Riccardo Montolivo – Italy’s Rubik’s Cube

What to do with Riccardo Montolivo? Making his debut for Just Football, David Swan reports on the talented Italian international who has a tendency to frustrate.

Riccardo Montolivo has been something of a conundrum for Italy for some time now. He has won 20 caps for the national team (the most recent of which came against Germany last Wednesday evening), but has yet to put in a performance that suggests he has what it takes to transform his undoubted talent into worthy contributions at international level. His efforts for his club, Fiorentina, since 2009/10 indicates they too are starting to have similar problems.

At his best, he is the creative hub of la Viola. During the 2007/08 season, he was crucial to his team reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and finishing fourth (above Milan) in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League, and he was rewarded with his Italy debut. His individual performances the following campaign were even better – he finished with more goals, more assists, and Fiorentina placed fourth again to qualify for the Champions League for a second successive year. Yet he was unable to take this form with him when playing for la Nazionale, despite being surrounded by better players.

The 2009/10 season saw his club displays start to descend more into line with those we see each time for the Azzurri. He lost midfield colleague Felipe Melo in the summer preceding the start of the campaign – a tough-tackling defensive type in the midfield that on paper ably complements the skill of Montolivo – and this has often been used as an explanation for the downturn.

This argument is flawed in a number of ways, the most obvious being that Felipe Melo was not at the club during 2007/08, when Montolivo’s form was not in question. And if tough-tackling midfielders are what is required to squeeze a good game from the No.18, then he should be making waves when he plays for Italy – of his 20 appearances, 14 of them have been earned as a first XI choice, and in all bar one he has started alongside either Daniele de Rossi or Gennaro Gattuso. Needless to say, he has barely caused a ripple.

There is a degree of uncertainty over his best position. Throughout those two golden seasons, where both he and Fiorentina prospered, he was relatively settled in midfield, dictating things from a reasonably deep position. Since then, attempts have been made to use him behind the forward line, usually as a member of an attacking trio in a 4-2-3-1, where many feel he can make best use of his abilities. This move further up the pitch has not quite worked out as anticipated, and Montolivo has not been able to replicate the form everyone knows he is capable of from a deeper position.

He has also been utilised as an attacking midfielder, mainly with Italy, allowing him to start things from deep and also break forward and offer his quality further forward. The success in this role was also limited – he is not a midfielder who will score a great number of goals, so there was more of an onus on his creative ability, which he again found difficult to make use of higher up the pitch. There has, at times, been a hint of desperation in the constant positional changes as numerous coaches try to extract the best out of him and kick start a return to the form of two seasons ago.

Players with the talent that Montolivo possesses do not usually have trouble in affecting a game from further forward – even without a goal threat – and there is no doubt he can make the grade on the international scene. Unfortunately, he may be a prime example of an individual failing to cope with expectation placed upon him.

At 26-years-old, he is no longer a young player making an impact – having had two very good years where the club was successful, there is now an expectation on him to perform at a consistent level. This is compounded by the fact he is now captain, an honour bestowed upon him in early 2010 when Dario Dainelli left for Genoa, and his regular appearances for his country.

Indeed, the pressure only increases when he joins up with the Italy squad – if you are part of the Azzurri for so long, and win so many caps, fans expect that player to be good enough to perform, especially for a nation with such a rich football pedigree. Until he learns to deal with this, Italy will continue to wait for their star to shine.

David Swan is a new contributor to Just Football and will be focussing on Italian football in a new regular column. Get on it early by following him on Twitter.

(photo via Calcio Better on Flickr)

Fiorentina, Italian Serie A, Italy