTES): 9 VS 9 + 2 GKs.

Two teams of 10 players each (including GKs)

face each other in half field with two regular

goals. No restrictions.

At the end of the session, we meet with Mauro

Tassotti, who provides us with additional ideas,

methodologies and insightful tips: I believe that

one of the characteristics that distinguish the line-

up of A.C.Milan from the A.C.Milans past line-

ups and from our opponents is the presence of a

playmaker in the back[ Pirlo] and two attacking

midfielders[Seedorf and Kaka]. Our 4-3-2-1

benefits of a playmaker in front of the defensive

line and two players able to operate between the

lines of the opposing teams. This makes it possiblefor us to control the possession of the ball and the

rhythm of the game in general. The players

arrangement of the 4-3-2-1 system allows us to

best develop the attacking schemes. We have to

give up the coverage of some spaces, when we

defend, in that this system does not offer the samesimple applications of the 4-4-2 on the defensive

mode. Our central defenders must be skilled in

one vs one and two vs two situations, since our

wing fullbacks cannot always offer adequate

support by pinching toward the middle.

Essentially, two factors impact considerably on

the work of our backfield: the frequent attacking

moves, even simultaneous, of our wing fullbacks,

and the fact that the weak side of the action is not

guarded by the outside midfielder on that side. On

the other hand, the presence of five players (three

midfielders and two mezzepunte) in the critical

zone of the field enables us to maneuver with ease

and variety not possible with other systems. Our

style, initially based on Pirlos ability of

changing rhythm and front of attack, has, as

ultimate goal, the activation between the lines of

our two mezzepunte, capable to operate with

uncommon creativity. The filtering passes for

Seedorf and Kaka positioned between the lines of

the opponents backfield are our priority. Our

team gives priority to verticalize the attack,

whenever possible. When the midfield is wellcovered by the opposing team, it becomes

essential to open the front of attack with the

participation of our fullbacks attacking the flanks.

Didactically, we train situational attacking

moves, often utilizing exercises with even numbers

between attackers and defenders or with

numerical superiority. In our training sessions,

we dedicate equal time to attacking and defensive

phases. The dynamic of the movements may vary,

depending, of course, on the tactical context of the

next opponent.

Unfortunately, with a schedule that imposes agame every three days, we have limited time for

recovering and training. This slows down the

growth progress during the season. I believe that

the team could improve the defensive phase of the

game. In particular, we would like to be more

aggressive and effective in recovering the ball.

Often, we have a tendency to back off, in that we

are aware of our limitations in the negative

transition. This affects the distance and the space

that we have to cover, once we regain possession

of the ball. During our frequent retreats, we

spend quite a bit of time in reviewing videos, tobecome more aware of our mistakes and to study

our opponents.


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Daily Diary. September 21, 2007. Friday

On the afternoon the team gets together on the

field for the final preparation session before the

match against Parma.

Sept. 21, 4:15 pm - TRAINING SESSION

WARM-UP (10 minutes): players warm up by

alternating freely stretching/ runs/ walks on the

full field (see photo below)

SMALL HURDLES and SPEED: after the warm-

up phase, the team goes through exercises for

neuromuscular reactivity and sprint, under the

direction of Prof. Daniele Tognaccini (see photo)

EXERCISE No.1 (10 minutes): Game 9 vs 9 on a

small fied.

Two teams of 10 players each (including GKs)face each other on a small field (40x30) (see

photo).

Objective of each team is to go to goal. The first

part of the exercise has a 3-touch restriction, then

the game proceedes without restrictions (see Fig.

7).

Fig.7Fig.7

30 mt30 mt

40 mt40 mt

EXERCISE No.2 (15 minutes). Game 9 vs 9.

Following the previous exercise, the same two

teams face each other on a field slightly bigger

(55x40). Again, the first part has a 3-touch

restriction, then no restrictions. The two teams are

lined up with a 4-3-2 (or 4-3-1-1) formation.

