A Tale of Two Midfielders

By: Francesco | March 19th, 2009

There have been many players in Italy who are hyped by the media and pundits and in the end they never really amount to nothing in their careers, or just have average careers when they were expected to become superstars. You can look back over the past 10 years and see how many players have been given the “failed promise” label. Currently in Serie A there are two stories about players living up to their potential with one being positive and one being negative. These two players are Riccardo Montolivo of Fiorentina, and Matteo Brighi of Roma.

Let’s start with Riccardo Montolivo. If you saw him walking in the street, you would never think that he was a footballer. He’s so skinny it looks like the lightest wind would blow him to the ground. Most times I wonder how he handles the physical demands of modern football. But Montolivo has always had loads of talent. He started his career with Atalanta as a trequartista, playing behind the strikers. Many likened him to a new version of Roberto Baggio, and he was made a starter at only 18 years of age in 2003. He collected 41 appearances and scored 4 goals in that season in Serie B, and Atalanta were promoted. He made his debut in Serie A the following season, making 32 appearances and scoring 3 goals at only 19 years of age. That’s when he also became an Italy U-21 regular. Not lightning quick, Montolivo makes up for it with his awesome technical ability and skill. His passing is a strong point as well as his long range shooting. Impressed with his talent, Fiorentina bought half of his rights in the summer of 2005, and it was here where he was transformed from a trequartista into a box-to-box midfielder. All of Italy saw the amount of talent and potential he possessed to be one of Italy’s greatest ever midfielders, and were waiting for that one season where he would explode. Well, we’re still waiting. It was supposed to happen last season, and it never happened. It was supposed to happen this season, and it still hasn’t happened. At the age of 24 he’s still young, but I don’t know if we’ll ever see the real Montolivo. Marcello Lippi knows he has talent and calls him into the national team, but he’s been almost a ghost in every game he’s played in for the Azzurri. When he does wake up, Italy will have a big talent on their hands, but as of now they just have a good center midfielder.

On the other hand we have Matteo Brighi. As a youngster Brighi played for his hometown of Rimini, who were in Serie C2 at the time. He was spotted by Juventus at the age of 19 and skipped three divisions and made his Serie A debut in 2000-2001, playing 11 times. Brighi was then noted by many as one of the top midfield prospects Italy had and he was touted for big things. The following season at Bologna confirmed this, as Brighi was a starter for the Rossoblu and put in great performances all season, even winning the award for Best Young Italian Player. Giovanni Trapattoni noticed and gave Brighi his national team debut at the age of 21 in the summer of 2002. He also became a U-21 regular and was named U-21 captain. The following year he didn’t pick up where he left off at Parma because of injuries, and he disappointed. But in 2003-2004 Juventus loaned him out to Brescia where he rediscovered his form and scored a goal in 29 appearances. He even won the U-21 championship with Italy that summer. Brighi was inserted by Juventus into the Emerson deal and so he was sold to Roma. But Roma sent him to Chievo on loan right away to gain experience. Even though everyone kind’ve forgot about him in Verona, his experience was very positive, as he made 89 apperances and scored 9 goals. In 2007 he finally came back to Roma but he was mainly a sub with players like Pizarro, De Rossi, and Perrotta ahead of him. This year, at the age of 28, he became a starter because of injuries and hasn’t looked back since. He is finally showing the potential he has always had. He truly is an all-around midfielder who can do it all. He defends, he attacks, he tackles, he passes, and he even scores from time to time. It is also reported that Marcello Lippi will call him into the national team set-up this weekend.

So while Brighi is finally living up to the hype, Montolivo is inching closer and closer to that “failed promise” label.