After raiding the transfer market, both Milan sides seem to be assembling squads to rival the title holders, Juventus. It is one thing buying the talent, but will the former glory days be returning to Italy's second city?
Before touching on the players, the management of both squads need to be considered. Both Internazionale and Milan have capable managers, Inter appointing favourite Roberto Mancini and Milan looking towards former Fiorentina and Sampdoria man Sinisa Mihajlovic. Mancini loves his defenders to be comfortable on the ball and look to build from the back. Central defender is Juan Jesus is a prime example of this. Looking at Mihajlovic, he is certainly a lively and controversial figure. He has had run ins with Adem Ljajic, who is on loan at Inter Milan from Roma. During his stint as the Serbian national team coah he ordered people to sign a document indicating that they promise to sing the Serbian national anthem before each game. Mihajlovic may come across as a dictator, but he demands nothing but 100% commitment from his players and can be sure to get the best out of them.
There were a lot of purchases for either side in the summer transfer window, and most of them have been very good buys. Geoffrey Kondogbia was the big signing from Mancini with the Frenchman moving from AS Monaco for £21.7m. At only 22 years of age, he already one of the top midfield stars in Serie A, making 12 Serie A appearances until this stage. He controls a game and this was witnessed in the Champions League tie against Arsenal last season when he made a quality Arsenal midfield look sub-standard. Although he hasn't been firing on all cylinders recently, there is a bright future for the holding midfielder.
Stefan Jovetic is looking revitalised under Roberto Mancini. The man who brought him to Manchester City has freed him from Manuel Pellegrini where he made just 11 appearances in 2 years and was suffering from injuries and low confidence. Now back on more familiar turf, Mancini's acquisition has been inspired with the Montengrin netting 3 times in his first 2 games and delivering a string of very good performances. Jovetic also teams up with Croatian, Ivan Perisic. Out of the 13 games he has featured in, he has netted on 3 occasions. Perisic had a terrific season with Wolfsburg last year, culminating in a DFB Pokal victory. So far this season he has created 8 chances compared to last years' tally of 25. Perisic is a unique style of player. Normally utilised out wide, he doesn't display pace that would be commonly associated with a winger, however he can play make and be labelled as a wide playmaker. he is a useful player and will be applied cunningly by Roberto Mancini.
AC Milan raided the transfer market spending money on no less than 7 players. The pick of these include Carlos Bacca, Andrea Bertolacci and Luiz Adriano. Bacca was part of the Europa League winning side of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, being a key marksman on the way. Already this season he has netted 6 times in 11 league appearances and his forming a very fruitful partnership with Adriano. he has a 42.7% strike ratio and will be one of the leading scorers when Serie A concludes at the end of the season. Last season he had scored 20 times and had an exceptional shot accuracy with 71% of his shots hitting the target. Looking at his partner in crime, Luiz Adriano arrived from Shahktar Donetsk for a fee of around £5m. Not quite reaching the heights of his partner he has 2 goals in 10 appearances. For Shahktar, he recorded 77 league goals in 162 appearances for the Ukrainians. Some people may remember the dropped ball incident in the Champions League Group stage in 2012. Willian attempted to return a dropped ball to the Nordsjaelland keeper, but Adriano nicked the ball and slotted it into the back of the net. He wasn't too popular after this, but Milan are keen to overlook his unsporting play.
Current standings are positive for both sides but particularly the blue half. Inter have only lost one game to league leaders Fiorentina and sit in second position, Milan are further down a bit in 6th and seem to be struggling for consistency. 6 victories and 4 defeats is a start, but something that needs to be worked on if they are to creep into the Champions League spots. Neither side have European football this year, and has really hurt all in Italy's second city. It remains to be seen whether Internazionale can keep the charge up but if they can get to Christmas still in the mix, then they have a great opportunity of securing the Scuddetto for the first time since the treble winning season. Juventus have fallen down the pecking order, but be under no illusions that they will have a run of form and challenge for Champions League spots.
One very key player for the Rossoneri that I would like to mention is Giacomo Bonaventura. AC Milan completed the signing of the midfielder for a fee believed to be approximately €7m. Last season he found his feet in his new club, playing 33 out of the 38 games and scoring 7 goals. It's his creativity that is most impressive. Last season he created 43 chances and even though he assisted just 4 times, I would point the finger at Milan's poor finishers. This season he has created more than half (26) the chances he did last season in just over 11 game, it's quite incredible how well he has performed under Mihajlovic. I watched his performance on Sunday with keen interest and witnessed assists for Mexes' and Bacca's goals. If Milan are to do anything this year he needs to stay fit.
One thing I would like to touch on in regards to AC Milan is their consistency. Against Lazio the other week they were simply incredible. They scored 3 great goals, while giving the home side barely a sniff of the ball. It was that match that actually prompted me to write this article and gave me a really high opinion of their chances of creeping back to the big time. However, they were a shadow of that game in their match v Atalanta and were very lucky to leave with a point. If it wasn't for their 16 year old goal keeper then Atalanta certainly would have left the San Siro with maximum points. The Rossoneri can't continue to rely on a 16 year old goal keeper as, although he has been solid, he is still learning and mistakes are inevitable. Giacomo Bonaventura has also been influential this season creating 25 chances already this season. He seems to hold the key for AC Milan.
Inter are sitting with smiles on their faces in second place behind Fiorentina on goal difference. Roberto Mancini is building a side that is extremely capable of bringing Champions League football back to their club. I watched the derby match against Milan and Inter and even though they weren't impressive, they still got all three points in that match courtesy of a Fredy Guarin strike. Contrary to the Italian stereotype, Inter looked to attack and they often looked dangerous and posed questions for AC Milan to answer. With Juventus currently in mid table, there is no reason why Inter can't remain there over Christmas. If the form continues, Mancini could have a title winning side at his disposal.
