PUTTING PERSPECTIVE ON HAKAN’S NAME

This piece has been long overdue. In the works since before his resurgence after the restart. Procrastination turned to doubt as Hakan Calhanoglu turned in man-of-the-match performance after man-of-the-match performance. There was no need to school AC Milan fans as to the errors of their ways as he became much more appreciated than before. Alas, merely one (1) month after Milan’s last official match and fans have forgotten his exploits and have reverted to racial epithets and name calling. No more procrastination, here’s why Hakan has always been vital to our past, present and future. I’m here to put some perspective on Hakan’s name.

Rewind to the summer of 2017, the summer of Li Yonghong. Milan’s new ownership group flush with someone else’s cash decides they best way to start their tenure at one of the most storied clubs in football history, is to completely overhaul the team to the tune of eleven (11) new players. Some have turned out to be solid acquisitions, others were head scratchers but none has been more polarizing than Hakan Calhanoglu.

On the surface, it’s not difficult to understand why Hakan may not be a fan favourite at the San Siro. A German born attacking midfielder of Turkish decent, plying his trade in the Bundesliga, would undoubtedly draw comparison to Mesut Ozil, whether consciously or subconsciously. Add to that the fact that the summer of his arrival brought new levels of optimism to a fan-base ‘thirsty’ for a renaissance and you breed an environment rife with heightened levels of anticipation. Expectations were through the roof especially for Milan’s new number 10, and although his performances at the start of the 2017/18 Serie A season were not what Milan fans were anticipating, they did allow the player time to acclimatize and adjust to a new league, a new system, a new coach and a new team. Soon enough however, that patience ran its course and naturally turned to frustration. He no longer received a pass. His penchant for trying outrageous shots and inability to score a free kick (something he was heralded for) took its toll. Calhanoglu unfairly became, and to some extent still remains, the poster child for everything that went wrong under the Chinese ownership.

Upon analysis of the situation, I’ve identified and outlined 3 key reasons as to why I believe the German born player is integral to Milan’s play and its system going forward.

Managing Expectations

I’ll begin by managing expectations of the player. While this is by no means an attempt to accept mediocrity, it’s difficult to understand the value that the Turk provides without first managing our expectations of him. As humans our basic instinct is to think binary; either black or white. Someone is either good or bad. Hakan is either a great player or the worst player to ever suit up for the Rossoneri. Well…………..Hakan is neither a great player nor the worst player to ever suit up for the Rossoneri. He’s somewhere in the middle but closer to the former than the latter. He may never score double digit goals or assists a season, but what he is, is a creative cog, whose always at the disposal of the coach in whatever capacity the coach would have him used. Managing our expectations of him would allow us to appreciate the player for what he is exactly as opposed to what we expect him to be. In Hakan’s three (3) years with Milan, he’s amassed a total of 129 games, while contributing 23 goals and 36 assists. This equates to a goal contribution every 2.18 games. While 14 of those goal contributions came in the final two months of the 2019/20 season, his overall goal contributions are nothing to scoff at.

Utility and Availability

Another of the most overlooked attributes of Hakan’s game has been his versatility and utility. During the 129 games played for Milan, Calhanoglu has played under four (4) different coaches. He’s also played multiple positions over his tenure, from defensive midfield to left wing to attacking midfield. His ability and willingness to functionally be deployed in multiple formations over his tenure as a Milan player is terribly overlooked. This versatility has seen the player deputize for players who have been injured or suspended, allowing his coach to deploy the same formation while without jeopardizing its effectiveness too much. His versatility in all areas of the midfield, while under-appreciated by fans, is a luxury that coaches don’t take for granted and one that Vincenzo Montella, Gennaro Gattuso, Marco Giampaolo and Stefano Piolo have utilized time and again. Over the course of his career in Italy, Hakan’s availability to the coach has also been impressive to say the least. During the 17/18 season he missed 7 games, the 18/19 season he missed 2 games and the 19/20 season he missed 3 games. That’s a total of twelve (12) games missed from a possible 114 or roughly 10%. Considering that there really is no other player in the squad that approximates what Hakan brings (Giacomo Bonaventura was perpetually injured), it’s clear to see how important his presence was for us over the last 3 years. According to the great NFL coach Bill Parcells, “the best ability is availability”. If he is to be believed, then Hakan must be one of the highest quality players we have.

Technique

From a technical standpoint, Hakan is ‘one of one’ in this Milan squad. While many point towards his lack of concentration at times, inability to score free kicks (something he’s improved upon), lazy passing at times and insistence on long range shooting, as negative attributes of the player, a shift in focus on other areas of his game would shed some light on how important he is for Milan. Hakan is by no means the second coming of Andrea Pirlo (we got Sandro Tonali) but his ability to switch play by utilizing pin point cross field passes is a skill that no other Milan player possesses. Passes like the one below to Franck Kessie, has become routine for Milan thanks to Calhanoglu’s ability and vision.

This pass from Çalhanoğlu is so good the defender thought he could intercept it but he couldn't pic.twitter.com/a8RPhxZJCw

— Para (@Paracelsus) October 31, 2018

Hakan also avails himself to the defensive phase of the game. His work rate and defensive contribution playing on the left flank, while not completely atoning for missteps going forward, compensates to some degree for any mistakes he may make. One can also make the argument that the requirement for him to contribute defensively out on the wing, has somewhat negated his contributions going forward. Evidence of this can actually be seen from his explosive contributions of goals and assists after Pioli switched to the 4-2-3-1 formation with Hakan behind the striker.

Perhaps the most overlooked thing about Calhanoglu’s game however is his contributions to the team during big matches. His goal vs Arsenal in the 2017/18 Europa League (shown below) and his goals against Torino in the quarterfinal of the Copa Italia immediately come to mind but there have been many other big games, where his intent was clear for all to see.

And although many may disregard the importance of these games, it’s Calhanoglu’s willingness for the audacious, when other players are either unwilling or incapable that really should set him apart in the minds of the Milan faithful, but rarely does. While there are many other technical attributes to his game that are much more heralded, such as his delivery from dead ball situations and vision, I really wanted to highlight what I believe to be his less talked about attributes.

The fact remains that while he may not be the catalyst that returns this once storied club to its prominence, he’s an integral and indispensable part of the fabric of this current Milan. One that looks likely to return to its former glories sooner rather than later (again…….we got Tonali), hopefully with Hakan Calhanoglu featuring as prominently as ever.