EXERCISES ON SET PLAYS

The session ends with the players practicing

corner kicks and direct kicks. Ancelotti assigns

Pirlo, Gourcuff and Seedorf to take corners first

from the left, then from the right, whereas three

groups of 5 players, on a rotational basis, attack

the ball to finish in goal.

The exercise then continues as a minigame, with

one group of five players attacking, another group

defending, and the third group waiting for their

turn outside of the penalty box. Corner after

corner, the three groups exchange roles.


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The session ends with the specialists taking direct

free kicks from outside of the penalty box.

At the end of the session, we talk with Prof.Daniele Tognaccini, responsible for the physical

preparation, regarding the difficulties in training a

team of champions with limited time to work out.

Obviously, the frequency of official games in the

schedule limits the time for training. Under these

circumstances, it is indispensable to favor the

quality of the work; therefore, our methodogy is

based on high intensity. The technical/tactical

sessions directed by Ancelotti are monitored by

reading the cardiac frequency, in order to

identify the workload for each player. Our

fundamental principle relies on identifying the

athletic work during the exercises. Our objective

is not much the expansions of the athletes aerobic

potential in order to delay the production of

lactate, but rather the stimulation of the athletes

ability to convert the lactate accumulated into

energy. We train for resistance at an intensity

greater than the upper limit (S4); our reference

parameter is the maximum cardiac frequency.

We try to train the aerobic system as a recovery

system and extend into the lactate zone during the

work. Training of the aerobic capacity is done byinterval training on variable distances, with the

longest being 400 meters. Working at 60-70% of

the maximum cardiac frequency means that we

can stimulate the aerobic capacity, whereas,

working at 70-80% of the maximum, we impact on

the strength. We prefer instead to stimulate thebody to go slightly above 80% of the maximum

cardiac frequency and activate what we call

specific aerobic capacity.

Through the interval training exercises we try to

obtain the build-up of sufficient quantities of

lactate (18-20 millimoles/liter), to be transformed

into energy by the athlete. From a practical

standpoint, it is possible to stimulate the

production and build-up of lactate either, with

technical exercises conducted at very high pace

(i.e., 1 vs 1) or with the classical repetition runs

(i.e., 400 meters).

The work toward strength is also personalized,

and we try to fill gaps that may exist at the

individual level. Strength workout is done with

instruments (for the volume) and without them (to

stimulate the neuromuscular system). I consider of

fundamental importance an adequate training of

the upper body in order to avoid lack of balance

when working on exercises specific for strength.

We also give great importance to recovery

sessions. After abdominal, lumbar, stretching

exercises and the classical pool work, we finishwith strength workout with low loads.

Speed is stimulated through classical exercises or

with the use of elastics (hyperspeed) and is

measured with photocells. I give great importance

to foot speed (exercised with skip, ladder, etc.).

We strive to lower regularly the reaction times to

stimuli.

Another parameter that we train with great

diligence is flexibility (not to be confused with

stretching), which we train with lunges, jumps,

walking under hurdles, etc.).

In the course of the morning, we took advantage

of the courtesy and competence of Dr.Bruno

Demichelis (A.C.Milans psychologist and one of

the creators of MilanLab), who admitted us into

his office and gave us an interesting animated

presentation, highlighting MilanLabs objectives

and philosophy. MilanLabs primary objective is

to optimize the health (therefore performance) of

the players, who are a fundamental asset for the

Club. The psychophysical integrity of each player

is protected by a series of advanced technologies

that allow monitoring of the mental, biochemicaland neurological status. MilanLabs task aims at

supporting the visual evaluation of the coach


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with objective data compiled through a series of

tests. These data, of course, help the coach in

making final decisions. In other words, MilanLab

provides information and evaluation parametersto the coach, putting the latter in the best position

for making choices and guiding the team.

The awareness of the value of each player to the

club leads us to operate in a way that helps

preventing accidents and problems rather than

curing them. The player is seen as an entity

depending on the best equilibrium of three

different and correlated functional areas:

structural, psychic, and chemical.

