Media Referee

Should Boca Juniors go on to clinch the Primera Division title within the next couple of weeks, their success would owe a lot to Guillermo Schelotto’s timely alteration of his system during the second half of the campaign.

The title triumph of Lanus last season further validated the notion that Argentina’s top flight is no longer under the control of its traditional powerhouses River Plate, Boca Juniors and Independiente.

Indeed, the beginning of this campaign felt more like a goodbye to some old values and faces as Agustín Orión departed following half a decade of being a reliable servant of the club.

With limited funds available, Schelotto’s business in the transfer market was bound to be kept at a low profile as the likes of Sebastián Pérez, Axel Werner, Ricardo Centurión and Fernando Tobio arrived on affordable loan deals.

Even though Boca were thriving in the Copa Argentina, the faulty aspects of the 4-3-2-1 system did some damage to their league form and the 1-0 defeat against champions Lanus, so early in the campaign, proved to be a worrying sign of things to come.

Following the sacking of Rodolfo Arruabarrena in spring 2016, his successor was expected to introduce a new brand of football which would not only be appealing to an unforgiving crowd but also deliver maximum points on a regular basis.

However, the rigors of the managerial role at La Bombonera was seemingly difficult to deal with for a relatively young coach like Schelotto who is still learning a thing or two about how to guide a team from the dug-out in a very demanding environment.

Judging by the frustrating figures cut by star forwards Darío Benedetto and Cristian Pavón as Los Xeneizes bowed out of the cup to Rosario Central, a change felt imminent and indeed, that change soon arrived with a devastating impact.

A new 3-4-3 system has helped Schelotto figure out the best use of each player in his attacking unit and Boca have now managed to win 13 of their last 16 domestic games as a result.

In midfield, Fernando Gago and Pablo Perez are no longer shackled as they were in the old system and the emphatic 3-0 victory over Independiente a fortnight summarized how far the team has come.

With River Plate still only four points behind in second place, Boca cannot afford to count their chickens before they hatch.

However, there is no doubt that the tactical flexibility of Schelotto has been rewarded with results which have drastically improved the state of the club in comparison to where they stood 12 months ago.

Ousmane Dembele has been experimented in more than one position across the frontline but as he grows older, he will have to pick a specific job and stick to that.

We have witnessed several players fail to reach their full potential after being deprived of consistent playing time in the position which suits their attributes the most.

When you are a jack of all trades and master of none, it can be difficult to make a name for yourself since the ability to produce eye-catching performances requires a level of continuity in where you play.

The likes of Gaizka Mendieta, Ryan Babel and David Bentley are all notable examples of previously promising players who did not manage to live up to the hype largely because of the variety of positions they occupied before it was too late in their career to adapt.

Dembele, since moving to Germany, has displayed more than enough glimpses of his specialties as an attacking midfielder.

The 20-year-old boasts the scarce ability to run right through defenders with his silky left foot in Dybala-like fashion and produce a final ball clever enough to unlock just about any defence, even at the highest level.

However, under the recently departed Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel, Dembele was rotated in different roles last season, mainly due to tight competition from fellow wingers Christian Pulisic, Marco Reus and Mario Gotze.

The French youngster has still been able to deliver some spectacular performances on both flanks and that is a substantial indication of how versatile a player he is.

But Dembele himself would admit that he saves his best shows for when he is playing in a central attacking midfield role.

That is where he was deployed in the 2-2 draw between Dortmund and Real Madrid at Westfalenstadion last term and as many noticed on the night, he was simply unplayable.

Even though he has the pace and stature of a winger, Dembele’s tenacity and habit of picking out key passes proves he is more suited to the number 10 role right behind the striker.

He is a player in a similar mold to David Silva and Mesut Ozil as he tends to drift out wide and affect the game even though he is not necessarily a winger.

Despite Dembele’s versatility as an attacking midfielder, he is clearly attached to one particular role and that is right near the focal point of the frontline.

Continuing to experiment him in different positions could undermine the great things the youngster has to offer as a central midfielder.

AC Milan has sunk into sleeping giant status ever since the departure of Kaka nearly a decade ago and over the past two seasons, there have been few signs of encouragement about the club’s future.

The Italian side is struggling to stay in contention in an era which has seen rival clubs go from strength to strength, courtesy of the power of money.

It puts a lot into perspective when you notice that a club like Manchester City for example, was nothing more than a mid-table side when Milan last won Europe’s elite club competition in 2007.

In the 10 years which have followed, we have also witnessed the rise of Paris Saint-Germain, once again through the help of financial power while Juventus have restored their status as a dominant member of Serie A.

Even so, not all of the progress made by various neighbouring clubs can be pinned down to money because spending counts for little when there is mismanagement behind the scenes and lack of special talent on the pitch.

After all, one can argue that even though Milan’s resources has not matched that of PSG and Manchester City, they have been able to gather enough funds to spend in the transfer market.

Carlos Bacca’s relatively expensive €30 million move to the San Siro a couple of years ago was a sign that the club could still flex its muscle during the transfer window.

Unfortunately, almost all of their transfer moves have failed to be shrewd business and that is perhaps where the problem lies.

And when you add the fact that the team has been handled by at least five different managers in a short period of time, the struggles which the Rossoneri has endured can be strongly attributed to dressing room and on-field issues more so than troubles with ownership.

On the subject of ownership, Chinese investor Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux has completed a £628m takeover of the club which promises to bring significant capital increases.

It is certainly an exciting change and with the club’s debts apparently wiped out as a result, this could begin the revitalization of one of Europe’s elite clubs.

However, you cannot simply throw money at your problems and expect a solution and if that is the aim of this takeover at the San Siro, then the situation is unlikely to improve.

Sure, Milan will now have the opportunity to spend boldly in the transfer market and perhaps begin an overhaul of the squad by recruiting a number of new players.

But what will ultimately define the club’s resurgence is whether the right appointments are made in the managerial department while players who are capable of carrying out the club’s tradition are brought in.

In the past, signings like Sulley Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng have proven to be deep-rooted errors, not because they lack the quality but because they are missing certain values required to take the club forward.

Milan’s Chinese takeover is good news, certainly from a financial standpoint, but an improvement in team-related decisions and new acquisitions would be better news for sure.