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Milan Badelj Proving His Worth for Fiorentina
March 6, 2015 by Edward Stratmann

Milan Badelj
After impressing during his time in Hamburg, which included him incredibly finishing last season third and sixth for interceptions and tackles per game respectively in the Bundesliga, it came as slightly strange that HSV let Milan Badelj go.
Although they brought in Valon Behrami in his place, the quality Badelj possesses on both sides of the ball really did look like a big loss.
His talents had notably alerted Fiorentina, and having obviously done their due diligence, they decided to snap him up.
Despite enduring a period of adjustment to life with Fiorentina, Badelj is now beginning to shine at the base of Vincenzo Montella’s midfield.
“He’s had to adapt and the fact of being considered the heir of David Pizarro can be a bit heavy. He can not be considered his deputy because he has different characteristics, but he has grown a lot,” said Montella.
While Pizarro is still a very talented player, the match against Inter Milan came as a perfect example of just why the Croatian can be such an important cog in the Fiorentina wheel.
The third best defence in Serie A was well protected by the 26-year-old, as he and his midfield colleagues applied their manager’s defensive structure superbly.
With Inter constantly looking to pass into the feet of the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Mauro Icardi, Fiorentina organised themselves compactly to make things very hard for Roberto Mancini’s men to achieve this.
Badelj’s fellow central midfield partners, Alberto Aquilani and Jasmin Kurtic, would tuck in alongside him, and, in order to form a five across midfield, Fiorentina’s wingers (Alessandro Diamanti and Josip Ilicic) would drop back too.
The tactic worked wonders on the night, with Inter struggling to get the ball to their danger men often enough, as their passing avenues were regularly blocked.
Inter’s chief creator, Mateo Kovacic, was reigned in effectively by Badelj, meaning he wasn’t afforded the chance to weave his magic.
With Badelj’s chief task being to mark his countryman, he did so masterfully. He pressured him excellently, imposed himself physically upon him and followed him almost everywhere. The moments where Kovacic pushed into zones outside Badelj’s jurisdiction, the cohesion shown by his midfield partners to take over responsibility of Kovacic was brilliant to see. Seeing as Fiorentina binded together really well on the night, even on the rare occasions that Badelj ventured out of position to track Kovacic, he knew he could do so with confidence, knowing a teammate would cover for him.
The former Dinamo Zagreb player also showcased his tidy passing ability well on the night, playing some tidy triangles with Aquilani and Kurtic and showing his great range of passing by whipping some splendid diagonals out to the flanks. Despite him being an accomplished passer, he predominantly kept things simple on the night, instead preferring to get the ball to Fiorentina’s more creative players such as Aquilani, Ilicic and Diamanti, so he could keep his position.
The performance was characterised by concentration, positional discipline and working with his teammates, as he provided a superb backbone for his team in their 1-0 win.
Put simply, he just played his role to perfection. Statistically, his four interceptions, three clearances, two won aerial duels and one tackle gave evidence of a solid body of work defensively. While in attack, he supplied one key pass and notably completed five out of his five attempted long passes.
Another solid display against Juventus in the Viola’s 2-1 win gives further illustration of just how vital a player he’s growing into for the club.
In Badelj, Montella has a player that can fit into his system marvellously, and one that is very capable on both sides of the game. He won’t often grab the headlines, but he will do the unheralded essential work needed that provides the platform for his team to excel. So, in a team sense, Badelj really has been a great addition, and although he took a while to find his feet, he’s now justifying Montella’s faith beautifully.