The money spent suggest both sides are resurgent and keen to get back to Europe's premier competition. Truthfully, I've been disappointed in the demise both side over the last number of years, but large proportion of that sympathy could derive from my fondness of Italian football. In the Champions League, Italy has not really had the same threshold since Internazionale's victory in 2010 as Juventus looked the only side to go anywhere and even at that, they disappointed in every season bar the last.
There were a lot of purchases for either side in the summer transfer window, and most of them have been very good buys. Geoffrey Kondogbia was the big signing from Mancini with the Frenchman moving from AS Monaco for £21.7m. At only 22 years of age, he already one of the top midfield stars in Serie A, making 12 Serie A appearances until this stage. He controls a game and this was witnessed in the Champions League tie against Arsenal last season when he made a quality Arsenal midfield look sub-standard. Although he hasn't been firing on all cylinders recently, there is a bright future for the holding midfielder.
Stefan Jovetic is looking revitalised under Roberto Mancini. The man who brought him to Manchester City has freed him from Manuel Pellegrini where he made just 11 appearances in 2 years and was suffering from injuries and low confidence. Now back on more familiar turf, Mancini's acquisition has been inspired with the Montengrin netting 3 times in his first 2 games and delivering a string of very good performances. Jovetic also teams up with Croatian, Ivan Perisic. Out of the 13 games he has featured in, he has netted on 3 occasions. Perisic had a terrific season with Wolfsburg last year, culminating in a DFB Pokal victory. So far this season he has created 8 chances compared to last years' tally of 25. Perisic is a unique style of player. Normally utilised out wide, he doesn't display pace that would be commonly associated with a winger, however he can play make and be labelled as a wide playmaker. he is a useful player and will be applied cunningly by Roberto Mancini.
AC Milan raided the transfer market spending money on no less than 7 players. The pick of these include Carlos Bacca, Andrea Bertolacci and Luiz Adriano. Bacca was part of the Europa League winning side of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, being a key marksman on the way. Already this season he has netted 6 times in 11 league appearances and his forming a very fruitful partnership with Adriano. he has a 42.7% strike ratio and will be one of the leading scorers when Serie A concludes at the end of the season. Last season he had scored 20 times and had an exceptional shot accuracy with 71% of his shots hitting the target. Looking at his partner in crime, Luiz Adriano arrived from Shahktar Donetsk for a fee of around £5m. Not quite reaching the heights of his partner he has 2 goals in 10 appearances. For Shahktar, he recorded 77 league goals in 162 appearances for the Ukrainians. Some people may remember the dropped ball incident in the Champions League Group stage in 2012. Willian attempted to return a dropped ball to the Nordsjaelland keeper, but Adriano nicked the ball and slotted it into the back of the net. He wasn't too popular after this, but Milan are keen to overlook his unsporting play.
Current standings are positive for both sides but particularly the blue half. Inter have only lost one game to league leaders Fiorentina and sit in second position, Milan are further down a bit in 6th and seem to be struggling for consistency. 6 victories and 4 defeats is a start, but something that needs to be worked on if they are to creep into the Champions League spots. Neither side have European football this year, and has really hurt all in Italy's second city. It remains to be seen whether Internazionale can keep the charge up but if they can get to Christmas still in the mix, then they have a great opportunity of securing the Scuddetto for the first time since the treble winning season. Juventus have fallen down the pecking order, but be under no illusions that they will have a run of form and challenge for Champions League spots.
One very key player for the Rossoneri that I would like to mention is Giacomo Bonaventura. AC Milan completed the signing of the midfielder for a fee believed to be approximately €7m. Last season he found his feet in his new club, playing 33 out of the 38 games and scoring 7 goals. It's his creativity that is most impressive. Last season he created 43 chances and even though he assisted just 4 times, I would point the finger at Milan's poor finishers. This season he has created more than half (26) the chances he did last season in just over 11 game, it's quite incredible how well he has performed under Mihajlovic. I watched his performance on Sunday with keen interest and witnessed assists for Mexes' and Bacca's goals. If Milan are to do anything this year he needs to stay fit.
One thing I would like to touch on in regards to AC Milan is their consistency. Against Lazio the other week they were simply incredible. They scored 3 great goals, while giving the home side barely a sniff of the ball. It was that match that actually prompted me to write this article and gave me a really high opinion of their chances of creeping back to the big time. However, they were a shadow of that game in their match v Atalanta and were very lucky to leave with a point. If it wasn't for their 16 year old goal keeper then Atalanta certainly would have left the San Siro with maximum points. The Rossoneri can't continue to rely on a 16 year old goal keeper as, although he has been solid, he is still learning and mistakes are inevitable. Giacomo Bonaventura has also been influential this season creating 25 chances already this season. He seems to hold the key for AC Milan.
Inter are sitting with smiles on their faces in second place behind Fiorentina on goal difference. Roberto Mancini is building a side that is extremely capable of bringing Champions League football back to their club. I watched the derby match against Milan and Inter and even though they weren't impressive, they still got all three points in that match courtesy of a Fredy Guarin strike. Contrary to the Italian stereotype, Inter looked to attack and they often looked dangerous and posed questions for AC Milan to answer. With Juventus currently in mid table, there is no reason why Inter can't remain there over Christmas. If the form continues, Mancini could have a title winning side at his disposal.
The money spent suggest both sides are resurgent and keen to get back to Europe's premier competition. Truthfully, I've been disappointed in the demise both side over the last number of years, but large proportion of that sympathy could derive from my fondness of Italian football. In the Champions League, Italy has not really had the same threshold since Internazionale's victory in 2010 as Juventus looked the only side to go anywhere and even at that, they disappointed in every season bar the last.