A triumvirate of friendly matches rarely brings overwhelming positives, but regularly gives coaches and players points to note, and last night in Bari certainly did that
The Trofeo TIM is not exactly the first thing that catches everyone's attention when August arrives and the new Serie A season comes into view, but that is not to say it doesn't carry any weight. The triangle of 45-minute clashes gives Italian football's three biggest sisters the opportunity to pit their wits against likely rivals for the big trophies only days before the campaign begins in earnest.
The chance to test new players, systems, and even coaches against the Italian cream was afforded to AC Milan, Inter and Juventus for the 11th time in Bari on Thursday. The Nerazzurri recovered from their recent Supercoppa Italiana loss to their cugini by picking up five points from their two games to retain the trophy, recording a seventh win in total.
So what did the coaches, directors, players and fans learn about their sides - and about their adversaries - in last night's three fixtures? We've picked out five of the key points picked up from events at the San Nicola.
| INTER'S SYSTEM NEEDS WIDTH, BUT WHERE IS IT? |
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Though the Nerazzurri picked up the trophy at the end of the night, they didn't always give the impression of a harmonious unit on the pitch. Wesley Sneijder now walks around the field with a slightly more sullen expression than in seasons past, no doubt a knock-on effect of the lack of service he's been receiving of late, and therefore the fewer chances he's able to create.
They also have big problems in that Gasperini has them playing in various formations which encourage the use of width. It sounds great in theory, but when attempting to put it into practice with square pegs in round holes the plan goes awry. Joel Obi regularly found himself picking up the ball 30 yards deeper than would have been optimum, Ricardo Alvarez seems scared of taking on opponents out wide, and Jonathan was exposed regularly when leaving space in behind to venture forward. And Goran Pandev? 'Time to sell' is probably the best response.
| JUVE NEED A CENTRE-BACK MORE THAN A WINGER |
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A wonderful opening against Inter, capped by a deserved goal, gave rise to momentary belief that this new incarnation of the Old Lady could be an explosive and successful one. But it took no time at all for reality set back in, with the same old defensive issues coming back to haunt them, and their set-piece presence simply non-existent.
On two occasions Leonardo Bonucci failed to even leave the ground as he was beaten to headers from simple left-wing corners by Andrea Ranocchia, and will count himself lucky that the second one didn't end up in the same corner of the net as the first. And after Inter continued to bombard Antonio Conte's side from set-pieces, Antonio Cassano danced his way through their back-line on more than one occasion as Milan also threatened to make hay.
Expect those links will Diego Lugano and Sebastian Coates to be explored once more in the coming days.
| VIDAL HAS THE GAME AND GUTS FELIPE MELO LACKED |
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His display wasn't the most convincing to begin with as he endured a quiet start before finding himself muscled off the ball in the build-up to the opening goal of the game.
However, his response was magnificent, as he took it upon himself to drive his side on. His passing was crisp, his energy vibrant, and his belief seemingly unaffected - at least not in a negative sense - by his earlier error.
When he struck a dipping effort from range toward the near post which escaped the attention of Flavio Roma, it reminded one of his new midfield partner Andrea Pirlo (think Ghana 2006 or Real Madrid 2009). Better that than mirroring his predecessor Felipe Melo, whose first reaction to failure was rarely positive during his underwhelming two years in Turin, despite a promising beginning.
Just to ensure he had made his remorse clear, he got forward again to create a double chance for himself, with his second effort coming back off the underside of the bar, and even had time to tee up Alessandro Matri's late winner with a perfect teasing cross. Juve will be hoping that first impressions last this time.
| WITHOUT THEIR BIG MEN, MILAN ARE ORDINARY BOYS |
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With errors by both goalkeepers over the two games, defensive holes appearing both left and right, battles regularly lost in midfield, and attacks generally losing direction but for the odd bit of something different from Antonio Cassano, the two versions of the Rossoneri were both pale imitations of their usual selves.
Of the inclusions from the primavera ranks there were good showings from Simone Ganz and Kingsley Boateng in particular, but even they appear some way from first team level just yet, while the likes of Daniele Bonera, Marco Amelia, Massimo Oddo, Urby Emanuelson and Luca Antonini are among the more likely reserves. There's a gap that needs bridging if Milan are serious about playing 50-plus matches this term.
| TIME TO TAKE MORE GAMES AROUND ITALY |
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But the very fact that the big three clubs have such huge fan bases away from their home cities, yet spend most of the season playing in front of half full arenas, suggests that there is untapped potential to be explored.
In US baseball, each club has a second home in the south of the country which they use to host games in the hugely important spring training phase of the calendar, and it may just be time for Calcio to follow suit. Wouldn't it be better to see one of the big three playing a January Coppa Italia tie in front of 50,000 in Bari rather than 10,000 in Turin or Milan? There are many ways for the Italian game to make itself more accessible to its disenfranchised public, and this is just one.