The structural area relates to the

muscular/skeletal aspect.

The biochemical area considers the athlete as a

physical, chemical and biological entity, whereas

the psychic area analyzes and monitors mental

health and psychological status of the player.

To achieve the objectives of prevention that

MilanLab has set, we have developed the concept

of systemic vision: overall, a soccer player

includes a series of interconnected gearsthat,

together, determine the global performance. In

order to optimize the performance of each

individual gear, it is important to collect and

evaluate as many data as possible. All the dataare elaborated by a sophisticated computerized

system that produces parameters related to the

psychic-physical status of the athlete.

MilanLab is a research and development project

that uses data from past experiences to project

factors that could lead to risky situations for the

health of the athlete.

Because of this global vision, the Center of

Scientific Research of MilanLab plays a pivotal

role at the Milanello center.

The Match: MILAN-PARMA 1-1

The week ends with the home match against

Parma at the Meazza Stadium.

The rossoneri line up with the usual 4-3-2-1

formation, whereas the Parma team uses a 4-3-3

that becomes a 4-4-1-1 in the defensive phases of

the game.

In the build-up phase, Ancelotti prefers to rely on

Pirlos ability as playmaker, due to his ability in

connecting short and long passes, and in finding

Kaka and Seedorf between the lines with filtering

passes.

Obviously, the opponents try to block these moveswith close marking on Pirlo. In particular,

Reginaldo pinches in from his right wing position

to man mark Milans playmaker, whereas Pisanu

on the left flank drops back to the line of the

midfielders.

When he receives the ball from the back line and

is unable to start the build up phase, because

under high pressure, Pirlo in general dumps the

ball to one of the central defenders (Fig.8), often

free to operate and start the build up (Nesta and

Bonera are contrasted only by Corradi).

Fig.8Fig.8

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3) if the opening movement of the midfielder isabsorbed by the opposing central midfielder, this

creates space in the middle for the closer

mezzapunta (attacking midfielder), or possibly

for the other mezzapunta, in case the other

opposing midfielder shifts much toward the strong

side (Fig.14).

Fig.Fig.1414

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If there is no space for a pass into space beyond

the defensive line, the attacking maneuver

develops with combinations or with a search fornumerical superiority in a portion of the field.

If there is no enough space to serve the attacking

midfielders between the lines, the team relies on

lateral attacks or, less frequently, uses the center

forward as a rebounding wall to set up the

mezzepunte or the midfielders for a shot.

The movements of the 3 attacking players (a

center forward and two mezzepunte), even

though not always well coordinated because of

the mezzepuntes great mobility, are activated

by the center forward. If the latter moves wide,

the mezzapunta on the weak side moves toward

the center, whereas, if the center forward moves

toward the strong side, the mezzapunta must

provide width or depth, according to the situation,

for the development of the attacking maneuver.

If, however, the center forward checks back, atthe least one of the mezzepunte gets closer to

receive the wall pass.

Against Parma, the A.C. Milan team has not been

able to do better than obtain a tie score, despite

the fact that it controlled great part of the game.

The careful protective action of the opposing

midfielders outside of their penalty box has

limited time and space for Kaka and Seedorf,

limiting the possibility of freeing a player for a

shot on goal. Even the attacks from the flank by

Oddo and Jankulowski were not incisive enough;

moreover, the crosses in the air did not find

enough receivers in front of the goal.

In defense, A.C. Milan was rarely challenged.

However, when Parma was able to come forward

with rapid counterattacks, A.C.Milan encountered

difficulties in keeping the teams sections close

together, with particularly uncovered spaces at

midfield.

In summary, we can say that the technical

superiority of the rossoneri did not produce theexpected results. The frequency of the games on

the schedule may be in part the cause of blurry

performances such as this one. Anyway, the

Parma team has been able to take advantage of the

weaknesses evidenced by A.C.Milan in the

negative transitions and had more energies to

spend in the critical zone of the field.

Documents

A.C. Milan During the Week